By DAVID KLEPPER and GARY FIELDS Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some police organizations and Republican politicians are blaming Democrats and last year’s defund the police effort for a troubling rise in homicides in many cities across the country. The increases are real, and some cities did make modest cuts to police spending. But the claims by Republicans overlook the fact homicides are up in many cities, including ones that increased police spending or have Republican mayors. Experts say the real reason homicides are up even though many other kinds of crime are down are complicated. They include the social and economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic and protests about killings by police following the death of George Floyd.

By ZEKE MILLER, AAMER MADHANI and JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press
MAWGAN PORTH, England (AP) — One year ago, the U.S. was the deadliest hotspot of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the cancellation of the Group of Seven summit. Now, the U.S. is a model for how to successfully emerge from the pandemic. In a speech on the eve of this year’s G-7 summit in England, Biden on Thursday will discuss plans for the U.S. to donate 500 million vaccine doses around the globe. The U.S. has faced mounting pressure to outline its plan to share vaccines with the rest of the world, especially as demand for shots in the U.S. has dropped precipitously in recent weeks.

PLYMOUTH, England (AP) — The Latest on the Group of Seven nations meeting being held in England and the meetings Thursday between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Joe Biden.
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PLYMOUTH, England — President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet for the first time Thursday against a backdrop of differences both political and personal.
Biden hopes to use his first overseas trip as president to reassure European allies that the United States had shed the transactional tendencies of Donald Trump’s term and is a reliable partner again. But tensions may simmer beneath the surface of Biden’s meeting with Johnson.
The president staunchly opposed the Brexit movement, the British exodus from the European Union that Johnson championed, and has expressed great concern with the future of Northern Ireland. And Biden once called the British leader a “physical and emotional clone” of Trump.
The British government has worked hard to overcome that impression, stressing Johnson’s common ground with Biden on issues such as climate change and his support for international institutions. But Johnson, the host for the Group of Seven summit that will follow his sit-down with Biden, has been frustrated by the lack of a new trade deal with the United States.
The two leaders were expected to announce the creation of a U.S.-U.K. task force that will move toward resuming travel between the two nations, according to a White House official. Most travel has been banned between the two nations since March 2020.
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LONDON — President Joe Biden will be welcomed with a military Guard of Honor and afternoon tea with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle when he meets the monarch on Sunday.
The queen will host the president and First Lady Jill Biden in her royal residence on Sunday, after the couple leaves the Group of Seven summit in Cornwall, southwestern England.
The monarch will greet the Bidens in the castle’s quadrangle, where assembled soldiers from the Queen’s Company First Battalion Grenadier Guards will give a royal salute and the U.S. national anthem will be played.
The president will then be invited to inspect the Honor Guard and watch the military march-past with the queen.
Biden will be the 13th American leader to meet the monarch, with Lyndon B. Johnson the only one the queen has not met. She has received four other U.S. presidents at Windsor Castle: President Donald Trump in 2018; Barack Obama in 2016; George W. Bush in 2008; and Ronald Reagan in 1982.
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BERLIN — Germany is sticking to its opposition to easing patent protection on COVID-19 vaccines as it goes into the Group of Seven summit.
While many developed countries with strong pharmaceutical industries hesitated or were outright opposed to the idea, the debate received a jolt last month when the Biden administration announced support for granting waivers for vaccines.
But a senior German official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity in line with department rules, said Thursday: “We don’t think a waiver is helpful or is actually the problem, and nothing has changed about that.”
The official noted that talks are ongoing at the World Trade Organization in Geneva and said they may achieve “improvements within the system.”
Asked whether Germany plans to announce to give more vaccine to poorer countries after the U.S. unveils plans to donate 500 million doses around the globe, the official said Germany has done “a great deal” on three tracks: sharing doses, financing purchases via the COVAX program, and exports.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said last month that Germany is prepared to donate 30 million doses by the year’s end to poorer countries “assuming, of course, that the vaccines we have ordered actually arrive.” That would be part of a broader donation of 100 million doses by the European Union.
Germany hasn’t said when the donations will start.
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BERLIN — Germany sees one big message from this year’s Group of Seven summit: multilateralism is back.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is attending her last G-7 summit after nearly 16 years in power, has been a leading advocate of taking a multilateral approach to world affairs — in contrast to the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Asked what message Merkel wants to send at the summit, a senior German official replied: “The message of the summit overall — and that stands for what the chancellor has stood for over recent years — is that multilaterism, and the G-7, is back.”
The official, who said that there has been much common ground in pre-summit negotiations, stressed that issues such as climate change, the pandemic and many others can only be solved together.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with department rules.
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LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being criticized for flying to the Group of Seven summit meeting in Cornwall, rather than taking the train, as he presses world leaders to do more to fight global warming.
Environmental activists bombarded Johnson’s Twitter feed with suggestions that the prime minister should practice what he preaches after he posted a photo of himself climbing off the plane accompanied by a call to make the world “better, fairer and greener.”
“This is how serious Boris Johnson is about combating the climate emergency: He flew to Cornwall,” Zarah Sultana, a lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party, tweeted in response.
According to figures posted on the U.K. government website, domestic flights generate about six times more greenhouse gases than rail travel. A train journey to Cornwall takes about five hours, compared with less than 90 minutes for a flight.
Johnson is hosting leaders from the world’s seven richest democracies during this weekend’s summit at the Carbis Bay resort in Cornwall. The agenda includes talks on climate change, the global response to COVID-19 and the taxation of multinational corporations.
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LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the nations of the world must set aside the “beggar my neighbor” attitude that led to squabbling over medicines and treatments for COVID-19.
Johnson said Thursday that Group of Seven leaders meeting this weekend in Carbis Bay, southwest England, will commit to vaccinating the world by the end of 2022.
The British leader wrote in The Times of London that it was time for wealthy countries should “shoulder their responsibilities and to vaccinate the world.”
But he faces criticism because the U.K. has yet to send any doses abroad and has cut its international aid budget, citing the economic blow of the pandemic.
Johnson said Thursday that Britain would donate “millions” of doses from surplus stocks — though he didn’t say when.
Johnson also noted that the British government helped fund the development at Oxford University of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which accounts for 1 in 3 vaccine doses around the world.
President Joe Biden is announcing Thursday that the U.S. will buy 500 million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine to share with poorer countries over the next year.
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BRUSSELS — Top European Union officials are joining calls to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, ramping up the pressure on China to be more open about the virus, ahead of the Group of Seven summit.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday that “we have to know where it did come from in order to draw the right lessons and to develop the right tools to make sure that this will never happen again.”
Von der Leyen says “the investigators need complete access to whatever is necessary to really find the source of this pandemic.” She said Europe had responded reasonably well to the heavy economic impact of virus restrictions because it had drawn the right lessons from the 2008 financial crisis.
European Council President Charles Michel says “the world has the right to know exactly what happened.”
Last month, President Joe Biden ordered U.S. intelligence officials to “redouble” their efforts to investigate the origins of the coronavirus, including any possibility the trail might lead to a Chinese laboratory.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing northbound lane restrictions on the I-79 Neville Island Bridge in Glenfield Borough and Robinson and Neville townships, Allegheny County, will occur Friday night, June 11 through Monday morning, June 14 weather permitting.

