July 12, 2020 8:10 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A long-expected upturn in U.S. coronavirus deaths has begun, driven by fatalities in states in the South and West, according to data on the pandemic. The number of deaths per day from the virus had been falling for months, and even remained down as states like Florida and Texas saw explosions in cases and hospitalizations — and reported daily U.S. infections broke records several times in recent days. Scientists warned it wouldn’t last. A coronavirus death, when it occurs, typically comes several weeks after a person is first infected. And experts predicted states that saw increases in cases and hospitalizations would, at some point, see deaths rise too. Now that’s happening. According to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day rolling average for daily reported deaths in the U.S. has increased from 578 two weeks ago to 664 on July 10 — still well below the heights hit in April. Daily reported deaths increased in 27 states over that time period, but the majority of those states are averaging under 15 new deaths per day. A smaller group of states has been driving the nationwide increase in deaths.
July 12, 2020 8:07 am
ROSTRAVER, Pa. (WPXI) — A deadly house fire broke out in Westmoreland County around 2 a.m. Sunday in Rostraver Township. According to fire officials, an elderly husband and wife, and their dog died in the fire. The couple were parents of a volunteer firefighter. The victims have been identified as Lloyd Oblack, 83, and Marie Oblack, 81. Multiple area fire departments responded to the scene The fire happened along the 800 block of Collinsburg Road.
July 12, 2020 8:04 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — State health officials in Pennsylvania have added four states — including neighboring Delaware — to the travel quarantine recommendation aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19 in the commonwealth. Officials said people who have traveled to Delaware, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma are being asked to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their return to Pennsylvania. The state earlier issued the recommendation for self-quarantine for people coming to the commonwealth from 15 other states — Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
July 11, 2020 4:30 am
New coronavirus cases have dropped sharply in China, and authorities are turning their attention to concerns that the virus could spread through imported food. Those worries have risen since a June outbreak in Beijing that was linked to the city’s largest wholesale market. Testing has been stepped up on incoming food shipments, and on Friday customs officials said they are halting imports from three Ecuadorian shrimp producers after tests showed the virus present in recent shipments. Authorities say the coronavirus was detected on the outer packaging of the shipments July 3. The inner packaging and the shrimp themselves tested negative. Products from the three companies received after March 12 have been ordered to be returned or destroyed.
July 11, 2020 4:29 am
MIAMI (AP) – Tropical Storm Fay has weakened into a tropical depression early Saturday morning. The National Hurricane Center says the depression has maximum sustained winds of 35 mph as it moves over the state of New York. It was located 50 miles north of New York City. Fay had closed beaches and flooded shore towns after it made landfall Friday afternoon in New Jersey. The depression is expected to dissipate on Sunday. A tropical storm warning that had been issued from East Rockaway, New York, to Watch Hill, Rhode Island was ended. No watches or warnings were in effect for the depression.
July 11, 2020 4:27 am
BOSTON (AP) – A California couple has agreed to plead guilty to paying $250,000 to get their daughter into the University of Southern California as a fake volleyball recruit. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston said in a statement that Diane Blake and Todd Blake will plead guilty in front of a judge at a future date. News outlets previously reported that the Ross, California, couple had initially pleaded not guilty. The couple was accused of tapping William “Rick” Singer to facilitate their daughter’s admission into USC. The university had no comment. Lawyers for the couple didn’t immediately respond to an email.
July 11, 2020 4:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Justice Clarence Thomas spoke and Chief Justice John Roberts ruled. The Supreme Court’s most unusual term featured victories for immigrants, abortion rights, LGBTQ workers and religious freedoms. The usually quiet Thomas’ baritone was heard by the whole world when the coronavirus outbreak upended the court’s traditional way of doing business. When the biggest decisions were handed down, the chief justice was almost always in the majority and dictated the reach of the court’s most controversial cases. The decisions in some of the biggest cases came with majorities of six or seven justices, a blurring of the stark 5-4 divide between conservatives and liberals.
July 11, 2020 4:25 am
President Donald Trump is determined to reopen the country. In his push to get schools and colleges to reopen this fall, Trump is again taking aim at their finances, this time threatening their tax-exempt status. Trump said on Twitter Friday he was ordering the Treasury Department to re-examine the tax-exempt status of schools that he says provide “radical indoctrination.” Trump did not explain what prompted the remark, but it’s one more threat Trump has issued against schools as he pressures them to open this fall. Twice this week Trump threatened to cut federal funding for schools that don’t reopen. It’s unclear on what grounds Trump could have a school’s tax-exempt status terminated.
July 11, 2020 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of his longtime friend Roger Stone. The president intervened in extraordinary fashion Friday in a criminal case that was central to the Russia investigation and that concerned the president’s own conduct. The move came just days before Stone was to begin serving a 40-month prison sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House investigation into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in 2016. The action underscores the president’s lingering rage over special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and is part of a continuing effort to rewrite the narrative of a probe that has shadowed the White House from the outset.
July 11, 2020 4:22 am
WASHINGTON, Pa – Severe storms have caused power outages across Western Pennsylvania Friday night after a week of little to no rain. Damage was reported around the area, but it seems most places in Washington County escaped without major issues. According to West Penn Power, over 500 residents in the county are without power, with most of the issues in Fallowfield and Carroll Township as well as Centerville Borough. West Penn Power says full power should be restored to the area by 11:30 p.m. Saturday night.
