State reports 143 more coronavirus deaths, 746 additional cases
Pennsylvania on Wednesday reported 143 more covid-19 deaths and 746 additional cases, bringing the state’s total number of cases to just over 64,400 , state officials said. There have been 4,767 people who have died from the virus, which has been reported in all of the state’s 67 counties. More...
Pennsylvania doles out $51 million to child care centers to help with reopening
More than $50 million from Pennsylvania’s first round of federal coronavirus aid will go to nearly 7,000 child care centers across the state, Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday. Wolf said reopening the state will require “robust and healthy” child care. Of the money, which is part of CARES Act funding...
Trump congratulates daughter Tiffany on finishing law school
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is celebrating a new addition to his immediate family: a lawyer. His youngest daughter, Tiffany Trump, recently graduated from Georgetown Law School. “Just what I need is a lawyer in the family. Proud of you Tiff!” Trump said Wednesday in a congratulatory tweet. Tiffany, 26,...
Pennsylvania joins pilot program allowing SNAP users to buy groceries online
Pennsylvania will participate in a pilot program allowing recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to purchase their groceries online through participating retailers. “Many people have been purchasing groceries online to facilitate social distancing, but SNAP recipients were not able to do so due to federal restrictions on...
Apple, Google release technology for pandemic apps
Apple and Google on Wednesday released long-awaited smartphone technology to automatically notify people if they might have been exposed to the coronavirus. The companies said 22 countries and several U.S. states are already planning to build voluntary phone apps using their software. It relies on Bluetooth wireless technology to detect...
Somerset County will try again for hiking trail project
Somerset County will take another swing at developing a section of hiking trail at Somerset Lake this summer. Somerset County commissioners — at the project engineer’s recommendation — rejected four bids to carve out a half-mile of trail alongside the lake, because each of them exceeded the project’s budget, Somerset...
Police say 14 kidnapped health workers freed in Mexico City
MEXICO CITY — Officials in Mexico City say they have rescued 14 health workers who had been kidnapped in order to demand money from their families. The city prosecutor’s office said in a communique late Tuesday that the health workers were located in two hotels in the Tacubaya district when...
German farmer jailed for drowning wife in liquid manure
BERLIN — A 55-year-old farmer in Germany has been convicted of drowning his wife in liquid manure in 2018, after a court dismissed his claim that she fell into a slurry pit by accident. German news agency dpa reported that the Augsburg regional court on Wednesday sentenced the defendant to...
U.S. arrests 2 men accused of aiding escape of ex-Nissan boss from Japan
BOSTON — Two Americans accused of helping aid former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan while awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges were arrested Wednesday, the Justice Department said. Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas said Michael Taylor, 59, and Peter Taylor, 27, were arrested by the U.S. Marshals...
Body found on L.A. beach identified as WWE pro Shad Gaspard
LOS ANGELES — The body of former World Wrestling Entertainment pro Shad Gaspard was found early Wednesday on Los Angeles’ Venice Beach, where he was caught in a rip current last weekend, police said. Patrol officers were flagged down around 1:25 a.m. by a person reporting that a body had...
Trump threatens funds for states easing voting in pandemicVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to hold up federal funds for two election battleground states that are trying to make it easier and safer to vote during the coronavirus pandemic. The president’s tweets targeting Michigan and Nevada marked an escalation in his campaign against voting by mail,...
Israel court orders Netanyahu to appear for opening of trialVideo
JERUSALEM — An Israeli court on Wednesday ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appear for the opening of his criminal trial in Jerusalem on Sunday. Netanyahu’s attorneys had asked the court for an exemption from appearing for the opening of proceedings. The court rejected the request, saying the accused appearing...
Uncertain future rattles Italy’s famed restaurantsVideo
ROME — Italy’s restaurants and pizzerias, for foodies the world over a key reason to visit, are facing an existential threat. Those that didn’t fold after 10 weeks of a strict coronavirus lockdown are emerging to find that new social distancing requirements might yet drive them out of business. While...
