Beach towns in Mexico block themselves off because of virus
MEXICO CITY — In Mexico, beach towns have begun blocking off roads — in some cases, constructing barricades of rubble across roadways — to seal themselves off from the outside world in a bid to stop the new coronavirus from entering. The Gulf of California beach town of Puerto Peñasco...
Justice Department finds errors in additional warrant applications for national security wiretaps
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has identified what it describes as “material errors” in two applications for national security wiretaps, but also says it has made important strides in overhauling a surveillance system that has come under political scrutiny because of mistakes made during the Russia probe. The department did...
Alaska Democrats hold mail-only presidential primary
JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska Democrats are deciding their choice for the party’s presidential nominee, as just one major candidate — former Vice President Joe Biden — remains actively campaigning. Results are expected Saturday in the party-run primary, which became an exclusively vote-by-mail affair after concerns with COVID-19 scrapped plans for...
U.S. budget deficit totals $743.6 billion over past 6 months
WASHINGTON — The federal government’s budget deficit for the first half of this budget year totaled $743.6 billion, up 7.6% from last year, and well on its way to topping $1 trillion even before the impacts of the coronavirus were felt. The Treasury Department reported Friday that the deficit from...
After months in space, astronauts returning to changed world
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Two NASA astronauts said Friday they expect it will be tough returning to such a drastically changed world next week, after more than half a year at the International Space Station. Andrew Morgan said the crew has tried to keep atop the pandemic news. But it’s...
Apple, Google to adapt phones for virus infection tracking
Apple and Google launched a major joint effort to leverage smartphone technology to contain the covid-19 pandemic. New software the companies plan to add to phones would make it easier to use Bluetooth wireless technology to track down people for who may have been infected by coronavirus carriers. The idea...
Alex Jones gets warning from FDA for pushing phony coronavirus cures online
Infowars founder Alex Jones has received an official warning from the Food and Drug Administration for peddling phony coronavirus cures online. In a formal letter to the alt-right television personality on Thursday, the agency ordered Jones to stop telling viewers of his widely watched broadcasts that they can stave off...
Worldwide deaths from the coronavirus top 100,000
NEW YORK — The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus has hit 100,000, according to the running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. The sad milestone comes as Christians around the globe mark a Good Friday unlike any other — in front of computer screens instead of in church pews....
Inmates rampage through offices, set fires at Kansas prison
LANSING, Kan. — Inmates at a Kansas prison where at least 26 people have been sickened by the coronavirus rampaged through offices, breaking windows and setting small fires for several hours before the facility was secured, prison officials said Friday. The disturbance, involving about 20 men, began about 3 p.m....
New York coronavirus deaths rise fast, but hospitalizations slow
NEW YORK — New York covid-19-related deaths jumped yet again by more than 700 in a day, while hospitals battling the outbreak reported encouraging news. On the economic front, New York tried to improve its overwhelmed unemployment insurance website. Here are developments in the coronavirus outbreak. THE NUMBERS Coronavirus deaths...
Analysis: Coronavirus shows benefit of learning from other nations
In 1910, when a contagious pneumonic plague was ravaging northeastern China, a physician there concluded that the disease traveled through the air. So he adapted something he had seen in England. He began instructing doctors, nurses, patients and members of the public to wear gauze masks. That pioneering of masks...
Mercury-bound spacecraft buzzes Earth, beams back picturesVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A Mercury-bound spacecraft swooped past Earth on Friday, tweaking its round-about path to the solar system’s smallest and innermost planet. Launched 1½ years ago, Europe and Japan’s Bepi-Colombo spacecraft passed within 8,000 miles of Earth. The closest approach occurred over the South Atlantic, with telescopes in...
Potential coronavirus drugs may cost as little as $1, study saysVideo
Potential coronavirus treatments could be made for as little as $1, well below their typical price tags in pharmacies, according to an analysis of nine drugs in clinical trials. If their promise is confirmed in ongoing studies, medicines for covid-19, including hydroxychloroquine, which President Donald Trump touted as a treatment,...
Judge: Failure to help whales skirts Endangered Species Act
PORTLAND, Maine — A judge has ruled the federal government failed to adequately protect endangered whales from lobster fishing activities, sending the industry and regulators scrambling to figure out what the future holds for one of America’s most lucrative marine industries. Environmental groups sued the U.S. government claiming regulators’ failure...
Nurses weigh their principles vs. safety in virus fightVideo
Paramedics rushed another critical covid-19 patient into the emergency room, and Chicago nurse Cynthia Riemer felt her adrenaline kick in. “Your heart starts racing,” she said. “You’re thinking, ‘How quickly and safely can we get them intubated?’ Because if we don’t, in the next five or 10 minutes, they could...
West Virginia near last in 2020 census responsesVideo
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia has one of the country’s lowest participation rates in the 2020 census. Data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau shows only about a third of West Virginia households have responded to the head count as of Thursday, putting the state as third worst behind only...
Dairy industry group working to stop purchase limits on milk
If your local grocery store still has a limit on how much milk a customer can buy, the state’s Department of Agriculture wants to know about it. Despite the covid-19 pandemic disrupting the local dairy supply chain, agriculture officials announced the American Dairy Association North East is working to stop...
State police seize more than $11 million worth of drugs in first 3 months of 2020
State police seized more than 68 pounds of cocaine worth about $1.5 million in the first three months of 2020, according to figures released by the law enforcement agency. That amount is part of more than $11 million in illicit drugs troopers confiscated statewide between Jan. 1 and March 31....
Because of backlash, Feds say they will continue to fund coronavirus testing sitesVideo
The Department of Health and Human Services says it will continue to support community-based coronavirus testing sites around the country despite saying earlier in the week it would stop. The funding was to discontinue on Friday but because of social media backlash and criticism of local officials, the agency says...
Judges, lawyers pay price for packing Brooklyn courthouse
NEW YORK — Dozens of lawyers, court officers and clerks crowded onto the wooden benches in Judge Johnny Lee Baynes’ courtroom March 12 as they waited for the judge to hear cases at his calendar call, the busiest day of his week. It was business as usual — which unnerved...
Sen. Bob Casey, Excela doctor urge caution when it comes to reopening businesses
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. and Excela Health’s chief medical officer urged the public to be patient and consider “the greater good” when it comes to reopening businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic. “In order to preserve public health and to prevent the spread of a disease for which there’s no...
Judge orders Chicago jail to do more to halt spread of coronavirusVideo
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Chicago Thursday ordered one of the nation’s largest jails to take prompt action to stem the potentially catastrophic spread of the coronavirus, including by ensuring that its more than 4,000 detainees have access to adequate soap and sanitizer. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly also...
As covid-19 kills, NYC shortens deadline for claiming deadVideo
NEW YORK — As New York City deals with a mounting coronavirus death toll and dwindling morgue space, the city has shortened the amount of time it will hold unclaimed remains before they are buried in the city’s public cemetery. Under the new policy, the medical examiner’s office will keep...
Mad magazine illustrator Mort Drucker dies at 91
NEW YORK — Mort Drucker, the Mad Magazine cartoonist who for decades lovingly spoofed politicians, celebrities and popular culture, died Thursday at 91. Drucker’s daughter, Laurie Bachner, told The Associated Press he fell ill last week, having difficulty walking and developing breathing problems. She did not give a specific cause...
U.N. chief warns covid-19 increases inequality for women
UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday the coronavirus pandemic is deepening existing inequalities and “is having devastating social and economic consequences for women and girls” that could reverse limited progress toward gender equality over the past 25 years. The U.N. chief said in a video message and...
