OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha-area high school English teacher has been arrested after being accused of molesting a teenage girl 12 years ago. 

The Omaha World-Herald reports that 40-year-old Andrew McGreevy was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of first-degree sexual assault. McGreevy has been a high school English teacher in the Millard Public Schools for four years. 

District officials say he's been placed on leave. 

Police say a woman recently reported that McGreeny molested her in 2008 when she was 17 at the Pizza Shoppe Collective theater in Benson. 

She told officials she was backstage at the theater wearing a hospital gown for her role when McGreevy put his hand inside the gown and molested her.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha-area high school English teacher has been arrested after being accused of molesting a teenage girl 12 years ago. The Omaha World-Herald reports that 40-year-old Andrew McGreevy was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of first-degree sexual assault. McGreevy has been a high school English teacher in the Millard Public Schools for four years. District officials say he's been placed on leave. Police say a woman recently reported that McGreeny molested her in 2008 when she was 17 at the Pizza Shoppe Collective theater in Benson. She told officials she was backstage at the theater wearing a hospital gown for her role when McGreevy put his hand inside the gown and molested her.

Omaha-area teacher accused of molesting teen in 2008

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prosecutor has ruled that law enforcement were justified in fatally shooting a man linked to two Nebraska killings.

Douglas County, Kansas, District Attorney Charles Branson announced his findings Tuesday after reviewing the deadly June 15 shooting of 31-year-old Nicholas Hirsh.

Authorities&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/d4f21b974fc1e7f644be1d7d838ce57d">have said</a>&nbsp;they believed Hirsh had been in Kansas since June 12 when a car was stolen from Clay Center. The Marshals Service was helping to look for the vehicle when the Kansas Highway Patrol spotted it near Perry Lake in northeast Kansas.

Troopers pursued the vehicle into Lawrence, where gunfire was exchanged, and Hirsh was killed. Branson’s announcement means no charges will be filed against the officers involved.

Hirsh, a white man, faced a first-degree murder arrest warrant for the Omaha, Nebraska, shooting death of John Miles, 41, of Council Bluffs, Iowa. During their homicide investigation, detectives also discovered the body of 68-year-old John Clanton in the Ponca Hills area of Douglas County in Nebraska.

The Omaha Police Department said detectives determined Hirsh was also responsible for Clanton’s death. They are not looking for any additional suspects in either homicide.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1592304433683.png" alt="Police on the scene of the investigation June 15 in Lawrence-photo courtesy KCTV" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the investigation June 15 in Lawrence-photo courtesy KCTV</figcaption>
 </figure>LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prosecutor has ruled that law enforcement were justified in fatally shooting a man linked to two Nebraska killings.Douglas County, Kansas, District Attorney Charles Branson announced his findings Tuesday after reviewing the deadly June 15 shooting of 31-year-old Nicholas Hirsh.Authorities&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/d4f21b974fc1e7f644be1d7d838ce57d">have said</a>&nbsp;they believed Hirsh had been in Kansas since June 12 when a car was stolen from Clay Center. The Marshals Service was helping to look for the vehicle when the Kansas Highway Patrol spotted it near Perry Lake in northeast Kansas.Troopers pursued the vehicle into Lawrence, where gunfire was exchanged, and Hirsh was killed. Branson’s announcement means no charges will be filed against the officers involved.Hirsh, a white man, faced a first-degree murder arrest warrant for the Omaha, Nebraska, shooting death of John Miles, 41, of Council Bluffs, Iowa. During their homicide investigation, detectives also discovered the body of 68-year-old John Clanton in the Ponca Hills area of Douglas County in Nebraska.The Omaha Police Department said detectives determined Hirsh was also responsible for Clanton’s death. They are not looking for any additional suspects in either homicide.

Officers justified in fatal shooting of Nebraska homicide suspect

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman has been suspended from working Cincinnati’s games after using an anti-gay slur on air Wednesday night, prompting the team to apologize for the “horrific, homophobic remark.”

Brennaman used the slur moments after the Fox Sports Ohio feed returned from a commercial break before the top of the seventh inning in the first game of a doubleheader at Kansas City. Brennaman did not seem to realize he was already on air. He later apologized.

The Reds took the 56-year-old Brennaman off the broadcast in the fifth inning of the second game.

“The Cincinnati Reds organization is devastated by the horrific, homophobic remark made this evening by broadcaster Thom Brennaman,” the team said in a statement. “He was pulled off the air, and effective immediately was suspended from doing Reds broadcasts. We will be addressing our broadcasting team in the coming days.”

“In no way does this incident represent our players, coaches, organization, or our fans. We share our sincerest apologies to the LGBTQ+ community in Cincinnati, Kansas City, all across this country, and beyond. The Reds embrace a zero-tolerance policy for bias or discrimination of any kind, and we are truly sorry to anyone who has been offended,” it said.

Brennaman opened the fifth inning with an apology spoken directly to camera before handing off play-by-play duties.

“I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of,” he said. “If I have hurt anyone out there, I can’t tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart, I am very, very sorry.”

After pausing to announce a home run by Cincinnati’s Nick Castellanos, Brennaman added: “I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again” and apologized to the Reds, Fox Sports and his coworkers.

