June 8, 2020 4:08 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Tropical Storm Cristobal has weakened into a depression after inundating coastal Louisiana and ginning up dangerous weather along most of the U.S. Gulf Coast. The storm sent waves crashing over Mississippi beaches, swamping parts of an Alabama island town and spawning a tornado in Florida. In Alabama, the bridge linking the mainland to Dauphin Island was closed to regular traffic. Now the worry is drenching rain in the Mississippi River basin as Cristobal’s remnants move north on a path to Canada. All that water is a new test for the pumping system that struggles to clear the streets of New Orleans.
June 8, 2020 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats are mounting a new effort to push back against a well-funded Republican campaign that seeks to undermine public confidence in mail-in-voting. An organization called Fair Fight, led by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, has joined forces with Priorities USA, the largest Democratic outside group, and American Bridge, the party’s opposition research clearinghouse, to form a new effort called Voter Suppression Watch. áThe aim is to not only counter Republicans in the courts, but in public relations, too, while playing offense by providing opposition research that often forms the grist of news stories.
June 8, 2020 4:06 am
Authorities say a man drove a car at George Floyd protesters in Seattle on Sunday night, hit a barricade then exited the vehicle brandishing a pistol. At least one person was injured. The Seattle Fire Department said the victim was a 27-year-old male who was shot and taken to a hospital in stable condition. Video taken by a reporter for The Seattle Times showed part of the scene in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, where demonstrators have gathered for days near a police precinct.
June 8, 2020 4:04 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Health officials say a dozen new coronavirus cases in the Philadelphia area have been traced to someone who attended gatherings at beach houses at the Jersey Shore. Bucks County officials say 11 cases reported Saturday were linked to a New Jersey resident at gatherings in the past two weeks. One case reported Friday also was traced to the person. The county health director says it’s an important reminder not to let one’s guard down at the beach. He did not disclose exactly where the gatherings took place. Also, the region’s mass transit system has reinstated a requirement that passengers wear masks.
June 8, 2020 4:03 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say an employee at a northwestern Pennsylvania zoo was bitten on the arm by an orangutan over the weekend. Erie County emergency dispatchers said the 29-year-old zookeeper sustained puncture and bite wounds to his forearm during Saturday afternoon’s attack at the Erie Zoo. Dispatchers said he was taken to Saint Vincent Hospital for treatment of injuries described as moderate and non-life-threatening. No further information was immediately available.
June 8, 2020 3:47 am
Nearly 200 protesters gathered Sunday afternoon on the campus of California University of Pennsylvania for a peaceful march through campus and town. Demonstrators held signs and chanted messages of justice not only for George Floyd, but for all persons of color who face inequality in America. Organizers of the event included Cal U students and community members. An 8 minute 46-second moment of silence was held at California’s main intersection, the same amount of time George Floyd was pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis police officer. The march ended at the California Borough Building after two hours of peaceful protest and speeches. Local police assisted to ensure safety of those involved.
June 7, 2020 7:24 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A re-energized Tropical Storm Cristobal continued its advance toward the U.S. Gulf Coast early Sunday, having spawned a tornado in Florida and brought heavy rains that already caused flooding and mudslides in Mexico and Central America. After weakening to a tropical depression while moving over land in Mexico’s Gulf coast, Cristobal headed back into the southern Gulf of Mexico from the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday and powered back up into a tropical storm. Forecasters said it would arrive on U.S. soil late Sunday but was not expected to grow into a hurricane.
June 7, 2020 7:23 am
BEIJING (AP) — Senior Chinese officials released a lengthy report Sunday on the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, defending their government’s actions and saying that China had provided information in a timely and transparent manner. China “wasted no time” in sharing information such as the genome sequence for the new virus with the World Health Organization as well as relevant countries and regional organizations, according to the report. An Associated Press investigation found that government labs sat on releasing the genetic map of the virus for more than a week in January, delaying its identification in a third country and the sharing of information needed to develop tests, drugs and a vaccine. National Health Commission Chairman Ma Xiaowei did not address the specific findings in the AP report, but said it “seriously goes against the facts.” He added that there were many unknowns in the early stage of the outbreak and that it took time to gather evidence and figure out the characteristics of the new virus.
June 7, 2020 7:20 am
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is cautioning people in countries emerging from coronavirus lockdowns to keep following authorities’ rules for COVID-19 containment. “Be careful, don’t cry victory, don’t cry victory too soon,” he said Sunday. Italy’s gradual easing of stay-at-home rules now allows the public to gather in St. Peter’s Square on Sundays for the pope’s noon blessing, and Francis was clearly delighted to see several hundred people gathered in the square below his window, standing safely either individually or as families. Francis told the faithful to “follow the rules, they are rules that help us to avoid the virus getting ahead” again. “Thank God, we’re slowly coming out” from the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
June 7, 2020 7:18 am
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A small group of demonstrators toppled a statue of a Confederate general in the former capital of the Confederacy late Saturday, following a day of largely peaceful protests in the Virginia city. The statue of Gen. Williams Carter Wickham was pulled from its pedestal in Monroe Park, a Richmond police spokeswoman said. She said she did not know if there were any arrests or damage done to the statue. A rope had been tied around the Confederate statue, which has stood since 1891, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, adding that someone urinated on the statue after it was pulled down. Photos and video from the newspaper showed what appeared to be red paint splashed or sprayed on the statue.
