A SWAT situation is unfolding Tuesday morning in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood.Team called out to investigate shots fired in the area of Sickle Street.
With a stay-at-home order in effect statewide, fewer people are driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
With fewer drivers, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is generating a lot less money from tolls. From March 22 through April 18, the turnpike commission has seen a 50 percent drop in revenue from tolls.
The drop in revenue poses serious challenges for the turnpike commission. Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton said the commission is cutting costs and scaling back repair projects.
FLEETVILLE, Pa. — Authorities are investigating a fisherman’s discovery of a truck at the bottom of a northeastern Pennsylvania lake.
WNEP-TV reports that someone on a fishing boat noticed what appeared to be a vehicle on the bottom of the Benton Township lake in Lackawanna State Park in Lackawanna County.
The fisherman contacted authorities who confirmed the presence of some sort of truck at the bottom of the lake. Officials decided it was too difficult to remove the vehicle or send divers to investigate at night. The investigation was to continue Sunday.
SALT LAKE CITY — State and local governments across the United States have obtained about 30 million doses of a malaria drug touted by President Trump to treat patients with the coronavirus, despite warnings from doctors that more research is needed.
At least 22 states and Washington, D.C., secured shipments of the drug, hydroxychloroquine, according to information compiled from state and federal officials by The Associated Press. Sixteen of those states were won by Trump in 2016, although five of them, including North Carolina and Louisiana, are now led by Democratic governors.
Supporters say having a supply on hand makes sense in case the drug is shown to be effective against the pandemic that has devastated the global economy and killed nearly 200,000 people worldwide, and to ensure a steady supply for people who need it for other conditions like lupus.
New Zealand’s Director-General of Health, Ashley Bloomfield, said the low number of new cases in recent days “does give us confidence that we have achieved our goal of elimination”.
Cambria County, Pa. (WJAC) — Everyone is trying to find creative ways to stay busy while staying home as the statewide shutdown continues because of the coronavirus.
One hobby seems to be budding in popularity, gardening. Local nursery owners say more people have been paying them a visit to get their gardens going.
Jesse Stuver, the owner of Stuver’s Riverside Nursery in Johnstown, says this time have made people want to become more self sufficient and grow their own food instead of relying on the store.
“It’s a good opportunity to put food on your plate and there’s nothing like the taste of a tomato or apple pie that you’ve grown the tree yourself or the plant yourself,” said Stuver.
Stuver says it’s also a safe and easy way to social distance while getting some fresh air and may be giving people a new perspective on life.
“You get to see thing that you’re obviously not going to see in an office and it’s kind of nice to stop and smell the roses sometimes, I think that’s important,” said Stuver.
Even though people won’t be working from home or unable to see friends and family forever. Stuver says he believes this trend will continue past this time.
“When people do go back to work I think they’re going to have a little more time, I think it’s been a reset button for people. They’re spending more time with family and gardening is a family thing, you can get the kids out and they can help till the garden, help pull weeds and whatever needs to be done,” said Stuver.
And if you are looking to get a green thumb during the pandemic, Stuver says to make sure you have fertile soil and keep weeds away from your garden. But most importantly, he says to have fun with it.
READE TWP., CAMBRIA CO., Pa. (WTAJ) — State Police in Ebensburg are looking for information after 10 beer kegs and two rolls of welder leads were stolen from a home on Executive Drive in Reade Township.
Police report the theft happened sometime between April 9 and April 25, 2020.
State Troopers are asking anyone with any information to call PSP Ebensberg at 814-471-6500.
Stolen:
10 Beer Kegs, Value $300
2 Welder Leads, Value $600
New York (CNN Business)Tyson Foods (TSN) is warning that “millions of pounds of meat” will disappear from the supply chain as the coronavirus pandemic pushes food processing plants to close, leading to product shortages in grocery stores across the country.
“The food supply chain is breaking,” wrote board chairman John Tyson in a full-page advertisement published Sunday in The New York Times, Washington Post and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
US farmers don’t have anywhere to sell their livestock, he said, adding that “millions of animals — chickens, pigs and cattle — will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities.”
“There will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed,” Tyson wrote.
