States accused of fudging or bungling covid-19 testing dataVideo
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — As large parts of the United States ease their lockdowns against coronavirus, public health officials in some states are being accused of bungling infection statistics or even deliberately using a little sleight of hand to make things look better than they are. The result is that politicians,...
Study: World carbon pollution falls 17% during pandemic peak
KENSINGTON, Md. — The world cut its daily carbon dioxide emissions by 17% at the peak of the pandemic shutdown last month, a new study found. But with life and heat-trapping gas levels inching back toward normal, the brief pollution break will likely be “a drop in the ocean” when...
Steven Mnuchin and Jerome Powell push differing priorities to aid economyVideo
WASHINGTON — Facing the gravest U.S. economic crisis in decades, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell offered Congress contrasting views Tuesday of what the government’s most urgent priority should be. Striking a theme frequently pushed by President Donald Trump, Mnuchin warned that prolonged business shutdowns would...
Boy Scout councils under pressure to share sex abuse costs
NEW YORK — Nine sex abuse lawsuits were filed Tuesday in New York against three Boy Scout local councils, signaling an escalation of efforts to pressure councils nationwide to pay a big share of an eventual settlement in the Scouts’ bankruptcy proceedings. The lawsuits were filed shortly after an easing...
Maryland to expand coronavirus testing to people without symptomsVideo
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced new steps Tuesday to expand testing for the coronavirus, including appointment-free testing at new sites for those showing no symptoms and authorizing licensed pharmacists to administer tests. The governor said drive-thru, appointment-free testing will begin Thursday at the Timonium Fairgrounds in Baltimore County....
Pa. Department of Health report sheds light on coronavirus impact in long-term care facilities
Brighton Rehab officials said early on in the pandemic they would operate under the assumption that all of the care home residents were positive for the coronavirus. That has nearly come to pass, data show: of the approximately 470 residents at the Beaver County facility, more than three-quarters of them...
Woman, 18, killed by train in northwestern Pennsylvania
GIRARD — A female pedestrian was struck and killed by a train in northwestern Pennsylvania, authorities said. Police in Girard said the 18-year-old woman was struck by an eastbound train shortly before 11 p.m. Monday at the railroad crossing on Mechanic Street. Emergency dispatchers said police found a bicycle at...
My ‘decision to make’: Trump defends criticized use of malaria drugVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump emphatically defended himself Tuesday against criticism from medical experts that his announced use of a malaria drug against the coronavirus could spark wide misuse by Americans of the unproven treatment with potentially fatal side effects. Trump’s revelation a day earlier that he was taking hydroxychloroquine...
Turkey reports downward trend in virus deaths, infections
ISTANBUL — Turkey reported a continued downward trajectory in covid-19 deaths and confirmed infections Tuesday, with 28 new deaths and 1,022 infections over the past 24 hours. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted new figures showing a total of 4,199 deaths and 151,615 reported positive cases since March 11, when the...
610 new coronavirus cases, 119 additional deaths reported in Pa.
State health officials on Tuesday reported more than 100 new coronavirus deaths across Pennsylvania along with 610 new cases of the virus. The 119 newly reported deaths bring the statewide death toll to 4,624. The total number of cases across the state since March 6 now stands at 63,666. Those...
2 more state prison inmates, 1 staffer die of covid-19
Two more Pennsylvania state prison inmates and one prison employee have died from the coronavirus, according to data from the state Department of Corrections. The latest inmates to die from covid-19 were incarcerated at SCI-Huntingdon in Huntington County. The facility has seen 62 inmates test positive for the virus along...
Judge: Salvage firm can recover Titanic’s telegraph machine
NORFOLK, Va. — A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that a salvage firm can retrieve the Marconi wireless telegraph machine that broadcast distress calls from the sinking Titanic ocean liner. In an order released Monday, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith agreed that the telegraph is historically and culturally...
