March 11, 2020 4:03 am
It is half way through the month of March and Monessen City Council is still trying to get going in a straight line. Council went back and reaffirmed motions that took place in a January 6 reorganization meeting to vacate positions and hire new people to those positions. Also at issue during Tuesday night’s meeting was the February dismissal of City Controller Maria Scuteri. Scuteri claims that she was not provided the paperwork that council required for her position. Council requires that the controller be bonded. Scuteri is bonded for her regular job at a local bank. The city also needed an affidavit of residency. Council claims that Scuteri did not provide a bond or residency affidavit. Scuteri is now looking into a discrimination claim. City Treasurer Gerald Saksun also lacked that paperwork. He was allowed time to produce those items. Mayor Matthew Shorraw states that no discrimination existed on his end. Shorraw stood behind comments made by Coucilman Don Gregor in the February meeting. When asked to recall those comments, Shorraw could not do that.
March 10, 2020 9:53 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks are closing sharply higher on Wall Street Tuesday, adding 4.9% to major indexes, as hopes build for a greater response from the Trump administration to the economic threat from the coronavirus outbreak. The gains recovered about half of the market’s historic losses from the day before and came after another wild day of whipsaw trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 1,100 points. Market watchers say more big swings are likely until the outbreak starts to slow down. The price of oil bounced back a day after cratering nearly 25% after Saudi Arabia started a price war with Russia. (Photo: CNN)
March 10, 2020 9:52 am
BEIJING (AP) – Europe’s airports say they expect 187 million fewer passengers this year due to the virus outbreak, which is “turning into a shock of unprecedented proportions for our industry.” The ACI Europe, which represents the sector, estimated Tuesday that the outbreak will mean a 13.5% drop in airport passengers in the first quarter alone. That translates to 1.32 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in lost revenue. Airports in Italy, where the government has imposed a travel lockdown on the whole country, are the most affected. Scores of nations have issued travel advisories urging their citizens to avoid Italy. Olivier Jankovec, the head of ACI Europe, called on the Italian government to provide emergency financial support.
March 10, 2020 4:16 am
Rolling Hills Drive in Peters Township took two steps closer to reality when Peters Township Council authorized a 2.4 million dollar bid to A. Liberoni, Inc to complete the road and intersect it with E. McMurray Road. Council budgeted 4 million dollars for the project. Township Manager Paul Lauer calls the savings “Good News” for residents. Council also granted a right of way for part of the land at Rolling Hills Park to PennDot to obtain a highway occupancy permit. PennDot approved realignment plans for E. McMurray Road and needed the right of way to allow construction to begin. Lauer states that traffic signals and poles will be ordered soon and he expects ground to be broken sometime in late May.
March 10, 2020 4:14 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised his second live-fire artillery exercise in a week as the country continues to expand its military capabilities. The state media reports came a day after South Korea’s military detected the launches of three short-range projectiles off the North’s eastern coast. The reports said Kim showed great satisfaction as his front-line artillery units demonstrated “excellent marksmanship” during the exercise. He was quoted as vowing to build his artillery force into the world’s strongest and feared by everyone.
March 10, 2020 4:12 am
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – A cruise ship with a cluster of coronavirus cases began unloading passengers at a port in the San Francisco Bay Area after it was forced to idle off the California coast for days.áThe Grand Princess pulled into the Port of Oakland on Monday. Health and Human Services said officials hope to unload about half the 2,400 passengers Monday. After several people who needed medical care were removed, dozens of Canadians came off and were standing in lines outside two tents displaying Canadian flags. Americans will be transported to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia to be tested for the COVID-19 virus and quarantined.
March 10, 2020 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has pitched his proposed payroll tax break on Capitol Hill as pressure mounts on the administration and Congress to work more vigorously to contain the coronavirus outbreak and respond to the financial fallout. Trump’s economic team joined in presenting the economic stimulus package privately to wary Senate Republicans. They’ve been cool to additional spending at this stage. Democrats are preparing their own package of low-cost virus testing, unemployment insurance and sick pay for workers struggling to keep paychecks coming as the outbreak disrupts workplaces.
March 10, 2020 4:08 am
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) – More than 200 properties in a historic West Virginia district have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. News outlets report that the National Park Service approved the addition of the South Wheeling area last week. Wheeling Heritage and the Wheeling Historic Landmarks Commission oversaw the project. Wheeling Heritage historic preservation program manager Betsy Sweeny says the district recognizes the industrial and vernacular architecture of Wheeling. She says the listing gives properties recognition and makes property owners eligible for tax incentives.
March 10, 2020 4:05 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania is confirming more cases of the new coronavirus, as more schools canceled classes, travel or events. The state Department of Health reported another positive test for COVID-19 on Tuesday in a resident of Montgomery County. That brings the statewide total to 11, while a Germantown Academy is reporting that a student has been sickened after their parent tested positive. All 11 people who tested positive live in eastern Pennsylvania, and the first 10 cases are people believed to have contracted it by traveling outside the state. Meanwhile, the 2020 Northeast Regional Science Olympiad at Penn State Wilkes-Barre has been canceled.
March 10, 2020 2:03 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia residents are being warned about a telephone scam involving food stamps. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says some residents are receiving calls claiming to be someone from the Department of Health and Human Resources. The caller informs them that their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are being stopped. The callers says that in order to continue receiving benefits, they must press a number, which then connects them with someone trying to steal their personal information. Morrisey says the DHHR actually sends official notices by U.S. mail and does not call SNAP recipients about ending their benefits.
