September 10, 2021 4:13 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Los Angeles board of education has voted to require students 12 and older to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to attend in-person classes in the nation’s second-largest school district. The board’s vote Thursday makes Los Angeles by far the largest of a very small number of districts with a vaccine requirement. Nearby Culver City imposed a similar policy last month for its 7,000 students. LA has more than 600,000 students. Under the plan for Los Angeles, students 12 and up who participate in sports and other extracurricular activities need to get both of two shots by the end of October. Others have until Dec. 19.
September 10, 2021 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Transportation Security Administration is increasing the penalty for people who violate the mandate to wear masks on planes, trains and other forms of transportation to help stop the spread of COVID-19. President Joe Biden warns that violators should “be prepared to pay.” First-time offenders would face a potential fine of $500 to $1,000 and second offenders could face fines ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. The fine currently starts at $250. The Department of Homeland Security says the new fines will take effect Friday and the requirement to wear masks on planes, buses and other forms of transportation will remain in effect until at least Jan. 18.
September 10, 2021 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has announced sweeping new federal vaccine requirements affecting as many as 100 million Americans in an all-out effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations and curb the surging delta variant. The government’s expansive new rules, announced Thursday, mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans. Biden is also signing an executive order requiring vaccination for all employees of the executive branch and contractors who do business with the federal government. No testing opt-out is expected to be included for the executive branch requirement.
September 10, 2021 4:07 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A loophole in Pennsylvania’s new mask mandate for schools is allowing untold numbers of students to go to class without having to cover their faces. The state health secretary’s order requiring masks to be worn inside K-12 school and child care facilities took effect Tuesday. It includes an exemption for students who claim it would cause or worsen a medical condition. But the masking order does not require a student to produce a doctor’s note or other supporting medical documentation. Now some school boards that oppose the statewide mandate are allowing students to come to class unmasked with just a parent’s signature.
September 10, 2021 4:03 am
SQUIRREL HILL – (WPXI) – The phones at Kids Plus Pediatrics have been ringing off the hook. Parents have been asking doctors to essentially lie so their kids won’t have to wear a mask to school. “People say, ‘Can you just sign this?’ Of course we aren’t doing that unless there’s a medical reason,” explained Dr. Todd Wolynn. That’s the question Wolynn and his colleagues have been hearing nonstop. Parents want him to sign a “mask exemption” form or an excuse for their child, so they won’t have to wear a mask while in school. “We are not going to change our professional and ethical stance because someone says ‘Can you write me an exemption?,’ that’s providing permission to infect,” Wolynn said. When parents hear that answer, they sometimes get aggressive. “Our staff is getting beaten up, verbally threatened, ‘I’m gonna come down there’ and bravado and bully people around,” Wolynn said. However, he says they will write medical excuses for children who actually need them; however, those cases are rare.
September 10, 2021 2:51 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia University says it is expanding its mask mandate to include all indoor campus spaces. Officials said masks will be required beginning Monday in all buildings and facilities regardless of vaccination status through Oct. 6. That’s when public health conditions will be reevaluated. Last month, the university began requiring masks to be worn in classrooms and labs, citing several factors, including that not enough students and employees have submitted proof that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The school said on Friday that the move is precautionary due to the recent significant increase of COVID-19 cases in West Virginia.
September 9, 2021 8:49 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 310,000, a pandemic low and a sign that the surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant has yet to lead to widespread layoffs. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims dropped from a revised total of 345,000 the week before. The number of applications has fallen steadily since topping 900,000 in early January, reflecting the steady reopening of the economy after the pandemic recession.
September 9, 2021 8:15 am
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Dozens of foreigners, including Americans, have left Kabul on an international commercial flight, marking the first large-scale evacuation since U.S and NATO forces left Afghanistan late last month. Their departure on Thursday represented a breakthrough in the bumpy coordination between the U.S. and Afghanistan’s new Taliban leaders. The Taliban have said they would let foreigners and Afghans with valid travel documents leave, but a days-long standoff over charter planes at another airport had cast some doubt on Taliban assurances. The Qatar Airways flight is heading to Doha. A senior U.S. official said that Americans, green card holders and other nationalities including Germans, Hungarians and Canadians are on the flight.
September 9, 2021 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal health officials have delayed a high-stakes decision on whether to permit bestselling vaping brand Juul to stay on the market. At the same time, the Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of thousands of other, lesser-known electronic cigarettes and related products. Parents, politicians and anti-tobacco advocates have pressured the FDA for years to ban Juul’s high-nicotine devices, which many blame for the recent spike in underage vaping. Thursday’s action is part of a sweeping FDA review designed to bring scientific scrutiny to the multibillion-dollar vaping industry after years of delays. The FDA had faced a court deadline Thursday to issue its decisions.
September 9, 2021 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration has removed 18 people appointed to U.S. military academy boards by Donald Trump in the final months of his presidency. The director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, Cathy Russell, sent letters calling on them to resign by close of business on Wednesday or face termination. Trump had named them to the boards of visitors for the Air Force Academy, Military Academy and Naval Academy. Among those Biden ousted are some high-profile Trump administration officials, including White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, press secretary Sean Spicer (pictured) and national security adviser H.R. McMaster.
