By FORD TURNERTHE MORNING CALL |JUL 10, 2020 AT 11:55 AM
HARRISBURG — The state Department of Health on Friday reported 1,009 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 93,876.
The one-day increase was the largest in at least several weeks but it was not immediately clear if some of the cases were older ones that were being reported by the state for the first time Friday. A large new-case number logged earlier in the week included some “backlogged” cases.
The new-case figure included 35 from the Lehigh Valley: 21 in Lehigh County and 14 in Northampton County.
The state’s data includes both confirmed and probable cases.
Confirmed cases are those testing positive for the virus. Scenarios that would lead to a probable case include one where an individual has not been tested but shows symptoms and has had close contact with a confirmed case.
The state also said there were 32 more deaths from the virus. The statewide total is 6,880.
Hospitalizations
The number of people hospitalized statewide for coronavirus has hardly changed for much of the week. State data showed the number was 598 around noon on Monday and increased to 637 about the same time Tuesday, followed by figures of 649 and 650 on Wednesday and Thursday.
The figure approaching noon Friday was 653 people hospitalized.
This story will be updated. Morning Call Capitol correspondent Ford Turner can be reached at fturner@mcall.com
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A flash flood warning has been issued until 2:30 p.m. for Barnegat, Beachwood, Jackson Township, Lakewood Township, Toms River, and Tuckerton. That means the potential for flooding of small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as other drainage and low lying areas, according to an advisory from the National Weather Service.
“Protecting yourself from immediate threats to life and safety shall take priority,” the National Weather Service said in a warning. “Whenever possible, as long as it does not cause greater harm, all COVID-19 protective action guidance should be followed. Turn around, don’t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flooded deaths occur in vehicles. “
UPDATE 10:04 a.m. – Wind gusts reaching up to 30+ mph in Ocean County
UPDATE 9:15 a.m. – A flash flood warning has been issued for Atlantic and Northern Cape May County
A flash flood warning has been issued until 1 p.m. for Atlantic and Northern Cape May Counties which could leave flooding of small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as other drainage and low lying areas, according to an advisory from the National Weather Service.
MOUNT HOLLY – You might want to stay indoors today, as Tropical Storm Fay is expected to bring multiple inches of heavy rainfall and damaging winds across all parts of the Jersey Shore.
A tropical storm warning is in effect untiil this evening for the coastal waters in Sandy Hook to Cape May, with damaging winds expected to reach up to 60 mph heading into the mainland, according to the National Weather Service and private meteorologists.
The warning advises of possible isolated tornadoes and tells residents near the shore to take all necessary safety precautions until the storm passes in the evening, the National Weather Service said Friday morning.
Mariners are advised to avoid these hazardous conditions by remaining in port, and seek shelter, alter course and secure their vessel for severe conditions, as the strong winds could produce “severe damage and reduce visibility.”
Forecasters say the biggest impact will be the heavy rainfall that will bring some flash flooding which could life-threatening, as “rapidly rising flood waters may quickly inundate roadways and areas of poor drainage. Streams and creeks could leave their banks, flooding nearby properties,” said the National Weather Service.
Temperatures are expected to range from the high 70s into the low 80s leaving a “steamy, tropical and humid type of atmosphere,” as this will be the weather pattern for the next couple of days, according to Steven DiMartino who runs NY NJ PA weather.
“Heavy rain will expand throughout the region this morning and continue through the afternoon,” said DiMartino. “We should expect to see winds today ranging anywhere from 20 to 40 miles per hour along eastern-Monmouth County with gusts over 40 miles per hour.”
Heading into the weekend, private meteorologists expect the storm to pass by Saturday morning, but will continue to leave heavy rain and thunderstorms on Saturday with a chance of fog. The storms will most likely make an appearance in the early parts of the afternoon and possibly one to two in the evening, according to DiMartino.
By Sunday, another low pressure system will arrive to the Jersey Shore leaving another round of possible isolated showers throughout the day.
Temperatures are expected to remain in the high 70s to low 80s on Saturday with partly heavy cloud cover and Sunday will wrap up with temperatures also remaining in the 70s with humidity, according to the forecast.
