July 21, 2020 4:04 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Walmart will close its namesake stores and Sam’s Clubs on Thanksgiving Day this year, saying that it wants to have its employees spend time with their families during the coronavirus. The move marks the first major indication of how COVID will affect Black Friday store shopping, which for almost a decade kicked off with big crowds on the turkey feast and expanded into Friday. However, safety concerns are making stores rethink their plans for the holiday plans. Given Walmart’s clout as the nation’s largest retailer, other major retailers could very well follow its lead. Walmart also said Tuesday that it will be giving out another round of bonuses for workers on the front lines of the coronavirus.
July 21, 2020 4:03 am
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – Residents from 31 states must now quarantine for 14 days when arriving in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as dozens of states face rising positive COVID-19 rates. Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledged Tuesday that the quarantine is “imperfect” but said the quarantine could help protect the states against the risk of increased spread. The governor’s office said 724 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized Monday – a figure that has plunged since the virus peaked in mid-April but has declined at a much slower rate since late June. The percentage of positive results has plateaued around one percent since mid-June, with 1.2% of 66,000 tests conducted Monday coming up positive.
July 21, 2020 4:02 am
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – The bosses of major airlines are urging the U.S. and the European Union to reopen transatlantic air travel. And they say that the way to do that is with a new testing program for COVID-19. The CEOs of United, American, IAG and Germany’s Lufthansa say it’s an urgent matter to get a vital business pathway running again. In a letter Tuesday to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, the executives say transatlantic flights are crucial to the recovery and to their businesses. They say a joint U.S.-EU testing program would enhance safety and confidence so flights can resume.
July 21, 2020 4:00 am
NEW YORK (AP) – President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer has sued Attorney General William Barr and the Bureau of Prisons director, saying he’s being unjustly held behind bars to stop him from finishing a book that criticizes Trump. The lawsuit on behalf of Michael Cohen was filed late Monday in Manhattan federal court, alleging his First Amendment rights were violated when he was returned to prison on July 9. Cohen was furloughed in May as part of an attempt to slow the spread of the virus in federal prisons. He had served only a year of his three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes. A message for comment was left with the Justice Department.
July 21, 2020 3:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is planning to deploy federal agents to Chicago and possibly other Democrat-run cities as he continues to assert federal power and use the Department of Homeland Security in unprecedented ways. DHS is planning to deploy about 150 Homeland Security Investigations agents to Chicago to help local law enforcement deal with a spike in crime, according to an official with direct knowledge of the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The agents, which are generally used to conduct investigations into human trafficking, drugs and weapons smuggling, were expected to stay in Chicago at least two months.
July 21, 2020 3:55 am
DERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A crime scene reconstruction team at a home in Derry Township is investigating what led to a woman being shot and killed. Troopers said the woman, 52-year-old Tracy Squib, was found shot and killed in her bedroom. According to the Westmoreland County coroner, She had been shot in the chest while she was asleep in her bed. “We’re treating it as a homicide investigation,” Pennsylvania State Trooper Stephen Limani. The Westmoreland County corner said multiple gunshots were fire outside of the home on Pandora Road around 4 a.m. The gunshot came from outside the house, penetrated into the house and struck this woman,” said Limani said. They are still trying to determine if that shot was fired intentionally or if it was a stray bullet. Squib was taken to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead. Three other family members were inside the home at the time Squib was shot. Police are now pleading with neighbors and businesses to look at their surveillance video to see if anything seems out of place. (Photo: WPXI)
July 21, 2020 2:49 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia University students will face penalties and discipline for failing to meet COVID-19 testing and education requirements before returning to campus. The university says it began sending registration emails Monday for the free coronavirus test to students on the Morgantown campus. All students and employees must be tested. Students also must complete a virus education course prior to returning to campus. Students who fail to do so will have $250 added to their account and will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct. Students also will face discipline for failing to wear masks on campus. The fall semester starts Aug. 19th.
July 20, 2020 3:31 pm
ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia Democrats have selected state Sen. Nikema Williams, chair of the state party, to replace Rep. John Lewis on the ballot in November. The executive committee of the Democratic Party of Georgia voted overwhelmingly on Monday for Williams to take Lewis’ spot on the ballot for the Atlanta-area 5th Congressional District after the longtime congressman and civil rights leader’s death last week. Williams, 41, was chosen from a list of five finalists as the group works to quickly fill the spot in accordance with state law. She is nearly assured of winning in November in the heavily Democratic district.
July 20, 2020 4:37 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is refusing to publicly commit to accepting the results of the upcoming White House election. In saying that, he’s recalling a similar threat he made weeks before the 2016 vote. The president tells “Fox News Sunday” that it’s too early to make such an ironclad guarantee, and he scoffs at polls showing him lagging behind Democrat Joe Biden. The Biden campaign says the American people will decide the election and the government “is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.” Trump also is hammering the Pentagon brass for favoring renaming bases that honor Confederate military leaders. Trump says, “I don’t care what the military says.”
July 20, 2020 4:35 am
(AP) – Judiciary officials say a gunman posing as a delivery person shot and killed the 20-year-old son of a federal judge and wounded her husband at their New Jersey home before fleeing. Chief District Judge Freda Wolfson told The Associated Press the shooting at the North Brunswick home of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, killed her son, Daniel. Wolfson says the judge’s husband, defense lawyer Mark Anderl, was injured. Investigators are examining a possible connection between the shooting and the body of a man found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Sullivan County, New York, a law enforcement official said. The man is being investigated in connection with the shooting, a law enforcement official and a judiciary official told The Associated Press.