Reds reliever&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Amir_Garrett/status/1296274184784482305" target="_blank">Amir Garrett tweeted&nbsp;</a>about Brennaman’s words shortly after the end of the second game:

“To the LGBTQ community just know I am with you, and whoever is against you, is against me,” he wrote. “I’m sorry for what was said today.”

“LGBTQ+ community, as a member of the Reds organization, I am so sorry for the way you were marginalized tonight,”&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/bowmandernchief/status/1296266949148778496" target="_blank">injured Reds reliever Matt Bowman</a>&nbsp;said on Twitter. “There will always be a place for you in the baseball community and we are so happy to have you here.”

Brennaman and the Reds announcers were working from Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, even though the doubleheader against the Royals was in Kansas City. Remote broadcasts have become the norm in the baseball this year because of coronavirus protocols.

The son of Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman, Thom has called major league games for 33 years and has been with Fox Sports for the past 27, covering primarily baseball and football.

“I can’t begin to tell you how deeply sorry I am,” Brennaman said. “That is not who I am and never has been. I like to think maybe I could have some people who can back that up. I am very, very sorry and I beg for your forgiveness.”

Broadcast partner Chris Welsh told Brennaman “You’re a good man, partner. Hang in there.”

Alternate play-by-play man Jim Day took over the broadcast.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman has been suspended from working Cincinnati’s games after using an anti-gay slur on air Wednesday night, prompting the team to apologize for the “horrific, homophobic remark.”Brennaman used the slur moments after the Fox Sports Ohio feed returned from a commercial break before the top of the seventh inning in the first game of a doubleheader at Kansas City. Brennaman did not seem to realize he was already on air. He later apologized.The Reds took the 56-year-old Brennaman off the broadcast in the fifth inning of the second game.“The Cincinnati Reds organization is devastated by the horrific, homophobic remark made this evening by broadcaster Thom Brennaman,” the team said in a statement. “He was pulled off the air, and effective immediately was suspended from doing Reds broadcasts. We will be addressing our broadcasting team in the coming days.”“In no way does this incident represent our players, coaches, organization, or our fans. We share our sincerest apologies to the LGBTQ+ community in Cincinnati, Kansas City, all across this country, and beyond. The Reds embrace a zero-tolerance policy for bias or discrimination of any kind, and we are truly sorry to anyone who has been offended,” it said.Brennaman opened the fifth inning with an apology spoken directly to camera before handing off play-by-play duties.“I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of,” he said. “If I have hurt anyone out there, I can’t tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart, I am very, very sorry.”After pausing to announce a home run by Cincinnati’s Nick Castellanos, Brennaman added: “I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again” and apologized to the Reds, Fox Sports and his coworkers.Reds reliever&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Amir_Garrett/status/1296274184784482305" target="_blank">Amir Garrett tweeted&nbsp;</a>about Brennaman’s words shortly after the end of the second game:<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">To the LGBTQ community just know I am with you, and whoever is against you, is against me. I’m sorry for what was said today.&mdash; CountOnAG (@Amir_Garrett) <a href="https://twitter.com/Amir_Garrett/status/1296274184784482305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“To the LGBTQ community just know I am with you, and whoever is against you, is against me,” he wrote. “I’m sorry for what was said today.”“LGBTQ+ community, as a member of the Reds organization, I am so sorry for the way you were marginalized tonight,”&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/bowmandernchief/status/1296266949148778496" target="_blank">injured Reds reliever Matt Bowman</a>&nbsp;said on Twitter. “There will always be a place for you in the baseball community and we are so happy to have you here.”Brennaman and the Reds announcers were working from Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, even though the doubleheader against the Royals was in Kansas City. Remote broadcasts have become the norm in the baseball this year because of coronavirus protocols.The son of Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman, Thom has called major league games for 33 years and has been with Fox Sports for the past 27, covering primarily baseball and football.“I can’t begin to tell you how deeply sorry I am,” Brennaman said. “That is not who I am and never has been. I like to think maybe I could have some people who can back that up. I am very, very sorry and I beg for your forgiveness.”Broadcast partner Chris Welsh told Brennaman “You’re a good man, partner. Hang in there.”Alternate play-by-play man Jim Day took over the broadcast.

Broadcaster on Royals game suspended for anti-gay slur

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas prosecutor has ruled that law enforcement was justified in fatally shooting a man linked to two Nebraska killings.

Authorities&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/d4f21b974fc1e7f644be1d7d838ce57d" target="_blank">have said</a>&nbsp;they believed Hirsh had been in Kansas since June 12 when a car was stolen from Clay Center. The Marshals Service was helping to look for the vehicle when the Kansas Highway Patrol spotted it near Perry Lake in northeast Kansas.

Troopers pursued the vehicle into Lawrence, where gunfire was exchanged, and Hirsh was killed. Branson's announcement means no charges will be filed against the officers involved.