Baby goat stolen from Baltimore garden reunited with owners
BALTIMORE — A stolen baby goat was returned home to its community garden in Baltimore late Tuesday night, police said. Baltimore police were notified just before 10 p.m. that the young Nigerian Dwarf goat named Ed had been “anonymously returned” to his owners, according to a statement from the department....
Cyclone batters coast of India, Bangladesh, millions fleeVideo
NEW DELHI — A powerful cyclone slammed ashore Wednesday along the coastline of India and Bangladesh, where more than 2.6 million people fled to shelters in a frantic evacuation made all the more challenging by the coronavirus pandemic. Cyclone Amphan, the equivalent of a category 3 hurricane, was packing winds...
Afghan officials: Attacks kill 14 civilians, 9 militiamen
KABUL, Afghanistan — Gunmen killed 14 people in two separate attacks in Afghanistan while the Taliban targeted pro-government checkpoints in the northeast, killing nine militiamen, officials said Wednesday, the latest in relentless violence that continues to plague the war-torn nation. The attacks came against the backdrop of renewed U.N. calls...
Mississippi governor pranked during graduation shout-outsVideo
Bart Simpson would be proud. Someone pranked Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves so smoothly that it has the rest of the nation — well, cracking up. The Republican governor was recognizing many of the state’s thousands of 2020 seniors who are missing out on a normal graduation due to the coronavirus....
U.S., China standoff ensnares WHO meeting on covid-19 fightVideo
GENEVA — Facing the most disruptive pandemic in generations, the technocratic halls of the World Health Organization are now the scene of pitched battles in an increasingly bitter proxy war between the China and the United States. At the U.N. health agency’s annual assembly this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping...
Federal judge orders expansion of mail-in voting in Texas
AUSTIN — A federal judge Tuesday ordered Texas to allow any of the state’s 16 million voters to cast a ballot by mail over fears of the coronavirus, paving the way for what would be one of the most dramatic expansions of mail-in voting in the country. The decision is...
Johnson & Johnson to stop selling talc-based baby powder in U.S., Canada
FAIRLESS HILLS — Johnson & Johnson is ending sales of its iconic talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in the United States and Canada, where demand has dwindled amid thousands of lawsuits claiming it has caused cancer. The world’s biggest maker of health care products said Tuesday the talc-based powder will still...
Battle over how quickly Kansas reopens increasingly bitter
TOPEKA — A battle in Kansas between the Democratic governor and Republican-controlled Legislature over reopening the economy has grown increasingly bitter, clouded by election year politics present and past. Gov. Laura Kelly has joined Democratic colleagues in other states including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in facing a GOP backlash over...
Outbreak on edge of Navajo Nation overwhelms rural hospitalVideo
GALLUP, N.M. — On the eve of New Mexico’s shutdown of bars and restaurants to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the city of Gallup came alive for one last night of revelry. Before the night was out in the desert oasis on the fringes of the Navajo Nation, 98...
Trump allies lining up doctors to prescribe rapid reopening
WASHINGTON — Republican political operatives are recruiting “pro-Trump” doctors to go on television to prescribe reviving the U.S. economy as quickly as possible, without waiting to meet safety benchmarks proposed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. The plan was...
Virginia family finds, returns $1 million found in middle of the road
An eastern Virginia family found nearly $1 million in cash after running over bags full of money while out for a drive this past weekend. According to Richmond’s CBS affiliate, WTVR, Emily Schantz of Caroline County said she was driving with her family when she noticed the car in front...
Flooding hits parts of Midwest, with evacuations in MichiganVideo
EDENVILLE, Mich. — People living along two mid-Michigan lakes and parts of a river were evacuated Tuesday following several days of heavy rain that produced flooding and put pressure on dams in the area. Two Midland-area schools were opened for evacuees, and more than 50 roads have been closed. The...
