April 22, 2020 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Congress is sprinting to approve a $483 billion coronavirus aid package. The deal backed by the White House would replenish a small-business payroll fund and pump more money into hospitals and testing programs. President Donald Trump is urging swift passage this week. The bill is Washington’s fourth in response to the crisis, but it’s not expected to be the last. Lawmakers are taking unprecedented steps to confront the virus and prop up communities nationwide during the health crisis. The Senate approved the package Tuesday. The House is asking lawmakers to return for a Thursday vote.
April 22, 2020 4:14 am
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says it has launched a military satellite into orbit amid wider tensions with the U.S. The Guard made the announcement on Wednesday morning on its official website. It said the two-stage satellite launch took off from Iran’s Central Desert, without elaborating. It called the launch “a great achievement.” The launch comes amid tensions between Tehran and Washington over its collapsing nuclear deal and after a U.S. drone strike killed Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in January. Iran has suffered several failed satellite launches in recent months.
April 22, 2020 4:12 am
PITTSBURGH — UPMC officials say they will begin testing all patients who enter for elective procedures and will test all employees who are showing coronavirus symptoms. The system has the capacity to test 600 patients a day and often has results back in less than six hours. Officials said there is enough PPE to keep employees and patients safe. UPMC doctors said during the event that their data is showing a slowed rate of infection and that the area is on the opposite side of what was supposed to be the worst period of the pandemic. Officials said coronavirus patients are currently using eight percent of ICU beds and about seven percent of their available ventilators. There are no pediatric coronavirus patients in the UPMC system. UPMC officials said the hospital system includes 5,500 beds among 40 different hospitals and COVID-19 patients make up just 2 percent of their capacity.
April 22, 2020 4:01 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – A woman is suing the federal government over the 2018 death of her husband from a wrongful insulin injection at a West Virginia veterans hospital. Norma Shaw’s lawsuit is the second one filed against Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie in the past month involving the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg. Both suits allege a widespread system of failures at the hospital. Shaw filed the federal lawsuit Monday in the death of her husband, George Nelson Shaw Sr., an 81-year-old retired member of the Air Force. Federal prosecutors have said they’re probing the deaths of up to 11 patients at the hospital.
April 21, 2020 10:36 am
This year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee has been canceled after organizers concluded there was “no clear path to safely set a new date in 2020” because of the coronavirus pandemic. The decision means kids who are in eighth grade this year will miss their final opportunity to compete in the national finals. Scripps will not change eligibility requirements for next year’s bee, which is scheduled for June 1-3, 2021. The bee has always been open to kids through the eighth grade. The bee had only previously been canceled between 1943-45 because of World War II. The first Scripps bee was held in 1925.
April 21, 2020 9:37 am
DETROIT (AP) – Subaru is recalling just over 200,000 cars and SUVs in the U.S. and Canada because fuel pumps can fail and cause engines to stall. The recall covers certain 2019 Impreza, Outback, Legacy, and Ascent vehicles. Subaru says in government documents that the low pressure fuel pump can stop working properly. Engines could lose power while the vehicles are being driven. The engines also might not start or they could run rough. The documents say Subaru has no reports of crashes or injuries. Dealers will replace the low pressure fuel pump at no cost to owners starting June 5.
April 21, 2020 9:29 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate has approved a nearly $500 billion coronavirus aid bill after Congress reached an agreement with President Donald Trump. The measure would replenish a small business rescue program, provide hospitals with another $75 billion, and implement a nationwide virus testing program to facilitate reopening the economy. Trump has announced his support, saying he’ll sign the bill if it passes both chambers. The package now goes to the House. Most of the funding, more than $300 billion, would go to boost a small-business payroll loan program that ran out of money last week.
April 21, 2020 8:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says he’ll sign an executive order “to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States” because of the coronavirus. National security adviser Robert O’Brien says the move is about protecting Americans’ health and livelihood. O’Brien on Tuesday cast a temporary immigration ban as similar to the restrictions on travel to the U.S. from China that Trump put in place in January. O’Brien says the administration believes those restrictions saved lives. Almost all visa processing by the State Department, including immigrant visas, has already been suspended due to the pandemic. Trump offered no details late Monday about which immigration programs might be affected by the executive order.
April 21, 2020 4:19 am
In what is becoming the new norm for governing bodies, the Chartiers Houston School Board met virtually for the first time. Agenda items were routine. The school board did agree to partner with the Allegheny Health Network for a new scoreboard in the football/soccer stadium. Superintendent John George answered questions from parents about grades, last school day and graduation. George stated that grades will still be letter based and any changes will be communicated to parents. The last day of school is still up in the air. It is currently scheduled for June 5. It could run as late as June 11. George is looking for more clarity from the state to make sure students will fulfill needed requirements. The prom is scheduled for June 17. Graduation Day is still in flux. Currently it is June 5, but it could also be scheduled for July 3 or July 31. George described steps taken to overcome technology issues. He says the school district distributed nearly 100 devices, some students do lack internet coverage and hot spots were issued. Intermittent problems with Comcast’s coverage were also addressed by the technology department. Finally, George went on to compliment the teachers, cafeteria workers, and administrative staff for their hard work to get the remote learning program running. He said he could not be prouder of everyone associated with the Chartiers Houston School District.
April 21, 2020 4:15 am
TORONTO (AP) – Canadian police say they believe there are at least 22 victims in the weekend attack by a gunman in rural communities across Nova Scotia. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Tuesday they have recovered remains from some of the locations of fires the suspect set. Earlier in the day, a young man said his his grandparents were missing and believed dead after their log cabin was set ablaze. It was not immediately clear, however, if the remains police said had been found Tuesday included those of Justin Zahl’s grandparents.