The Omaha Police Department said detectives determined Hirsh was also responsible for Clanton's death. They are not looking for any additional suspects in either homicide.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas prosecutor has ruled that law enforcement was justified in fatally shooting a man linked to two Nebraska killings.Douglas County, Kansas, District Attorney Charles Branson announced his findings Tuesday after reviewing the deadly June 15 shooting of 31-year-old Nicholas Hirsh.Authorities&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/d4f21b974fc1e7f644be1d7d838ce57d" target="_blank">have said</a>&nbsp;they believed Hirsh had been in Kansas since June 12 when a car was stolen from Clay Center. The Marshals Service was helping to look for the vehicle when the Kansas Highway Patrol spotted it near Perry Lake in northeast Kansas.Troopers pursued the vehicle into Lawrence, where gunfire was exchanged, and Hirsh was killed. Branson's announcement means no charges will be filed against the officers involved.Hirsh, a white man, faced a first-degree murder arrest warrant for the Omaha, Nebraska, shooting death of John Miles, 41, of Council Bluffs, Iowa. During their homicide investigation, detectives also discovered the body of 68-year-old John Clanton in the Ponca Hills area of Douglas County in Nebraska.The Omaha Police Department said detectives determined Hirsh was also responsible for Clanton's death. They are not looking for any additional suspects in either homicide.

Officers justified in fatal shooting of homicide suspect

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A busy coronavirus testing site in Omaha is closing this week, so local health care providers are seeking another way to provide more testing in the area, which is home to several meatpacking plants and a large Hispanic community.

More than 1,900 of Douglas County's more than 12,000 coronavirus cases have come from just one ZIP code in the area near the southeastern Omaha testing site, officials said. The state's main testing service, TestNebraska, operates three drive-through testing locations elsewhere in Omaha, but none of them are close to southeastern Omaha.

"We do need another option in our community," said Andrea Skolkin, the CEO of OneWorld, a health center based in that part of the city. "Particularly east Omaha, it doesn't seem like anyone is paying attention. . South Omaha is the hot zone. I don't understand it."

Matt Miltenberger, Gov. Pete Ricketts' chief of staff, said the state is looking for locations to set up a TestNebraska site in southeastern Omaha.

The current drive-through testing site in southeastern Omaha that can test up to 300 people a day has been a joint effort of OneWorld, the Douglas County Health Department and other groups.

The site has been staffed primarily by Nebraska Medicine employees for the past eight weeks. But a hospital spokesman said those employees are needed back at their regular jobs now that Nebraska Medicine has resumed most of its normal operations, including elective surgeries that were put on hold during the spring.

Skolkin said her health center is currently testing about 50 people per day at its locations and that it might be able to increase that to 100, but the private lab it uses has longer waiting times for test results.

The TestNebraska program relies on an online registration process that Skolkin said might not be as effective in southeast Omaha because many people in the area have lower incomes and don't always have reliable internet access.

Miltenberger said TestNebraska has found ways to be flexible with its sign-up requirements in the past, and officials are trying to figure out a way to deal with that issue in southeastern Omaha.

"From our standpoint, we want to get as many people tested as possible," he said.

According to the state's online virus tracker, Nebraska reported 262 new confirmed COVID-19 cases Tuesday, bringing the statewide total since the pandemic began to 30,825. The actual number of cases is likely higher because many people haven't been tested and some people don't show symptoms. There state's COVID-19 death toll is 368.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska decreased over the past two weeks, going from 293.86 new daily cases for the seven days that ended Aug. 4 to 266.71 new daily cases for the seven days that ended Tuesday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A busy coronavirus testing site in Omaha is closing this week, so local health care providers are seeking another way to provide more testing in the area, which is home to several meatpacking plants and a large Hispanic community.More than 1,900 of Douglas County's more than 12,000 coronavirus cases have come from just one ZIP code in the area near the southeastern Omaha testing site, officials said. The state's main testing service, TestNebraska, operates three drive-through testing locations elsewhere in Omaha, but none of them are close to southeastern Omaha."We do need another option in our community," said Andrea Skolkin, the CEO of OneWorld, a health center based in that part of the city. "Particularly east Omaha, it doesn't seem like anyone is paying attention. . South Omaha is the hot zone. I don't understand it."Matt Miltenberger, Gov. Pete Ricketts' chief of staff, said the state is looking for locations to set up a TestNebraska site in southeastern Omaha."We want to be up ASAP," he said.The current drive-through testing site in southeastern Omaha that can test up to 300 people a day has been a joint effort of OneWorld, the Douglas County Health Department and other groups.The site has been staffed primarily by Nebraska Medicine employees for the past eight weeks. But a hospital spokesman said those employees are needed back at their regular jobs now that Nebraska Medicine has resumed most of its normal operations, including elective surgeries that were put on hold during the spring.Skolkin said her health center is currently testing about 50 people per day at its locations and that it might be able to increase that to 100, but the private lab it uses has longer waiting times for test results.The TestNebraska program relies on an online registration process that Skolkin said might not be as effective in southeast Omaha because many people in the area have lower incomes and don't always have reliable internet access.Miltenberger said TestNebraska has found ways to be flexible with its sign-up requirements in the past, and officials are trying to figure out a way to deal with that issue in southeastern Omaha."From our standpoint, we want to get as many people tested as possible," he said.According to the state's online virus tracker, Nebraska reported 262 new confirmed COVID-19 cases Tuesday, bringing the statewide total since the pandemic began to 30,825. The actual number of cases is likely higher because many people haven't been tested and some people don't show symptoms. There state's COVID-19 death toll is 368.The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska decreased over the past two weeks, going from 293.86 new daily cases for the seven days that ended Aug. 4 to 266.71 new daily cases for the seven days that ended Tuesday.

