As spring approaches, the time of year when high school seniors wrap up their year in celebration with prom and graduation nears. Some local school district officials have prepared to host these end-of-year events on schedule, though precautions will be in place due to the ongoing COVID-19 ...
WASHINGTON — An exhausted Senate narrowly approved a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Saturday as President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies notched a victory they called crucial for hoisting the country out of the pandemic and economic doldrums. After laboring through the night on a mountain of amendments — nearly all from Republicans and rejected — bleary-eyed senators approved the sprawling package on a 50-49 party-line vote. That sets up final congressional approval by the House next week so lawmakers can send it to Biden for his signature. "We tell the American people, ...
The Altoona Area School Board unanimously voted Thursday to send students back to a full-time, in-person learning model starting March 15. At its special meeting Thursday, just two parents addressed the board, but their message was powerful. “I really urge you,” one mother of two high school seniors said, “please vote to bring them back.” The other parent, a mother of two elementary students, was visibly emotional. She said virtual learning simply isn’t working. “They don’t even enjoy being at home anymore,” she said through tears. “It’s a struggle to get ...
The first clinics to vaccinate school employees with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine could start the middle of next week. The first clinics are expected to run Wednesday to March 13. There is likely to be a lapse in supply for the following two weeks, then an upsurge in the final week of the month that could provide all the remaining doses needed for the state to vaccinate its approximately 200,000 school-connected personnel, said Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam. Intermediate units will be a link between schools and the state, while helping determine the locations of ...
Two federal unemployment compensation programs will be ending soon, but might be extended as they were in January. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program for the self-employed and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program that provides continuing benefits for those whose regular unemployment compensation has run its course will end for most people in mid-March. Some recipients might get a few additional weeks, according to Department of Labor & Industry spokeswoman Sarah DeSantis. The federal government continued PUA and PEUC in January with the passage of the ...
NEW YORK (AP) — It depends on the child’s age, but some teenagers soon could be rolling up their sleeves before too long to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine already is cleared for use starting at age 16. That means some high schoolers could get in line for those shots whenever they become eligible in their area, either because of a medical condition or once availability opens up. Pfizer and Moderna both have completed enrollment for studies of children ages 12 and older, and expect to release the data over the summer. If regulators clear the results, younger teens ...
