There will be no seventh inning stretching this summer at Coca-Cola Park. Major League Baseball has now officially informed all minor league teams, including the IronPigs, it will not be supplying players to its affiliated teams. IronPigs President Kurt Landes says it's extremely unfortunate. "It's a terribly sad day. It's hard to find words, truly," Landes says. He says he feels for his staff who put in many hours of work preparing for a season that will not happen and especially for fans who flock to the ballpark every summer. It's the first time the minor leagues will not play since the system was formed back in 1901.
Pennsylvania health officials added 618 new cases of coronavirus Tuesday. That pushes the overall total to 86,606. Another 35 coronavirus-related deaths were reported Tuesday. That statewide number is now at 6649.
New Jersey health officials say their state's number of confirmed coronavirus cases is now 171,667, with the number of fatalities attributed to coronavirus now at 15,035. The current number of COVID-19 hospitalizations remains just under 1000, far below the peak of 8000 back in April.
New Jersey health officials have added another eight states to the list of states from which travelers must quarantine for 14 days before entering. The added states bring the total number of states under voluntary quarantines to 16. Last week, New Jersey joined New York and Connecticut in telling travelers they must self-quarantinge if they have been in states where coronavirus rates have increased. The latest additions include California, Iowa and Georgia.
The city of Philadelphia is strongly encouraging residents not to travel to certain areas across the country. Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, North and South Carolina are among the seven other states Philadelphians are being urged not to visit. All of those states have had huge leaps in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks. Anyone who does visit those states are being told to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Easton Hospital is officially a St. Luke's facility. St. Luke's University Health Network bought the hospital from Steward Health Care, with the transaction becoming official at midnight last night. Employees held a vigil overnight and lit over 600 tea lights to represent the job losses they say came with the transition. St. Luke's said last month it had made offers to 200 Steward Health Care employees and is encouraging all Easton Hospital employees to apply for positions within the network. St. Luke's said staffing will consist of a mix of Easton Hospital and St. Luke's employees, and that future staffing levels will be based on patient volume.
Tuesday afternoon the state Senate unanimously passed two bills also passed unanimously in the House a week ago. Jay Costa is the Senate Democrat Leader and says one bill will establish a disciplinary paper trail for cops. "It requires law enforcement agencies to retain all disciplinary records taken against any particular police officer. It also require the set up of a separation database that will be accessible to all law enforcement departments," Costa says. The second bill requires officer training in interactions with people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds as well as techniques in de-escalation and harm-reduction. Gov. Tom Wolf's office says he will sign each bill.
A report from an internal investigation by Schuylkill County officials is revealing that County Commissioner George Halcovage is accused of sexual harassment and discrimination by several employees. The report says that despite the commissioner denying the harassment claims, it is apparent in the internal investigation that he has violated county policy. Fellow commissioners say he cannot be terminated because he's an elected official, but he should look at those allegations and consider stepping down.
The first lady of Pocono Raceway has died. Dr. Rose Mattioli died Monday at her home at the age of 92. Mattioli and her husband Joseph founded the raceway back in 1968 and ran it until turning over management responsibilities to their grandson in 2007. A statement put out by the raceway says, "Dr. Rose was the heart and soul of Pocono Raceway for over 50 years."
New Jersey environmental officials say their new report on the effects of climate change shows New Jersey is warming faster than the global average as well as the rest of the Northeast. The report also says climate change could result in an increase of summer heat-related deaths by 55-percent over the next decade. The environmental study will be updated every two years.
The Philadelphia 76ers will be without guard Zhaire Smith when the NBA resumes play in Orlando. Smith will miss the beginning of the restart with a left-knee bone bruise he suffered in May before team facilities reopened.