March 31, 2022 4:56 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Lawmakers have moved to the brink of clinching a bipartisan compromise to provide a fresh $10 billion to combat COVID-19. That could set up final congressional approval next week. The price tag was a reduction from an earlier $15.6 billion compromise that fell apart weeks ago after House Democrats rejected cuts in pandemic aid to states to help pay for it. Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney is a lead negotiator and he says bargainers had reach an agreement in principle on a package that would be completely paid for. The new money would be to purchase vaccines, treatments and tests, which the administration says are running low, even as the more transmissible omicron variant BA.2 spreads.
March 31, 2022 8:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs remain at historic lows. Jobless claims rose by 14,000 to 202,000 for the week ending March 26, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week’s tally of 188,000 claims was the fewest since 1969. First-time applications for jobless aid generally track the pace of layoffs. The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell to 208,500 from 212,000 the previous week. In total, 1,307,000 Americans were collecting jobless aid for the week ending March 19, the fewest since December 1969.
March 31, 2022 4:15 am
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has signed a bill to authorize the state’s largest teacher pay raise in a generation. Legislative records show the Republican signed it Wednesday. Starting July 1, teachers will receive an average increase of about $5,100. That’s a jump of more than 10% over their current pay. Teachers’ assistants will receive $2,000 raises. Mississippi has some of the lowest teacher salaries in the nation. Lawmakers and the governor say increasing the pay could help Mississippi attract and retain classroom professionals. Longtime teacher Suzanne Smith of Grenada says the pay raise will make a huge difference for lots of educators.
March 31, 2022 4:14 am
Severe storms packing isolated tornadoes and high winds are racing across the Deep South, leaving scattered damages to buildings and homes in their path. The storm front spans several states and has been blamed for spinning off at least two confirmed tornadoes earlier Wednesday that left injuries elsewhere. High winds overturned semitrailers in Louisiana, toppled large trees in Mississippi and damaged a hotel in downtown Nashville. Senate lawmakers in Mississippi briefly suspended work when weather sirens blasted during a tornado warning Wednesday. Elsewhere, a warehouse roof collapsed as the storms moved through Southaven, Mississippi, near Memphis. But police said the warehouse had been evacuated and no injuries were reported there.
March 31, 2022 4:13 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear power company says Russian forces have begun leaving the damaged Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The operator says the exit comes after soldiers got “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches at the highly contaminated site. The move came as fighting continued near Kyiv and other zones. There are indications the Kremlin is using talk of de-escalation as cover while regrouping and resupplying its forces and redeploying them for a stepped-up offensive in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says defense forces are preparing for a stepped-up Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine.
March 31, 2022 4:11 am
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) – Authorities say a student has been shot at a South Carolina middle school and taken to the hospital. The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office says the shooter is another student who was taken into custody hiding outside Tanglewood Middle School a short time after the Thursday afternoon shooting. School officials say they do not know the condition of the student who was shot. Other students at the school were being taken to a nearby church where parents could pick them up. Deputies say they haven’t figured out what led to the shooting.
March 31, 2022 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is ordering the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve for six months in a bid to control energy prices. Biden says it’s not known how much gasoline prices could decline as a result of his move, but he’s suggesting it might be “anything from 10 cents to 35 cents a gallon.” Gas is averaging about $4.23 a gallon, compared with $2.87 a year ago, according to AAA. Prices have spiked as the U.S. and allies have imposed steep sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Biden also is calling out oil companies that he says are focused on profits instead of putting out more barrels.
March 31, 2022 4:07 am
Pennsylvania United States Senate Candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz brought his Dose of Reality Tour to Comtech Industries in Canonsburg to discuss the nation’s energy policies. Joining Oz in the middle of the electric transformer factory was former Secretary of Energy and Governor of Texas Rick Perry, Founder of Continental Resources Howard Hamm and President and CEO of EQT Corporation Toby Rice. Oz addressed the crowd of about 150 people by explaining his view of how Russian President Vladimir Putin used energy as a weapon and gained control over Europe. Hamm spoke of policy changes needed to make the United States the most dominant energy producer of the world. He wants to restore permitting and leasing of gas development on federal lands. He is also calling for policies to create stability in the gas markets to allow private companies to develop infrastructure to deliver natural gas throughout the world. Perry is calling for the increased export of American gas to Europe and India to eliminate coal fired generation plants as a way to better effect climate change. Finally, Rice stated that increasing gas production in the United States by 50 BCF per day would have the environmental impact equivalent to electrifying every US vehicle, putting solar panels on every American home and adding 54,000 industrial scale windmills combined. All three energy experts called the use of natural gas the biggest green initiative on the planet.
March 31, 2022 4:04 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Washington Health System celebrated a much-needed milestone last week, the first day with no COVID cases since the summer of 2021. “Last week was the first day we had zero COVID-related patients in-house, in the system for about eight months, going back to July 2021,” said Dr. John Six, Chief Medical Officer at Washington Hospital. The critical care unit turned into the COVID unit, and has retained almost every member of the nursing team despite a very challenging two years. “We were stressed out, I will be honest about that,” said Dr. Abhishek Sharma, a critical care physician with Washington Health System. “It was hard to cope, but I’m glad that we held it together as a team.” Sharma says the medical team worked long hours and late nights, and saw a lot of tragic loss of life. He called his nurses the true heroes. “Unfortunately, patients had to pass without being around their loved ones. The nurses were by their sides 24/7 holding their hands when they’d pass,” Sharma said. Doctors here say they still worry about variants, but there is an overall feeling of hope, especially with zero cases one day last week.
March 31, 2022 2:24 am
The Charleroi Area School District moved to remote learning on Thursday, after an unspecified threat was received on their Safe2Say system overnight. Superintendent Dr. Edward Zelich said that after a thorough investigation by Pennsylvania State Police and the Charleroi Area Regional Police Department, it has been determined that the threat was unsubstantiated and all schools will operate as normal on Friday, April 1st. Zelich also said that authorities are working towards acquiring a search warrant to identify the person or persons involved in making the report. Zelich says the district has been informed that a recent phenomenon is occurring across the state involving individuals submitting false Safe2Say anonymous reports. In Bentworth, the high school and elementary schools were closed but the middle school remained in session. The Monessen School District in Westmoreland County, which is not far from the Charleroi School District, also moved to a flexible instruction day, but it’s unclear why.
