September 11, 2020 4:14 am
SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) – One spent time quietly consoling families. The other proclaimed America’s might. President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden marked the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at memorials Friday, where their differences in style couldn’t have been more sharply on display. Trump vowed in a speech at the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, site where hijacked Flight 93 crashed in a field, that America will “always fight back.” Biden laid a wreath after attending the annual commemoration at Ground Zero in New York and comforted family members of several people who died in the Twin Towers. Vice President Mike Pence also visited the New York event, and Sen. Kamala Harris spoke a few miles from the Pentagon.
September 11, 2020 2:29 am
President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign made stop in Washington on Thursday afternoon. Eric Trump, the President’s son stopped by the Edwin Scott Linton Post 175 of the American Legion in Washington to deliver a campaign rally speech to supporters. Trump drove home his father’s campaign priorities of strong economics, Christianity, law and order and respect for the military. Trump particularly pointed to his father’s efforts to revive manufacturing in the U.S. He included support for coal miners and gas and oil workers in his rally cry as well. Trump did take shots at Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden calling him weak. Trump also took time to hammer Hunter Biden and his dealings in the Ukraine. Roughly 500 supporters were on hand on a hot day in the middle of a parking lot. Typical of most Trump rallies of late, most supporters were without masks and social distancing was not enforced. Earlier in the day, a counter rally by Biden supporters was held on the roadside across the street from the American Legion. Sources indicate that roughly 50 people were on hand to register their displeasure with Trump policies and practices that they say disrespect the military and divide the country along ideological lines.
September 11, 2020 2:26 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – More counties in West Virginia are likely to end in-person classes a week after reopening schools. Children returned to classes Tuesday in all but nine of West Virginia’s 55 counties, based on a color-coded map that tracks the severity of the virus’s spread. Counties that were marked red and orange could only hold virtual classes until they turned yellow or green. Gov. Jim Justice announced on Friday that schools in counties that started the school year in green or yellow but move into orange will also need to go virtual-only. Previously, such schools could still offer face-to-face instruction unless they turned red.
September 10, 2020 4:28 pm
LONDON (AP) – Whether in the 1960s spy TV series “The Avengers,” on the London stage or in the streaming hit “Game of Thrones” – Diana Rigg was a standout actor. The legendary star has died of cancer. She was 82. Her daughter Rachael Stirling says Rigg “spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession.” Rigg first rose to attention in the U.S. in “The Avengers” as secret agent Emma Peel – who performed alongside Patrick Macnee’s bowler-wearing partner John Steed. She also was in the 1969 James Bond movie, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” She played Tracy di Vicenzo – the only woman to marry Agent 007, even though it was for only a short time. In her later life, she played Olenna Tyrell, “Queen of Thorns” – in “Game of Thrones,” receiving an Emmy Award nomination for the role. On the stage, Rigg won a Tony Award for “Medea” on Broadway – and was nominated three other times.
September 10, 2020 8:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for jobless aid was unchanged last week at 884,000, a sign that layoffs are stuck at a historically high level six months after the viral pandemic flattened the economy. The latest figure released by the Labor Department Thursday still far exceeds the number who sought benefits in any week on record before this year.
September 10, 2020 4:36 am
Charleroi Borough has adopted an ordinance that creates a position for a new borough manager. At Wednesday’s regular meeting, council voted to move forward with the process of hiring a new leader after operating for the past five years without one. According to Council President, Mark Alterici, the move comes after a state study recommended that Charleroi hire a manger to write grants and oversee day-to-day operations in order to help “The Magic City” reach its full potential. While details regarding salary and exact job duties have not been released, Alterici hopes to have the new manager hired by the first of the New Year.
September 10, 2020 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Democrats have scuttled a scaled-back GOP coronavirus rescue package, saying the measure shortchanges too many pressing needs as the pandemic continues its assault on the country. Thursday’s mostly party-line vote capped weeks of wrangling over a fifth relief bill that all sides say they want but are unable to deliver. The bipartisan spirit that powered earlier relief bills has given way to election-season political combat and name-calling. The 52-47 vote fell well short of what was needed to overcome a filibuster and seems likely to end hopes for coronavirus relief before the November election.
September 10, 2020 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The National Institutes of Health director is telling Congress that AstraZeneca’s suspension of its COVID-19 vaccine study shows there will be “no compromises” on safety in developing the shots. AstraZeneca has put on hold its late-stage studies in the U.S. and other countries while it investigates if a British volunteer’s “potentially unexplained illness” is related to vaccination or a coincidence. NIH chief Dr. Francis Collins pledged that science will be behind decisions of if and when any COVID-19 vaccine is good enough for widespread use. AstraZeneca’s shot is one of three vaccines in late-stage testing in the U.S.
September 10, 2020 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The top U.S. general for the Middle East says the Trump administration will pull thousands of troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan by November. Gen. Frank McKenzie says the number of troops in Iraq will drop this month from about 5,200 to 3,000. And he says troop levels in Afghanistan will shrink to 4,500 by November. The general made the comments during a visit to Iraq on Wednesday. This development comes during the later stages of President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign as he tries to make the case that he’s fulfilled promises of four years ago to bring U.S. combat troops home.
September 10, 2020 4:08 am
OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) – A Northern California wildfire is threatening thousands of homes after winds whipped it into a monster that incinerated houses in a small mountain community and killed at least three people. The North Complex fire northeast of San Francisco exploded to six times its previous size between Tuesday and Wednesday thanks to gusting winds. The winds have subsided but only after flames critically burned several people and damaged or destroyed hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and other buildings. Some 20,000 people are under evacuation orders or warnings in three counties. Other large fires are burning around the state and the West.
