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COVID-19

Tyrone gives virtual learning a trial run

The Tyrone Area School District will put K-12 on a virtual learning trial run on Nov. 19. Last week, Tyrone Area Superintendent Leslie Estep sent a letter to district families saying that due to the growing positive COVID-19 cases, the district would roll out a “practice session” for K-12 in a virtual learning model. Estep said this does not apply to Pre-K and daycare. “This session will give everyone an opportunity to collect feedback and make adjustments should it become necessary to implement this model,” she said. The administration will continue to use an in-person ...

Giant Eagle wins first court fight

Giant Eagle Inc., which operates many grocery stores in Western Pennsylvania, including ones in Altoona and Roaring Spring, as well as other nearby communities, has won the first round in a challenge to its requirement that all customers must wear face coverings while in its stores. A U.S. District Judge in Pittsburgh, Nora Barry Fishcher, has rejected an injunction request by Giant Eagle shopper, Josiah Kostek, who was twice denied entry to a store in Oil City because he was not wearing a face mask. Kostek was asked to leave a Giant Eagle store on May 16 despite his contention that ...

L&I extends backdated jobless claims

The state Department of Labor & Industry has temporarily extended its backdating of unemployment compensation claims from six weeks to as many as 52, so claimants can get benefits that remained out of reach in the spring, after a crush of applications due to the COVID-19 shutdowns made it hard to get help from the staff. The department is doing it “to ensure no eligible claimants will lose out,” Labor Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said during a Webex conference call with reporters Monday. The department fielded more than 1 million new applications in 21 days starting in mid-March, ...

Schools report limited resources

Pandemic changes teaching techniques, hits districts’ budgets Editor’s note: This is the second of two stories about school superintendents and administrators being pulled from their regular duties because of the health risks from the COVID-19 pandemic. The rise in coronavirus cases has forced county superintendents to take on public health-related tasks in place of their educational duties. When asked if the district could hire someone to take on these public health duties, Charles Prijatelj, superintendent of the Altoona Area School District, said there’s no money for it. ...

AASD under fire over photograph

Altoona Area School Board members responded to a controversial photo circulated via social media over the weekend. The photo showed hundreds of masked Altoona 11th and 12th grade students side-by-side in the AASD Fieldhouse, apparently against Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...

Philadelphia bans indoor gatherings, broadens virus rules

Philadelphia is banning indoor gatherings of any size, public or private, as the city battles a resurgence of the coronavirus, officials announced Monday, warning that hospitals will become overrun by the end of the year without dramatic action. The city also plans to prohibit indoor dining at restaurants, shutter casinos, gyms, museums and libraries, pause in-person instruction at colleges and high schools, and reduce occupancy at stores and religious institutions, the health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, said at a news conference Monday. The new restrictions take effect Friday and ...