Gasper Vallejo, visiting the city from Miami, was zipping north in a 2016 Mercedes Benz on Bruckner Blvd., underneath the elevated Bruckner Expressway, when he slammed into a support pillar about 3:35 a.m.
BATON ROUGE, La. — A shooting in Louisiana’s capital city left one police officer dead and his wounded colleague fighting for his life Sunday, authorities said, adding a suspect was later taken into custody after an hourslong standoff in which shots were exchanged with a SWAT team.
Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul told The Advocate the two officers were shot in a northern residential district in the city, and that one of the officers later succumbed.
Paul said a suspect, Ronnie Kato, 36, was detained after a roughly four-hour standoff in which he barricaded inside a house. The chief didn’t immediately say what charges Kato might face. He added that SWAT team members had been fired on and they returned fire. No one was reported hurt during those exchanges.
Police said the officers who were shot had responded earlier in the day to reports of gunfire in the area.
SOMERSET CO, Pa (WJAC) — State police in Somerset say a third person has been arrested and charged for her involvement in the group assault of a Somerset County man last weekend.
Troopers say 29-year-old Nicole Cramer of Somerset is now facing charges of simple assault and harassment for her involvement in the attack.
Authorities say Cramer reportedly yelled at and hit the victim multiple times, stating that he “ruined her and her boyfriend’s anniversary.”
Police identified Eric Flamm, one of the individuals arrested on Friday, as Cramer’s boyfriend, according to a release.
HARRISBURG (KDKA) – Governor Tom Wolf in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development announced on Sunday that 160 companies in 43 counties have been granted $13.5 million in funding.
The grants are part of the COVID-19 Working Capital Access Program.
“These loans will help businesses in the commonwealth quickly access capital to address their critical needs while we continue to follow the governor and health secretary’s orders,” said DCED Secretary Dennis Davin. “Small businesses are the fabric of our commonwealth, and the Wolf Administration is committed to supporting them to the fullest extent during this unprecedented time.”
So far, under the COVID-19 Working Capital Access Program, over $23 million has been awarded to restaurants, wellness centers, wineries, breweries, salons, and other businesses.
As of March 25, Gov. Wolf announced the Commonwealth Financing Authority was transferring $40 million to the Small Business First Fund, making $61 million available to be distributed as $100,000 loans for businesses with 100 or fewer full-time employees.
French police say they have seized 140,000 face masks destined for sale on the black market.
Officers say they caught a businessman unloading the masks from a lorry into a house in St Denis, north of Paris.
Last month, France requisitioned all stocks and production of face masks to equip health workers.
Meanwhile in China, the authorities have confiscated 89m poor quality face masks. The country has faced criticism over poor quality exports.
Officials had inspected nearly 16 million businesses and had also seized large quantities of ineffective disinfectant, government official Gan Lin said.
And in Germany, medical wholesalers say they have almost run out of masks. From Monday it will be compulsory for people to cover their faces in shops and on public transport in the country.
Westmoreland County saw 14 new cases of covid-19 as of Sunday, but no new deaths related to the virus, data provided by state and local officials show.
The county’s total number of covid-19 cases reached 374 on Sunday, up from the 360 cases reported on Saturday.
The death total reported by state officials remained at 19. That number remains lower than the 27 covid-19 deaths reported by Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha.
According to state numbers, roughly 41% of Westmoreland’s covid-19 cases, as well as all deaths reported by the state, can be attributed to nursing and personal care homes.
As of Sunday, 19 nursing home deaths had been reported, and 125 residents and 28 employees across six different facilities had tested positive for the virus in the county, state data show.
The coroner hasn’t added to the county’s death toll since Thursday.
Coronavirus-related staffing shortages at chicken processing plants will lead farms in Maryland and Delaware to destroy nearly 2 million chickens. The Baltimore Sun reported Friday that the plants are unable to keep pace with the number of birds that are ready for harvest. They had been placed into poultry houses as chicks several weeks ago. The chickens will not be processed for meat.
Bill Gates has emerged through the coronavirus rubble as a prophet and savior, but is he even a good person?
Is it possible to be a bad man when you give billions of dollars in charity? Let’s take a deeper look at the enigma that is Bill Gates.
