Ex-Trump lawyer Cohen to serve out prison sentence at home
By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen will be released from federal prison to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement because of the coronavirus pandemic. That’s according to a Justice Department official and another person familiar with the matter. Cohen is locked up at FCI Otisville in New York. He pleaded guilty to numerous charges, including campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress. He’ll remain under quarantine for 14 days before he is released. Federal statistics show 14 inmates and seven staff members at the prison have tested positive for coronavirus.

Authorities: Man fatally shoots himself, 2 others in home
NEW FREEDOM, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a man fatally shot an older man and a woman inside a southern Pennsylvania home and then turned the gun on himself. Police found the three bodies around 5:30 p.m. Thursday when they responded to a New Freedom home after someone reported a possible fire there and “multiple fatalities.” It wasn’t clear what sparked the shootings, and the victims’ names have not been released. It also wasn’t clear if any of the victims lived in the residence or how long the bodies may have been in the home. Authorities say emergency responders found there was a fire at the home that was caused by unattended cooking, but no serious damage was reported.

Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Rate At 6.0 Percent in March 

Harrisburg, PA – Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its employment situation report for March 2020. The March unemployment and jobs surveys collected data that referenced the week from March 8 – 14 before many necessary coronavirus (COVID-19) – related business and school closures occurred in the second half of the month.

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was up 1.3 percentage points over the month to 6.0 percent in March. The national rate rose nine-tenths of a point to 4.4 percent. The commonwealth’s unemployment rate increased by 1.9 percentage points from March 2019 while the national rate was up six-tenths of a percentage point over the year.

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – declined by 19,000 over the month from February’s record high level. Resident employment was down 104,000 while unemployment rose by 85,000.

Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs were down 40,400 from February’s record high to 6,069,200 in March. Jobs were down in 10 of the 11 industry supersectors. The largest volume supersector decline was in leisure & hospitality which fell from a record high level in February.

Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were up 14,500 with gains in six of the 11 supersectors. The largest volume 12-month change among supersectors was an increase of 12,800 jobs in education & health services.

Additional information is available on the L&I website at www.dli.pa.gov or by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison.

Virus forced schools online, but many students didn’t follow
By JULIE WATSON and CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated Press
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Nearly a month after schools shut down to slow the spread of the coronavirus, many are struggling with distance learning. Some teachers are only seeing about half of their students log on. Many students still do not have laptops. Others are distracted, listening to teachers while babysitting siblings. Some are logging on only to walk away. Not all schools are struggling. Those accustomed to technology transitioned smoothly. The country’s biggest experiment in distance learning is laying bare disparities in the U.S. education system and threatens to deepen inequalities.

Stocks rise as Wall St. nears 1st back-to-back weekly gain
Stocks are rising at the opening of trading on Wall Street Friday as investors rally around signs that more governments are planning phased re-openings of their economies. News that China’s economy suffered the worst downturn since 1979 last quarter did little to depress traders’ optimism after the White House issued guidelines for a phased reopening of businesses, schools and other institutions. The S&P 500 rose nearly 2% and could close out its first back-to-back weekly gain since the market began to sell off in February on worries about the virus. Asian and European indexes also rose.

Authorities: Man found dead inside burning Pittsburgh home
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Authorities say a fast-moving fire that roared through a western Pennsylvania home has left a man dead. Emergency responders found 56-year-old Gerard Anthony Koch on the first floor of the Pittsburgh home early Friday. He was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. Firefighters had responded to the home around 12:20 a.m. and  found heavy smoke and flames shooting from the two-story home. The fire was brought under control about 30 minutes later. It wasn’t immediately known if Koch lived at the home, and apparently no one else was in the residence at the time of the fire. No other injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Trump gives governors options on how to reopen the economy
By ZEKE MILLER, ALAN SUDERMAN and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is determined to restart the U.S. economy, which is struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic. He has given governors a road map for recovering from the economic pain, laying out a phased approach to restoring normal activity. The new guidelines are aimed at easing restrictions in areas with low transmission of the coronavirus, while holding the line in harder-hit locations. They make clear that the return to normalcy will be a far longer process than Trump initially envisioned. Federal officials warn that some social distancing measures may need to remain in place through the end of the year to prevent a new outbreak.

Wolf resists calls to reopen economy, ease stay-home order
By MARK SCOLFORO, MARC LEVY and MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf says he has not set any timetable for allowing nonessential businesses to reopen or people to leave their homes. The governor insisted Thursday that Pennsylvania has not made enough progress to “declare victory” over the coronavirus and ease up on social distancing. GOP lawmakers have been pressing Wolf to reopen the economy, more business owners are fearing bankruptcy and at least 1.4 million Pennsylvania residents have been thrown out of work during a pandemic that has killed more than 700 statewide. Wolf sayds adequate testing capabilities are not yet in place in Pennsylvania or anywhere else to start trying to return to normal.

Small plane makes emergency landing on highway in Cincinnati
CINCINNATI (AP) — A small plane made an emergency landing on an interstate highway in Cincinnati, but authorities say no injuries were reported. one aboard the aircraft was injured. The pilot was the only person aboard the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza plane that came down around 11:45 a.m. Thursday in the he northbound lanes of Interstate 75 near the Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway.  The plane did not hit any vehicles and eventually came to rest against a concrete barrier. Officials say the pilot was headed to Lunken Airport in Cincinnati when he reported a loss of engine power. The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the incident.