Busy Omaha coronavirus testing site to close this week

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) - Two teenagers died when the car they were in collided with a semitrailer near Hastings, authorities said.

The crash happened around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of state Highway 281 and a county road just south of Hastings, television station KSNB&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ksnblocal4.com/2020/08/19/two-hastings-teens-killed-in-overnight-accident/" target="_blank">reported</a>. The Adams County Sheriff's Office reported that a car driven by Anahi Solis, 19, of Hastings, ran a stop sign and was hit by the semi.

Solis and a passenger in her car, Daniel Carpenter, 17, of Hastings, were killed, investigators said. Another passenger in the car suffered critical injuries and was taken to a Hastings hospital.

The 28-year-old driver of the semitrailer was not injured.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) - Two teenagers died when the car they were in collided with a semitrailer near Hastings, authorities said.The crash happened around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of state Highway 281 and a county road just south of Hastings, television station KSNB&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ksnblocal4.com/2020/08/19/two-hastings-teens-killed-in-overnight-accident/" target="_blank">reported</a>. The Adams County Sheriff's Office reported that a car driven by Anahi Solis, 19, of Hastings, ran a stop sign and was hit by the semi.Solis and a passenger in her car, Daniel Carpenter, 17, of Hastings, were killed, investigators said. Another passenger in the car suffered critical injuries and was taken to a Hastings hospital.The 28-year-old driver of the semitrailer was not injured.

2 Hastings teens killed in car, semi crash in Nebraska

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota has reported 83 new COVID-19 infections and one new death amid an uptick in cases in recent weeks. 

Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by about 17, an increase of 21%. 

While 68 people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19, about half of the hospital beds in the state are currently available, according to the Department of Health. 

Roughly a third of ICU beds are available statewide. 

Over the course of the pandemic, 10,443 people have tested positive for COVID-19. About 87% of those people have recovered, but 154 have died.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota has reported 83 new COVID-19 infections and one new death amid an uptick in cases in recent weeks. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by about 17, an increase of 21%. While 68 people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19, about half of the hospital beds in the state are currently available, according to the Department of Health. Roughly a third of ICU beds are available statewide. Over the course of the pandemic, 10,443 people have tested positive for COVID-19. About 87% of those people have recovered, but 154 have died.

South Dakota reports 83 COVID-19 infections, one death

BROKEN BOW, Neb. (AP) — An Elmwood man has pleaded no contest to stealing form the Custer County trucking company where he had worked.

 The Kearney Hub reports that 34-year-old Raymond Wolcott entered the plea and was found guilty earlier this month of felony theft. 

Prosecutors say Wolcott forged Johnson Trucking checks and deposited more than $6,300 into his personal checking account between May and August 2018. 

Wolcott was originally charged with felony theft of more than $5,000, but the charge was reduced in exchange for his no contest plea. 

A no contest plea is one in which the defendant doesn't admit guilt, but acknowledges there is enough evidence to win a conviction.

BROKEN BOW, Neb. (AP) — An Elmwood man has pleaded no contest to stealing form the Custer County trucking company where he had worked. The Kearney Hub reports that 34-year-old Raymond Wolcott entered the plea and was found guilty earlier this month of felony theft. Prosecutors say Wolcott forged Johnson Trucking checks and deposited more than $6,300 into his personal checking account between May and August 2018. Wolcott was originally charged with felony theft of more than $5,000, but the charge was reduced in exchange for his no contest plea. A no contest plea is one in which the defendant doesn't admit guilt, but acknowledges there is enough evidence to win a conviction.

Elmwood man pleads to stealing from Nebraska trucking company

WASHINGTON —Federal officials say an outbreak of salmonella&nbsp; linked to red onions continues to grow and has now infected nearly 900 people with 116 hospitalizations, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

A California company has been identified as the likely source. The Food and Drug Administration says Thomson International Inc. of Bakersfield, California, notified the agency in early August that was recalling all varieties of onions that could have come in contact with potentially contaminated red onions, because of the risk of cross-contamination.&nbsp;

Companies have issued public notifications of onions linked to the Thomson&nbsp;International, Inc. recall that were sold at retail locations. Some of the public notifications include:

Walmart - <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/recalls">Walmart Recall Webpage</a> listing all recalls, look for products recalled by Thomson International and/or products(s) containing onion recalls.

Kroger - <a href="https://www.kroger.com/i/recall-alerts">Kroger Recall Webpage</a> listing all recalls, look for products&nbsp;recalled by Thomson International and/or products(s) containing onion recalls.

FDA recommends that anyone who received or suspects having received recalled onions, or products containing recalled onions, use extra vigilance in cleaning and sanitizing any surfaces and containers that may have come in contact with recalled products to reduce the risk of cross-contamination. This includes cutting boards, slicers, countertops, refrigerators, and storage bins.

Consumers who have symptoms of Salmonella infection should contact their health care provider. Most people with salmonellosis develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps. More severe cases of salmonellosis may include a high fever, aches, headaches, lethargy, a rash, blood in the urine or stool, and in some cases may become fatal.

