L.A. County likely to leave stay-at-home orders in place through July to fight coronavirusVideo
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County’s stay-at-home orders will “with all certainty” be extended for the next three months, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer acknowledged during a Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. Ferrer said that would only change if there was a “dramatic change to the virus and tools...
Gov. Andrew Cuomo: New York has seen 100 children with illness linked to coronavirus
Amber Dean had recovered from a mild bout of the coronavirus and her family of five had just ended their home quarantine when her oldest son, 9-year-old Bobby, fell ill. “At first it was nothing major, it seemed like a tummy bug, like he ate something that didn’t agree with...
Why prospect of deflation could pose a threat to U.S. economy
WASHINGTON — The economic paralysis caused by the coronavirus led in April to the steepest month-to-month fall in U.S. consumer prices since the 2008 financial crisis — a 0.8% drop that was driven by a plunge in gasoline prices. And excluding the normally volatile categories of food and energy, so-called...
U.S. government sees record monthly deficit of $737.9 billion
WASHINGTON — The federal government piled up a record deficit in April, traditionally a month of big budget surpluses. The sea of red ink is being created by a drop in revenue and a massive increase in spending to fund efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The Treasury Department...
Texas firm eyes several Levin Furniture stores in bankruptcy deal
The Mt. Pleasant flagship store that was the foundation for the century-old Levin Furniture empire may reopen — but only as part of a new furniture chain under a pending bankruptcy court deal. A Texas-based private equity firm bid $6.7 million to buy leases and unsold furniture in 27 Art...
Pa. man accused of repeatedly punching female store clerk for telling him to wear face mask
A female convenience store clerk who reminded a customer about wearing a face mask ended up beaten and bloody after the customer attacked her while rambling about “martial law,” police say. As MontgomeryNew.com reports, it happened in Perkasie Borough, Bucks County, at the Olde Towne Convenience Store late last week....
Trump to make 2nd visit of year to Pennsylvania
President Donald Trump will visit the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Thursday to tour a distribution center of medical and surgical products for healthcare facilities, including personal protective equipment in the fight against the coronavirus. Trump’s visit is to a warehouse of Virginia-based Owens and Minor in suburban Allentown. The...
Mayor: 52 NYC children diagnosed with inflammatory syndrome
NEW YORK — New York City is reporting more cases of a rare pediatric syndrome possibly linked to the coronavirus. Meanwhile, data released Tuesday shows that nine out of 10 people arrested for coronavirus-related offenses in New York City have been black or Hispanic. Here are the latest coronavirus-related developments...
Pelosi unveils $3 trillion coronavirus aid package for Friday vote
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a more than $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Tuesday, encouraging Congress to “go big” with aid to cash-strapped states and struggling Americans. The Heroes Act provides nearly $1 trillion for states, cities and tribal governments to avert layoffs and another $200 billion in...
Long-term care residents, employees to be tested weekly for covid-19, Gov. Wolf says
All nursing home patients and employees will be tested for the coronavirus, Pennsylvania officials said Tuesday, and the facilities will be required to publicly report the number of covid-19 deaths, cases and tests. Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said how often the nursing homes test their patients and employees...
Militants storm maternity clinic in Kabul, kill 14
KABUL, Afghanistan — Militants stormed a maternity hospital in the western part of Kabul on Tuesday, setting off an hours-long shootout with the police and killing 14 people, including two newborn babies, their mothers and an unspecified number of nurses, Afghan officials said. While the battle was underway, Afghan security...
American pilot dies in light plane crash in Indonesia
JAYAPURA, Indonesia — An American pilot died after her light plane crashed into a lake Tuesday while delivering humanitarian supplies in Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua, police said. The pilot, Joyce Chaisin Lin, 40, of Ohio, apparently had technical problems two minutes after takeoff from Sentani airport in the provincial...
