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'We Knew It Was Inevitable': PA Child Care Centers Wrestle With COVID Surge
KEYSTONE CROSSROADS — When Damaris Alvarado reopened her two South Philadelphia child care centers in May, she hustled to make them safe: instituting physical distancing and cleaning guidelines, staggering pickups and drop-offs to avoid bunching parents together, and spending tens of thousands of dollars on air purifying units. For a while, the preventative measures seemed to work. The centers, which together enrolled 235 kids, had zero documented COVID-19 cases from May through October.
From Congress To Local Health Boards, Public Officials Suffer Threats And Harassment
Last week, Idaho’s Ada County Commissioner Diana Lachiondo interrupted a district health board meeting tearfully. “My 12-year-old son is home by himself right now, and there are protesters banging outside the door. I’m going to go home and make sure he’s okay,” she said, before disappearing from the Zoom meeting. The board had planned to vote on an order that would have required indoor mask usage and would have limited the size of indoor gatherings.
California May Consider ‘Historical Injustice’ When Allocating Coronavirus Vaccine
When Virginia Hedrick first heard about the coronavirus circulating on cruise ships off the coast of California back in March, it made her think back to some of the first ships of European settlers that arrived on American shores centuries ago, also teeming with disease. Various outbreaks and epidemics spread across the continent in the following centuries, particularly measles and smallpox, and Indigenous people suffered hugely disproportionate rates of illness and death.
Paycheck-To-Paycheck Nation: How Life In America Adds Up
A house. Two cars. A kid in college. Debi and Nick Lemieur had all the markers of a middle class life. But they both remember one purchase — Nick’s $600 bass amplifier — that prompted one of the biggest fights in their four decades of marriage. “He didn’t tell me, he hid it in the trunk of the car, and I found it,” Debi says, laughing, 14 years later.
Scores Of Private Charitable Foundations Got Paycheck Protection Program Money
Scores of private charitable foundations, set up by some of the nation’s wealthiest people, received money from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program, which was created last spring to save jobs at small businesses as the coronavirus tanked the economy. NPR has identified at least 120 foundations that collectively received more than $7.5 million in PPP funding.
Broome County Adds 200 Beds To Hospitals, Sets Up A Temporary Morgue
BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) — Broome County officials announced a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations on Tuesday. They said there were 87 people in the county’s hospitals with the virus, up from 54 last week. (UpperCut Images/Getty Images) Of those 87 patients, 54 are Broome County residents. The other 33 are residents from other counties, where health care may not be available.
Reed’s ‘Problem Solvers’ On the Verge of Major Victory With COVID Relief Bill
TOMPKINS COUNTY, NY (WSKG) – A bipartisan group of House and Senate members called “The Problem Solvers” has presented the text for two COVID-19 relief bills, totaling $908 billion. The larger bill is for immediate, emergency relief and amounts to $748 billion in aid. It includes $300 a week of unemployment benefits for 16 weeks, housing support to prevent evictions, assistance to food banks, and student loan provisions. It’s intended to provide support until some time in April.
Visible Protests Absent From PA's Electoral College Meeting
HARRISBURG, PA (WSKG) — Despite the potential for protests during Monday’s Electoral College vote, Pennsylvania’s routine certification ceremony was just that. Between 40 and 50 people gathered in an auditorium on the Capitol grounds, and because of the pandemic, all sat far apart and wore masks. Only the 20 electoral college members, required state leaders and staff, and a handful of media were allowed inside. A morning snowstorm might have discouraged any outside crowd from forming.
Cuomo Warns of Total Shutdown if Virus Rate is Not Controlled
ALBANY, NY (WSKG) – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned Monday that the state is headed for another lockdown if the rising coronavirus infection rate doesn’t slow. Cuomo spoke as Sunday’s numbers, the latest available, showed that the positivity rate is 5.66%. He said 5,712 New Yorkers were in the hospital with the disease, up more than 300 people from Saturday. Eighty-three people died of COVID-19 on Sunday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020 Credit: Gov.
FDA Authorizes 1st Home Coronavirus Test That Doesn’t Require A Prescription
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized the first coronavirus test that people will be able to buy at a local store without a prescription and use for immediate results at home to find out if they’re positive or negative. The test will cost about $30 and be available by January, according to the Australian company that makes it, Ellume. The FDA had previously authorized other tests that let people avoid long lines by collecting a sample themselves at home.