This is a breaking news story. Stay with app.com for further weather updates
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of eight projects totaling over $5 million to conduct research and development (R&D) needed to accelerate the US biomanufacturing sector. Part of the Agile BioFoundry (ABF) consortium, these projects will leverage National Laboratory capabilities to address challenges in biomanufacturing.
DOE has selected the following projects:
C16 Biosciences, of New York, NY, will work with Pacific Northwest and Sandia National Laboratories to engineer fatty acid synthesis in Rhodosporidium toruloides to produce sustainable replacements for palm oil.
Clemson University, of Clemson, SC, will address common challenges in the reliability of industrial yeast fermentation, important for a wide range of products.
LanzaTech, of Skokie, IL, will advance the field of synthetic biology by building solutions to more efficiently and quickly engineer production hosts at a reduced cost..
White Dog Labs, of New Castle, DE, will elucidate the specific changes microbes undergo during the continuous, cell-retention process, using the isopropanol-producing strain, Clostridium ljungdahlii, as a model system.
Kalion, Inc, of Milton, MA, will use machine learning and artificial intelligence to lower growth media production costs, increase productivity, and increase the overall commercial feasibility of biomanufacturing, with glucaric acid production as their model.
Danimer Scientific, of Bainbridge, GA, will use ABF’s Learn tools and systems’ biology capabilities to produce tunable combinations of polyhydroxyalkanoates with different chain lengths, enabling new biodegradable plastics with novel properties.
Invaio, of Cambridge, MA, will develop an efficient bioprocess for the industrial production of an antimicrobial peptide, which could prove revolutionary for agriculture and add to ABF’s core capabilities.
Enduro Genetics, Inc, of Copenhagen, Denmark, will use its “product addiction” technology in industrial host organisms to demonstrate its ability to agnostically improve product titer, rate, and yield.
Each of the ABF Directed Funding Opportunity awardees will be invited to collaborate with National Lab research facilities to conduct their proposed research. Seed awards provide up to $500,000 in DOE funds to the labs for up to two years. Full awards are up to $2,000,000 and three years. This assistance by the National Laboratories will aim to develop novel microbial hosts and bioproducts, use cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning in synthetic biology, and address the problem of production heterogeneity in industrial microbiology. Each of the awardees has committed to a minimum 20% cost-share contribution.
Sponsored by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, the ABF aims to advance biomanufacturing by uniting and expanding the capabilities of the National Laboratories to develop a robust, agile biomanufacturing platform accessible to researchers across the private and public sectors.
ABF partners include Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and more than a dozen university and industry partners.
Sanitation workers have held numerous strikes demanding hazard pay, frequently linking their fight to movements like Black Lives Matter. But the issue remains a contentious one for the waste industry. Sanitation workers have held numerous strikes demanding hazard pay, frequently linking their fight to movements like Black Lives Matter. But the issue remains a contentious one for the waste industry.
Since early May, sanitation workers employed by a New Orleans city subcontractor have been on strike in an effort to win pandemic hazard pay and other changes. Their action comes at a time when frontline employees in sectors across the country say they are being exposed to heightened risks that justify increased wages.
Frontline waste industry employees can earn high wages in some instances, but rates differ for a variety of reasons depending on the employer or location. That has sparked growing interest in supplemental pay in light of newly challenging conditions. Absent regulatory drivers, which have largely not come to fruition, the decision to pay more rests with employers and it has so far not been the norm. Now, as the pandemic’s risks appear to be rising across the country and conversations about systemic racism have come to the forefront, some believe the debate about hazard pay is likely to mount.
The striking New Orleans “hoppers,” who jump off and on to trucks collecting waste, began their action on May 5. They are employees of PeopleReady, a subcontractor of Metro Services Group (previously called Metro Disposal), which services part of New Orleans under contract. Daytriàn Mariell Wilken, a spokesperson for the striking workers, told Waste Dive the hoppers want more personal protective equipment (PPE), upgrades to the trucks they use, a minimum wage of $15 an hour, and $150 per week in hazard pay.
When the strike began, Metro briefly employed incarcerated workers from the Livingston Parish’s Transitional Work Program, who spent several days on the job. LaTonya Norton, press secretary for New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, said “a number of workers” returned to their jobs after that. She said the city confirmed with Metro that workers are receiving proper PPE and has requested records to ensure subcontractees are receiving proper pay.
