July 23, 2020 8:46 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of laid-off Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week for the first time since the pandemic struck in March, evidence of the deepening economic pain the outbreak is causing to the economy. The rise in weekly jobless claims to 1.4 million underscores the outsize role the unemployment insurance system is playing among the nation’s safety net programs – just when a $600 weekly federal aid payment for the jobless is set to expire at the end of this week. All told, the Labor Department said Thursday that roughly 32 million people are receiving unemployment benefits.
July 23, 2020 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Republicans and the White House have reached tentative agreement for more testing funds in the next COVID-19 relief package. But deep disagreements over the scope of the $1 trillion in federal aid remain ahead of Thursday’s expected roll out. Facing a GOP revolt, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is preparing a “handful” of COVID-19 aid bills instead of a single package. That’s the word from a top lawmaker involved in the negotiations. A key holdup remains President Donald Trump’s push for a payroll tax cut. Hardly any GOP senators support the idea.
July 23, 2020 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Joe Biden has said during a virtual town hall that President Donald Trump was the country’s “first” racist president. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s comment came Wednesday in response to a questioner mentioning the president referring to the coronavirus as the “China virus.” Biden said, “We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed. They’ve tried to get elected president. He’s the first one that has.” But many presidents – including the nation’s first, George Washington – owned slaves. Trump responded by saying that he’d done more for Black Americans than any other president, with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.
July 23, 2020 4:06 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A judge has ordered the release from prison of President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, saying he believes the government retaliated against him for writing a book about Trump. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered Michael Cohen released from prison by 2 p.m. on Friday. Cohen sued the government earlier this week, saying he was ordered back to prison on July 9 because he was writing a book to be released before the November presidential election. Hellerstein said he believes Cohen’s First Amendment rights were violated by the decision.
July 23, 2020 4:05 am
(AP) – Arizona has topped 3,000 deaths from the coronavirus. The state Health Services Department reported 89 new deaths, bringing the statewide total since the outbreak began to 3,063. More than 1,000 deaths have been reported in the past 15 days. The state has nearly 153,000 confirmed virus cases. Gov. Doug Ducey faces a deadline to decide whether bars and gyms can reopen. He ordered bars and gyms to close again for a month on June 29. That came after a surge of cases following the expiration of stay-at-home orders in mid-May.
July 23, 2020 4:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats are trying to rein in one of President Donald Trump’s biggest powers: the power of the pardon. A House panel on Thursday plans to vote on legislation that is intended to discourage presidents from giving pardons to friends and family. The legislation would also ban presidents from pardoning themselves. While the bills are unlikely to pass Congress, Democrats say a response is necessary after Trump has come to the aid of allies he believes have been mistreated by the justice system, including longtime confidant Roger Stone. Trump commuted Stone’s prison sentence earlier this month after he was convicted of crimes related to the Russia investigation.
July 23, 2020 4:03 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The mayor of Portland, Oregon, was tear gassed by federal agents late Wednesday as he stood with protesters at a fence guarding a federal courthouse. Mayor Ted Wheeler said it was the first time he’d been tear gassed and appeared slightly dazed and coughed as he put on a pair of goggles someone handed him. Earlier in the night, Wheeler was jeered as he tried to rally demonstrators who have clashed nightly with federal agents sent in by President Donald Trump to quell ongoing unrest in the city. Wheeler said it was important to oppose what he called an unconstitutional federal occupation.
July 23, 2020 3:59 am
The Washington School District previewed its opening plan for students when doors open on August 20. The plan showed to parents via a Zoom meeting platform described two hybrid options for in school instruction and it included a fully cyber school platform for parents that do not want to send their children into a school building yet. The two hybrid options divide the classes in half and send one half of the students to school on Monday and Tuesday with those students learning virtually Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The second half of the students would be learning virtually Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and attend classes in the buildings on Thursday and Friday. There would be no students in the buildings on Wednesdays. The second option works similarly with the buildings being vacant on Fridays. A quick straw poll indicated that having the buildings vacant on Friday was preferred. Students will need to wear masks on buses and in the classrooms. Parents will be the first line of defense to keeping everyone healthy. If a child has a fever of 100.4 or more, those students are expected to stay home. Students exhibiting any symptoms are asked to stay home to protect everyone else in the building that day. Superintendent Dr. James Konrad described the opening plan that will be voted on by the School Board Thursday night a living document that is subject to change as complications arise and as changes in the virus occur. A quick shift to all virtual learning is in place, and Konrad hopes to be able to modify the plan to expand in building learning if the virus allows. School Nurse Cheryl Blosl emphasized the importance of wearing masks by reminding parents that those masks not only offer protection from Covid-19 but also from the routine common colds and other illnesses that occur throughout the year. The plan will be presented and options approved on Thursday night.
July 23, 2020 2:54 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – A fourth lawsuit has been filed in the deaths of patients over wrongful insulin injections at a West Virginia veterans hospital. A federal lawsuit was filed Wednesday in the January 2018 death of Army veteran Robert Lee Kozul Sr. at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg. The lawsuit is the latest to allege a widespread system of failures at the hospital. The suit says many more unexplained deaths occurred at the hospital by the time the hospital’s medical director alerted the Department of Veterans Affairs. Ex-hospital nursing assistant Reta Mays pleaded guilty last week to intentionally killing seven patients with insulin injections.
July 23, 2020 2:20 am
Christie Dee Harr, 41 of Monessen had felony animal cruelty charges filed against her again. Harr appeared before District Justice Mark Wilson as The Washington County District Attorney filed the charges again because of the death of one of the Humane Officers that investigated the case. About a half dozen animal rights activists gathered outside of Wilson’s office to protest the alleged actions of Harr. A building that is owned by Harr was raided by the District Attorney’s office back in October of 2019 where more than 200 cats and other animals were found to be in deplorable condition. Faith Bjalobok, a fellow with the Oxford Center for Animal Ethics and the Fluffy Jean Fund stated that the demonstrators merely wanted the DA Office to do their job and get the charges against Harr to court. The demonstrators had their wishes granted as felony charges of cruelty to animals and misdemeanor counts of neglect of animals were waived to court by Harr. Allen Roth, Harr’s attorney had no comment.
