Parents in the Easton Area School District rallied in Centre Square over the weekend to call on officials to bring students back into classrooms full time. Bonnie McCarthy is a parent and says learning online isn't really learning. "Zoom is not a classroom," McCarthy says. Those at the rally want the school board and superintendent to set a date for all students to return to full-time, in-person learning. Parents say students are falling behind with their education and suffering from a lack of social interaction. Easton students currently have a hybrid model that includes two days of in-person learning.
Gov. Tom Wolf plans to get everyone who's eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in Phase 1-A an appointment by the end of this month. Wolf says our 1-A population contains some of the most vulnerable Pennsylvanians and it's crucial that those people get vaccinated as quickly as possible. To achieve that goal, Wolf has signed an order directing providers to make their best efforts to schedule the elderly and those with high-risk health conditions for appointments by March 31st.
First responders and essential frontline workers are next in line to receive the state's allotment of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Members of the state's COVID-19 vaccine task force say that after the state's current campaign to vaccinate teachers with the J&J vaccine is complete, the following shipments will go to essential workers, including police officers, firefighters, grocery, agricultural and food processing workers. State leaders expect Pennsylvania to receive 200,000 doses of the J&J vaccine each week, beginning March 28th.
More New Jerseyans are eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine. Beginning today, transportation workers will be able to receive the vaccine along with public safety workers who are not sworn law enforcement or fire officials. Educators were supposed to be able to start signing up today, but the state opened up appointments ahead of time. New Jersey will expand eligibility once again next week, vaccinating hospitality personnel and other groups.
New Jersey is closing in on the 3,000,000 mark when it comes to coronavirus vaccines. As of Saturday, more than $2.9 million doses had been administered, with more than 969,000 people fully vaccinated.
Monroe County residents are calling for an investigation into the shooting death of 19-year-old Christian Hall. About 100 people marched to the Monroe County Courthouse, including St. Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Malcolm Kenyatta. "Christian was met with seven bullets when what Christian needed was help. He was gunned down by the folks who are supposed to protect him," Kenyatta said. Hall was shot and killed by State Police on an overpass in Monroe County last December after reports of a distraught man with a gun on the bridge. Protesters want the county DA to turn over the investigation to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
A Bucks County woman faces charges after allegedly creating deepfake videos of teens in order to get them booted from her daughter's cheerleading squad. Bucks County DA Matt Weintraub says Raffaela Spone, of Hilltown Township, manipulated images last year that depicted three teens from her daughter's cheer squad naked, drinking and smoking a vape. Weintraub says Spone then sent the images to the teens and their cheer coaches. "The essence of it was to knock them down, to make them appear that they were not law-abiding, to get them knocked off the team. That appears to be the motivation," Weintraub says. The DA says the victims also received a message urging them to kill themselves.
Gov. Tom Wolf is looking to phase out Pennsylvania's gasoline tax. The governor has signed an executive order to establish the Transportation Revenue Options Commission, which will be made up of lawmakers, transportation industry representatives and planners. It will be tasked with finding reliable short-term and long-term revenue sources. The governor says commission will deliver recommendations by August 1st.
Recent dry conditions are part of the reason why our area is under a Red Flag Warning today. The National Weather Service says the breezy conditions are contributing to the decision as well. A red flag warning means that any fire may quickly get out of control and be hard to contain.
Longtime Morning Call sports columnist Paul Reinhard passed away over the weekend after being placed in hospice care due to a heart issue. Paul Reinhard was 80 years old.
The Philadelphia 76ers are making adjustments after losing a key player to injury. Joel Embiid has a bone bruise in his knee and will be out for at least two weeks. He suffered the injury in Friday night's win over Washington.