Old Navy will pay its employees to work polls on Election Day
Old Navy said it will pay its 50,000 workers to not come into the stores this Election Day. That is if they head to the polls instead — as workers. The San Francisco-based retailer announced Tuesday — National Poll Worker Recruitment Day — that it will encourage workers in its...
Pennsylvania reports 816 new coronavirus cases, 19 new deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health added 816 new positive cases of covid-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state total to 135,611. Nineteen deaths were added, with those ranging from Aug. 13-31. There are now 7,712 deaths in the state attributed to the coronavirus. Pa. coronavirus by dayInfogram Allegheny County saw the...
Cosmic Legos: Black holes merge into never before seen size
Black holes are getting stranger — even to astronomers. They’ve now detected the signal from a long ago violent collision of two black holes that created a new one of a size that had never been seen before. “It’s the biggest bang since the Big Bang observed by humanity,” said...
Health officials worry nation not ready for covid-19 vaccine
Millions of Americans are counting on a covid-19 vaccine to curb the global pandemic and return life to normal. While one or more options could be available toward the end of this year or early next, the path to delivering vaccines to 330 million people remains unclear for the local...
Analysis: Trump bets presidency on ‘law and order’ theme
KENOSHA, Wis. — After struggling for much of the year to settle on a clear and concise reelection message, President Donald Trump appears to have found his 2020 rallying cry. Four years ago, it was “Build the Wall,” a simple yet coded mantra to white America that nonwhite outsiders threatened...
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says hair salon should apologize for ‘set-up’ visitVideo
WASHINGTON — A testy Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she takes responsibility for trusting the word of a San Francisco hair salon that it was OK to come in for a solo visit — even though the city still does not allow indoor beauty services because of the coronavirus pandemic. But...
Mnuchin says Trump still wants coronavirus deal with Democrats
WASHINGTON — Pressed by Democrats to quickly negotiate a new coronavirus relief package, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday the administration remains willing to work on a bipartisan agreement to help small businesses, the unemployed, children and schools. Democratic leaders in Congress are holding it up with hardened positions, he...
CDC directs halt to renter evictions to prevent virus spread
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has issued a directive halting the eviction of certain renters though the end of 2020 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Federal, state and local governments have approved eviction moratoriums during the course of the pandemic for many renters, but those protections are...
Ed Markey defeats Joe Kennedy III in Massachusetts Senate primary
BOSTON — U.S. Sen. Edward Markey defeated U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, harnessing support from progressive leaders to overcome a challenge from a younger rival who is a member of America’s most famous political family. Markey appealed to voters in this deeply Democratic state by positioning...
Trump visits Kenosha, calls violence ‘domestic terrorism’Video
KENOSHA, Wis. — President Trump stood at the epicenter of the latest eruption over racial injustice Tuesday and came down squarely on the side of law enforcement, blaming “domestic terror” for the violence in Kenosha and making no nod to the underlying cause of anger and protests: the shooting of...
Dr. Anthony Fauci swats conspiracy theory on CDC covid death dataVideo
White House coronavirus task force advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday debunked online theories retweeted by President Trump claiming that only 6% of covid-19 deaths are directly because of the virus. Trump retweeted a post from a user “Mel Q,” who is supposedly a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy movement,...
Hemp industry struggles with federal regulations
Hemp — and the CBD products that can be made from it — may have been legalized by the 2018 federal farm bill, but members of the nascent industry say new federal rules make it almost impossible to make hemp products without breaking the law. An alphabet soup of federal...
NYC delays start of school year to do more coronavirus safety prepVideo
NEW YORK — New York City postponed the start of its school year by several days to allow more preparation to reopen classrooms amid the coronavirus pandemic, announcing a delay Tuesday after teachers said they might OK a strike over the city’s drive to open schools. The change comes nine...
Gov. Wolf renews coronavirus disaster declaration in Pennsylvania
There is some good news for unemployed Pennsylvanians as well as struggling businesses in the state. Gov. Tom Wolf has signed another renewal of his 90-day disaster declaration for the covid-19 pandemic. It means waivers and extensions can continue, including waiving the one-week waiting period to receive unemployment compensation, work...
Lawyer: Plea deal offer tried to link Breonna Taylor to drug ringVideo
LOUISVILLE — A lawyer for Breonna Taylor’s family said prosecutors offered a plea deal to an accused drug trafficker that would have forced him to implicate Taylor in criminal activity after her killing by police had pushed her name to the forefront of a national reckoning on race. Louisville’s top...
After waffling, Gov. Tom Wolf says he can’t extend Pa.’s eviction ban, looks to lawmakers
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLIVE/The Patriot-News, TribLive/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — First, he said he couldn’t. Then, he implied he wouldn’t. Then, he suggested he might. But on Tuesday,...
Police: Dallas man killed wife, 2 sons for being too loud while he had headacheVideo
DALLAS — A man who confessed to fatally shooting his wife and two children in their Dallas home told police he killed them because he had a headache and they were being too loud, according to an affidavit. James Webb, 57, was arrested Monday on a capital murder charge after...
Book: Mike Pence told ‘to be on standby’ for Trump hospital visit
WASHINGTON — A new book is reviving questions about President Donald Trump’s unscheduled visit to Walter Reed military hospital last fall with the revelation that “word went out” for Vice President Mike Pence to stand by to temporarily assume presidential powers if Trump had to receive anesthesia for a medical...
Ex-Ohio House speaker will plead not guilty to corruption charge
COLUMBUS — The former speaker of the Ohio House said Tuesday he will plead not guilty to a corruption charge following his arrest in a $60 million federal bribery probe that shook the Statehouse earlier this summer. Rep. Larry Householder returned to the Statehouse for the first time since his...
Suspect in St. Louis officer’s slaying has long crime record
ST. LOUIS — The man charged with first-degree murder Tuesday in the fatal shooting of a St. Louis police officer has a long history of violent crime and missed a court appearance last month in Florida, where he is accused of false imprisonment and sexual battery. St. Louis Circuit Attorney...
Pennsylvania high court takes up another election lawsuit
Pennsylvania’s highest court will take up another election-related lawsuit, it announced Tuesday, this one filed by the state Democratic Party amid a partisan fight over fixing glitches and gray areas in the battleground state’s fledgling mail-in voting law. Briefs are due Sept. 8, the state Supreme Court said. The Democratic...
Florida announces it will lift ban on nursing home visits
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he will lift the state’s ban on visiting nursing homes that has cut off vulnerable seniors from family since mid-March over fears of spreading the new coronavirus. With his voice cracking at times, he wondered aloud if his actions might have contributed to...
House panel warns of fraud, abuse in business aid program
WASHINGTON — Congressional investigators say they have identified lapses pointing to possible fraud and abuse in the Trump administration’s coronavirus relief program, including more than $1 billion awarded to small businesses that received multiple loans. A report issued Tuesday by a House subcommittee says a lack of government oversight and...
Pennsylvania’s new covid-19 cases, deaths both go up from recent figures
Pennsylvania has 770 new coronavirus cases reported Tuesday. The state Department of Health announced the new case increase, as well as 18 new covid-19 deaths in the state. New cases had decreased for two days after Saturday’s new case count of 843, before going up again Tuesday. There were only...
3rd virus vaccine reaches major hurdle: final U.S. testingVideo
A handful of the dozens of experimental covid-19 vaccines in human testing have reached the last and biggest hurdle — looking for the needed proof that they really work as a U.S. advisory panel suggested Tuesday a way to ration the first limited doses once a vaccine wins approval. AstraZeneca...
