Western PA News

Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers announced that remote teaching will continue for an additional five weeks.

Source: Pittsburgh Public Schools Announces Remote Teaching Will Continue For Additional 5 Weeks – CBS Pittsburgh

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency in Portland as authorities anticipate violent clashes between opposing groups over the weekend during a scheduled rally being held by a right-wing group.

Source: Oregon Gov. Brown declares emergency in Portland as Proud Boys rally approaches | Fox News

by: Bill Shannon

SOMERSET COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — In celebration of Hunger Action Month, four Somerset County food pantries are receiving much need support from Food Lion`s annual “The Great Pantry Makeover”.

Officials say that the donation to each pantry includes 42 cases of food and $800 in Food Lion gift cards. Those food pantries are:

• Berlin Food Pantry (picking up groceries on Sept. 24)
• Meyersdale Church of Brethren (picking up groceries on Sept. 25)
• Somerset Area Food Pantry (picking up groceries on Sept. 24)
• St. Francis Caring and Sharing (receiving gift cards in lieu of groceries)

Hunger Action Month is a time when people all over America stand against hunger. Sharing, volunteering, pledging to advocate, fundraising and donating are just a few ideas for taking action this month.

You can donate, volunteer, or find a local food bank if you need assistance by clicking here to visit Feeding America.

Source: Four Somerset County food pantries benefit from Food Lion donation | WTAJ – www.wearecentralpa.com

Among the deluge of explosive allegations set forth in the joint Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee with the Senate Treasury Committee’s long-awaited report concerning the Biden family’s conflicts of interest, the committees wrote that Hunter Biden, 50, may have implicated himself in a likely “Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring.”

Source: GOP report claims Hunter Biden paid women linked to ‘prostitution or human trafficking ring’ | Fox News

By Mike Argento

Census enumerators encountered a lot of nice people, but others would yell, swear or even threaten them.

Much of the count is done by mail or online and confirmed with existing government databases. But Census takers – called enumerators – are tasked with conducting “non-response follow-up,” going door-to-door to every household that has not responded online or by mail, according to the Census.

“Census takers serve as the last line of defense for getting an accurate count, which is critical for federal funding and fair political representation,” it states on Censusoutreach.org. “In 2020, the Census Bureau projects that Census takers may be responsible for recording up to 40 percent of the count.”

The Census Bureau estimated it hired an army of half-a-million enumerators to complete the count.

But according to three former Census workers in Pennsylvania, it’s not an easy job. On occasion, they said they faced hostility, anger and distrust from residents.

They also faced issues with their equipment, the iPhone used to record responses would sometimes freeze up, and they were sometimes sent back to the same residences multiple times to confirm information or try to pry information from recalcitrant residents. And when one of them called the Census Bureau’s emergency line for help, she says she never received a response.

“The whole system was screwed up,” Julie Reineberg said.

The Census’ public information office has not responded to a request to comment.

‘People are just distrustful of everybody these days’

For Kelly Moore, it began when she received a postcard in the mail advertising jobs with the Census, billed as “a unique opportunity” to “earn money while (serving) your community.”

It ended after what Moore described as “a bad day in Red Lion.”

She’d had doors slammed in her face and faced hostility from some residents. “There was a lot of anger and distrust,” the 38-year-old paralegal from Dallastown said. “People are just distrustful of everybody these days. They think people always have an ulterior motive.”

Source: U.S. Census workers met with anger, distrust

A woman is dead after a crash Thursday night in Etna, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office.

Henrietta Barricella, 83, of Pittsburgh died at Allegheny General Hospital shortly after the crash, which happened around 5:10 p.m. at the corner of Crescent Avenue and Butler Street.

Further details about the crash were not immediately available.

Source: Pittsburgh woman killed in Etna crash | TribLIVE.com

Derry Township, Pa. —A man was rescued after going over an embankment on an ATV in Derry Township on Thursday evening. The crash happened in the area of Bradenville School Road.

The Derry Volunteer Fire Company said it was an extremely difficult extraction that required ropes and additional manpower to get the man off of the hillside.

A medical helicopter was called in to transport the man.

