Mt. Pleasant native leads UCLA battle against coronavirusVideo
When the novel coronavirus came ashore on the West Coast two months ago, Johnese Spisso was confident UCLA Health was up for the challenge. The Mt. Pleasant native is president of UCLA Health and CEO of UCLA Hospital System — one of the nation’s largest medical academic research centers and...
UK’s Johnson virus positive as new outbreaks appear in US
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the first leader of a major country to test positive for the coronavirus while disturbing new outbreaks appeared in the United States, deaths surged in Italy and Spain and the world warily trudged through the pandemic that has sickened more than a half-million people....
Civil rights leader, MLK aide Joseph Lowery dies at 98
ATLANTA — The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, a veteran civil rights leader who helped the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and fought against racial discrimination, died Friday, a family statement said. He was 98. A charismatic and fiery preacher, Lowery led the SCLC for...
Living outside lockdown: Some barber, beauty shops still open
ELGIN, S.C. (AP) — With South Carolina’s first coronavirus hot spot just a short jaunt up the highway, Johellen Lee hadn’t been out for anything but groceries for nearly a month. “I looked like a hag,” she said. So she headed to see her best friend and hair stylist Erica...
‘The day the music died’: Coronavirus tests New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS — There were the great fires of 1788 and 1794 and the multiple yellow fever outbreaks of the 1800s. Hurricane Betsy hit in 1965, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the memories linger in New Orleans like remnants of a bad dream. Now the city is one of the...
What you need to know today about the virus outbreak
America’s coronavirus infections have surged to the most in the world, reaching 100,000 cases Friday with New York still the worst hit in the country. Troubling new outbreaks are bubbling in other cities including Chicago, Detroit and New Orleans, which is rushing to build a makeshift hospital in its convention...
Handling mail amid coronavirus: Low risk but wash your hands
Kathy Payne has a routine: She wipes down the trays holding the mail she’s about to deliver. She puts on gloves to sort the letters and packages, then a new pair when she climbs into her vehicle. As she fills people’s mailboxes throughout the day, she constantly cleans her steering...
California has surge of virus cases that threatens hospitals
LOS ANGELES — The surge of coronavirus cases in California that health officials have warned was coming has arrived and will worsen, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday, while the mayor of Los Angeles warned that by early next week his city could see the kind of crush that has crippled...
Trump seeks to force General Motors to produce ventilators
DETROIT — President Donald Trump issued an order Friday that seeks to force General Motors to produce ventilators for coronavirus patients under the Defense Production Act. Trump said negotiations with General Motors had been productive, “but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the...
4 dead on cruise ship heading to Fort Lauderdale
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Four people have died aboard a Holland America cruise ship that is making its way to Port Everglades, the liner announced Friday. The news comes three days after the company confirmed 77 crew and passengers aboard the Zaandam were sick with coronavirus symptoms. A Miramar couple...
GOP’s Massie outrages House, Trump by seeking to stall vote
WASHINGTON — Rep. Thomas Massie has always gone his own way in Congress, ever since he first ran for office inspired by a fellow libertarian-leaning Kentuckian, Rand Paul. Now in his fourth term, the Republican from northern Kentucky has frequently voted no on issues large and small, even against the...
Ohio sets all-mail primary April 28; in-person voting off
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has set a new, almost exclusively mail-in primary election for April 28 due to the coronavirus, ignoring the timing recommendations of the state elections chief and some voting-rights groups. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed a sweeping relief bill containing the change Friday, though he also had...
Diocese of Greensburg plans virtual Holy Week, Easter services
The Diocese of Greensburg has announced Virtual Holy Week Services to help Catholics in Westmoreland, Armstrong, Indiana and Fayette counties celebrate Easter in their homes. In a statement, Bishop Edward C. Malesic said parishioners should “use the Easter season to stay connected to our faith and be ready to help...
Gov. Wolf vetoes petrochemical plant tax break bill
Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday followed through on his threat to veto a bill to provide potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for petrochemical plants that use natural gas extracted in Pennsylvania. In his veto message, Wolf said he could support awarding an incentive like the one...
As virus toll mounts in New York, more hospitals sought
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump and elected leaders in New York are clashing again over the depth of the state’s coronavirus crisis. Meanwhile, the outbreak is taking its toll on the state’s civil servants, with the virus claiming the lives of bus and train workers and a civilian employee...
Canada to cover up to 75% of salaries for businesses
TORONTO — The Canadian government is increasing a payroll subsidy to small- and medium-sized businesses to now cover up to 75% of salaries amid the pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the major increase over the original 10 percent subsidy plan. Trudeau said it became clear they needed to do...
Pope to mark Holy Week ceremonies in shelter of St. Peter’s
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will celebrate Holy Week ceremonies in the confines of Vatican City, including a Good Friday Way of the Cross service on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica instead of at Rome’s Colosseum as customary. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vatican on Friday announced that...
Lack of social distancing leads to closure of parks, trails
OAK PARK, Ill. — It was a sunny day, the first in about a week when temperatures had climbed past the 50-degree mark, and people in Chicago did what they always do on such a day: They flocked to the shores of Lake Michigan. Mayor Lori Lightfoot did not consider...
Spain reports deadliest day with 769 more coronavirus deathsVideo
Spain reported its deadliest day since the outbreak of the coronavirus, with 769 deaths in the past 24 hours. The total number of fatalities rose to 4,858, from 4,089, and the number of confirmed cases climbed to 64,059, from 56,188 a day earlier, the Health Ministry said. The grim data...
Venezuela’s only telecoms satellite is lost in spaceVideo
BOGOTA, Colombia — Venezuela’s only telecommunications satellite has veered off its orbit and stopped working, creating a logistical headache for the cash-strapped South American nation. The Chinese-built satellite was launched among much fanfare in 2008 under the watch of former President Hugo Chavez, who said that the six-ton machine would...
British Prime Minister Johnson tests positive for virusVideo
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the first leader of a major nation to contract covid-19, but he insisted Friday that he remains in charge of the United Kingdom’s response to the outbreak. Johnson, 55, said he was tested Thursday on the...
Italy hopes virus is easing but fears new onslaught in southVideo
ROME — Doctors and nurses in Italy’s overwhelmed northern hospitals have welcomed a slight stabilizing in the number of coronavirus infections but fear the virus is still silently spreading in the south two weeks into the West’s most extreme nationwide shutdown. As the dead in Italy keep piling up, virologists...
House passes $2.2T rescue package, rushes it to TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — Acting with unity and resolve unseen since the 9/11 attacks, the House of Representatives gave near-unanimous approval Friday to historic legislation designed to prevent the economy from collapsing and rush resources to overburdened health care providers and struggling families during the deepening coronavirus epidemic. The unprecedented $2.2 trillion...
Tourists stranded in Asia by canceled flights, shut bordersVideo
PHUKET, Thailand — From the sun-soaked beaches of Thailand to the foothills of Mount Everest in Nepal, tourists across Asia are finding their dream vacations have turned into travel nightmares as airlines cancel flights and countries close their borders in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of tourists escaping...
Pedestrian bridge falls onto Detroit freeway; no injuries
DETROIT — A portion of a pedestrian bridge fell early Friday onto a Detroit freeway, blocking traffic, police said. No one was injured in the collapse onto westbound Interstate 94, Lt. Mike Shaw, a Michigan State Police spokesman, said in an email. State police reported on Twitter that the agency...
