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COVID-19

County DA’s office reopens

HOLLIDAYSBURG —The Blair County District Attorney’s Office reopened Thursday after being temporarily closed. In response to reports of COVID-19 exposure and potential exposure, the county brought in Clean Tech of Tyrone for cleaning and sanitization. District Attorney Pete Weeks said Thursday that he was thankful to the company for completing its work and allowing staff to return sooner than anticipated. While the office was closed, telephone calls were going directly into a voicemail answering system with no secretarial staff to render assistance. Those seeking an appointment ...

Blair doles out $3.3 million in CARES Act grants

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County is preparing to distribute up to $2.8 million to 89 small businesses and up to $526,402 to 34 nonprofit entities whose operations have been affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Commissioners Bruce Erb, Laura Burke and Amy Webster on Wednesday named the successful grant applicants and amounts to be awarded a portion of the county’s $11 million allocation from the federal Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Recipients of largest amounts are Altoona Curve Baseball, $225,716; Wingate by Wyndham Altoona at $194,292; Summit Tennis ...

Desperate measures

OMAHA, Neb. — U.S. hospitals slammed with COVID-19 patients are trying to lure nurses and doctors out of retirement, recruiting students and new graduates who have yet to earn their licenses and offering eye-popping salaries in a desperate bid to ease staffing shortages. With the virus ...

Biden, Dems back bipartisan virus aid bill

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden swung behind a bipartisan COVID-19 relief effort Wednesday and his top Capitol Hill allies cut their demands for a $2 trillion-plus measure by more than half in hopes of breaking a monthslong logjam and delivering much-sought aid as the tempestuous congressional session speeds to a close. Biden said the developing aid package “wouldn’t be the answer, but it would be the immediate help for a lot of things.” He wants a relief bill to pass Congress now, with more aid to come next year. Biden’s remarks followed an announcement by House ...

DA’s office closed for cleaning

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The District Attorney’s Office in Blair County Courthouse is temporarily closed for deep cleaning after COVID-19 exposure. Prosecutors are working remotely and remain available for court hearings, for consultation with local law enforcement officers and to speak with defense attorneys, District Attorney Pete Weeks said Wednesday. Telephone calls into the DA’s office, however, are going directly into a voicemail answering system with no secretarial staff to render assistance while the office is closed. “I’m hopeful that we’ll be back in by the end of the ...

U.K. first to approve Pfizer vaccine

London — Britain became the first country in the world to authorize a rigorously tested COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday and could be dispensing shots within days — a historic step toward eventually ending the outbreak that has killed more than 1.4 million people around the globe. In giving the go-ahead for emergency use of the vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, Britain vaulted past the United States by at least a week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is not scheduled to consider the vaccine until Dec. 10. “This is a day to remember, frankly, ...