April 24, 2022 8:06 am
UNDATED (AP) – Facing a rise in COVID-19, several U.S. universities are reinstating mask mandates, sometimes just days after dropping them. Mandates were shed widely in the wake of spring break as case numbers dropped following a winter surge fueled by the omicron variant. But several Northeast cities have seen a rise in hospitalizations in recent weeks, as the BA.2 subvariant of the omicron variant continues to rapidly spread throughout the country The clampdown means the end of the school year has been upended by the virus for three straight academic years. Soon-to-be seniors haven’t had a normal school year yet. (Photo: AP)
April 24, 2022 8:04 am
UNDATED (AP) – Many Ukrainian Americans are observing Orthodox Easter this Sunday, but they’re finding it difficult to be joyful when their ancestral homeland has been torn by the Russian invasion. The Rev. Richard Jendras of St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Allentown, Pennsylvania, said this should be a joyous holiday. But he noted that this year, it coincides with grim news from the war zone of death and destruction. Yet he said it’s important to affirm that “good does triumph” over evil. Eastern Orthodox often celebrate Easter later than Western churches because they use a different method to calculate its date. (Photo: ABC News)
April 24, 2022 8:03 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Gov. Jim Justice has announced that the West Virginia National Guard will send armored personnel carriers for Ukraine to use against Russian aggression. According to a news release, Justice says an “an undisclosed number” of M-113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine following a request from the Department of Defense. The vehicles are used to move soldiers and equipment while providing protection from small arms fire. Earlier this year, Justice ordered the state to stop the purchase and sale of liquor produced in Russia. The Republican governor also asked the West Virginia Retailers Association to remove Russian liquor from their shelves.
April 24, 2022 7:00 am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Orrin G. Hatch, who became the longest-serving Republican senator in history who was a fixture in Utah politics for more than four decades, died Saturday at age 88. His death was announced in a statement from his foundation, which did not specify a cause. He launched the Hatch Foundation as he retired in 2019 and was replaced by Republican Mitt Romney. A staunch conservative on economic and social issues, he also teamed with Democrats several times during his long career on issues ranging from stem cell research to rights for people with disabilities to expanding children’s health insurance. He also championed GOP issues like abortion limits and helped shape the U.S. Supreme Court. (Photo: ABC News)
April 24, 2022 7:00 am
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AP) – An Air Force major general in Ohio has been convicted by a military judge of one of three specifications of abusive sexual contact in the first-ever military trial of an Air Force general. The charge faced by Maj. Gen. William Cooley during the weeklong court martial at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio had three specifications, one alleging a forcible kiss and two alleging forcible touching. Cooley was convicted Saturday of the forcible kissing specification but acquitted of the other two. An Air Force official said he could face as much as seven years in jail when he is sentenced Monday.
April 23, 2022 11:37 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – An advisor to Ukraine’s presidential office says Russian forces are trying to storm a steel plant that is the last defense stronghold in the strategic port city of Mariupol. The reported assault came after the Kremlin claimed its military had seized all of Mariupol except for the seaside plant. Earlier Saturday, a Ukrainian military unit released a video of women and children holed up underground there and saying they longed to see the sun. On the eve of Orthodox Easter, Russia’s military pounded other cities and towns in southern and eastern Ukraine. Officials reported that cruise missiles hit the Black Sea port city of Odesa, killing five people.
April 23, 2022 4:22 am
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Rio de Janeiro’s samba schools have begun putting on this year’s delayed Carnival parades, the first after a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19-pandemic. The schools’ colorful floats and flamboyant dancers began entering the Sambadrome grounds late Friday to parade before tens of thousands of fans on the first evening of the two-night spectacle. Rio’s Sambadrome has been home to the parade since the 1980s, and is a symbol of Brazil’s Carnival festivities. During the pandemic, it was a shelter for more than 400 homeless people and also served as a vaccination station. Sao Paulo also kicked off its Carnival parade Friday evening. Both cities put off this year’s parades for two months due to concerns about the proliferation of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. (Photo: AP)
April 23, 2022 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – At least four people were shot when a gunman unleashed a flurry of bullets in the nation’s capital Friday. The hail of gunfire led to lockdowns at several schools and left a community on edge before the suspect was found dead hours later. The suspected gunman was found dead inside an apartment at the scene after Metropolitan Police Department officers conducted door-to-door searches of buildings in the area. Police believe the man had a “sniper-type setup” with a tripod and rifle in his apartment and began firing indiscriminately at people walking below. The shooting was recorded and posted online on 4chan, an online message board. The four victims are all expected to recover.
April 23, 2022 4:16 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A fired Philadelphia police officer has been arrested on aggravated assault and other charges in the beating of a mother who was violently pulled from her SUV by police after she accidentally drove into a scene of civil unrest between police and protesters with her 2-year-old son in the car. The interaction between Rickia Young and more than a dozen officers during the October 27, 2020 protests that followed the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace, Jr.- a Black man in mental health crisis- was recorded by at least one witness on their cellphone. Darren Kardos, 42, was one of two officers fired over the incident and the first to face charges.
April 23, 2022 4:12 am
The Greene County Board of Elections announced Friday that voters in the county should be aware of unsolicited direct mail that may be coming to mailboxes starting Monday, April 25. Two political advocacy groups–Voter Participation Center and Center for Voter Information–will be sending direct mailings, which will include voter registration applications or mail ballot applications. The Board of Elections advises that the mailings are not affiliated with the Board and the responsibility for their accuracy rests with those advocacy groups. The Board of Elections also noted that to be removed from the mailing lists, residents need to contact the organization by phone or email with a code listed on the bottom of the letters; the Board of Elections cannot remove people from the mailing lists.