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Bill Gates has taken on the aura of a prophet since the coronavirus pandemic began. It seemed like he warned of this exact problem years before it happened. He and Melinda pledged to donate a whopping $100 million to coronavirus relief efforts.
Bill Gates gives away massive amounts of money, he lifts the downtrodden, and he works diligently to treat and cure disease. What’s not to like? More than you might think.
The Case Against Bill Gates
While his charitable donations are undeniable, Bill Gates has some red flags hiding in those deep pockets.
First, those vaccines that he so generously helps develop are shrouded in controversy.
The BMGF, and several partners, have been accused of testing these vaccines on people in third-world and lightly-regulated countries. These experiments have allegedly been given without consent and resulted in deaths.
” alt=”” aria-hidden=”true” />Right-wing provocateur Candace Owens takes a shot at Bill Gates. | Source: Twitter
Strict restrictions on federal assistance could hinder their bid for long-term survival.
The latest version of the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, is expected to provide $310 billion more to help limit the economic meltdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
But for the federally backed loans to be forgiven, recipients must spend 75 percent of the money within eight weeks on payroll to employees who were on the books as the pandemic broke out. The remaining money can be spent on rent, utilities, employee health care benefits and mortgage payments.
Nicole Marquis, owner of the restaurant HipCityVeg in Philadelphia, a recipient of the most recent round of federal aid, said future packages must “provide flexibility in timing to use it.”
She said that while the federal government appears to believe businesses will be up and running in two months, that’s not the reality she sees.
Scooters, bicycles and skateboards returned to the streets of Spain on Sunday as children stepped outside for the first time in 44 days since living in home confinement under one of Europe’s strictest coronavirus lockdowns.
Spain’s government let children under 14 years old leave their homes for one hour of supervised activity per day, but they must stay within 1 kilometer, or about half a mile, of their home. This brief freedom comes as the hard-hit nation reported its lowest daily death count in over a month.
“This is wonderful! I can’t believe it has been six weeks,” said Susana Sabaté, a mother of 3-year-old twin boys who were wearing child-size face-masks. “My boys are very active. Today when they saw the front door and we gave them their scooters, they were thrilled.”
The owner, seven employees, and a hired trainer, were all within close proximity and no one was wearing PPE. The day before, multiple employees complained to the owner that they were concerned for their health at a training session the day before. Middle Creek Roofing was previously warned about compliance by State Police on April 20 and then by Millcreek Township Police on April 22.
Date: April 26, 2020 Incident Type: SWAT Location: Zone 5 Summary:
Pittsburgh Police responded to multiple Shotspotter alerts for the vicinity of Lincoln Avenue & Lyric Street around 12:20 a.m.
Responding Zone 5 officers came upon an idling vehicle at the intersection of Laxton Street & Odessa Place. Immediately upon seeing the officers, the driver and passenger fled the vehicle. At least one of the suspects was observed by officers running into a nearby house on the 6700 block of Deary Street. He refused to come out when instructed by officers. With the assistance of SWAT and negotiators, the two individuals were taken into custody without incident following a brief standoff. There were no reported injuries or shooting victims found.
Sunday marks the 66th anniversary to the day when the first inoculations began on nearly 2 million children who received Salk’s vaccine candidate in 1954. By 1955, the pivotal public health experiment was deemed a success, with the vaccine proving to be safe, potent and 90% effective in thwarting polio.
The achievement put Pittsburgh on the global map as a leader in cutting-edge medical research and set the stage for decades of investments and advancements in Pitt’s vaccine research capabilities. As the nation confronts the covid-19 pandemic, Pittsburgh scientists have joined the global race to stop the spread of yet another disease horrifying the world.
“Pittsburgh has such a tremendous track record in infectious disease research. There are people working on influenza, there are people working on viruses that cause cancer, there are people who work on HIV. There’s a phenomenal cohort of people in the University of Pittsburgh — and that’s what attracted me,” said Paul Duprex, a virologist who took the helm last year as director of Pitt’s Center for Vaccine Research.
US women may soon achieve a level of equality not everyone wants – ending 40 years of all-male precedent by becoming eligible to be conscripted in a time of war, writes James Jeffrey.
One of the starkest ways American women have achieved equality with men in the workplace has occurred in the military.
