February 27, 2020 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says the U.S. is “very, very ready” for whatever the new coronavirus threat brings, even as health authorities warn Americans that more infections are coming. Shortly after a presidential news conference, the government announced a worrisome development – a new U.S. case that so far hasn’t been linked to travel abroad. Trump has put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of overseeing the nation’s response. The president has been pushing back against criticism that his administration isn’t doing enough to meet the coronavirus threat. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are calling for much more money than the $2.5 billion the White House has requested.
February 27, 2020 4:23 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s health secretary says her agency expects to finish customizing pandemic flu plans in the coming days for the COVID-19 virus, but notes the state has yet to identify a case of infection. Dr. Rachel Levine said in a Capitol news conference Wednesday that monitoring and testing of travelers from China is continuing, although officials aren’t disclosing how many. The Health Department has plans to quickly notify the public if a case is confirmed within Pennsylvania. She says the state has supplies of personal protective equipment, but those stockpiles may be drawn down if there is a significant spread of the virus.
February 27, 2020 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – One of the nation’s largest labor unions is unveiling plans to invest $150 million in a nationwide campaign to help defeat President Donald Trump. The sweeping effort is focused on eight battleground states and voters of color who typically don’t vote. The investment marks the largest voter engagement and turnout operation in the history of the Service Employees International Union, which claims nearly 2 million members. The campaign will span 40 states and target 6 million voters focused largely in Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. Union president Mary Kay Henry says Trump is “systematically unwinding and attacking unions.”
February 27, 2020 4:20 am
WEST NEWTON, Pa. — (WPXI) – A woman wearing a Cookie Monster costume was arrested this week after police allegedly found her overdosing in her car. The criminal complaint says Rachel Martin was slurring her words and under the influence when she dropped her 9-year-old daughter off at another home. The person who lives at the other home called 911. When police arrived they found that Martin’s daughter was only wearing yoga pants and a T-shirt with no socks or shoes when she was dropped off at the home even though the temperature was in the low 40s. Police found Martin wearing the Sesame Street costume slumped over in her idling car behind the home where she had just dropped off her daughter. Narcan was used to revive Martin. She was taken to the hospital where she was treated for an apparent heroin overdose. Martin has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person.
February 27, 2020 4:15 am
DONORA, Pa. — (WPXI) – “I’m afraid I’m going to get attacked by a rat!” Neighbors in Donora said they’re fed up with rats roaming their neighborhood, feasting off several bags of rotten trash in a neighbor’s yard. A woman shared this photo of what the yard looks like: The rats are scurrying into neighbor’s yards and hanging out on their porches while families are outside. Some families aren’t even letting their children play outside because of it. “They are not like small, little house mice. They are big rats,” Shannon Whitfield said. “We have them under our porch — our front porch, our back porch. It’s a full-on infestation.” Whitfield said nothing has been done, despite months of calls and pictures sent to the borough. Meanwhile, the mayor said the “nuisance neighbor” has been cited repeatedly, and another notice was just slapped on the door Wednesday. Borough of Donora officials said if you have an issue with a nuisance neighbor, call the code enforcement department. (Photo: WPXI)
February 26, 2020 4:58 pm
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Milwaukee police are responding to what they are calling a “critical incident” on the Molson Coors Brewing Co. campus amid reports of a possible shooting. WISN-TV in Milwaukee reported Wednesday that a Molson Coors employee received an email about an active shooter near one of the buildings. Multiple local media citing unidentified sources reported fatalities at the scene, including the shooter. The Associated Press was not able to immediately confirm the reports. There was a heavy police presence in the area, along with fire trucks and ambulances. Live video showed an officer in body armor getting an assault rifle out of car. (Photo: CNN)
February 26, 2020 9:47 am
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – Joe Biden has won the endorsement of Rep. Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking black member of Congress and the kingmaker of South Carolina’s Democratic political orbit. Clyburn says he knows Biden’s “character, his heart, and his record.” The House majority whip’s backing could provide a much-needed boost for the Democratic presidential candidate before South Carolina’s primary. Before Clyburn’s Wednesday announcement, Biden lauded the South Carolinian at a ministers’ breakfast hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton. It had long been expected the former vice president would win Clyburn’s support. The men were in Congress together for more than a decade. Biden attended two days of funeral and homegoing services for Clyburn’s wife last year.
February 26, 2020 7:36 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Million-selling novelist Clive Cussler has died. Alexis Welby, spokeswoman for Cussler’s publisher, says he died Monday at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 88. The cause was not disclosed. The Illinois-born Cussler was an adventure writer and real-life thrill-seeker who wove personal details and spectacular fantasies into his page-turning novels about underwater explorer Dirk Pitt. Cussler’s plots ranged from the bold to the incredible. Cussler dispatched Pitt and pal Al Giordino on worldwide missions highlighted by shipwrecks, treachery, espionage and beautiful women, in popular works including “Cyclops,” “Night Probe!” and his commercial breakthrough, “Raise the Titanic!”
February 26, 2020 4:24 am
BOSTON (AP) – Officials say a utility company will pay $53 million for breaking pipeline safety laws and causing a series of natural gas explosions that killed one person and damaged dozens of homes. Authorities said Wednesday that Columbia Gas of Massachusetts has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Pipeline Safety Act and will pay the largest criminal fine ever imposed under the law. The explosions rocked three communities in the Merrimack Valley, north of Boston, in September 2018. The company said in an emailed statement that it takes full responsibility for the disaster. (Photo: CNN)
February 26, 2020 4:18 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Virus cases in South Korea jumped again and the first U.S. military soldier tested positive. His infection and many others are connected to a southeastern city where the government has been mobilizing public health tools to contain the virus. South Korea said 134 of the 169 new cases were confirmed in Daegu. The U.S. soldier is quarantined at his off-base home and several base amenities are closed. South Korea’s total was expected to rise as health workers test members of a Daegu church that has an infection cluster. China reported another 406 cases and 52 deaths, all in hard-hit Hubei province.