Belgian police seize 11.5 tons of cannabis, arrest 6 people
BRUSSELS — Belgian police have seized 11.5 tons of cannabis with an estimated street value of $124.6 million and arrested six people during a drugs bust at Brussels’ main wholesale market, officials said Tuesday. The Belgian capital’s prosecution office said special federal police units found the drugs in a container...
Pandemic will alter Communion rituals for many U.S. ChristiansVideo
NEW YORK — Holy Communion will have a different look when in-person worship services resume at the end of May in the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, Tenn: The wafers signifying the body of Christ will be placed in the hands of parishioners by priests and deacons wearing face masks and...
Company’s bumper tables help social distancing at restaurantsVideo
OCEAN CITY, Md. — A company in Baltimore has created bumper tables designed to allow people to practice social distancing while eating and talking in outdoor settings amid the coronavirus pandemic. The inflated tube tables created by Revolution Event Design & Production were debuted at Fish Tales, a restaurant in...
Trump points to good news as restaurant owners tell of fearsVideo
WASHINGTON — Restaurant owners gave President Donald Trump a sobering accounting of the widespread damage the coronavirus pandemic has dealt their industry and asked him to adjust a loan program for small businesses to address their concerns. The president put a hopeful spin on the situation, saying encouraging news on...
Sen. Lindsey Graham plans vote to subpoena Russia probe officials
WASHINGTON — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham is scheduling a vote that would allow him to subpoena more than 50 current and former officials who were involved in the Justice Department’s investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, as President Donald Trump and his allies have...
Florida’s 2 biggest counties hesitantly start to reopenVideo
MIAMI — Florida’s two biggest counties joined the rest of the state on Monday in reopening nonessential businesses and restaurants after widespread coronavirus closures, but areas popular among visitors maintained restrictions as a precaution. Miami Beach and the city of Miami were delaying opening retail, hair salons and barbershops until...
Who got what? Details scant on small-business relief effortVideo
WASHINGTON — A small, overlooked federal agency is shouldering a massive relief effort for the nation’s small businesses and their workers left reeling by the pandemic. The Small Business Administration has committed to auditing every sizable emergency loan it approves. But six weeks after the $600 billion-plus program was launched,...
Deputies: Man kills 3 family members, then himself in South Carolina
ST. MATTHEWS, S.C. — A man shot and killed three members of his family and then killed himself after an argument in their South Carolina home, authorities said. Two children escaped from the home in St. Matthews during the shooting around 7 p.m. Sunday, Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers said....
California relaxes some county criteria for reopeningVideo
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a dramatic relaxation Monday of health standards to reopen the state, a move that could allow nearly every county to proceed more quickly, and he offered the possibility of pro sports returning — without fans — by early June. The announcement marked a significant...
Chuck E. Cheese selling its pizza under different name on food delivery sites
Have you ever ordered from Pasqually’s Pizza and Wings from a food delivery service? Well, it’s not actually a new pizza shop. It’s — wait for it — Chuck E. Cheese. If you search for Pasqually’s Pittsburgh on GrubHub, it pulls up a location with an address of 20 McIntyre Square...
Texas continues swift reopening, including return of sportsVideo
AUSTIN — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott gave permission Monday to reopen practically every facet of daily life in Texas, including bars and child daycare centers, lifting most full lockdown orders as the state continues one of the nation’s swiftest reboots from coronavirus restrictions. Abbott’s sweeping new orders, which he described...
Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine: ‘Have fun, but keep that distance’ at bars
COLUMBUS — Ohio will begin cracking down on social distancing at bars after photos showed plenty of customers standing and drinking on crowded patios during the first weekend restaurants and taverns were allowed to reopen, Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday. Police officers and health investigators will be making safety checks...
Feds urge ‘extreme caution’ for reopening nursing homes
NEW YORK — Federal authorities are urging governors to use “extreme caution” in deciding when to resume visits at nursing homes, saying it shouldn’t come before all residents and staff have tested negative for the coronavirus for at least 28 days. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ criteria for...