The decision five years ago by then Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to open all positions in the armed forces to women – including combat duty – was largely applauded as a necessary step that benefited the military and society.
But this levelling of the military playing field has led to a more divisive consequence – at the end of March the government’s National Commission on Military, National and Public Service declared it is now time that women become eligible for the military draft – the procedure by which individuals are chosen for conscription – just like their male counterparts between the ages of 18 and 25.
Currently, all male US citizens in that age bracket, regardless of where they live, and male immigrants – documented and undocumented – residing within the US, must register through the Selective Service System.
Women aged 18-25 could soon become conscription-eligible for the first time in US history.
Walt Disney Studios has moved around a few more release dates following the delay of movies amid COVID-19 lockdowns and quarantines, including two Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. The Doctor Strange sequel has been pushed from 2021 to 2022, Disney said Friday afternoon, although Thor: Love and Thunder has been given an earlier release date, moving from Feb. 18 to Feb. 11, 2022.
Disney’s other date reshuffles are all of untitled movies — an unnamed live action that was meant to release March 25, 2022, has been removed entirely, while another will now release on April 8 of that year. An untitled 20th Century movie slated for release on April 8, 2022, has also been removed completely, while an unnamed “Disney event film” will be hitting screens on July 9, 2021.
Into the Spider-Verse 2 has also been delayed from April 8, 2022 to Oct. 7, 2022, while the next Spider Man starring Tom Holland has been delayed by Sony from July 16 until Nov. 5, 2021.
The City of Pittsburgh, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management Agency are working in consultation with the Allegheny County Health Department, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The City of Pittsburgh is committed to continuous operations throughout the pandemic. Please stay alert for additional notifications and resources.
If you are experiencing symptoms, please call your primary care provider. If you do not have one, call the PA Department of Health hotline at 1-877-PA-HEALTH (724-3258).
Pittsburgh Police Respond to Gunshot Victims Dropped Off At a Local Hospital
Date: April 24, 2020 Incident Type: Shooting Location: Zone 2 Summary:
Pittsburgh Police responded to a report of gunshot victims at a local hospital around 3:50 p.m.
Munhall EMS along with Southeast Regional EMS were outside the hospital and saw the victims being dropped off by a private vehicle. Those Medics gave aid and escorted the victims inside hospital. The two male victims stated they were shot in the area of the block 1800 Bedford Avenue. One victim was shot in the arm. The second victim was shot in the arm and leg.
“The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as ‘unidentified’,” the Pentagon wrote in a statement Monday.
A SWAT situation is unfolding Tuesday morning in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood.Team called out to investigate shots fired in the area of Sickle Street.
The incident was reported Monday night at a senior living facility in Canton Township, Washington County.
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Gasper Vallejo, visiting the city from Miami, was zipping north in a 2016 Mercedes Benz on Bruckner Blvd., underneath the elevated Bruckner Expressway, when he slammed into a support pillar about 3:35 a.m.
Jerry Bishop, the longtime veteran radio personality who was the off-camera announcer for the courtroom show
French police say they have seized 140,000 face masks destined for sale on the black market.
Coronavirus-related staffing shortages at chicken processing plants will lead farms in Maryland and Delaware to destroy nearly 2 million chickens. The Baltimore Sun reported Friday that the plants are unable to keep pace with the number of birds that are ready for harvest. They had been placed into poultry houses as chicks several weeks ago. The chickens will not be processed for meat.
Bill Gates has emerged through the coronavirus rubble as a prophet and savior, but is he even a good person?
Strict restrictions on federal assistance could hinder their bid for long-term survival.
Spain’s government let children under 14 years old leave their homes for one hour of supervised activity per day, but they must stay within 1 kilometer, or about half a mile, of their home. This brief freedom comes as the hard-hit nation reported its lowest daily death count in over a month.
The owner, seven employees, and a hired trainer, were all within close proximity and no one was wearing PPE. The day before, multiple employees complained to the owner that they were concerned for their health at a training session the day before. Middle Creek Roofing was previously warned about compliance by State Police on April 20 and then by Millcreek Township Police on April 22.
Questions over how the PM is going to tackle the next stage of the coronavirus crisis dominate the papers.
