(McKees Rocks, Pa.)  Two people were shot in McKees Rocks on Sunday night. Police were called to the intersection of Island Avenue and Churchill Street around 7:30 pm were they found two men who had been shot with non-life threating injuries. Both men were transported to a local hospital.  Allegheny County Police detectives are investigating.

Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call the Allegheny County Police Tip Line 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.

SpaceX launches 2nd crew, regular station crew flights begin
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts are in orbit and on their way to the International Space Station. Their launch Sunday night by SpaceX kicks off regular crew flights from the U.S. The Falcon rocket thundered into the night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dragon capsule carrying three Americans and one Japanese is due to reach the orbiting outpost late Monday and will remain there until spring. The astronauts named their capsule Resilience in light of the coronavirus pandemic and other hardships of 2020. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk was sidelined by the virus himself. He says he “most likely” has a moderate case of COVID-19.

PNC to buy US unit of Spain’s BBVA bank for $11.6 billion
NEW YORK (AP) — PNC Financial Services Group says it is buying the U.S. subsidiary of Spain’s BBVA bank for $11.6 billion in cash. BBVA’s U.S. operations are based in Houston, Texas. They have $104 billion in assets and operate 637 branches, mainly in the south and southwest of the country. PNC is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is largely a regional bank. The deal would give it a presence across the U.S. Shares in BBVA jumped more than 15% in Madrid on Monday. Those in PNC were up 1.8% in premarket trading.

Keystone State News Connection

November 16, 2020

Andrea Sears

HARRISBURG, Pa. — This is American Education Week and even with the disruptions of a national health crisis, educators say there is plenty to celebrate.

School closures, remote learning and fears of spreading the coronavirus have presented teachers, parents and students with a unique set of challenges this year.

Joe Welch, an eighth-grade American History teacher and Pennsylvania’s Teacher of the Year, said American Education Week is an opportunity to recognize that, despite those difficulties, teachers across the Commonwealth are finding new ways to make education work.

“We still have really great things happening in our schools,” Welch stressed. “We’re getting creative, we’re thinking outside the box, and we’re really thinking about how we can still connect with students and still provide them with a great education.”

He emphasized the pandemic should make tackling the unequal resources available to school districts in Pennsylvania a top priority.

Welch noted the innovative approaches teachers are using this year include collaborating with a local public television station to produce educational videos, and “virtual instruction days” with teachers conducting live classes from historical sites.

“We travelled to Washington, DC to teach live from the national memorials there,” Welch explained. “When we were learning about the French and Indian Wars, we taught direct from Fort Necessity National Battlefield in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.”

He added in the classroom he’s used wooden cutouts of historical figures at the empty desks required by social distancing to spark conversations about their impact on history.

It is difficult to know just how the disruptions of the pandemic will affect educational outcomes, but Welch observed there are signs the innovative techniques teachers have developed are working.

“If I have a class of 25 students and I see all 25 there early, on-time in a virtual format, I think that’s evidence that they’re engaged, that I am making a difference and my colleagues are making a difference,” Welch concluded.

A schedule of events during American Education Week is available online at psea.org/americaneducationweek.