UPMC confirms central Pa. facilities offer $15 an hour minimum wage
UPMC said today that it raised its minimum wage for starting employees to $15 an hour in January. The Pittsburgh-based health care giant had pledged back in March 2016 that it would reach the $15 mark by 2021. UPMC said the hourly rate for entry-level positions includes UPMC Pinnacle Harrisburg,...
2nd endangered orangutan baby in 2 years at New Orleans zoo
NEW ORLEANS — It’s cute, cuddled, red-haired, and critically endangered — and the second Sumatran orangutan born in two years at the zoo in New Orleans. Veterinarians haven’t yet been able to weigh, measure and determine the sex of the baby born early Sunday to 12-year-old Reese, Audubon Zoo spokeswoman...
Pennsylvania saw record declines in covid numbers in February
In February, Pennsylvania saw the steepest decline in new cases of the entire pandemic. The state went from 202,899 new cases in January to 88,418 new cases in February — a 56% drop. Even though February has three fewer days than January, if you were to add three days of...
Gov. Wolf raises capacity limits on event spaces, rescinds travel restrictions
Pennsylvania officials eased some covid-19 restrictions effective immediately, specifically those orders pertaining to occupancy limits on indoor and outdoor events, paving the way for the Penguins and Pirates to allow fans at PPG Paints Arena and PNC Park. The new orders, announced by Gov. Tom Wolf, raised the occupancy limits...
Countries urge drug companies to share vaccine know-how
PARIS — In an industrial neighborhood on the outskirts of Bangladesh’s largest city lies a factory with gleaming new equipment imported from Germany, its immaculate hallways lined with hermetically sealed rooms. It is operating at just a quarter of its capacity. It is one of three factories that The Associated...
Democratic voting bill would make biggest changes in decades
As Congress begins debate this week on sweeping voting and ethics legislation, Democrats and Republicans can agree on one thing: If signed into law, it would usher in the biggest overhaul of U.S. elections law in at least a generation. House Resolution 1, Democrats’ 791-page bill, would touch virtually every...
Former France president Nicolas Sarkozy convicted of corruption, sentenced to jail
PARIS — A Paris court on Monday found French former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling and sentenced him to one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence. The 66-year-old politician, who was president from 2007 to 2012, was convicted for having tried to illegally obtain...
Pa. prison legal mail policy updated after 2 guards sickened by K2
Mail safety protocols in the state’s prisons are being updated after two guards at a Northeastern Pennsylvania facility were hospitalized. Officials said the pair were exposed to K2, or synthetic marijuana, that was sent in correspondence supposedly from the courts. Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said the new protocols...
14-year-old girl dies after Ohio sledding accident; father dies at hospital of heart attack
AKRON, Ohio — A 14-year-old Akron girl who was injured in a sledding accident died days after her father died of a heart attack while trying to visit his daughter at the hospital, the girl’s mother posted on Facebook. Eirelyn Zuercher was hospitalized at MetroHealth Medical Center on Saturday after...
Trump calls for GOP unity, repeats lies about election lossVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Taking the stage for the first time since leaving office, former President Donald Trump on Sunday called for GOP unity, even as he exacerbated intraparty divisions by attacking fellow Republicans and promoting lies about the election in a speech that made clear he intends to remain a...
U.S. panel endorses 3rd vaccine option from Johnson & JohnsonVideo
WASHINGTON — A U.S. advisory panel has endorsed the new one-dose covid-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson as a third option to bolster the national effort against the coronavirus pandemic. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted overwhelmingly to recommend the vaccine for adults 18 years old...
Dr. Fauci worried that U.S. virus cases will stick at 70,000 a dayVideo
The baseline level of coronavirus cases needs to fall further before the U.S. can confidently resume normal activities, even as the vaccine rollout accelerates, Anthony Fauci said. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the rounds of Sunday talk shows at a moment when news...
Rooster kills Indian man during illegal cockfight
HYDERABAD, India — A man was killed by a rooster with a blade tied to its leg during an illegal cockfight in southern India, police said, bringing focus on a practice that continues in some Indian states despite a decades-old ban. The rooster, with a 3-inch knife tied to its...
1 arrested in Lehigh County Walmart lot shooting that killed 1, injured 1Video
WHITEHALL — A man has been arrested in a shooting in the parking lot of a Walmart store in eastern Pennsylvania that killed a woman and wounded another person, authorities said. Edward Joel Rosario-Jimenez, 23, was charged Sunday with criminal homicide, attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault as well as...
N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledges behavior seen as ‘flirtation’Video
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledged for the first time Sunday that some of his behavior with women had been “misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation,” and said he would cooperate with a sexual harassment investigation led by the state’s attorney general. In a statement released amid mounting criticism...
Biden team readies wider economic package after virus relief
WASHINGTON — Looking beyond the $1.9 trillion covid relief bill, President Joe Biden and lawmakers are laying the groundwork for another top legislative priority — a long-sought boost to the nation’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure that could run into Republican resistance to a hefty price tag. Biden and his...
Fraud overwhelms pandemic-related unemployment programs
COLUMBUS, Ohio — With the floodgates set to open on another round of unemployment aid, states are being hammered with a new wave of fraud as they scramble to update security systems and block scammers who already have siphoned billions of dollars from pandemic-related jobless programs. The fraud is fleecing...
Several Pennsylvania organizations to participate in Problem Gambling Awareness Month
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is working in conjunction with other state entities to promote Problem Gambling Awareness Month in March. Throughout the month, the gaming control board’s Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling will join the state Department of Drug and Alcohol, the Pennsylvania Lottery, the Council on Compulsive...
Virginia lawmakers vote to legalize marijuana in 2024
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia lawmakers gave final approval Saturday to a bill that will legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, but not until 2024, when retail sales of the drug would also begin. With a compromise bill clearing the House and Senate, Virginia becomes the first Southern state to vote...
2nd former aide accuses Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment
NEW YORK — A second former aide has come forward with sexual harassment allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who responded with a statement Saturday saying he never made advances toward her and never intended to be inappropriate. Charlotte Bennett, a health policy adviser in the Democratic governor’s administration...
Johnson & Johnson’s 1-dose shot cleared, giving U.S. 3rd covid-19 vaccine
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. Health experts are anxiously awaiting a one-and-done option to help speed vaccinations, as they race...
About 30 vehicles involved in pileup on icy Montana bridge
Dozens of vehicles crashed into each other Saturday on an icy interstate highway bridge over the Yellowstone River outside Billings, Montana, making the span appear like a wrecking yard with mashed cars and trucks. The pileup involved about 30 vehicles, the Montana Highway Patrol said on Twitter. No fatalities were...
Toomey censure remains on hold with Pennsylvania Republicans
As former President Trump prepared for his first public appearance before the national Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday, the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee remained stalled on demands by county leaders that the state GOP censure Sen. Pat Toomey for his vote to convict Trump for incitement of insurrection. What...
Saudi Arabia says it intercepts missile attack over capital
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia said Saturday it intercepted a missile attack over its capital and bomb-laden drones targeting a southern province, the latest in a series of airborne assaults it has blamed on Yemen’s rebel Houthis. The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen’s years-long war announced the...
Republicans test history in vote against pandemic relief
NEW YORK — With the nation’s financial system on the brink of collapse, all but three Republicans voted against the massive stimulus package designed to protect millions of Americans from financial ruin. It was early 2009, just weeks after Joe Biden was sworn in as vice president, and the vote...