Lawmakers eye final steps to end declaration, extend waivers
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature plans to return to session to vote both to end Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic disaster emergency declaration and to extend hundreds of regulatory waivers. A bill up for a vote Thursday would extend the waivers until Sept. 30, unless Wolf’s administration ends them sooner. The waivers go back to March 2020, and cover a wide swath of government requirements. Wolf had warned lawmakers that ending them immediately could hurt the state’s recovery. Separately, Republican lawmakers plan to pass a resolution Thursday to end Wolf’s disaster emergency declaration, carrying out what they see as the new powers given to them by voters in last month’s statewide referendum.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) — Former Penn State president Graham Spanier has reported to jail early to begin serving his sentence for child endangerment in a case stemming from the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal. Spanier reported to Centre County Correctional Facility, several miles from the Penn State campus, on Monday morning. That’s according to warden Christopher Schell. A judge upheld Spanier’s sentence last month and ordered him to begin serving at least two months in the county jail for a single misdemeanor conviction of endangering the welfare of children. Spanier was charged over his response to a 2001 report that Sandusky had been spotted showering alone with a boy in a football team locker room.

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano 

(Aliquippa, Pa.) Some Aliquippa residents want Catherine Colalella removed from the school board, and petitions signed by residents were presented to Superintendent Dr. Peter M. Carbone last night. Colalella, 44, faces a trial on August 30 along with her son, T.J. Shaw, 20, on 3 felony counts including insurance fraud, insurance fraud/conspiracy, criminal conspiracy/theft by deception filed by the state attorney general’s office. They were arrested in mid-March. Her son was involved in an auto accident in the city on November 7, 2020 in Aliquippa. Their car insurance policy was cancelled by Progressive insurance for non-payment.  August 14, 2020 for non-payment.