Suppliers and Distributors: Suppliers, distributors and others in the supply chain should not use, ship or sell recalled onions from Thomson International, Inc. or food products containing recalled onions.

Suppliers and distributors that re-package raw onions should use extra vigilance in cleaning any surfaces and storage areas that may have come into contact with recalled onions. If there has been potential cross contamination or mixing of onions from other sources with recalled onions, suppliers and distributors should discard all comingled and potentially cross-contaminated product.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1597840183610.png" alt="Case count map courtesy CDC" />
 <figcaption>Case count map courtesy CDC</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON —Federal officials say an outbreak of salmonella&nbsp; linked to red onions continues to grow and has now infected nearly 900 people with 116 hospitalizations, according to the Food and Drug Administration.A California company has been identified as the likely source. The Food and Drug Administration says Thomson International Inc. of Bakersfield, California, notified the agency in early August that was recalling all varieties of onions that could have come in contact with potentially contaminated red onions, because of the risk of cross-contamination.&nbsp;Companies have issued public notifications of onions linked to the Thomson&nbsp;International, Inc. recall that were sold at retail locations. Some of the public notifications include:Walmart - <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/recalls">Walmart Recall Webpage</a> listing all recalls, look for products recalled by Thomson International and/or products(s) containing onion recalls.Kroger - <a href="https://www.kroger.com/i/recall-alerts">Kroger Recall Webpage</a> listing all recalls, look for products&nbsp;recalled by Thomson International and/or products(s) containing onion recalls.FDA recommends that anyone who received or suspects having received recalled onions, or products containing recalled onions, use extra vigilance in cleaning and sanitizing any surfaces and containers that may have come in contact with recalled products to reduce the risk of cross-contamination. This includes cutting boards, slicers, countertops, refrigerators, and storage bins.Consumers who have symptoms of Salmonella infection should contact their health care provider. Most people with salmonellosis develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps. More severe cases of salmonellosis may include a high fever, aches, headaches, lethargy, a rash, blood in the urine or stool, and in some cases may become fatal.Suppliers and Distributors: Suppliers, distributors and others in the supply chain should not use, ship or sell recalled onions from Thomson International, Inc. or food products containing recalled onions.Suppliers and distributors that re-package raw onions should use extra vigilance in cleaning any surfaces and storage areas that may have come into contact with recalled onions. If there has been potential cross contamination or mixing of onions from other sources with recalled onions, suppliers and distributors should discard all comingled and potentially cross-contaminated product.

Salmonella outbreak linked to onions continues to grow

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leaders are preparing a slimmed-down coronavirus relief package of roughly $500 billion that will include extended payments for unemployed people and smaller businesses, a GOP senator said Tuesday.

The measure will also include $10 billion for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/26926bf85cae5175fbd920efb534ef84">the embattled Postal Service,</a>&nbsp;said one top GOP aide. The agency has become the focus of a campaign-season battle over whether it will have enough resources to handle an expected flood of mail-in ballots for this November’s presidential and congressional elections.

The fight between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats over weathering the pandemic has become a critical battle that’s highlighted Trump’s troubled handling of an outbreak that has killed over 170,000 Americans, cost tens of millions of jobs and shuttered businesses in virtually every community.

It’s also focused recently on newly imposed cuts in Postal Service operations that critics say are aimed at curtailing the agency’s ability to deliver mail-in votes in time for them to be counted this November. That has coincided with Trump’s repeated insistence, without foundation, that expected record levels of mail-in votes by people eager to avoid polling places will lead to widespread fraud in the elections.

Under intense public and political pressure, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Tuesday that he would withhold some of the operational changes he has begun to impose, like the removal of mailboxes, until after the elections.

Negotiations over a far larger coronavirus relief bill are expected to resume after Labor Day between the White House and top congressional Democrats.

“I’m hoping that we actually can get back together, and in spite of the proximity to the election, put it aside and reach an agreement sometime soon,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday in Manchester, Kentucky.

With Democrats demanding that bargainers piece together a wide-ranging measure, the trimmer package emerging from McConnell and other top Republicans seems to be an effort to show voters what the GOP would favor enacting quickly. With the party’s presidential convention next week, the measure could give Republican senators facing difficult reelection races this fall an opportunity to vote for a relief measure with popular provisions, even though it would probably be blocked by Democrats demanding a more generous bill.

The GOP package was also taking shape as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has summoned the House to return to Washington for an unusual Saturday vote to provide $25 billion for the Postal Service and to block changes in the way it operates. In a letter to fellow Democrats, she said she’d continue seeking a broader economic relief bill “as the coronavirus crisis continues to spiral further out of control.”

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a member of the Senate Republican leadership, said the emerging legislation will provide $300 weekly in extra federal payments for unemployed people above the state payments that beneficiaries receive. He said he believes the extra payments would run through 2020.

A massive relief bill approved earlier this year provided $600 extra per week, but those payments expired at the end of July. Democrats want to continue the added $600 in payments, but Trump and congressional Republicans have pushed for less.

Blunt said the trimmed-down measure would also have money for schools to cope with the coronavirus pandemic and for businesses struggling to stay open and retain employees during the staggering recession.

