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COVID-19

Evictions impact renters, landlords

For an adversarial process, it was surprisingly amicable. On Thursday, Howard Hanna Exclusive Realty’s Rachel Wagner obtained an eviction order against tenant Jordan Smith for failure to pay $5,500 in rent after the federal government’s COVID-related moratorium expired Aug. 1. Afterward, outside Magisterial District Judge Ben Jones’ courtroom, Wagner and Smith were chatting. “It sucks,” said Wagner, the landlord’s representative, about her successful legal effort. “But it’s my job.” “I get it,” said Smith, 40, who was given at least 22 days to leave his house. ...

Blair moves to ‘substantial’ spread

Blair County on Friday moved from “moderate” to “substantial” COVID-19 transmission, based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, triggering a recommendation for even vaccinated people to mask indoors in public. The move to a higher transmission level resulted from a surge in the county’s “incidence rate” — the number of new cases in the past week per 100,000 residents — from 28 to 53, just over the 50-case threshold for substantial. Blair recorded 65 new cases in the past week. The test positivity rate rose to 4.47 percent but still below the ...

PSU professors urge university officials in no confidence vote

Penn State’s Faculty Senate passed a no confidence vote Friday over the university’s COVID-19 planning for the fall semester. The senate voted 109-57 on the no confidence resolution and 128-32 on a resolution urging the university to take stronger action against COVID-19, including a vaccination mandate. On May 12, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution calling for Penn State to require COVID-19 vaccinations before the start of the fall 2021 semester. The university failed to do that, the senate said. While the resolutions are non-binding, the vote indicates that a majority of ...

Court tosses ruling against state’s COVID-19 measures

PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court has dismissed a judge’s ruling that threw out Gov. Tom Wolf’s sweeping COVID-19 restrictions, saying the case is now moot because statewide mitigation measures have expired and Pennsylvania voters have since constrained a governor’s emergency powers. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that since the Wolf administration’s stay-at-home orders, limits on crowd size and business closures have been lifted and are no longer in effect, there is “consequently no relief that this court can grant.” Republican state lawmakers and ...

Animal entries decline

Despite the easing of pandemic-related restrictions, livestock entries in local county fairs and farm shows are down from previous years due to continued uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. After having to cancel events last year to abide by lockdown rules, many 4-H members were ...

UPMC offers new preventive COVID-19 treatment option

UPMC officials announced Tuesday that the hospital will soon offer monoclonal antibody therapy as a preventive against COVID-19, but stressed that the vaccination remains the best way to protect against the virus. The hospital will continue to offer the antibodies as a lifesaving treatment for patients who test positive, officials said during a virtual news conference. Now though, through an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, they will have the ability to use those antibodies to treat at-risk patients who have been exposed to the virus. People 12 and ...