His condition has not been released.

Source: Man rescued after going over embankment on ATV in Westmoreland County

An Arkansas man visiting a state park uncovered a 9-carat diamond that he initially thought was glass,

Kevin Kinard, 33, a bank branch manager from Maumelle, had been exploring Crater of Diamonds State Park with pals when he picked up a marble-sized gem that had a rounded, dimpled shape, according to park officials on Monday.

“It kind of looked interesting and shiny, so I put it in my bag and kept searching. I just thought it might’ve been glass,” Kinard said.

Source: Man finds 9-carat diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park

A federal court has ordered the Trump administration to abandon last-minute changes to the 2020 census schedule and extend the time for counting for an additional month.

The preliminary injunction issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in the Northern District of California requires the Census Bureau to keep trying to tally the country’s residents through Oct. 31.

The ruling is the latest development in a federal lawsuit over the administration’s decision to shorten the timeline for the national head count. The Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, is expected to appeal the order, further complicating what could be the final days of counting for this year’s census.

Source: 2020 Census Counting Must Continue Through Oct. 31, Court Rules : NPR

Desiree Pinkston, 35, said in her federal complaint that Pittsburgh officer Morgan Logan, who was investigating a Sept. 19, 2019, stabbing in East Hills, arrested her based on her name alone, without doing any further investigation.

The lawsuit includes claims for false arrest and malicious prosecution.

Source: New Kensington woman sues Pittsburgh police for wrongful arrest after mistaken identity | TribLIVE.com

House Democrats could move to vote on the new coronavirus stimulus proposal as soon as next week.

• House Democrats are putting together another coronavirus stimulus plan that would cost about $2.4 trillion.
• The chamber could vote on the legislation, which would include unemployment benefits, direct payments, small business loans and airline aid, as soon as next week.
• Democrats aim to restart stalled aid talks with the White House.

Source: Coronavirus stimulus: Democrats prepare new relief bill

Ontario wants to avoid imposing lockdown-style measures to combat a second wave of COVID-19, but is prepared to take “targeted action” such as closing certain higher-risk businesses, CBC News has learned.

CBC News obtained a copy of Ontario’s fall pandemic preparedness plan, still in draft form even as Premier Doug Ford’s government is in the midst of announcing some of its elements.

The 21-page draft, provided by a government source this week, acknowledges the recent upsurge in new COVID-19 cases, and lays out three possible scenarios of what the second wave could look like: small, moderate or large.

Whichever scenario plays out, the plan favours responding with targeted restrictions, rather than widespread closures or a lockdown.

Source: Leaked document reveals Ontario’s plan to avoid another COVID-19 lockdown | CBC News

An AP investigation found an invisible workforce consisting of millions of laborers, many of them enduring various forms of exploitation, with the most serious abuses including child labor, outright slavery and allegations of rape.

The AP interviewed more than 130 current and former workers from two dozen palm oil companies who came from eight countries and labored on plantations across wide swaths of Malaysia and Indonesia. Almost all had complaints about their treatment, with some saying they were cheated, threatened, held against their will or forced to work off unsurmountable debts. Others said they were regularly harassed by authorities, swept up in raids and detained in government facilities.

They included members of Myanmar’s long-persecuted Rohingya minority, who fled ethnic cleansing in their homeland only to be sold into the palm oil industry. Fishermen who escaped years of slavery on boats also described coming ashore in search of help, but instead ending up being trafficked onto plantations — sometimes with police involvement.

Source: ‘We gave our sweat and blood’: Palm oil workers cite child labour, slavery and rape – National | Globalnews.ca

Seattle is paying an ex-pimp $150,000 a year to act as the city’s “street czar” and offer “alternatives to policing” after protests morphed into the no-police-allowed Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.

Activist Andre Taylor is open about his past as a pimp (he appeared in the documentary “American Pimp”) and is working with the city of Seattle through his nonprofit, Not This Time. Taylor says he started Not This Time after his brother Che Taylor was killed by Seattle police in 2016.

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL OVERRIDES MAYOR’S VETO OF POLICE CUTS

Taylor was a critic of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest and appeared on “Hannity” to support the father of a 19-year-old Black man who was shot and killed in the CHOP zone in June.