A spokesperson for PeopleReady said via email that employees working with Metro have been provided with full PPE, including gloves, masks, and eye protection. The company also said no striking employees have been fired and there are no intentions to fire them in the future. “The fact that a business continues to operate with replacement workers does not mean that striking employees have been fired,” said the spokesperson. “When faced with a strike, it is a company’s lawful right to continue to operate the business.”
Virginia Miller, spokesperson for Metro, said her company has been communicating with the subcontractees through New Orleans City Council President Jason Williams, which Wilken confirmed. Williams’ office did not respond to a request for comment, but Miller said the striking workers have not asked for Metro itself to institute hazard pay. The company has said it supports federal action on hazard pay for workers more broadly.
“Thus far, while Metro is still hopeful that a dialogue can occur, there has been no response,” said Miller.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 719 new coronavirus cases Thursday, raising the statewide total to 92,867.
The report comes as state officials have expressed concern about an increase in cases the past few weeks, particularly in southwestern Pennsylvania. State officials say they are seeing more young adults getting infected.
Statewide, 6,848 deaths have been tied to COVID-19, including 36 new fatalities reported Thursday. More than two-thirds of those deaths have occurred in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
On Wednesday, Allegheny County officials extended an order barring indoor dining at bars and restaurants, although outdoor dining, takeout and delivery will be allowed.
More COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals. The health department’s online dashboard shows 650 coronavirus patients are hospitalized, up from a little under 600 a week ago. Still, it remains well below the peak of about 2,800 in the spring.
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In 7-2 rulings in both cases, the justices rejected the president’s assertion that he enjoys absolute immunity while in office. Trump nominees Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh joined the majorities.
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President Trump’s assertion that he enjoys absolute immunity from investigation while in office, allowing a New York prosecutor to pursue a subpoena of the president’s private and business financial records.
In a separate case, the court sent a fight over congressional subpoenas for the material back to lower courts because of “significant separation of powers concerns.” Since both cases involve more work at the lower level, it seems unlikely the records would be available to the public before the election.
Combined, the decisions offer the court’s most detailed examination of presidential power and congressional authority in decades, and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority in both 7-to-2 decisions. The court seemed to avoid some tough questions in an attempt to achieve greater agreement.
All members of the court rejected a sweeping claim of immunity promoted by the president and his lawyers.
“In our judicial system, ‘the public has a right to every man’s evidence,’ ” Roberts wrote in the New York case, citing an ancient maxim. “Since the earliest days of the Republic, ‘every man’ has included the President of the United States.”
Trump nominees Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh agreed with the outcomes of the cases. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented.
Trump reacted angrily, and inaccurately, on Twitter: “Courts in the past have given ‘broad deference’. BUT NOT ME!”
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said in a statement: “This is a tremendous victory for our nation’s system of justice and its founding principle that no one — not even a president — is above the law. Our investigation, which was delayed for almost a year by this lawsuit, will resume, guided as always by the grand jury’s solemn obligation to follow the law and the facts, wherever they may lead.”AD
The president’s lawyer Jay Sekulow said in a statement, “We are pleased that in the decisions issued today, the Supreme Court has temporarily blocked both Congress and New York prosecutors from obtaining the President’s tax records. We will now proceed to raise additional constitutional and legal issues in the lower courts.”
The majority said that while Trump could not avoid a subpoena, he could challenge the specifics of it. And Kavanaugh and Gorsuch emphasized that in their concurring opinion, noting the court “unanimously agrees that this case should be remanded to the District Court, where the President may raise constitutional and legal objections to the subpoena as appropriate.”
In the congressional case, the court tried to strike a balance between the chief executive and Congress, while lamenting that in the past, such conflicts were most often worked out between the political branches.AD
The court reinforced Congress’s broad investigative power, but said it is not limitless and must be more targeted when it comes to subpoenas for a president’s personal information.
Without limits, the court warned, “Congress could declare open season on the President’s information held by schools, archives, internet service providers, e-mail clients, and financial institutions.”
The majority came up with a new four-part test for courts to analyze the validity of subpoenas aimed at the president.
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