Story and Photo by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano

(Aliquippa, Pa.)  A group of   Aliquippa High School Seniors, including the class president , won’t be walking to get their diplomas Friday night. A senior prank last Tuesday night  closed the school to students  last Wednesday because a mess  was made using condiments and other substances  and had to be cleaned up by  the district’s maintenance staff. Some students that were involved were identified  by the district’s surveillance cameras. Parents and students were at last night’s  school board meeting and the seniors involved  want  to walk at graduation, saying it isn’t  fair  that they’re being punished. Those were the words of some tearful parents and students.

Harrisburg, PA – Today, Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier provided an update on Pennsylvania’s new Unemployment Compensation (UC) system, which went online yesterday. During the first day, more than 75,000 individuals successfully filed for more than 141,000 claim weeks totaling $59,390,550 in benefits.

“Yesterday was a historic day for Pennsylvania, and while we did have some individuals encounter issues, many individuals were able to file successfully,” said Acting Secretary Berrier. “Our team was able to rapidly identify the issues that did occur and get fixes in place within 24 hours of the launch. We’re continuing to resolve some smaller issues, but we’re in a very good place, especially compared to other states that experienced longstanding issues after their own transition to a modernized UC system. Most importantly, we are on track to get payments into the hands of unemployed Pennsylvanians soon.” 

Statistics 

As of 1:20 PM today, 123,258 individuals filed weekly claims through the new unemployment system. An additional 8,930 individuals filed new claims.

The waiting room was briefly in effect in the morning but as of 2:00 PM no wait times were reported.

“As anticipated, we experienced a surge of individuals visiting the new UC system immediately after its launch was announced,” said Acting Secretary Berrier. “The waiting room prevented the site from becoming overloaded and allowed individuals to continue filing without any breaks, which is exactly what we wanted it to do.”

Issues Identified and Statuses 

L&I staff worked overnight to put fixes in place to resolve two outstanding issues that were identified yesterday.

The default payment type for all users appeared to be set to “debit” due to data about payment preference not arriving from the Pennsylvania Treasury until after the first payment is made. Users will receive their payment through their previously selected method. Users now also have the option to change their payment method for future payments.

Some individuals experienced issues with the new Keystone ID. L&I staff worked overnight to implement system updates, which resolved Keystone ID issues for many individuals. A second update is expected soon to further resolve Keystone ID issues for claimants.

In researching reports of Keystone ID issues, L&I found that some individuals are mistakenly trying to log into the new UC system using their login for the legacy system, which used a PIN. Individuals are asked to first make sure they are using their correct Keystone ID information, which is a username and password that is used across multiple Commonwealth platforms, such as PA CareerLink®. Video guides on creating and logging in with a Keystone ID can be found here. 

One New System Check Enhancement Tracker Update 

L&I continues to investigate questions and concerns about the new UC system. One new issue was added today to the UC System Check Enhancement Tracker, which provides the public updates on issues as they are identified and resolved.

• Some PEUC claimants with existing claims are unable to file continuing weekly claims because the system is incorrectly marking their claim status as “inactive.”

Mitigation efforts are underway for this issue. The UC System Check Enhancement Tracker will continue to be updated as issues are resolved.

Filing Timeline 

The new UC system allows individuals to file anytime during the claim week, which begins at 12:00 a.m. Sunday and ends at 11:59 p.m. Saturday. Unlike the legacy system, which was inaccessible during certain hours and on Saturday to allow for claims processing, the new system is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Individuals can also file for the current claim week during the next eight weeks, which provides ample time to ensure all individuals are receiving the payments they are eligible to receive.

Filing by phone, also called IVR, will come online Thursday as the next phase of the transition to the new UC system. Individuals with an existing claim do not need a Keystone ID to file using IVR and will instead be asked to provide secure information such as their PIN and Social Security number.

Resources 

L&I has provided a library of resources to assist users with familiarizing themselves with the new system, including user guides for claimants and employers and topic-specific instructional videos. L&I is also offering a series of workshops, with upcoming workshops on:

• Thursday, June 10 at 6:00 PM for Claimants (English)
• Thursday, June 10 at 7:30 PM for Claimants (Spanish)

Recordings of each workshop will be uploaded to this page on www.uc.pa.gov.

Programs on the new system are Unemployment Compensation and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation. Historic information for individuals who have filed on the Extended Benefits program will also be on the new system.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program is not affected by the change to the new system.

For more information and updates on unemployment benefits programs, visit www.uc.pa.gov or follow L&I on Facebook or Twitter.