Source: Seattle hires former pimp as ‘street czar’ for $150,000 after CHOP fiasco | Fox News

Large percentages of U.S. racial minorities — 69% of African-Americans and 64% of Hispanics — agreed with the statement: “In daily life, most Americans generally get along regardless of race. They find ways to work together and create a better community.”

Three-quarters of all voters believe that Americans generally get along regardless of race, according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen, a sharp counterpoint to the rhetoric presented by Black Lives Matter and other identity politics activists over the last several months.

When asked, 75% of voters agreed that “in daily life, most Americans generally get along regardless of race. They find ways to work together and create a better community.”

Rasmussen noted that large percentages of American racial minorities — 69% of black Americans and 64% of Hispanic Americans — agree with that statement.

Source: Three-quarters of voters believe Americans generally ‘get along regardless of race’

During coronavirus compliance checks, state police handed two notices of violation and five warnings to Pittsburgh-area licensed liquor establishments.

They’re also checking to make sure there are 6 feet or physical barriers between customers at tables or booths as well as ensuring maximum capacity limits are posted and enforced.

Police say these checks could happen anywhere in the state, but are being focused in areas experiencing higher COVID-19 transmission rates.

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• ‘Restaurant Revolution’: Restaurant Owners Encourage Others To Open At Full Capacity In Defiance Of Gov. Wolf’s Order
• Pa. Licensed Beverage And Tavern Association Calls On State For Bailout Package To Help Restaurant, Bar Owners
• ‘The Virus Is Making The Rules’: Gov. Tom Wolf Imposes Statewide Restrictions On Bars, Restaurants And Larger Indoor Gatherings
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• Allegheny Co. Issues New 2-Week Order Allowing Dining And Limited Drinking Outside
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• Allegheny Co. Restaurants Prepare For New Guidance As Coronavirus Numbers Continue To Climb
• Allegheny Co. Health Dept.: Coronavirus Surge Continues To Come From Younger People Traveling And Going Out

 

Source: Police Give 2 Notices Of Violation, 5 Warnings To Pittsburgh-Area Establishments Not Following Coronavirus Orders – CBS Pittsburgh

Joe Biden has “not spoken accurately” about his knowledge of his son Hunter Biden’s involvement in Burisma, Fox News contributor Molly Hemingway said on “Fox News @ Night.”

“While this is focused on Hunter Biden and James Biden and other family members of Joe Biden, not Joe Biden himself, it is also true that Joe Biden was revealed to have not spoken accurately about his knowledge of his son’s involvement in Burisma, the Ukrainian energy concern,” Hemingway told “Fox News @ Night.”

The Democratic nominee “said he didn’t know about it when the report shows that in fact, some bureaucrats were so concerned about Hunter Biden’s role that they had briefed him, that they had alerted the FBI,” she said.

HANNITY: SENATE GOP’S HUNTER BIDEN REPORT SHOULD ‘IMMEDIATELY DISQUALIFY’ JOE BIDEN FROM PRESIDENCY

The 87-page report states, “in October 2015, senior State Department official Amos Hochstein raised concerns with Vice President Biden, as well as with Hunter Biden, that Hunter Biden’s position on Burisma’s board enabled Russian disinformation efforts and risked undermining U.S. policy in Ukraine.”

Source: Biden was briefed about son’s involvement, according to Hunter Biden Burisma report: Hemingway | Fox News

FlyBuy Pickup location-based technology helps process booming online orders

With e-commerce orders surging amid the coronavirus pandemic, Giant Eagle has enlisted Radius Networks’ FlyBuy Pickup solution to sharpen coordination of curbside pickup and make the service a frictionless affair for customers.

Washington, D.C.-based Radius said Wednesday that FlyBuy Pickup uses proprietary machine-learning technology to accurately predict a customer’s arrival time and on-premise location. Real-time location updates enable Giant Eagle associates to prioritize orders based on customers’ arrival times and then bring the orders as soon as they pull up to the curbside pickup area, reducing wait times.

Source: Giant Eagle curbs friction with curbside pickup