May 20, 2020 2:19 am
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger released a video this week, showing him throwing a ball with teammates and then receiving a trim from a barber that Roethlisberger said would have to wait until he could make legit NFL throws following right elbow surgery. That video, of the haircut, drew the ire of Governor Tom Wolf. Roethlisberger visited a barber shop in Allegheny County and those businesses have not been cleared to reopen in that region yet. “My concern is just a general concern,” Wolf said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Anybody who puts himself or herself into harm’s way is something that I think we ought to try to avoid. And when you go to something like a barbershop and you’re not protected, I don’t care who you are, the chances of that virus actually wreaking havoc on your life increases. I don’t personally think any Pennsylvanian ought to take that chance and I certainly don’t want to take that chance myself.” Wolf did not say if any action would be taken against the barber shop that Roethlisberger visited after throwing to JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner and Ryan Switzer. (Photo: TMZ)
May 19, 2020 10:46 am
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Annie Glenn, the widow of astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn and a communication disorders advocate, has died. She was 100. Hank Wilson, a spokesman for the Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University, says Glenn died Tuesday of COVID-19 complications at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minnesota. After her husband became the first American to orbit Earth in 1962, Glenn shied away from the media spotlight because of a severe stutter. An intensive program helped her to control her speech and do public speaking. She served on the advisory boards of numerous child abuse and speech and hearing organizations.
May 19, 2020 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham is scheduling a vote that would allow him to subpoena more than 50 current and former officials who were involved in the Justice Department’s investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. President Donald Trump and his allies have launched a broad, election-year attack on the investigation as a “deep state” conspiracy. The list of people Graham wants to subpoena includes former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan.
May 19, 2020 4:19 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Fox News Channel’s Neil Cavuto urged the network’s viewers not to follow President Donald Trump’s example and take an anti-malaria drug as a protection against the coronavirus. Trump had revealed at a news conference that he had been taking the drug hydroxychloroquine to ward off the virus, despite the warnings of medical researchers that it has potentially fatal side effects. Cavuto, who has multiple sclerosis and other health issues, says people in vulnerable health should not follow the president’s example. Trump complained on Twitter Monday night that Fox News “is no longer the same.”
May 19, 2020 4:17 am
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) – A video released Monday shows police in Georgia attempting to search Ahmaud Arbery’s parked car in 2017 and when he refuses to let them and begins to walk back to the vehicle an officer tries to tase him. The video, first obtained by The Guardian, shows Arbery refusing Glynn County police when they ask to search his Toyota and as he walks toward his vehicle he is told “keep your hands out your pockets.” The officer then pulls the taser and attempts to use it but it malfunctions. Arbery was killed Feb. 23 after a pursuit by a white father and son who armed themselves and gave chase after seeing the 25-year-old black man running in their subdivision.
May 19, 2020 4:15 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Pier 1, the seller of wicker chairs and scented candles, said it will go out of business and permanently close all 540 of its stores. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company said Tuesday that it was unable to find a buyer for its business after filing for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. It will start going-out-of-business sales as soon as it can reopen stores that have been temporarily shut due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pier 1 has struggled to compete with online retailers like Wayfair and Amazon, which sell sofas and coffee tables at a lower price and are delivered to doorsteps quickly.
May 19, 2020 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House is scrambling to defend President Donald Trump’s decision to take a malaria drug he’s been touting as a treatment for the coronavirus. He’s making himself an example for use of the drug, and that’s drawing criticism from some health experts as well as Democratic leaders. Trump says he’s been taking hydroxychloroquine and a zinc supplement daily for a week and a half. However, the government says the drug should only be administered for COVID-19 in a hospital or research setting due to potentially fatal side effects. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells CNN she would rather Trump not be taking something that hasn’t been approved by scientists, citing his age and calling the president “morbidly obese.”
May 19, 2020 4:09 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s once-delayed spring primary in about two weeks will feature legislative and congressional races, a first run for some new paper-record voting systems and the first use of newly legalized mail-in ballots. Voter registration was ending Monday for the June 2 primary. The latest figures show Pennsylvanians embracing a new vote-by-mail system. More than 1 million Pennsylvania voters have requested mail-in ballots, including 700,000 Democrats and 310,000 Republicans. Those who vote in person will see the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the form of social distancing guidelines and fewer polling places. State election officials are urging people to check online to see whether their precincts have been moved or consolidated.
May 19, 2020 4:08 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – With the Memorial Day holiday weekend approaching, Gov. Tom Wolf is questioning the wisdom of beach-going, even as governors in other states reopen their beaches despite worries that the coronavirus outbreak could surge again. Beaches up and down the East Coast will be open this weekend, albeit with social-distance guidance coming from state and local officials. Wolf, however, took a dim view Monday of beach-going while the virus is spreading. He said he wouldn’t go to the beach and that he’s not sure why the governors of Maryland and New Jersey opened their beaches. Governors in New York and Delaware are also reopening beaches.
May 19, 2020 4:02 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Armstrong County Coroner posted on Facebook claiming the total number of deaths in the county had been inflated by the Department of Health. According to the post, the state had been reporting six COVID-19 deaths when the coroner said the number should have been two. Brian Myers posted; “Where and how they came up with this number is unknown to me. The correct number for Armstrong County is two,” the post said. “As to their motives behind inflating the numbers, I haven’t a clue. However, I am positive that other counties are in the same position.” The Department of Health has not responded.
