April 8, 2020 4:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s removal of a watchdog tasked with overseeing how his administration spends the $2.2 trillion coronavirus rescue package is his latest challenge of an inspector general community asked to be impartial, above politics and independent of the White House. Trump has fired one inspector general tied to his impeachment, castigated another he felt was overly critical of the coronavirus response and sidelined a third meant to safeguard against wasteful spending of funds for businesses and people in economic distress. The actions have sent shock waves across the close-knit network of watchdog officials in the government.
April 8, 2020 4:00 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York state recorded 731 new coronavirus deaths, marking its biggest one-day jump in the outbreak. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday the state’s death toll since the beginning of the outbreak is now 5,489. More people have now died from the coronavirus in New York City than perished in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. At least 4,009 people have been killed in the city by the virus, according to state officials. The deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil killed 2,753 people in the city. The alarming death number comes even as new hospital admissions have dropped compared to last week. Cuomo said the latest death tally reflects critically ill people hospitalized before this week.
April 8, 2020 3:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering changing its guidelines for self-isolation to make it easier for those who have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus to return to work if they are asymptomatic. The public health agency and the White House are considering an announcement as soon as Wednesday. Under the proposed guidance, people who are exposed to someone infected would be allowed back on the job if they are asymptomatic, test their temperature twice a day and wear a face mask. That’s according to person familiar with the proposal who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the draft had not been finalized.
April 8, 2020 3:48 am
The Service Employees International Union Local 668 hosted a press conference to alert members that in this Covid-19 pandemic, much more needs to be done to protect workers in all industries that the union represents. Steve Catanese, President of SEIU Local 668 led off stating that protections of all sorts are still falling short. Zack Perkins a County Assistance Case Worker in Delaware and Montgomery Counties is currently in self quarantine and described how in person interviews were being conducted without personal protective equipment and social distancing. Lesa Ramper, a Child Welfare Worker from Blair County is still looking for her superiors to provide PPE so that she can feel safe in her duties. Shawn Domenico, an Allegheny County Unemployment Counselor appreciates the guidelines supplied from the state and county, but looks for follow up to make sure that guidelines provided are being practiced and suggestions for improvements can be made. In all, Catanese summed up the union’s feelings that no employer should spare any expense in providing adequate physical protection with PPE and all employers should do better in implementing practices of social distancing. Catanese states that if the union and its limited budget can host a teleconference for its members, the state and other employers should be able to figure out a way to limit person to person contact and still perform the daily tasks needed.
April 8, 2020 2:48 am
(WPXI) – The roof of a church in New Kensington was torn off as powerful storms with intense winds ripped through the area early Wednesday morning. Debris was tossed onto the ground outside St. Mary of Czestochowa church on Kenneth Avenue as its roof was ripped apart. All five of New Kensington’s fire companies responded to the church about 2:30 a.m., according to a Facebook post from New Kensington Fire Department Company 2. Firefighters put down salvage covers inside the church’s sanctuary and checked utilities while a collapse zone was established in the event of further damage, officials said. St. Mary’s was one of many buildings that were assessed for wind damage, officials said. A couple blocks away from the church, a three-car garage on the roof of Baron Industries collapsed. New Kensington Fire Department Company 2’s Facebook post said its crew was also called for a tree that fell and damaged multiple vehicles, a sidewalk and a utility pole.
April 7, 2020 5:53 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has removed the inspector general who was to chair a special oversight board of the $2.2 trillion rescue package for businesses and individuals affected by the coronavirus. That’s according to officials and a Defense Department email reviewed by The Associated Press on Tuesday. Glenn Fine is the acting Defense Department inspector general. He was selected last month for the oversight position. But Trump has instead nominated a replacement inspector general at the Pentagon. He’s also appointed an acting one to serve in Fine’s place. That means that Fine will no longer serve on the oversight board.
April 7, 2020 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is disputing the veracity of a federal survey that found hospitals face severe shortages of coronavirus test supplies, the president questioning whether its conclusions are skewed by politics. With coronavirus cases rocketing toward their expected peak, the nonpartisan Health and Human Services inspector general’s office reported Monday that a shortage of tests and long waits for results are at the root of mounting problems for hospitals. It found that 3 out of 4 U.S. hospitals surveyed are already treating patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. Investigators say problems such as lagging testing are feeding off each other in a vicious cycle.
April 7, 2020 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Federal Reserve says it will support the government’s $349 billion small business lending program, which had a rocky start Friday. The Fed said Monday that it will purchase loans that banks make to small businesses as part of the program. The lending facility, carried out by banks and the Small Business Administration, was set up under the $2.2 trillion economic relief package. The loans can be forgiven if they are spent on payroll, to encourage firms to keep paying their employees or rehire workers they may have recently laid off.
April 7, 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 7, 2020 4:07 am
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Thousands of Wisconsin voters are waiting hours in line to cast ballots and the National Guard is staffing overcrowded polling stations. This is straining the state’s ability to hold Tuesday’s presidential primary election in the grip of an escalating pandemic. At the same time, many voters said they did not receive their requested absentee ballots and, unwilling to violate a stay-at-home order to vote in person, accepted their votes would not be counted. The chaos in Wisconsin underscores the lengths to which the coronavirus outbreak has upended politics as Democrats seek a nominee to take on President Donald Trump this fall. (Photo: CNN)
