April 7, 2020 2:00 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A federal judge has rejected a bid by the suspect in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting to have the death penalty removed as a potential sentencing option. Lawyers for Robert Bowers argued that capital punishment is unconstitutional. Senior District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose says in rulings Monday that courts have consistently upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty. Bowers is charged with killing 11 congregants at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. He has pleaded not guilty. No trial date has been set.
April 6, 2020 4:29 pm
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – A nursing home patient with underlying health conditions has become the third person to die from the new coronavirus in West Virginia. The Department of Health and Human Resources says the 76-year-old man was a resident of the Sundale nursing home in Morgantown, where 21 residents and eight staff members tested positive for the virus. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has tightened restrictions on people in Monongalia County and five other counties in the state to try to curb coronavirus hotspots. Three of those counties are in the eastern panhandle. The state’s two other deaths involved an 88-year-old woman from Marion County and a Jackson County resident with several underlying health issues.
April 6, 2020 8:39 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City has tested positive for the new coronavirus. It’s believed to be the first infection in an animal in the U.S. and the first known in a tiger anywhere. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Sunday that the 4-year-old Malayan tiger, and six other tigers and lions that have also fallen ill, are believed to have been infected by a zoo employee. The zoo says all the animals are expected to recover. Zoo officials say the test was different from the one used for people and was carried out by a veterinary school laboratory.
April 6, 2020 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly says the captain of the COVID-stricken aircraft carrier who was fired last week had betrayed his service and may have been “too naive or too stupid” to be commanding officer of the ship. Officials are confirming that Modly made the comments Sunday to the ship’s crew in Guam. The handling of the coronavirus crisis aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt has become an escalating crisis for the Navy. Last week Modly relieved Capt. Brett E. Crozier of command of the ship, saying he had used poor judgment in widely distributing a note pleading for an urgent evacuation of the crew.
April 6, 2020 4:13 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The steep rise in coronavirus deaths in New York appears to leveling off in a faint glimmer of hope in the nation’s epicenter,the governor said Monday, warning residents they must continue to adhere to social distancing and lockdown measures that have likely slowed the virus in Italy, Spain and France. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the number of new people entering hospitals daily has dropped, as have the number of critically ill patients who require ventilators. Recent data suggests the state could be at or near the peak. That’s why it’s critical to keep to the restrictions, he said, ordering schools and non-essential businesses closed until the end of the month, and lambasted New Yorkers out in parks over the weekend.
April 6, 2020 4:12 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Grocery workers across the globe are working the frontlines during lockdowns meant to keep the coronavirus from spreading. Their stores are deemed essential, and their work puts them close to the public and therefore at risk. Often in low-wage jobs, the workers have earned praise from Pope Francis and former U.S. President Barack Obama. But with infection and death rates climbing, workers are demanding better pay, protections and access to testing. Some major chains like Kroger and Walmart are providing bonuses and protective gear. But that doesn’t always alleviate workers’ fears, especially when customers don’t practice social distancing.
April 6, 2020 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The ousted inspector general of the intelligence community says he is “disappointed and saddened” that President Donald Trump has fired him. Michael Atkinson is also encouraging other inspectors general to continue to speak out when they are aware of wrongdoing. Trump has notified Congress that he’s firing Atkinson because he has lost confidence in him. The president later connected the firing to Atkinson having forwarded a whistleblower complaint to Congress that led to the president’s impeachment. In a statement Sunday, Atkinson said it’s hard not to think that Trump’s loss of confidence derives from him having faithfully discharged his legal obligations as an independent and impartial inspector general.
April 6, 2020 4:10 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Americans are bracing for what the nation’s top doctor warns would be “the hardest and saddest week” of their lives due to an expected wave of coronavirus deaths to come. Britain assumed the unwelcome mantle of deadliest coronavirus hot spot in Europe after a record 24-hour jump in deaths that surpassed even hard-hit Italy’s. Its own prime minister, Boris Johnson, was hospitalized, 10 days after testing positive for COVID-19 in what his office described as a “precautionary step.” There were glimmers of hope, though, for some hard-hit areas as the number of people dying appeared to be slowing in New York City, Spain and Italy. Leaders still cautioned that those gains could be reversed if strict lockdowns weren’t followed.
April 6, 2020 4:09 am
LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved to the intensive care unit of a London hospital after his coronavirus symptoms worsened. Johnson’s office says Johnson is conscious and does not require ventilation at the moment. Johnson was admitted to St. Thomas’ Hospital late Sunday, 10 days after he was diagnosed with COVID-19. Johnson has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputize for him. “Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital,” his office said in a statement.
April 6, 2020 4:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Tens of thousands of U.S. medical workers are suddenly out of work as casualties of measures to prioritize coronavirus patients at hospitals and of the economic troubles the crisis is creating. Hospitals are plucking professionals from the industry to treat the burgeoning numbers of people with COVID-19, but others are being left behind. Many nurse anesthetists in Pennsylvania have been laid off, though they are particularly critical to the coronavirus response. Big-city specialist groups, tiny hospitals and big multistate systems are seeing big revenue dropoffs. Minnesota reported that over 13,600 practitioners or technicians filed unemployment claims in the last half of March.
