Las Vegas marking parking places for homeless encampmentVideo
LAS VEGAS — Homeless people in Las Vegas have been directed to sleep in rectangles painted on the pavement in a makeshift parking lot camp as a way to limit the spread of the coronavirus, a move that is stirring outrage by some on social media. Former Obama administration housing...
Sen. Kim Ward seeks state law change to provide covid-19 info to first responders
A Westmoreland County lawmaker wants to amend state law to require the Pennsylvania Department of Health to release the general location of covid-19 cases to first responders. State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, is seeking co-sponsors for an amendment to require state health officials to release information about coronavirus cases by...
Toronto cancels city-led and permitted events to June 30
TORONTO — Canada’s largest city, Toronto, announced Tuesday it is canceling all city-led and permitted events through June 30 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Mayor John Tory said that includes Pride Toronto in late June. Don Peat, a spokesman for the mayor, said it applies to events that get city permits...
Former corrections officer from Greensburg loved family, games
Under normal circumstances, it might be concerning for a former county jail inmate to come walking up and say hello to a longtime corrections officer. But for Jacqueline Learn of Greensburg it was just another part of her day. “Even the prisoners called her ‘Miss Jackie,’” said Ms. Learn’s brother,...
Louisiana pastor says he’ll keep violating coronavirus ban
BATON ROUGE — A Louisiana pastor charged with six misdemeanors for holding church services in violation of a ban put in place to control the coronavirus said Tuesday that he would continue to ignore the ban because God told him to. Pastor Tony Spell was issued a summons Tuesday for...
Judge orders release of 13 immigrants in Pa., saying ICE not protecting them from coronavirus
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Harrisburg ordered the immediate release Tuesday of 13 immigrants from detention centers across Pennsylvania, saying authorities have not taken adequate measures to protect them from the threat of a coronavirus outbreak behind bars. The group, from countries across the globe, are all being all...
Squabbling over 4th coronavirus bailout bill begins, but passage is likely weeks away
WASHINGTON — Political squabbling over what Congress should do next to address the coronavirus pandemic has begun, and the only point of agreement so far seems to be that the fourth relief bill is likely weeks from being passed, if not longer. Just days after President Donald Trump signed a...
Inspector general finds more problems with FBI surveillance applications
WASHINGTON — A Justice Department watchdog has found more problems with FBI applications to a secret court that approves surveillance as part of counterintelligence and counterterrorism investigations. The inspector general audit, released Tuesday, could play into the ongoing congressional debate over the program. In December, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz...
U.S. finds major cross-border tunnel used to smuggle drugs
SAN DIEGO — A large haul of drugs, including opioids, methamphetamine and cocaine, being smuggled from Mexico to California was seized from a cross-border tunnel equipped with ventilation, lighting and an underground rail system, authorities said Tuesday. The tunnel connected warehouses in Tijuana and San Diego, extending about 2,000 feet...
Johnstown police say coughing led to parking lot assault, shots fired
JOHNSTOWN —A confrontation that apparently began over coughing in a convenience store parking lot resulted in gunfire, Johnstown police said in court documents released Tuesday. Two men were charged with aggravated assault. The police affidavit used to support charges against Guillermo Diaz Alvarez said the other defendant, William Suaro, said...
U.S. coronavirus death toll eclipses China’s
NEW YORK — The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed past 3,500 Tuesday, eclipsing China’s official count. Elsewhere around the world, hard-hit Italy reported that the infection rate appears to be leveling off and new cases could start declining, but that the crisis is far from over. Spain struggled...
U.S. warship captain seeks crew isolation as coronavirus spreadsVideo
WASHINGTON — The captain of a Navy aircraft carrier facing a growing outbreak of the coronavirus is asking for permission to isolate the bulk of his roughly 5,000 crew members on shore, which would take the warship out of duty in an effort to save lives. In a memo to...
