August 20, 2021 4:47 am
The Canon McMillan School Board met Thursday evening for a voting meeting that was delayed a week because the board could not meet the minimum for a quorum one week before. As in other school districts attendance was high in anticipation of modifications to the health and safety plan for the upcoming school year. Before the meeting allowed public comment Superintendent Michael Daniels announced that there is no agenda item for the health and safety plan and that the one adopted on June 24 is still in place. That means that masks will be recommended but not required. Public comment was spirited. Fourteen residents spoke on several subjects. Several comments were made to director Joe Zupancic regarding his recent letter to the editor that appeared in the Observer-Reporter newspaper. He was criticized for his support of masks in schools. Several more parents called for students to not wear masks on school buses saying that school buses do not fall under the guidelines of public transportation. They cited sources including professional publications for superintendents and a phone conversation with State Senator Doug Mastriano. Superintendent Daniels indicated that their legal counsel feels that the CDC does have the authority to make that mandate and buses will still require masks. Two people did speak in favor of masks but both were drowned out during their comments by parents that did not share their view. The board accepted the resignation of director Darla Bowman Monaco with regret. The board voted 4-3 to accept the resignation. The first day of school for students is August 26.
August 20, 2021 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Three senators say they have tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated. The lawmakers announced their breakthrough cases Thursday as the delta variant spreads rapidly across the United States. Sens. Angus King of Maine, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and John Hickenlooper of Colorado all said they have tested positive. The Senate is away from Washington this week, but lawmakers were on the Senate floor together on Aug. 11 during a marathon voting session. The new cases came the day after U.S. health officials announced plans to dispense COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans.
August 20, 2021 4:17 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – A Florida judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the order by Gov. Ron DeSantis that parents should decide if their children wear masks at school to combat the coronavirus. The order Thursday by Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper clears the way for a three-day hearing next week on whether to block enforcement of the order. The DeSantis order bans schools from imposing mask mandates unless parents can opt out of the requirements. Five Florida school districts – including four of the largest – are defying that order by permitting mask opt-outs only for medical reasons rather than parental choice.
August 20, 2021 4:15 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A federal appellate court has refused to delay implementation of a judge’s order reinstating a Trump administration policy forcing thousands to wait in Mexico while seeking asylum in the U.S. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the ruling late Thursday. President Joe Biden suspended former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy on his first day in office. A federal judge last week ordered that the program be reinstated. The Biden administration appealed and had asked for a delay in re-implementing the program pending appeal.
August 20, 2021 4:14 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – California’s wildfires have already made plenty of news this summer and the worst may be yet to come. Some of the state’s most devastating fires have started in the fall when powerful, dry winds blow out of the desert. More land has burned this year than at the same point last year, which set the record for most acreage charred. The largest fire currently burning is the second-largest in state history. Most of the large fires have been in the northern half of the state. But the biggest fires in Southern California have usually been sparked in September or later in the year.
August 20, 2021 4:14 am
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Hospitals are overflowing with COVID patients in northeast Florida, the hot zone in the state’s latest surge. But the patients rapidly filling wards in Jacksonville are younger than last summer’s peak outbreak. And they’re getting sick faster. The caseload is more than double that surge at Baptist Health’s hospitals. They’re making do by converting empty spaces, adding more than 100 beds and working overtime to persuade people to get vaccinated. Florida accounts for 1 in 5 cases nationwide as the highly-contagious delta variant spreads. Baptist’s medical director says they’re “bracing for the worst.”
August 20, 2021 4:11 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Anyone who wants to eat, drink or exercise indoors in San Francisco must show they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 when one of the nation’s most stringent restrictions on unvaccinated people takes effect Friday. The city’s mayor said the mandate is needed to stem the rise of COVID-19 cases and the rule goes beyond New York City’s, which requires only the first dose of a vaccine for indoor activities. Restaurant and bar owners say they plan to have extra staff at the front door to verify people’s proof of vaccination and make sure they match their identity cards.
August 20, 2021 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is pledging to Americans still trapped in Afghanistan: “We will get you home.” Biden’s comments at a White House news conference Friday come as the U.S. government struggles to ramp up a massive airlift clearing Americans and other foreigners and vulnerable Afghans, rescuing them from a Taliban takeover of the country. Biden is facing criticism from some at home for the chaotic and often violent scene outside the airport as crowds struggle to reach safety. The pace of evacuations picked up some overnight, but flights from the Kabul airport had stopped for several hours as of Friday afternoon before resuming.
August 20, 2021 3:37 am
The Greater Washington County Food Bank recently rebranded the organization to become Food Helpers. On Thursday the Washington County Community Foundation visited the Food Helpers headquarters in West Brownsville to announce a grant. Betsie Trew, President and CEO of the WCCF announced the “Community CARE Fund Challenge” grant. The grant is for $250,000. It is a matching grant meaning that Food Helpers will need to raise funds to match the amount for a full donation. The grant will be disbursed in two phases, once Food Helpers raises $125,000, the WCCF will send over $125,000. When the second $125,000 is raised, The WCCF will complete its grant by sending the second half of the grant. The grand total of $500,000 will go to food distribution to not only existing customers but to who Trew identifies as the working poor, people that earn just enough to not qualify for any government assistance programs but still find themselves in a food insecurity scenario. Food Helpers will further their existing efforts of education and training to help the food insecure by teaching hydroponic farming, livestock training and even resume writing to offer a lift up in overcoming financial difficulties. This community outreach program began in July and has already served nearly 300 families that identify as the working poor.
August 20, 2021 2:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The top Republican in Pennsylvania’s state Senate says he’s putting a different senator in charge of an “election integrity” undertaking and removing a senator who had aimed to carry out an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman said Friday he had had “many frustrations” with state Sen. Doug Mastriano. Instead, Corman said he asked Sen. Cris Dush, R-Bradford, to take over the caucus’ election integrity venture from Mastriano (pictured), who has spread former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the election was rigged against him. However, Dush, like Mastriano, has said he wants something similar to Arizona’s partisan audit carried out in Pennsylvania.
