HARRISBURG — Governor Tom Wolf announced Friday that 13 Pennsylvania counties in the state's southwest will move to the yellow phase of reopening Friday, May 15.
Those counties include Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland.
BLOOMSBURG — A 68-year-old man stabbed his daughter’s ex-boyfriend in the abdomen Thursday night after intervening in an argument that turned physical between the daughter and the ex over furniture, according to police.
Ronald Derr of 411 E. 2nd St., Mifflinville, allegedly stabbed Timothy Moore with a four-inch kitchen knife, twisting it into Moore’s left side and then pulling the knife out of Moore’s side, South Centre Township Police Chief Bill Richendrfer explained Friday.
“It was a pretty good size gash,” Richendrfer said.
Briggs Farm Blues Festival, which for 22 years has drawn up crowds of nearly 10,000 people to a farm outside Nescopek to hear nationally known and rising acts, has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers announced Wednesday.
The festival was set for July 9-11, with about 20 acts and headliners including Shemekia Copeland and Victor Wainwright, both Blues Music Awards winners and Grammy Award nominees; multiple Blues Music Award nominee Ana Popovich; and two-time Blues Music Award Band of the Year Lil Ed Williams & The Blues Imperials.
DANVILLE — The state liquor store at 144 Continental Boulevard here is one of 77 that the state plans to open to in-person sales starting Friday.
All are located in counties — like Montour County — that Gov. Tom Wolf recently moved to the "yellow" phase of reopening.
HARRISBURG — Montour, Northumberland, and Lycoming counties were among 24 counties that Gov. Tom Wolf announced on Friday could move to the first phase of reopening beginning on May 8.
In the "yellow" phase, businesses will be allowed to open up, but will have to abide by safety guidelines. The stay-at-home orders on the public will be lifted.
In-person retail will be allowed, although curbside and delivery is preferred, the state said.
BLOOMSBURG — Columbia County didn’t make the cut.
Gov. Tom Wolf is expected to announce today the easing of shutdown restrictions on a number of counties where COVID-19 infection rates are low.
But Columbia County, which includes both Berwick and Bloomsburg, won’t be on that list, say the county’s commissioners.
MONTOUR TWP. — Children setting tires ablaze led to a garage fire on Legion Road here Thursday, the police chief said.
The large garage behind 158 Legion Road had a pile of tires stored underneath its eaves , where the fire appeared to begin, said Police Chief Terry Eckart.
It spread throughout the garage, destroying the Harley Davidson motorcycle and antique car parts inside the structure, said Greg Creasy, son of owner Denny Creasy. A car parked underneath a garage overhang was torched as well.
DANVILLE — Geisinger is rolling out a new program this week aimed at tracing coronavirus patients and their close contacts in an effort to slow the spread of the highly contagious and sometimes deadly virus.
Contact tracing, as the program is called, alerts people who have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus so they can self-quarantine, said Dr. Keith Boell, Geisinger’s chief quality officer of population initiatives.
Boell is helping to lead the program, which is new to Geisinger.
The rise in confirmed coronavirus cases in the region, which had slowed late last week, again picked up over the weekend, with new state totals from the state showing 32 new cases in Columbia County since Friday.
There were 10 new cases in Montour County and 11 in Northumberland. Luzerne County, which saw a slowing from its hot spot status at the end of last week, recorded 121 new cases in three days -- less than a third of the growth it saw just a week ago.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania schools will remain shuttered for the rest of the academic year because of the coronavirus pandemic that has sickened thousands and caused hundreds of deaths statewide, under an order signed Thursday by the state's education secretary.
The extended shutdown order affects more than 1.7 million students in public and private K-12 schools. It means children will spend the rest of the year learning remotely.