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo diagnosed with covid-19
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo revealed Tuesday he has been diagnosed with covid-19. The network reported it broke the news to employees in an internal memo. The anchor also tweeted the news himself. pic.twitter.com/e9Ym9jeT2R— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) March 31, 2020 “Soooo in these difficult times that seem to get more...
Un-baaaaa-lievable: Goats invade locked-down Welsh townVideo
LONDON — Un-baaaaa-lievable: This wild bunch is completely ignoring rules on social distancing. With humans sheltering indoors to escape the new coronavirus, mountain goats are taking advantage of the peace and space to roam in frisky clumps through the streets of Llandudno, a town in North Wales. Andrew Stuart, a...
How will we vote? Outbreak revives debate on mail-in ballots
OLYMPIA, Wash. — As the coronavirus pandemic knocks primary election after primary election off schedule, Democrats argue the outbreak shows the country needs to move toward one of their longtime goals — widespread voting by mail — to protect the November election. But Democrats’ hopes for using the crisis to...
Trump administration rolls back vehicle mileage standardsVideo
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration rolled backed ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards Tuesday, raising the ceiling on damaging fossil fuel emissions for years to come and gutting one of the United States’ biggest efforts against climate change. The Trump administration released a final rule Tuesday on mileage standards through 2026....
Sen. Jim Brewster wants to exempt stimulus checks from state, local taxes
Stimulus checks, already exempt from federal taxes, would be exempt from state and local taxes as well under legislation state Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, expects to introduce Tuesday. Under the recently passed $2.2 trillion federal stimulus bill, individuals earning up to $75,000 a year will receive a $1,200 check sometime...
NYC reports 1st coronavirus death of a person under 18Video
NEW YORK — New York City reported its first coronavirus death of a person under 18 years old as the number of fatalities in the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak continued to rise rapidly. City officials announced Tuesday that 250 more ambulances and 500 paramedics and EMTs are headed to...
West Virginia hospital announces closure amid pandemicVideo
WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — The only hospital in a southern West Virginia county is closing after the coronavirus crisis disrupted attempts to sell the business, WOWK-TV reports. Williamson Memorial Hospital in Mingo County announced plans on Monday to close in three weeks. In a statement, hospital officials explained that they went...
Social distancing may have helped California slow the virus and avoid New York’s fateVideo
MILLBRAE, Calif. — For California and Washington, the coronavirus triggers came early. They pushed the two Western states to social distancing measures earlier than the rest of the country. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the warning came while the Grand Princess cruise ship, carrying infected crew and passengers, lurked...
Ships with people from ill-fated cruise beg Florida to dock
MIAMI — Two ships carrying passengers and crew from an ill-fated South American cruise are pleading with Florida officials to let them carry off the sick and dead, but Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida’s health care resources are already stretched too thin. As the Zandaam and its sister ship the...
5 shot at Philadelphia party; toddler, girl critically hurt
PHILADELPHIA — A shooting outside a Philadelphia home where a family party was being held left five people wounded, authorities said, including a toddler and a teenage girl who were critically injured. The shooting occurred shortly before 10 p.m. Monday, when a gunman opened fire on a crowd of people...
Pittsburgh couple’s virus song goes viral on YouTubeVideo
A Pittsburgh couple used their housebound time to fight back at coronavirus with a parody song. Claire and Mel Vatz based their “We’re All Home Bound” on the Simon & Garfunkel classic “Homeward Bound.” The couple sent the video to about 35 friends and family Sunday night. The YouTube video...
Assailant with ax, machete wounds man in southern Germany
BERLIN — An assailant armed with an ax and a machete threatened a woman and wounded a man who came to her help in southern Germany on Tuesday, police said. The suspect, a 27-year-old Tunisian citizen who lives in Augsburg, first broke the windshield of a bus taking bus drivers...
Royal no more: Harry and Meghan start uncertain new chapterVideo
LONDON — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan officially make the transition Tuesday from senior members of Britain’s royal family to — well, it’s unclear. International celebrities, charity patrons, global influencers? The royal schism that the couple triggered in January by announcing that they would step down from official duties,...
