Aliquippa City Council has accepted a police officer’s resignation. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has more. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state laboratory is improving its ability to handle samples that it is testing for the new coronavirus that is sickening people across the globe. State health officials said Wednesday that the lab can now handle about 25 samples a day. A spokesman said that rate should increase in the coming days after the lab gets a piece of equipment, an extractor, that boosts its testing capacity. Officials say there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. Hospital and state officials in Pennsylvania are encouraging people who fear they may have contracted coronavirus to call their doctor or hospital.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 5TH, 2020

 

TODAY – A MIX OF CLOUDS AND SUN DURING THE MORNING
WILL GIVE WAY TO CLOUDY SKIES THIS
AFTERNOON. HIGH – 53.

TONIGHT – MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW – 35.

FRIDAY – CLOUDY WITH RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS.
HIGH – 42.

SATURDAY – SOME CLOUDS IN THE MORNING WILL GIVE
WAY TO MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES FOR THE
AFTERNOON. HIGH – 45.

SUNDAY – MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH NEAR 60.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden’s aides say the Democratic presidential candidate is thrilled to have former rival Mike Bloomberg’s support. Bloomberg ended his own bid Wednesday after a poor showing and endorsed Biden. The former New York mayor has committed to leaving up his massive campaign operation to help Democrats defeat President Donald Trump in 2020. It’s unclear if Bloomberg would use his resources and organization to help Biden in his nominating fight against Bernie Sanders. Federal campaign finance laws would bar direct coordination between the Biden campaign and Bloomberg on a range of spending possibilities should the former mayor essentially want to turn his campaign into a Biden-aligned super PAC.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An elections administrator in the Tennessee county that includes Nashville is praising voters for turning out on Super Tuesday despite tornado damage to voting locations and roads. More than a dozen voting locations in one county were closed after a tornado swept through Nashville and surrounding areas early Tuesday. Voters navigated road debris and street closures to reach precincts that were not damaged to cast ballots in the presidential primary election. Polls in another county opened at 8 a.m., an hour later than originally planned. Campaigns for four Democratic presidential candidates successfully sued to keep polls open late.

SEATTLE (AP) — As the coronavirus spread through Asia officials closed the schools in China, Japan and Hong Kong. At the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States officials in Washington have so far not ordered that schools be shuttered or that activities be canceled. Washington state reported a total of nine deaths, and and most were residents of a nursing home in suburban Seattle. There have been at least 27 reported cases in the Seattle area. Washington state and Seattle have declared emergencies, which gives leaders broad powers to suspend activities. But so far no direct orders have been issued.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Capitol Hill negotiators have reached agreement on an $8.3 billion measure to battle the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. The House will vote on the deal later Wednesday and Senate leaders are pressing for a vote in that chamber by the end of the week. The legislation came together unusually quickly, a rarity in a deeply polarized Washington. It triples the $2.5 billion plan unveiled by President Donald Trump just last week. Trump is expected to sign the measure, which has the blessing of top Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and top House Republican Kevin McCarthy of California.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Since the changing of the guard in January–where Sandie Egley succeeded Connie Javens as Treasurer and Jack Manning succeeded Egley as County Commissioner–one of the big pushes by the Treasurer’s office is to add online dog licensing in Beaver County. The Commissioners have considered it, but have also debated whether its worth the cost–roughly $3,000 per year–and whether other organizations such as the Beaver County Humane Society could take over the role of dog licensing headquarters.

The conversation continued into the March 4 meeting, where Egley addressed the idea of using the Humane Society for licensing by reasserting that the Treasurer’s office is the main agent and that the Humane Society is a sub-agent. Egley continued by stating the importance of having online dog licensing for the citizens:

 

Meanwhile, County Solicitor Garen Fedeles gave an update involving Tyler Technologies and their reassessment plans for Beaver County:

 

The next Commissioners’ work session will be on March 11 at 10:00 AM.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The invasive spotted lanternfly is continuing its westward march across Pennsylvania. State agriculture officials are nearly doubling the number of counties in a quarantine zone. A dozen counties were added to the list Tuesday, including Beaver and Allegheny  counties. Twenty-six of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are now under quarantine, requiring businesses that move products, vehicles and other items in and out of the quarantine zone to obtain a permit. Native to Asia, the large, colorful planthopper sucks sap from valuable trees and vines, weakening them.

Hillary Clinton said yesterday she still thinks her onetime rival Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign is “baloney” four years after defeating him for the Democratic Party’s nomination. The former secretary of state appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to discuss “Hillary,” a four-part docuseries that will premiere on Hulu later this week, and made her commentary on the Sanders efforts while responding to a clip from the documentary. In that clip, she describes Sanders as a “career politician” who was in Congress for years, but that “nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done.” She added that his campaign was “all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.” On Tuesday when asked if her opinion has changed, Clinton responded that it “was my authentic opinion then. It’s my authentic opinion now.”