April 26, 2020 7:51 am
ATLANTA (AP) — As the global death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 200,000 on Saturday, countries took cautious steps toward easing lockdowns imposed amid the pandemic, but fears of a surge in infections made even some outbreak-wounded businesses reluctant to reopen. The states of Georgia, Oklahoma and Alaska started loosening restrictions on businesses despite warnings from experts that such steps might be premature. Shawn Gingrich, CEO and founder of Lion’s Den Fitness, decided after the Georgia governor’s announcement that his Atlanta gym would remain closed for now. “We’ve sacrificed so much already,” Gingrich said. “I feel like if we do this too soon, we’ll see a spike in cases and we’re back to square one.” Others were eager to get back to business, with precautions. Russ Anderson, who owns four tattoo studios in south Georgia, said he “couldn’t get up out of my chair quick enough” when restrictions were lifted. His main shop served 50 or 60 customers Friday when it reopened, with customers and tattoo artists wearing masks, he said. The worldwide death toll was over 202,000, according to a count by John Hopkins University from government figures. The actual death toll is believed to be far higher.
April 26, 2020 7:48 am
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Shrieks of joy rang out Sunday in the streets of Spain as children were allowed to leave their homes for the first time in six weeks, while residents of Italy and France were eager to hear their leaders’ plans on easing some of the world’s strictest coronavirus lockdown. The sound of children shouting and the rattle of bikes on the pavement after the 44-day seclusion of Spain’s youngest citizens offered the first taste of a gradual return to normal life in the country that has the second-highest number of confirmed infections behind the United States. “This is wonderful! I can’t believe it has been six weeks,” Susana Sabaté, a mother of 3-year-old twin boys, said in Barcelona. “My boys are very active. Today when they saw the front door and we gave them their scooters, they were thrilled.”
April 26, 2020 7:46 am
DETROIT (AP) — Cindy Parkhurst could have stayed home collecting most of her pay while the Ford plant where she normally works remains closed due to coronavirus fears. Instead, she along with hundreds of workers at Ford, General Motors, Toyota and other companies has gone back to work to make face shields, surgical masks and ventilators in a wartime-like effort to stem shortages of protective gear and equipment. All over the country, blue-collar and salaried workers have raised their hands to make medical equipment as companies repurpose factories to answer calls for help from beleaguered nurses, doctors and paramedics who are treating patients with the highly contagious virus. Workers also are making soap and hand sanitizer, which early in the crisis were in short supply.
April 26, 2020 7:45 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — They long for what’s being lost: the ability to publicly question officials at committee hearings, to chat across the aisle, to speak from the House and Senate floor for all of America, and history, to hear. Congress wants its voice back. With no real plan to reopen Capitol Hill any time soon, the coronavirus shutdown poses an existential crisis that’s pushing Congress ever so reluctantly toward the 21st-century option of remote legislating from home. Divisions are fierce, but so too is the sense of what is being lost. Every day lawmakers shelter at home, their public role is being visibly diminished. While they are approving record sums of virus aid, they are ceding authority to oversee the effort and tackle next steps.
April 26, 2020 7:43 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A train likely belonging to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been parked at his compound on the country’s east coast since last week, satellite imagery showed, amid speculation about his health that has been caused, in part, by a long period out of the public eye. The satellite photos released by 38 North, a website specializing in North Korea studies, don’t say anything about Kim’s potential health problems, and they echo South Korean government intelligence that Kim is staying outside of the capital, Pyongyang. Seoul has also repeatedly indicated that there have been no unusual signs that could indicate health problems for Kim. That hasn’t stopped growing unconfirmed rumors and media reports about Kim’s health that have emerged since he missed an April 15 commemoration of the 108th birthday of his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Un is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, and he hadn’t missed the April 15 event, one of the year’s most important for the North, since assuming power after his father Kim Jong Il’s death in late 2011. Kim’s health is of crucial importance because of worries that the serious illness or death of a leader venerated with near godlike passion by millions of North Koreans could cause instability in the impoverished, nuclear-armed country. Many experts in South Korea downplayed speculation that Kim is seriously ill. They also said North Korea won’t likely face a serious immediate turmoil even if Kim is incapacitated or dies because someone else like his influential sister Kim Yo Jong will quickly step in, though the prospect for the North’s long-term political future would be unclear.
April 26, 2020 7:38 am
GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania woman awaiting sentencing on felony convictions of helping her cousin evade capture following a police officer’s slaying has been released from custody to ensure the safety of her unborn child amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Tribune-Review reports that 33-year-old Lisa Harrington appeared via video at a hearing Friday and a judge ruled that she will be allowed to live with her husband and three children until six weeks after she undergoes a C-section in June. Judge Rita Hathaway said she would consider jail a safe environment but for the defendant’s “high-risk pregnancy.” Defense attorney Adam Gorzelsky said that since his client’s incarceration last month, she has been diagnosed with the flu, has been hospitalized with pneumonia and has gestational diabetes. Harrington had been held without bond following her conviction last month on charges of hindering apprehension, evidence-tampering and a firearms offense. Her sentencing hearing will be scheduled six weeks after the birth of her child. Prosecutors said she drove 31-year-old Rahmael Holt out of town after the November 2017 slaying of New Kensington officer Brian Shaw and then disposed of the suspected murder weapon. Harrington denied the accusations at trial. Prosecutors have said Holt was an armed drug dealer who had planned to rob the driver of a sport utility vehicle that Shaw attempted to stop in Old Kensington. Holt said he wasn’t the person who fired. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in February.
April 26, 2020 4:28 am
Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, Inc. filed a request with the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission for a rate hike. The revised rates would go to upgrades and replacement of the company’s underground pipelines. The company is asking for an increase of $100.4 million annually. Residential customers could see an increase of 17.84 percent. If the rate increase is approved, it will not go into effect until 2021. Columbia Gas says this is the first request for a rate increase in over two years.
April 25, 2020 9:28 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Nearly two months after ending his presidential campaign, Mike Bloomberg is again deploying his massive personal fortune – this time to combat the coronavirus. The billionaire businessman is spending tens of millions on a variety of local and international initiatives aimed at halting the spread of the virus and supporting first responders. Bloomberg allies say his efforts are a reflection of Bloomberg’s unique strengths as a business leader with a vast political network. But they’re also helping the former New York City mayor rehabilitate his image after an embarrassing finish in the Democratic presidential primary.
April 25, 2020 9:26 am
MOSCOW (AP) – An unmanned Russian cargo capsule has docked with the International Space Station, bringing more than two tons of supplies to the three-person crew. The Progress spacecraft docked at 0512 GMT Saturday, about 3 1/2 hours after blasting off from Russia’s Baikonur launch complex in Kazakhstan. The ship carried fuel, water, food, medicine and other supplies. There are three astronauts aboard the space station: Russia’s Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner and Chris Cassidy of the United States.
April 25, 2020 9:22 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) – The Mexican government says it plans to reopen automotive factories in conjunction with the United States and Canada. The Foreign Relations Department said Friday the details of the plan will be released in the coming days. The department says health safeguards will be in place to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, which caused Mexico to order the closure of non-essential plants several weeks ago. The announcement comes three days after the U.S. government launched a campaign to get Mexico to reopen plants, suggesting the supply chain of the North America free trade zone could be permanently affected if they didn’t.