Russia: Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov hospitalized with coronavirusVideo
MOSCOW — Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has been hospitalized with the coronavirus, the latest in a series of setbacks for President Vladimir Putin as Russia struggles to contain the growing outbreak. “Yes, I’ve gotten sick. I’m being treated,” Peskov, a key Putin aide, told the Interfax news agency on Tuesday....
Prosecutors who recused themselves from Ahmaud Arbery case now under investigationVideo
ATLANTA — The Georgia prosecutors who first handled the fatal shooting of a black man, before charges were filed more than two months later, were placed under investigation Tuesday for their conduct in the case, which has fueled a national outcry and questions about whether the slaying was racially motivated....
Fauci warns of ‘suffering and death’ if U.S. reopens too soon
WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, is warning Congress that if the country reopens too soon during the coronavirus pandemic, it will result in “needless suffering and death.” Fauci is among the health experts testifying to a Senate panel. His testimony comes as President Donald...
Trump casts doubt on mail voting. His campaign promotes it.
While President Donald Trump claims mail-in voting is ripe for fraud and “cheaters,” his reelection campaign and state allies are scrambling to launch operations meant to help their voters cast ballots in the mail. Through its partnership with the Republican National Committee, Trump’s campaign is training volunteers on the ins...
Analysis: We knew the coronavirus was coming, yet we failed 5 critical tests
The arrival of covid-19 has provided a nuclear-level stress test to the American health care system, and our grade isn’t pretty: at least 80,000 dead, 1.3 million infected and 30 million unemployed; nursing homes, prisons and meatpacking plants that have become hotbeds of infection. The actual numbers are certainly far...
Pennsylvania lawmakers’ spending on their own operations
HARRISBURG — The Associated Press combed through more than 6,000 pages of line items to get a clearer picture of how the Pennsylvania General Assembly spent taxpayer money on its own operations during the fiscal year that ended June 30. Highlights of the findings: • Total spending: The 253-member Legislature...
From frames to furniture to food, here’s how Pa. lawmakers spent millions of taxpayer dollars
HARRISBURG — It takes hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars a year for the Pennsylvania General Assembly to maintain one of the country’s largest legislative staffs, a small army that needs food, shelter, transportation, office supplies and modern electronics. An Associated Press review of invoices and more than 6,000 pages...
Data: Coronavirus-weary Americans slowly return to the road
OAK PARK, Ill. — Americans are slowly getting back on the road after hunkering down due to the coronavirus, though the volume of traffic is still well below what it was before many states issued stay-at-home orders. Drivers in the U.S. have been more active in the past week than...
Colorado restaurant shut down for allowing sit-down diningVideo
DENVER — A Colorado restaurant that opened for full service on Mother’s Day in defiance of state rules banning sit-down dining was ordered to close Monday and had its license suspended indefinitely by health officials. A video posted by Colorado Community Media showed people sitting at tables and waiting close...
White House recommends tests for all nursing home residentsVideo
WASHINGTON — With deaths mounting at the nation’s nursing homes, the White House strongly recommended to governors Monday that all residents and staff at such facilities be tested for the coronavirus in the next two weeks. Why the government is not ordering testing at the nation’s more than 15,000 nursing...
Supreme Court could reshape congressional subpoena power in Trump caseVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and House Democrats don’t agree on much these days, but both sides will tell the Supreme Court during oral arguments Tuesday that the fate of four committee subpoenas could redraw the limits of congressional investigative power. Trump’s personal lawyers and the Justice Department have warned...
New coronavirus test is imperfect step toward mass screening
WASHINGTON — A new type of coronavirus test offers a cheaper, quicker way to screen for infections, moving the U.S. toward the kind of mass screening that experts say is essential to returning millions of Americans to school and work. But the first so-called antigen test — announced Saturday by...
Trump abruptly ends briefing after contentious exchangesVideo
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump abruptly ended his White House news conference Monday following combative exchanges with reporters Weijia Jiang of CBS News and Kaitlan Collins of CNN. Jiang asked Trump why he was putting so much emphasis on the amount of coronavirus tests that have been conducted in...