Amazon, TikTok, Facebook, Others Ordered To Explain What They Do With User Data
The Federal Trade Commission is demanding that nine social media and tech companies share details on how they harness users’ data and what they do with the information. Amazon.com, TikTok owner ByteDance, Discord, Facebook, Reddit, Snap, Twitter, WhatsApp (also owned by Facebook), and YouTube were sent orders by the FTC on Monday to provide the commission with details on their data collection and advertising practices. The companies have 45 days to respond to the order.
Biden Plans To Nominate Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm As Energy Secretary
Updated 6:39 p.m. ET President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to be the next secretary of energy, two sources familiar with transition discussions told NPR. Granholm will bring experience in promoting clean-energy manufacturing as Biden tries to implement a sweeping $2 trillion climate plan. The selection was first reported by Politico. Granholm has been Michigan’s attorney general and served two terms as governor until 2011.
Will Jeffrey Rosen, William Barr’s Replacement, Withstand White House Pressure?
Updated at 11:12 a.m. ET Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen has largely operated outside the spotlight. But that may be about to change. Rosen, 62, will run the Justice Department in the waning days of the administration at a time when White House officials are preparing for a wave of pardons and President Trump is demanding officials take more action on his baseless claims of voter fraud. With the departure of Attorney General William Barr on Dec.
Poll: Despite Record Turnout, 80 Million Americans Didn’t Vote. Here’s Why
More Americans voted in 2020 than in any presidential election in 120 years. About 67% of eligible voters cast ballots this year, but that still means a third did not. That amounts to about 80 million people who stayed home. To better understand what motivates these nonvoters, NPR and the Medill School of Journalism commissioned Ipsos to conduct a survey of U.S. adults who didn’t vote this year. The Medill school’s graduate students did deep dives into various aspects of the survey here.
Right-Wing Embrace Of Conspiracy Is ‘Mass Radicalization,’ Experts Warn
The widespread embrace of conspiracy and disinformation amounts to a “mass radicalization” of Americans, and increases the risk of right-wing violence, veteran security officials and terrorism researchers warn. At conferences, in op-eds and at agency meetings, domestic terrorism analysts are raising concern about the security implications of millions of conservatives buying into baseless right-wing claims.
FDA Analysis Of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Finds It Effective And Safe
The Food and Drug Administration released a detailed analysis Tuesday morning of the COVID-19 vaccine from drugmaker Moderna that supports the authorization of the company’s vaccine for emergency use. The FDA’s briefing document along with one from Moderna were posted two days before a group of experts will convene to advise the agency on whether to grant the vaccine emergency authorization for use, or EUA, during the pandemic.
1st Patients To Get CRISPR Gene-Editing Treatment Continue To Thrive
The last thing a lot of people want to do these days is get on a plane. But even a pandemic would not stop Victoria Gray. She jumped at the chance to head to the airport this summer. “It was one of those things I was waiting to get a chance to do,” says Gray. She had never flown before because she was born with sickle cell disease. She feared the altitude change might trigger one of the worst complications of the devastating genetic disease — a sudden attack of excruciating pain.
Japan’s ‘Twitter Killer’ Sentenced To Death In Killing Of 9
A Japanese court sentenced a convicted murderer dubbed the, “Twitter Killer,” to death early Tuesday. Takahiro Shiraishi, 30, was found guilty by the Tokyo District Court for the murder of eight women and one man, according to reports. Shiraishi also robbed and sexually assaulted the eight women he murdered, some of whom were underage. Shiraishi used Twitter to lure the women, who shared on the website they wanted to commit suicide. He told them he could help them kill themselves.
Fauci Predicts U.S. Could See Signs Of Herd Immunity By Late March Or Early April
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s senior official for infectious diseases, predicts the United States could begin to achieve early stages of herd immunity against the deadly coronavirus by late spring or summer. And if that happens, Fauci anticipates, “we could really turn this thing around” toward the end of 2021.
‘Electoral College Has Spoken’: McConnell Belatedly Congratulates Biden On Win
Updated at 1:19 p.m. ET A day after the Electoral College made the results official, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris for their victory. McConnell joins a wave of new Republicans acknowledging the win on Monday. “The Electoral College has spoken. So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden,” McConnell said from the Senate floor Tuesday. “The president-elect is no stranger to the Senate.