A second GOP Senate aide said the new proposal includes $105 billion for education.

That aide said the plan also has $16 billion for virus testing and $29 billion for developing vaccines, manufacturing treatment and other initiatives aimed at conquering a virus that has killed more than 170,000 Americans and infected more than 5 million this year.

The bill does not include a renewal of the one-time direct payments of up to $1,200 for taxpayers and dependents that were part of early legislation aimed at providing relief to people as the economy slowed to a near halt. In Kentucky, McConnell said he’d favor continuing the aid to lower-income people “who have been hit the hardest by the pandemic.”

The Democratic-led House approved a $3 trillion relief plan in May, while Senate Republicans offered a $1 trillion package. In negotiations between Democrats and the White House that dissolved in bitterness earlier this month, Democrats dropped their proposal to $2 trillion and asked Republicans to meet them at that halfway point, but that has not happened.

The two GOP aides spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the legislation publicly.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1597833189782.png" alt="Missouri Senator Roy Blunt. Negotiations over a coronavirus relief bill are expected to resume after Labor Day" />
 <figcaption>Missouri Senator Roy Blunt. Negotiations over a coronavirus relief bill are expected to resume after Labor Day</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leaders are preparing a slimmed-down coronavirus relief package of roughly $500 billion that will include extended payments for unemployed people and smaller businesses, a GOP senator said Tuesday.The measure will also include $10 billion for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/26926bf85cae5175fbd920efb534ef84">the embattled Postal Service,</a>&nbsp;said one top GOP aide. The agency has become the focus of a campaign-season battle over whether it will have enough resources to handle an expected flood of mail-in ballots for this November’s presidential and congressional elections.The fight between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats over weathering the pandemic has become a critical battle that’s highlighted Trump’s troubled handling of an outbreak that has killed over 170,000 Americans, cost tens of millions of jobs and shuttered businesses in virtually every community.It’s also focused recently on newly imposed cuts in Postal Service operations that critics say are aimed at curtailing the agency’s ability to deliver mail-in votes in time for them to be counted this November. That has coincided with Trump’s repeated insistence, without foundation, that expected record levels of mail-in votes by people eager to avoid polling places will lead to widespread fraud in the elections.Under intense public and political pressure, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Tuesday that he would withhold some of the operational changes he has begun to impose, like the removal of mailboxes, until after the elections.Negotiations over a far larger coronavirus relief bill are expected to resume after Labor Day between the White House and top congressional Democrats.“I’m hoping that we actually can get back together, and in spite of the proximity to the election, put it aside and reach an agreement sometime soon,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday in Manchester, Kentucky.With Democrats demanding that bargainers piece together a wide-ranging measure, the trimmer package emerging from McConnell and other top Republicans seems to be an effort to show voters what the GOP would favor enacting quickly. With the party’s presidential convention next week, the measure could give Republican senators facing difficult reelection races this fall an opportunity to vote for a relief measure with popular provisions, even though it would probably be blocked by Democrats demanding a more generous bill.The GOP package was also taking shape as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has summoned the House to return to Washington for an unusual Saturday vote to provide $25 billion for the Postal Service and to block changes in the way it operates. In a letter to fellow Democrats, she said she’d continue seeking a broader economic relief bill “as the coronavirus crisis continues to spiral further out of control.”Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a member of the Senate Republican leadership, said the emerging legislation will provide $300 weekly in extra federal payments for unemployed people above the state payments that beneficiaries receive. He said he believes the extra payments would run through 2020.A massive relief bill approved earlier this year provided $600 extra per week, but those payments expired at the end of July. Democrats want to continue the added $600 in payments, but Trump and congressional Republicans have pushed for less.Blunt said the trimmed-down measure would also have money for schools to cope with the coronavirus pandemic and for businesses struggling to stay open and retain employees during the staggering recession.A second GOP Senate aide said the new proposal includes $105 billion for education.That aide said the plan also has $16 billion for virus testing and $29 billion for developing vaccines, manufacturing treatment and other initiatives aimed at conquering a virus that has killed more than 170,000 Americans and infected more than 5 million this year.The bill does not include a renewal of the one-time direct payments of up to $1,200 for taxpayers and dependents that were part of early legislation aimed at providing relief to people as the economy slowed to a near halt. In Kentucky, McConnell said he’d favor continuing the aid to lower-income people “who have been hit the hardest by the pandemic.”The Democratic-led House approved a $3 trillion relief plan in May, while Senate Republicans offered a $1 trillion package. In negotiations between Democrats and the White House that dissolved in bitterness earlier this month, Democrats dropped their proposal to $2 trillion and asked Republicans to meet them at that halfway point, but that has not happened.The two GOP aides spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the legislation publicly.___

Senate Republicans preparing $500B virus relief proposal

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Democrats formally nominated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/JoeBiden">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;as their presidential candidate, with party elders, a new generation of politicians and voters in every state joining in an extraordinary, pandemic-cramped&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/09785e274676e46351c70644d2b77215">virtual convention</a>&nbsp;to send him into the general election campaign to oust President Donald Trump.

For someone who has spent more than three decades eyeing the presidency, the moment Tuesday night was the realization of a long-sought goal. But it occurred in a way that the 77-year-old Biden couldn’t have imagined just months ago as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak">the coronavirus pandemic</a>&nbsp;prompted profound change across the country and in his presidential campaign.

