Gov. Wolf: Corrections Announces First Group of Inmates Under Temporary Reprieve Program

Harrisburg, PA – Gov. Tom Wolf issued reprieves yesterday for the first group of Department of Corrections inmates who met criteria for the Temporary Program to Reprieve Sentences of Incarceration, which the governor established through order on April 10.

After providing information to county prosecutors and judges earlier this week, submissions were received by the DOC for additional consideration by DOC Secretary John Wetzel. Sec. Wetzel then submitted a list of inmates to Gov. Wolf for his consideration.

Inmates approved in this first round of reprieves are:

All inmates will undergo COVID-19 screening prior to release. Some individuals may be released to community corrections centers, while others may be released to home confinement. In either case, all will be confined to their location and will be supervised by parole agents.

Each reprieve signed by Gov. Wolf reads, “If at any time the subject of this reprieve violates the supervision requirements imposed by the Department, this reprieve is revoked and the individual shall be returned immediately to the physical custody of the Department of Corrections.”

 PITTSBURGH, PA (April 16, 2020) — Allegheny Health Network (AHN) today announced another significant step in the organization’s efforts to assure that frontline caregivers in its hospitals have the personal protective equipment they need to help prevent exposure to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) during the current pandemic.  AHN has partnered with MSA Safety (NYSE: MSA) to secure a shipment of P100 industrial grade respirators that can be disinfected and reused repeatedly.

The Advantage® 200 LS Respirator from MSA – which filters out nearly 100 percent of airborne particulates – is a mask not typically used in health care settings.  However, because of the scarcity of disposable respirator masks caused by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, AHN has been working to identify options to mitigate the effects of the disposable mask shortage.  This effort comes after the FDA and CDC recently issued guidance that NIOSH-approved elastomeric respirators can complement a hospital’s PPE stockpile and serve as a viable alternative to N95 disposable masks.

Designed for reuse, the Advantage 200 Respirator is a half-mask, tight-fitting face piece that covers a person’s nose and mouth, and comes equipped with twin removable filter cartridges.  The masks will be disinfected between uses by AHN’s sterilization technicians.

AHN caregivers began using the Advantage 200 masks this week.  Last week, AHN also launched a unique mask sterilization and re-use program that will allow N95 masks to be used up to three times. The new P100 respirators, combined with AHN’s ability to sterilize and reuse disposable N95 masks, significantly expands the network’s supply of PPE as it prepares for a potential surge of COVID-19 patients across the western Pennsylvania region.

“When it comes to the personal protective equipment that keeps caregivers safe, our goal is for AHN to be as self-sustaining as possible while not compromising the safety of our caregivers and patients,” said Sri Chalikonda, MD, AHN’s Chief Medical Operations Officer. “We want our clinical teams to be 100-percent focused on the care of our patients with full confidence that they have the PPE they need to do their jobs at this critical time.

The Advantage® 200 LS Respirator masks will be used by the same frontline AHN staff that are now wearing N95 masks – including ICU and emergency department clinicians, or any caregiver working with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 positive patients.

“MSA recognizes that fighting the spread of COVID-19 requires an all-hands-on-deck approach,” said Steve Blanco, President of MSA’s Americas business segment.  “We are pleased to be working alongside AHN and other leading health care providers to explore and deliver PPE solutions that are helping communities better respond to this unprecedented challenge.”

PITTSBURGH, April 16, 2020 – Domino’s and its nationwide system of franchisees are banding together during this unprecedented crisis to do something they already do well every day: feed people pizza. Domino’s locally-owned stores throughout Greater Pittsburgh will donate 7,600 pizzas within their local communities, starting this week.

“We realize that there is a great deal of hardship and uncertainty at this time,” said Sheldon Port, a Pittsburgh-area Domino’s franchisee. “Domino’s wants to do whatever it can to help, and that means spreading a little bit of joy through pizza.”

Nearly 40 Domino’s stores throughout the Greater Pittsburgh area will each donate 200 pizzas as part of this national effort, so that hospitals and medical centers, schoolkids and their families, health departments, grocery store workers, and others in need can enjoy a hot, delicious pizza.

“We want to show how much we appreciate and support those who are in need of a hot meal, and those who are on the frontline, working to save lives,” said Port. “We hope that this simple act will bring a small sense of normalcy and a smile to their faces.”