Health Workers ‘Feeling Good As Hell’ As Hospitals Begin COVID Vaccine Injections
5, 6, 7, 8! Health care workers in Boston are “feeling good as hell” over the arrival of the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine. Masked employees in scrubs, medical gowns, office attire, and what’s proving to be very popular camel-colored coat, performed a choreographed dance routine outside of the Boston Medical Center as inside, health care workers prepared to begin delivering injections to some of those most exposed to the virus — health care workers.
William Barr To Step Down As Attorney General Before Christmas
Attorney General William Barr, an outspoken proponent of conservative values and an expansive view of presidential power, will leave office before Christmas, President Trump announced in a tweet Monday afternoon. Trump said he and Barr had a “very nice meeting” at the White House and that their “relationship has been a very good one.” Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will become acting attorney general, Trump said.
‘In America, Politicians Don’t Take Power’: Biden Harshly Rebukes Trump Over Election
Updated at 9:18 p.m. ET On the day electors around the country voted to reaffirm his victory, President-elect Joe Biden called for Americans to come together in unity and healing, vowing to help pull the nation through the coronavirus pandemic and criticizing the dangerous and false rhetoric of election malfeasance that some Republicans have promoted. He delivered a clear rebuke to President Trump, who continues to challenge the results unsuccessfully.
Lawsuit Filed Over Pay Raises For New York Lawmakers
ALBANY, NY (WSKG) – A government reform group has filed a lawsuit to stop a pay raise granted to state lawmakers by a compensation commission. The conservative leaning Government Justice Center, says the salary increase is unconstitutional, because it also “radically change the rules surrounding serving in the state Legislature”. The group filed papers in State Supreme Court in Albany on Friday morning.
PA's New List Of Struggling Schools Looks Beyond Usual Suspects
KEYSTONE CROSSROADS – Pennsylvania released a list of 289 struggling schools Thursday that will have to develop “improvement plans” with the direction of state advisors. Unlike in previous years, the state focused less on schools with low overall test scores, and included schools where certain subgroups of students failed to meet academic benchmarks.
New York Agriculture Officials Promote Local, Farm-Fresh Christmas Trees
SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) – Local and state officials are promoting farm-fresh Christmas trees this holiday season. It’s an $8 million industry in New York State and the trees are also good for the environment. “These are family farms that support a local economy,” Ball said. “Is there a better way to celebrate going local than coming out to a farm this time of year and finding your Christmas tree?” Keith Liebmann, who owns the farm with his wife Julie, sells between 500-700 trees a year.
As PA Gives Out Free Opioid Overdose Drug, Many Sites Run Out
STATE COLLEGE, PA (WPSU) – By time Jeanne Nearhoof, of Lycoming County, and her mother went to a naloxone distribution site Thursday, there wasn’t any left. That site in Williamsport had run out of the drug used to reverse opioid overdoses. But, Nearhoof did leave with information about how to get it. “It affects everyone,” she said of opioid addiction. “It’s not just poor people or bad people. It’s everybody and anybody.” That includes her family. “It’s hell. It truly is hell,” Nearhoof said.
PA Unveils Proposal To Reduce Emissions From Existing Oil, Gas Wells
STATEIMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – Pennsylvania environmental officials have come out with a plan to reduce leaks from thousands of the state’s oil and gas wells. The proposal is part of Gov. Tom Wolf’s strategy announced in 2016 to reduce methane emissions. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, sometimes leaks from wells and other natural gas components.
In The Luminous 'If Beale Street Could Talk,' A Perfect Love Meets Family, New York And Racism
If Beale Street Could Talk opens with a quote from James Baldwin and a slow, sweeping violin score that will be heard many more times. Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James) walk along the edge of a New York City park, with greenery on one side and highways and cityscape on the other. Their clothes are coordinated in yellow and navy as if they belong to one another. The details of this outdoor world soon melt away, leaving only close-ups of the actors’ faces.
In 2018, Harmful Algal Blooms On Cayuga Lake Increased Five-Fold Over The Year Before
https://wskg.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/cc1213feWEB-1.mp3 ITHACA, NY (WSKG) – Significantly more harmful algal blooms were reported on Cayuga Lake this year than in 2017. A local non-profit reports the 2018 blooms were more likely to contain toxins harmful humans and small mammals, like cats and dogs. Community Science Institute/Ithaca, New York A volunteer monitor collecting a same from a harmful algal bloom on Cayuga Lake in summer, 2018.
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