<a href="https://apnews.com/3ba1e5ffbbe6ef247ea9285c6d532736">Instead of a Milwaukee convention hall</a>&nbsp;as initially planned, the roll call of convention delegates played out in a combination of live and recorded video feeds from American landmarks packed with meaning: Alabama’s Edmund Pettus Bridge, the headwaters of the Mississippi River, a Puerto Rican community still recovering from a hurricane and Washington’s Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Biden celebrated his new status as the Democratic nominee alongside his wife and grandchildren in a Delaware school library. His wife of more than 40 years,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/b7592f19299a15f526a8a15c3e367991">Jill Biden</a>, later spoke of her husband in deeply personal terms, reintroducing the lifelong politician as a man of deep empathy, faith and resilience to American voters less than three months before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/Election2020">votes are counted</a>.

“There are times when I couldn’t imagine how he did it — how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going,” she said. “But I’ve always understood why he did it. He does it for you.”

The convention’s most highly anticipated moments will unfold on the next two nights. Kamala Harris will accept&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/5ac8fff8bbe1c70479604e3ff62ecb10">her nomination as Biden’s running mate</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday, the first Black woman to join a major party ticket. Former President Barack Obama will also speak as part of his stepped-up efforts to defeat his successor.

Biden will deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night in a mostly empty convention hall near his Delaware home.

Biden used the second night of the four-day convention to feature a mix of party elders, Republican as well as Democratic, to make the case that he has the experience and energy to repair chaos that Trump has created at home and abroad.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State John Kerry — and former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell — were among the heavy hitters on a schedule that emphasized a simple theme: Leadership matters. Former President Jimmy Carter, now 95 years old, also made a brief appearance.

Some of them delivered attacks against Trump that were unusually personal, all in an effort to establish Biden as the competent, moral counter to the Republican president.

“Donald Trump inherited a growing economy and a more peaceful world,” Kerry said. “And like everything else he inherited, he bankrupted it. When this president goes oversees it isn’t a goodwill mission. It’s a blooper reel.”

Clinton said Trump’s Oval Office is a place of chaos, not a command center.

“If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, he’s your man,” Clinton said.

For his part, Trump spent Tuesday courting battleground voters in an effort to distract from Biden’s convention.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/0bc7c76b965205e136e05277911bb2a2">Appearing in Arizona near the Mexican border</a>&nbsp;during the day, the Republican president claimed a Biden presidency would trigger “a flood of illegal immigration like the world has never seen.”

Such divisive rhetoric, which is not supported by Biden’s positions, has become a hallmark of Trump’s presidency, which has inflamed tensions at home and alienated allies around the world.

Biden has the support of a sprawling political coalition, as demonstrated again during Tuesday’s convention, although neither history nor enthusiasm is on his side.

Just one incumbent president has been defeated since 1992, George H.W. Bush. And Biden’s supporters consistently report that they’re motivated more by opposition to Trump than excitement about Biden.

A collection of younger Democrats, including former Georgia lawmaker Stacey Abrams and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were given a few minutes to shine. But overall, there was little room on Tuesday’s program for the younger stars of the party’s far-left wing.

“In a democracy, we do not elect saviors. We cast our ballots for those who see our struggles and pledge to serve,” said Abrams, 46, who emerged as a national player during her unsuccessful bid for governor in 2018 and was among those considered to be Biden’s running mate.

For a second night, the Democrats featured Republicans.

Powell, who served as secretary of state under George W. Bush and appeared at multiple Republican conventions in years past, endorsed the Democratic candidate. He joined the wife of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, Cindy McCain, who stopped short of a formal endorsement but spoke in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/2ab413939e3747215da2c34dcbd323cf">a video of the mutual respect and friendship her husband and Biden shared</a>.

While there have been individual members of the opposing party featured at presidential conventions before, a half-dozen Republicans, including a former two-term governor of Ohio, have now spoken for Democrat Biden.

The Democrats’ party elders played a prominent role throughout the night.

Clinton, who turns 74 on Tuesday, hasn’t held office in two decades. Kerry, 76, was the Democratic presidential nominee back in 2004 when the youngest voters this fall were still in diapers. And Carter left office in 1981.

Biden’s team did not give the night’s coveted keynote address to a single fresh face, preferring instead to pack the slot with more than a dozen Democrats in their 20s, 30s and 40s. The younger leaders included Abrams, Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., and the president of the Navajo Nation, Jonathan Nez.

It remains to be seen whether the unconventional convention will give Biden the momentum he’s looking for.

Preliminary estimates show that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/e9f0a6f8412643ec205d53becf29a035">television viewership</a>&nbsp;for the first night of the virtual convention was down compared with the opening of Hillary Clinton’s onsite nominating party four years ago.

An estimated 18.7 million people watched coverage between 10 and 11 p.m. on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the Nielsen company said. Four years ago, the opening night drew just under 26 million viewers.

Biden’s campaign said an additional 10.2 million streamed the convention online Monday night.

