Author: Beaver County Radio

President Trump announces plasma treatment authorized for COVID-19

Trump announces plasma treatment authorized for COVID-19
By JONATHAN LEMIRE and MIKE STOBBE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the federal government has granted emergency authorization for treating COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma. While Trump is calling the move “a breakthrough” and one of his top health officials says it is “promising,” other health experts say the therapeutic needs more study before it can be celebrated. The blood plasma is taken from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus and is rich in antibodies. It may provide benefits to those battling the disease, but the evidence has been inconclusive as to how it works or how best to administer it.

Harvick dominates at Dover for 7th Cup victory of the season

Harvick dominates at Dover for 7th Cup victory of the season
By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Kevin Harvick regained the NASCAR Cup Series victory lead with his seventh, dominating Sunday at Dover International Speedway. A day after Denny Hamlin opened with doubleheader weekend with his sixth win to match Harvick, the Stewart-Haas racing driver one-upped his closest rival to claim NASCAR’s regular-season title. Harvick has 56 career Cup victories to tied Kyle Busch for ninth on the career list. Harvick swept the stages in the No. 4 Ford and won for the third time in seven races. He gave Ford its 700th Cup victory. Martin Truex Jr. was second and Jimmie Johnson, Dover’s career winner with 11, was third. Johnson’s No. 48 team gambled on a late two-tire pit stop that gave the seven-time champion a late surge.

Bucs Win Third Straight, Polanco’s Late Homerun Lifts Pirates To Sweep of Brew Crew

Polanco’s home run lifts Pirates to sweep of Brewers
JOHN PERROTTO Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Slumping Gregory Polanco’s bat showed signs of life for a second straight day as his two-run home run in the eighth inning lifted the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and a three-game series sweep. Polanco connected off David Phelps for his fourth homer of the season and finished 2 for 3 with a walk. It was Polanco’s second two-hit game in as many days, lifting his batting average from .085 to .151. The Pirates nearly doubled their season win total in one weekend. They entered the series with a 4-17 record, worst in the major leagues.

Takuma Sato wins his second Indianapolis 500

Takuma Sato has won his second Indianapolis 500 after Spencer Pigot crashed heavily exiting Turn 4, bringing out the caution with five laps remaining and forcing what had been a thrilling race to end under caution.

After dominating most of the race, Scott Dixon had been chasing Sato for about 15 laps and was starting to bite into a gap that had emerged in lapped traffic. But the race ended when Pigot spun into the outside wall, then crossed back across the track and slammed into the safety tires that guard the entrance to pit lane.

Pigot exited the car but was helped onto a stretcher. His car was left in pieces across the front stretch.

Dixon pulled up alongside Sato with Graham Rahal, his teammate, on the other side to finish third.

Briscoe calls shot at Dover to win Xfinity Series race

Briscoe calls shot at Dover to win Xfinity Series race
By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Chase Briscoe called his shot at Dover International Speedway and won his sixth Xfinity Series race of the season. Briscoe won five of the first 13 races this season but was winless in the last seven. That streak ended at Dover not long after Briscoe called his wife and promised he would win Sunday’s race. He went out and delivered in what he called his best Ford of the season. Briscoe won for the eighth time in his career.

Capitals fire coach Todd Reirden after 2 postseason letdowns

Capitals fire coach Todd Reirden after 2 postseason letdowns
By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer
The Washington Capitals have fired coach Todd Reirden after a second consecutive first-round exit in the playoffs. General manager Brian MacLellan announced the move three days after the Capitals lost to former coach Barry Trotz’s New York Islanders in a five-game series. Washington opted to promote Reirden from the top assistant job and let Trotz leave rather than give him a raise after winning the Stanley Cup in 2018. Reirden likely would have left to seek a head coaching position elsewhere. Trotz’s Islanders reached the second round of the postseason for a second consecutive season.

Emergency postal aid stalls as WH rejects House-passed bill

Emergency postal aid stalls as WH rejects House-passed bill
By HOPE YEN, MATTHEW DALY and LISA MASCARO Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Help for the U.S. Postal Service has landed in stalemate as the White House dismissed an emergency funding bill aimed at shoring up the agency before the November elections as “going nowhere.” But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the public is demanding action and the Senate can’t avoid acting on it “unless they do so to their peril.” The House approved the legislation in a rare Saturday session to provide $25 billion and block operational changes by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that slowed mail delivery. More than two dozen House Republicans broke with the president in backing the bill, which passed 257-150.

Former Chicago, Las Vegas mobster Frank Cullotta dies at 81

Former Chicago, Las Vegas mobster Frank Cullotta dies at 81
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Frank Cullotta, a former mobster turned government witness who had a cameo role in the 1995 movie “Casino” and later was a Las Vegas mob museum tour guide, has died. He was 81. The Mob Museum says Cullotta died Thursday in a Las Vegas hospital from coronavirus complications. In “Casino,” he had a bit role as a hitman who carries out several murders. Cullotta arrived in Las Vegas from Chicago in 1979 and later admitted to killing a former friend and grand jury witness suspected of informing on a money exchange scam he was working on.

President Trump to give emergency authorization to COVID-19 treatment

Trump to give emergency authorization to COVID-19 treatment
By JONATHAN LEMIRE and MIKE STOBBE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to announce the emergency authorization of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 patients. The announcement to be made Sunday evening comes after days of White House officials suggesting there were politically motivated delays by the Food and Drug Administration in approving a vaccine and therapeutics for the disease that has upended Trump’s reelection chances. The blood plasma is taken from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus and is rich in antibodies. It may provide benefits to those battling with the disease, but the evidence has been inconclusive as to how it works or how best to administer it.

NFL positive COVID-19 tests from NJ lab could be false

NFL positive COVID-19 tests from NJ lab could be false
By BARRY WILNER AP Pro Football Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL revealed Sunday that several positive COVID-19 tests were found a day earlier by one of its testing partners. Among teams reporting false positives, the Minnesota Vikings said they had 12, the New York Jets 10 and the Chicago Bears nine. The league has asked the New Jersey lab BioReference to investigate the results “while the clubs work to confirm or rule out the positive tests.” The NFL did not identify the teams or say how many tests were positive. Other teams that were affected are the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns. The NFL uses BioReference for all of its COVID-19 testing, though tests are handled by labs throughout the nation to ensure teams get results quickly.