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More US states are beginning to lift lockdown orders even as US leaders say social distancing guidelines will be necessary throughout the summer. But governors warn that life will not quickly return to normal, and that restrictions will remain in some places to keep the virus from resurging. On Friday, the US saw its largest single-day spike in cases. But the infection rate has dropped significantly in several hotspots, including New York, the US epicentre.

Continuing his efforts to protect the health and safety of students and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Tom Wolf today announced that all schools will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year. The governor made the decision in consultation with Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine and Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera. Students and families can continue to pick up meals at designated sites.

(snip) The Wolf administration has faced mounting public criticism from lawmakers in the GOP over its handling of the COVID-19 shutdown and its effect on businesses. State Sen. Ryan Aument (R-Lancaster) says there’s been a lack of transparency that has left thousands of business owners in different industries across the state in the dark. (snip)

Schools and businesses in Pennsylvania will remain closed until further notice because of the coronavirus pandemic, the state's governor said on Monday.

Gov. Tom Wolf extended his stay-at-home order to Lehigh and Northampton counties Wednesday as the coronavirus continues to spread through Pennsylvania. In a news release, Wolf said the order would go into effect at 8 p.m. Wednesday. The counties are the ninth and 10th to receive stay-at-home orders, joining Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Erie, Monroe, Montgomery and Philadelphia.

Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine today issued “Stay at Home” orders to Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties, as the state seeks relief to save lives and stop the spread of COVID-19. This order takes effect at 8:00 PM on Monday, March 23, 2020, and will continue until April 6, 2020.

Sorry for another vanity, but I haven't seen this brought up anywhere in the news. Received an email from my water company, saying they are suspending late fees. Wondering what else was out there, and based on my research: Electric company - deferred payment plans (with needs based application to file) Gas company - deferred payment plans (with needs based application to file) Cable / Internet company - no info Mortgage company - no info Cell phone - no info Credit card - no info So the question is, what bills should we be paying (some? all? none?). Put groceries...

As a public service to our readers and community, we have lowered the paywall on our most critical stories about the coronavirus outbreak so everyone can access this important information.

Just thinking about schools being closed, and how to keep the kids/grandkids on track. I've used Enchanted Learning (requires a somewhat reasonable subscription for most stuff). Lots of printables to color, make booklets, etc. Mostly for grade schoolers. Dr. Binocs has odd but informative videos for the young ones. Kahn academy has a slew of informative videos, mostly jr. high / high school stuff (science, math, history) with practice problem demos and the like. Crash Course series has lively video lessons for all grades (science, history) Anybody else have ideas for resources to share? Disclaimer: I have no financial or...

No one likes to be seated near a sick passenger — and that’s especially true during a pandemic. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently puts the risk of contracting COVID-19 on planes at “low” due to the nature of “how air circulates and is filtered on airplanes,” that doesn’t mean travelers shouldn’t take every health precaution possible, and maintain social distancing from anyone exhibiting symptoms of respiratory illness. Should you find yourself on a plane with a sick passenger, however, you should be aware that the federal government and the CDC have a protocol in place...

Social-justice ideology is turning higher education into an engine of progressive political advocacy, according to a new report by the National Association of Scholars. Left-wing activists, masquerading as professors, are infiltrating traditional academic departments or creating new ones—departments such as “Solidarity and Social Justice”—to advance their cause. They are entering the highest rung of college administration, from which perch they require students to take social-justice courses, such as “Native Sexualities and Queer Discourse” or “Hip-hop Workshop,” and attend social-justice events—such as a Reparations, Repatriation, and Redress Symposium or a Power and Privilege Symposium—in order to graduate. But social-justice education is...

Bartender at the local joint up the street showed me this had been passed to them sometime this week. A Google news search ("counterfeit $100 bill") shows dozens of recent articles about these things. Seems to be pretty easy to detect, mainly by the feel of the paper and of course the Chinese (or whatever) markings. Also notice the "stripe" is printed and not glossy, the "ghost" image is missing, etc. Banks are notoriously unsympathetic, and maybe even the local lawmen. Just a note to FReepers to be aware.

MAD Magazine will cease publication later this year, according to reports. Blogger Jedidiah Leland reportedly discovered the news after a MAD editor confessed to the magazine's doom in a Facebook group, and shortly thereafter, cartoonist Ruben Bolling seemed to confirm the report on Twitter. Of course, Bolling is not a MAD cartoonist (although he did have work published in it in 2005), so he may have been simply responding to the growing volume of responses to the Leland report.

(snip)....People are also reporting problems with Instagram and Whatsapp....(snip)

This is how the grandparent scam typically plays out: You get a call from someone pretending to be your grandchild. The person explains that he is in trouble, with a story that goes something like this: “There’s been an accident and I’m______ (in jail, in the hospital, stuck in a foreign country), and I need your help.” The caller adds enough details about how, what or where the emergency happened to make the story seem plausible. And the distraught caller, you think to yourself, does sort of sound like your grandson or granddaughter. Often the caller tells you that a...

Hardy Fox, a driving force behind the Residents, an avant-garde band that playfully subverted the conventions of rock music for decades while insisting on anonymity, which the group maintained by performing in outlandish costumes, died on Oct. 30 at his home in San Anselmo, Calif. He was 73.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Former Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski has learned his punishment for participating in pay-to-play politics. Pawlowski was sentenced Tuesday to 180 months or 15 years in prison Tuesday afternoon. A federal jury in March convicted Ed Pawlowski on 47 of 54 corruption charges involving allegations of pay-to-play politics in Allentown City Hall. Authorities had accused the Democrat of trading favors and city contracts in exchange for campaign donations.

On Aug. 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. It was the first time a nuclear weapon had been used in warfare. There were three strike planes that flew over Hiroshima that day: the Enola Gay, which carried the bomb, and two observation planes, the Great Artiste and the Necessary Evil. Russell Gackenbach was a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps and a navigator on the mission. Today, the 95-year-old is the only surviving crew member of those three planes.

Local PDs take up the #LipSync Challenge. Just some good clean fun for a summer Saturday.

A Pennsylvania state police corporal who was shot Tuesday morning in Northampton County after a “knock-down drag-out” fight is in “extremely critical but stable” condition after surgery at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill, state police said. The corporal was shot about 10:40 a.m. and taken by medical helicopter to the hospital, polices said. “He has a will to live, God willing he will pull through this,” Capt. Richard D’Ambrosio, commander of Troop M barracks in Bethlehem, said outside the hospital Tuesday afternoon. The shooting prompted a massive pursuit south to Easton Hospital where police said they apprehended a...