Schools closed in virus hot spots as NYC battles flare-ups
NEW YORK — Hundreds of New York City public and private schools were closed Tuesday in neighborhoods with flare-ups of coronavirus cases as city and state officials continued discussing the possibility of shuttering many businesses in those areas. Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the closing of schools in nine Brooklyn and...
Auditor General: Pennsylvania’s pandemic business waiver program is subjective
During the statewide covid-19 shutdown and business closures this year, there was no consistency in granting waivers to those wishing to stay open, an ongoing investigation by the auditor general has found. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale gave an update Tuesday on an audit started in May. The investigation so far...
Military leaders quarantined after official tests positiveVideo
WASHINGTON — The nation’s top military leaders were under self-quarantine Tuesday after a senior Coast Guard official tested positive for the coronavirus, the Pentagon said. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, and the vice chairman, Gen. John Hyten, were among those affected, U.S. officials said....
FDA discloses vaccine guidelines blocked by White House
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration laid out updated safety standards Tuesday for makers of COVID-19 vaccines after the White House blocked their formal release, the latest political tug-of-war between the Trump administration and the government’s public health scientists. In briefing documents posted on its website, the FDA said...
2 justices slam court’s 2015 decision in gay marriage case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court, already poised to take a significant turn to the right, opened its new term Monday with a jolt from two conservative justices who raised new criticism of the court’s embrace of same-sex marriage. The justices returned from their summer break on a somber note, following...
Fed Chairman Powell: Lack of further stimulus imperils recovery
WASHINGTON — Strong financial support from the government and the Federal Reserve have spurred a solid recovery from the pandemic recession, but the rebound may falter without further aid, Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned Tuesday. Powell said that government support — including expanded unemployment insurance payments, direct payments to most...
Pennsylvania reports 1,036 new covid-19 cases
Pennsylvania reported 1,036 new covid-19 cases Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health. There were 17 new coronavirus-related deaths, as well. Of those, one is from May, 11 from September and five from October. The new figures bring total cases to 165,243 and total deaths to 8,244 in Pennsylvania....
Trump back at White House; doctor says president has ‘no symptoms’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is back at the White House, dramatically returning from the military hospital where he was receiving an unprecedented level of care for covid-19. Trump’s physician says the president is experiencing “no symptoms” of covid-19 after returning home from the hospital Monday night. His physician, Navy...
Ex-jail employees charged for playing ‘Baby Shark’ on repeat
OKLAHOMA CITY — Two former Oklahoma jail employees and their supervisor face misdemeanor cruelty charges after investigators found they forced inmates to stand handcuffed for hours and listen to the children’s song “Baby Shark” on repeat, a prosecutor said Monday. At least four inmates were secured to a wall with...
Virginia’s governor says he’s developed mild covid symptoms
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s governor said he has developed mild symptoms of the coronavirus a little less than two weeks after he and the state’s first lady tested positive. Ralph Northam said Monday that he had “a little bit of cold-like symptoms over the weekend” and had lost his sense...
Florida governor extends voter registration after site crash
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis extended the state’s voter registration deadline Tuesday after he said heavy traffic crashed the state’s online system and potentially prevented thousands of enrolling to cast ballots in next month’s presidential election. DeSantis extended the deadline that expired Monday until 7 p.m. Tuesday. In...
U.S., Australia, India, Japan discuss China’s growing power
TOKYO — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that China’s increasingly assertive actions across the region make it more critical than ever for four Indo-Pacific nations known as the Quad to cooperate to protect their partners and their people from Chinese “exploitation, corruption and coercion.” Pompeo made the...
Germany: OPCW confirms nerve agent used in Navalny poisoning
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The global chemical watchdog group has confirmed Germany and other countries’ findings that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was the victim of an attack with a Soviet-era nerve agent, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman said Tuesday. Steffen Seibert said in a statement that the Organization for...
3 scientists win Nobel physics prize for black hole research
STOCKHOLM — Three scientists won this year’s Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for advancing our understanding of black holes, the all-consuming monsters that lurk in the darkest parts of the universe. Briton Roger Penrose received half of this year’s prize “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust...
Hurricane Delta now Category 4, roars at Mexico’s Yucatan
MEXICO CITY — Hurricane Delta rapidly intensified into a dangerous Category 4 storm with 145 mph wind Tuesday while following a course to hammer southeastern Mexico and then continue on to the U.S. Gulf Coast later in the week. The worst of the immediate impact was expected along the resort-studded...
Lines long as early voting begins amid pandemic precautions
NORWOOD, Ohio — Long lines developed early and stayed that way at election boards as early voting began Tuesday in Ohio, which again was looming as a potential swing state, but this time in a pandemic-altered election. Hundreds waited outside board offices in Hamilton, Franklin and Cuyahoga counties, which serve...
Aldi, Amazon recall apple chips for possible salmonella contamination
Seneca Snack Co. of Washington has recalled two brands of apple chips that may be contaminated with salmonella. Clancy’s Cinnamon Apple Chips sold at Aldi and Seneca Cinnamon Apple Chips sold through Amazon are recalled. “Seneca was notified by an ingredient supplier that it shipped one lot of ingredients containing...
Penn State delays spring semester’s start, cancels spring break
Penn State students will be going back to school one week late, following a series of changes made to the spring semester aimed at making on-campus learning safer amid the covid-19 pandemic. Officials announced plans for the 2021 spring semester Sunday, which include a later start date in January, continuation...
Pence and Harris to debate through plexiglass because of coronavirus concerns
Vice President Mike Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris will debate Wednesday separated by plexiglass shields, one of a handful of changes debate officials are making in response to concerns about covid-19. President Donald Trump was hospitalized after falling ill late last week. Pence met with the president in the...
Supreme Court reinstates South Carolina ballot witness requirement
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday reinstated a requirement that South Carolina residents voting by mail in November’s election get a witness to sign their ballots. Democrats had sought to have the requirement put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Republicans had defended it as deterring fraud....
CDC says coronavirus can spread indoors in updated guidance
NEW YORK — The top U.S. public health agency said Monday that the coronavirus can spread more than 6 feet through the air, especially in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials maintained that such spread is uncommon and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. However, several experts...
Paris on maximum virus alert, closing bars, not restaurantsVideo
PARIS — French authorities placed the Paris region on maximum virus alert on Monday, banning festive gatherings and requiring all bars to close but allowing restaurants to remain open, as numbers of infections increased rapidly. Paris police prefect Didier Lallement announced the new restrictions would apply at least for the...
Timeline: Pat Toomey’s rise from Lehigh Valley congressman to the U.S. Senate
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who became the Lehigh Valley’s most powerful elected official, will return to private life when his current term ends in 2022, he announced Monday. “Representing the people of Pennsylvania, this big, beautiful, complicated, diverse state, has been an extraordinary honor,” Toomey, 58, said at a news...
Pat Toomey’s announced exit sends Pennsylvania politicos scrambling
Monday’s confirmation by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, that he will call it quits in 2022 and not run to become the next governor of Pennsylvania set the stage for an early scramble among candidates now that two statewide seats will be open. “All of the Republican politicos just...
Texas Republican calls on state attorney general to resign
DALLAS — A Republican congressman from Texas became the most prominent member of his party to call for the resignation of the state’s Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, after Paxton’s top deputies reported him to law enforcement for alleged crimes including bribery and abuse of office. Rep. Chip Roy, who...