Together, Domino’s stores nationwide will donate more than 1.2 million pizzas, or about 10 million slices, across their communities. To read about how Domino’s franchisees and team members are giving back in their local neighborhoods, visit biz.dominos.com/web/media/stories.

Wolf backs states’ call for $500B in additional federal aid
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf has written to President Donald Trump to back calls from other leading governors for another $500 billion in federal aid for states fighting the spread of the coronavirus. Wolf says he’s projecting a budget deficit of up to $5 billion. The letter, dated Wednesday, was issued with two other Democratic governors, Tony Evers of Wisconsin and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. In the letter, they acknowledge that the federal government is making an initial $71 billion available to meet some immediate cash flow needs of state and local governments. But, they write, “the magnitude of the crushing economic impact this virus has had on our states and residents cannot be overstated.”

Nurses suspended for refusing COVID-19 care without N95 mask
By MARTHA MENDOZA and KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press
Ten nurses have been suspended from their jobs at a Santa Monica, California, hospital after refusing to care for COVID-19 patients without being provided protective N95 face masks. One of those nurses, Mike Gulick, says the decision was heart-wrenching but after a colleague tested positive for the infection he felt he had to take a stand. Other nurses Tuesday protested what they said was inadequate personal protective equipment at a hospital in Fresno, California, where 10 nurses have tested positive for the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.

Police: Dispute aboard bus ends with man shooting 3 teens
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say a fight aboard a bus traveling in Philadelphia ended with a man shooting three teenage boys in their legs. The 24-year-old shooter was sitting in the back of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority bus early Thursday when authorities say he was approached by two 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old. The four began arguing and the dispute soon turned physical. The man, who authorities say had a concealed weapons permit, then shot the youths. The man, who claimed he acted in self-defense, was not seriously injured. The bus driver and a few other passengers aboard the bus were not injured.

US unemployment applications are set to shoot up again
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government is poised Thursday to announce the latest alarming report on the layoffs that have been sweeping across the economy since the coronavirus outbreak struck hard last month. Several million more people are expected to have filed for unemployment benefits last week, after nearly 17 million applied for aid in the previous three weeks. It is the worst stretch of U.S. job losses on record. All businesses deemed nonessential have been closed in 48 states as the economy has essentially shut down. Some economists say the unemployment rate could reach as high as 20% in April, which would be the highest rate since the Great Depression.

(Potter Twp.) Shell has no plans to fully restart production of The Shell Cracker Plant during the COVID-19 crisis but at least 500 Shell Chemicals workers will be back at Potter Twp.  ethane cracker plant by next week. An additional 200 employees will return gradually over the next week to join the roughly 300 workers already tasked with repairing and maintaining the petrochemical complex. More could return in the coming weeks. March 18, Shell temporarily suspended construction activities at Potter Township’s ethane cracker plant to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 amid public pressure.

An estimated 80 million Americans have had a stimulus payment deposited into their checking accounts yesterday. It’s part of the economic stimulus plan passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump last month.

If you filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return and provided your banking information the money was deposited to your bank account. If you receive Social Security the money was deposited to the account that you receive your Social Security through. If you have checked your account and did not find a deposit, you can go to the newly launched IRS website called “Get my payment” to see the status of your payment.

A person who did not have to pay income tax or does not receive Social Security benefits can go to this Internal Revenue website tool and click on “Non-filers: Enter Payment Info Here” to submit direct deposit account information to receive a payment, according to Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin.

(Rochester, Pa.) Giant Eagle Inc. has said that a second Beaver County store employee has tested positive for COVID-19.

The affected employee worked at the Rochester location on W. Madison Street in Rochester. Giant Eagle said the employee last worked on April 6 and the store has since been sanitized and is now open for shoppers.

The first Beaver County Giant Eagle employee that Giant Eagle reported last week worked at the Chippewa Giant Eagle on Constitution Blvd in Chippewa. The employee last worked on March 30 and had been quarantined since

Giant Eagle is limiting the number of customers allowed to shop in each store at one time up to 50 percent of occupancy allowed by Fire code and have one-way signs directing shoppers and encouraging social distancing  to help protect shoppers and staff from COVID-19 exposure.