D.C. judge asks for full appeal review of Michael Flynn dismissal
WASHINGTON — The U.S. District Court judge who oversaw the criminal case of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has requested a full appeals court review after a three-judge panel ordered him to dismiss it. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan made the highly unusual the request Thursday....
WHO: Indoor airborne spread of coronavirus possible
LONDON — The World Health Organization is acknowledging the possibility that covid-19 might be spread in the air under certain conditions — after more than 200 scientists urged the agency to do so. In an open letter published this week in a journal, two scientists from Australia and the U.S....
Tropical Storm Fay edges north from off North Carolina coastVideo
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Fay, the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, began to edge away from the North Carolina coast Thursday evening, its sights set on the mid-Atlantic coast and southern New England. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Fay was about 70 miles east of...
CDC: No rewriting of guidelines for reopening schoolsVideo
WASHINGTON — Despite President Donald Trump’s sharp criticism, federal guidelines for reopening schools are not being revised, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Dr. Robert Redfield said the agency would be issuing “additional reference documents” for parents and schools to facilitate the reopening and...
NYC mayor helps paint ‘Black Lives Matter’ on street outside Trump TowerVideo
NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio joined protesters Thursday in painting a vibrant yellow “Black Lives Matter” mural on the street outside Trump Tower, delivering a message to the president on his old home turf. “No justice, no peace!” chanted the demonstrators, raising their fists in solidarity as an...
Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen back in federal prison
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, was returned to federal prison, weeks after his early release to serve the remainder of his sentence at home because of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal Bureau of Prisons said Thursday. In a statement to The Associated...
Pentagon: U.S. will respond if Russia bounty reports are trueVideo
WASHINGTON — Top Pentagon leaders told Congress on Thursday that reports of Russia offering Taliban militants bounties for killing Americans were not corroborated by defense intelligence agencies, but said they are looking into it and the U.S. will respond if necessary. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said his military commanders heard...
Pennsylvania to date distributes nearly $25B in unemployment claims
Pennsylvania has distributed nearly $25 billion in unemployment compensation as of this week, state officials said Thursday. However, the week ending July 25, however, will mark the final claim week for additional $600 payments through the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program. “Unless further action comes from Congress and the federal...
Ban on evictions, foreclosures in Pa. extended until Aug. 31
Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday extended a moratorium on evictions amid the covid-19 pandemic until Aug. 31, protecting renters and homeowners who are unable to pay their rent or mortgage from losing their homes. Wolf originally signed an executive order pausing evictions earlier this year as millions of Pennsylvanians lost...
Pennsylvania fast food fans are still loving McDonald’s
McDonald’s fans are lovin’ it … at least in Pennsylvania. A Top Data analysis determined that McDonald’s was the top fast food destination in the state. (It make sense, as the Big Mac was first introduced in 1967 by Jim Delligatti, who owned a franchise in Uniontown.) In Pennsylvania, McDonald’s...
Pennsylvania offers $10M in grant funding for food retailers affected by pandemic
Pennsylvania businesses working to maintain access to fresh, healthy food during the covid-19 pandemic are eligible for grants from $10 million in CARES Act funding, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Thursday. The Fresh Food Financing Initiative Covid-19 Relief Fund is available to food-centered organizations and businesses impacted by the pandemic, including...
Supreme Court rulings keep Trump’s financial records private for now
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court issued a mixed verdict Thursday on demands for President Donald Trump’s financial records that will keep his tax returns, banking and other documents out of the public eye for the time being. The court rejected broad arguments by Trump’s lawyers and the Justice Department that...
Layoffs stuck at high level as 1.3 million seek jobless aid
WASHINGTON — More than 1.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, a historically high pace that shows that many employers are still laying people off in the face of a resurgent coronavirus. The persistently elevated level of layoffs are occurring as a spike in virus cases has forced...
Authorities: 1 dead after tornadoes hit western Minnesota
DALTON, Minn. — Two powerful tornadoes damaged farms, left one person dead and at least one other injured in western Minnesota as severe storms moved across parts of the Midwest, authorities said. The National Weather Service told the Otter Tail County sheriff’s office that two tornadoes touched down near Dalton...
Schools or bars? Opening classrooms may mean hard choices
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — President Donald Trump insists that schools reopen this fall. Many parents, educators, doctors and economists want the same thing. But getting children back to school safely could mean keeping high-risk spots like bars and gyms closed. A growing chorus of public health experts is urging federal, state...
Texas hits record with 98 new covid-19 deaths reportedVideo
AUSTIN — Texas reported its deadliest day of the pandemic with nearly 100 new deaths on Wednesday as newly confirmed cases continued soaring and Austin began preparations to turn the downtown convention center into a field hospital. The 98 reported deaths in Texas set a record one-day high, surpassing the...
White House expert, researcher see Arizona cases levelingVideo
GLENDALE, Ariz. — One of the nation’s coronavirus hot spots got a sliver a good news Wednesday when two health experts said an exponential rise in the percentage of people testing positive for the virus in Arizona appears to have leveled off. Dr. Joshua LaBaer of Arizona State University’s Biodesign...
Justice Department plows ahead with execution plan next week
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is plowing ahead with its plan to resume federal executions next week for the first time in more than 15 years, despite the coronavirus pandemic raging both inside and outside prisons and stagnating national support for the death penalty. Three people are scheduled to die...
$14M in relief funds find members of Congress and family
WASHINGTON — At least $13.7 million in covid-19 relief funds have gone directly to companies in which members of Congress or their families are owners or employees, according to Small Business Administration data reviewed by CQ Roll Call. These companies received funds through the Paycheck Protection Program shortly after Congress...
Delirium, inflammation, stroke, nerve damage: This is the brain on covid-19
NEW YORK — Delirium, inflammation, stroke: This is your brain on covid. Evidence is mounting that covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, can cause brain damage regardless of the severity of other symptoms such as respiratory issues. Researchers at University College London studied neurological symptoms in 43 people,...
Harvard, MIT sue to block ICE rule on international studentsVideo
BOSTON — Colleges and universities pushed back Wednesday against the Trump administration’s decision to make international students leave the country if they plan on taking classes entirely online this fall, with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filing a lawsuit to try to block it, and others promising...
Minneapolis officer to George Floyd: ‘It takes … a lot of oxygen to talk’
MINNEAPOLIS — As George Floyd told Minneapolis police officers that he couldn’t breathe more than 20 times in the moments before he died, the officer who pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck dismissed his pleas, saying “it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk,” according to transcripts...
Health official: Trump rally in Tulsa ‘likely’ source of coronavirus surge
OKLAHOMA CITY — President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa that drew thousands of people in late June, along with large protests that accompanied it, “likely contributed” to a dramatic surge in new coronavirus cases, Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Dr. Bruce Dart said Wednesday. Tulsa County reported 261 confirmed...
Alexander Vindman retiring from Army, lawyer blames TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a national security aide who played a central role in President Trump’s impeachment case, announced his retirement from the Army on Wednesday in a scathing statement that accused the president of running a “campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation.” The statement from attorney David...
Trump threatens to cut federal aid if schools don’t reopenVideo
Determined to reopen America’s schools, President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to hold back federal money if school districts don’t bring their students back in the fall despite coronavirus worries. He complained that his own public health officials’ safety guideline are impractical and too expensive. Shortly afterward, Vice President Mike...
