Medical marijuana bills challenge Bible Belt politics
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Facing a potentially historic vote on whether to legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky, Republican lawmaker John Schickel is conflicted. A retired law enforcement officer, Schickel once steadfastly opposed medical cannabis, but his stance has softened. Now he says he’s approaching the question with an open mind. “One...
Pa. attorney general reports hundreds of price-gouging complaints as coronavirus spreads
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro says his email tip line has received more than 200 complaints of price gouging by stores around the state as consumers scramble to buy supplies while coronavirus continues to spread. More than 100 complaints of suspect gouging reached Shapiro’s office in the first two days...
Westmoreland County declares state of emergency to prepare for coronavirusVideo
Westmoreland County Commissioners declared a state of emergency Saturday morning, a move officials said will enhance government efforts to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The emergency declaration gives county officials the ability to quickly activate emergency personnel and pay for needed responses, county officials said during a courthouse news conference....
Latest on coronavirus: Gov. Wolf urges closure of some ‘non-essential’ spaces; St. Patrick’s party continues in Pittsburgh
In an effort to speed up the testing for people with symptoms of the coronavirus that causes covid-19, the region’s largest health system announced Saturday it has created its own in-house test. UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh laid out the details at a news conference. Later Saturday, health officials...
Tampons, pads and politics mesh in new push for access to menstrual supplies
DENVER — Geoff Davis’ gray Kia sedan is chock-full of tampons and maxi pads. Davis, 50, volunteers as executive director of Period Kits, a Colorado nonprofit that provides a three-month bag of tampons and pads to people in need. On lunch breaks from his full-time job in community relations or...
Trump promised to bring back manufacturing in Pennsylvania. He didn’t. Will it cost him?
ERIE, Pa. — When Donald Trump came here in 2016, he blasted Democrats for decimating the region’s once-vaunted manufacturing sector and pledged to reverse the decay. “We’re going to put people back to work,” he said at a rally that summer. “We’re not playing games, and it’s going to go...
On eve of Disneyland closure, fun trumps virus fear
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Thousands flocked to Disneyland on Friday for glimpses of Mickey and Minnie, a ride on “It’s a Small World” and a last trip to the Galaxy’s Edge before a historically long closure because of the new coronavirus. It was a rare rainy day in Southern California, and...
Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show canceled due to coronavirus concerns
The Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show has been canceled as a result of coronavirus concerns. Officials said the event, which started March 6 and was scheduled to run through Sunday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, was halted in response to guidelines issued by the Allegheny County Health Department....
EU urges border health checks as virus case count mounts
BRUSSELS — The European Union urged member countries Friday to put health screening procedures in place at their borders to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus but said they must coordinate so people can still quickly get the medical care they need. With Italy reporting the most virus cases...
Lawyer: Man asleep when police fired on house, killing him
SILVER SPRING, Md. — A Maryland man was asleep in his bedroom when police opened fire from outside his house, killing him and wounding his girlfriend, an attorney for the 21-year-old man’s family said Friday. The Montgomery County Police Department said in a news release Friday that Duncan Socrates Lemp...
Death toll at least 21 as Egypt storms, flooding enter 2nd day
CAIRO — Thunderstorms and flooding around Egypt entered a second day Friday, interrupting daily life in much of the country, including the capital Cairo, as the death toll rose to 21, authorities said. Most of the victims were in rural areas and slums. At least six children died either from...
‘Not a wave, a tsunami’: Italy hospitals at coronavirus limit
ROME — Talk of a 400-bed field hospital in Milan’s fairgrounds. A team of Chinese experts and surplus ventilators arriving on a cargo plane. Doctors Without Borders, usually dispatched to the third world when disasters strike, working triage in Italy’s prosperous north. The coronavirus outbreak tearing through Italy has turned...
Police: Florida governor candidate in room where crystal meth found
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Former Florida Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Gillum is named in a police report Friday saying he was “inebriated” and initially unresponsive in a hotel room where authorities found baggies of suspected crystal methamphetamine. Gillum, the former Tallahassee mayor who ran for governor in 2018, is...
Bernie Sanders says lack of rallies ‘hurting’ his campaign
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Bernie Sanders acknowledged Friday that fears about the spread of coronavirus have damaged his ability to leverage large rallies into support at the polls, and suggested that future Democratic presidential primary voting should be delayed if health officials deem doing so appropriate. “We do more rallies than...
Biden virtual town hall marks new normal for campaigning
CHICAGO — Joe Biden is holding a town hall in Illinois from 800 miles away in Delaware. Bernie Sanders is staging daily news conferences from Vermont, instead of his usual rallies around the country with thousands of supporters. The global coronavirus pandemic has sent the 2020 presidential campaign into a...
Western Pa. fish fries serve up precaution as coronavirus concern deepens
From fire halls to churches, organizers of the region’s extremely popular Lenten fish fries are employing a variety of precautions as concern over the spread of the coronavirus continues. “We are certainly stepping up our regular cleaning measures, which we take pretty seriously to begin with,” said Heather Dolhi, administrator...
Trump declares coronavirus pandemic a national emergency
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is declaring the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency, as Washington struggles with providing Americans with relief and officials race to slow the spread of the outbreak. Speaking from the Rose Garden, Trump said, “I am officially declaring a national emergency.” He...
U.S. hospitals brace for ‘tremendous strain’ from new virus
U.S. hospitals are setting up circus-like triage tents, calling doctors out of retirement, guarding their supplies of face masks and making plans to cancel elective surgery as they brace for an expected onslaught of coronavirus patients. Depending on how bad the crisis gets, the sick could find themselves waiting on...
Delta slashes flights by 40% as virus cripples global travel
Delta Air Lines will cut passenger-carrying capacity by 40% to deal with a nosedive in travel demand, and it is talking to the White House and Congress about assistance to get through a downturn caused by the new coronavirus. The 40% cut in capacity is the largest in Delta’s history,...
Gov. Tom Wolf orders all Pa. schools shut down for 10 days
Schools across Pennsylvania will close for at least 10 business days amid efforts to stem the spread of coronavirus, state officials said Friday. Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement that officials will re-evaluate after 10 days to decide whether schools should remain closed. The order – for 10 school...
Trump preparing to invoke emergency powers over coronavirus
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is preparing to invoke emergency powers as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus outbreak, according to two people familiar with the planning who spoke on condition of anonymity. It was still unclear Friday, however, precisely what mechanism Trump would use to free up additional...
In Pennsylvania, school closures spread amid coronavirus outbreak
HARRISBURG — School closings began radiating farther from the Philadelphia area, with schools in at least 10 Pennsylvania counties closed Friday as the state mounted a sweeping social distancing measure aimed at slowing the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, the number of positive tests grew from 22 to 33,...
Miami mayor tests positive for coronavirus after event with Brazil President Bolsonaro
MIAMI — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, four days after the mayor attended a Miami event with a Brazilian government official who later tested positive for the virus. Suarez confirmed the positive test Friday morning in an interview with...
Philadelphia officer shot and killed while serving warrant
PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed early Friday as he served a homicide warrant at a home. Cpl. James O’Connor, 46, was shot around 5:45 a.m. in the city’s Frankford section, officials said. He was shot in the shoulder above his bulletproof vest when officers entered...
Masters postponed over coronavirus
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Augusta National on Friday postponed the Masters, another massive hit to the spring sports calendar by the coronavirus that already is responsible for the loss of March Madness and the delay of MLB’s Opening Day. So much for that annual rite of spring and the...