“We are producing a digital convention, and people are watching,” Biden spokesman T.J. Ducklo tweeted.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1597804291678.png" alt="Joe Biden and wife Jill celebrate his nomination during Tuesday's virtual convention-image courtesy DNC" />
 <figcaption>Joe Biden and wife Jill celebrate his nomination during Tuesday's virtual convention-image courtesy DNC</figcaption>
 </figure>WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Democrats formally nominated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/JoeBiden">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;as their presidential candidate, with party elders, a new generation of politicians and voters in every state joining in an extraordinary, pandemic-cramped&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/09785e274676e46351c70644d2b77215">virtual convention</a>&nbsp;to send him into the general election campaign to oust President Donald Trump.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fdemconvention%2Fvideos%2F590131228331061%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>For someone who has spent more than three decades eyeing the presidency, the moment Tuesday night was the realization of a long-sought goal. But it occurred in a way that the 77-year-old Biden couldn’t have imagined just months ago as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak">the coronavirus pandemic</a>&nbsp;prompted profound change across the country and in his presidential campaign.<a href="https://apnews.com/3ba1e5ffbbe6ef247ea9285c6d532736">Instead of a Milwaukee convention hall</a>&nbsp;as initially planned, the roll call of convention delegates played out in a combination of live and recorded video feeds from American landmarks packed with meaning: Alabama’s Edmund Pettus Bridge, the headwaters of the Mississippi River, a Puerto Rican community still recovering from a hurricane and Washington’s Black Lives Matter Plaza.Biden celebrated his new status as the Democratic nominee alongside his wife and grandchildren in a Delaware school library. His wife of more than 40 years,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/b7592f19299a15f526a8a15c3e367991">Jill Biden</a>, later spoke of her husband in deeply personal terms, reintroducing the lifelong politician as a man of deep empathy, faith and resilience to American voters less than three months before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/Election2020">votes are counted</a>.“There are times when I couldn’t imagine how he did it — how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going,” she said. “But I’ve always understood why he did it. He does it for you.”The convention’s most highly anticipated moments will unfold on the next two nights. Kamala Harris will accept&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/5ac8fff8bbe1c70479604e3ff62ecb10">her nomination as Biden’s running mate</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday, the first Black woman to join a major party ticket. Former President Barack Obama will also speak as part of his stepped-up efforts to defeat his successor.Biden will deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night in a mostly empty convention hall near his Delaware home.Biden used the second night of the four-day convention to feature a mix of party elders, Republican as well as Democratic, to make the case that he has the experience and energy to repair chaos that Trump has created at home and abroad.Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State John Kerry — and former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell — were among the heavy hitters on a schedule that emphasized a simple theme: Leadership matters. Former President Jimmy Carter, now 95 years old, also made a brief appearance.Some of them delivered attacks against Trump that were unusually personal, all in an effort to establish Biden as the competent, moral counter to the Republican president.“Donald Trump inherited a growing economy and a more peaceful world,” Kerry said. “And like everything else he inherited, he bankrupted it. When this president goes oversees it isn’t a goodwill mission. It’s a blooper reel.”Clinton said Trump’s Oval Office is a place of chaos, not a command center.“If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, he’s your man,” Clinton said.For his part, Trump spent Tuesday courting battleground voters in an effort to distract from Biden’s convention.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/0bc7c76b965205e136e05277911bb2a2">Appearing in Arizona near the Mexican border</a>&nbsp;during the day, the Republican president claimed a Biden presidency would trigger “a flood of illegal immigration like the world has never seen.”Such divisive rhetoric, which is not supported by Biden’s positions, has become a hallmark of Trump’s presidency, which has inflamed tensions at home and alienated allies around the world.Biden has the support of a sprawling political coalition, as demonstrated again during Tuesday’s convention, although neither history nor enthusiasm is on his side.Just one incumbent president has been defeated since 1992, George H.W. Bush. And Biden’s supporters consistently report that they’re motivated more by opposition to Trump than excitement about Biden.A collection of younger Democrats, including former Georgia lawmaker Stacey Abrams and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were given a few minutes to shine. But overall, there was little room on Tuesday’s program for the younger stars of the party’s far-left wing.“In a democracy, we do not elect saviors. We cast our ballots for those who see our struggles and pledge to serve,” said Abrams, 46, who emerged as a national player during her unsuccessful bid for governor in 2018 and was among those considered to be Biden’s running mate.For a second night, the Democrats featured Republicans.Powell, who served as secretary of state under George W. Bush and appeared at multiple Republican conventions in years past, endorsed the Democratic candidate. He joined the wife of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, Cindy McCain, who stopped short of a formal endorsement but spoke in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/2ab413939e3747215da2c34dcbd323cf">a video of the mutual respect and friendship her husband and Biden shared</a>.While there have been individual members of the opposing party featured at presidential conventions before, a half-dozen Republicans, including a former two-term governor of Ohio, have now spoken for Democrat Biden.The Democrats’ party elders played a prominent role throughout the night.Clinton, who turns 74 on Tuesday, hasn’t held office in two decades. Kerry, 76, was the Democratic presidential nominee back in 2004 when the youngest voters this fall were still in diapers. And Carter left office in 1981.Biden’s team did not give the night’s coveted keynote address to a single fresh face, preferring instead to pack the slot with more than a dozen Democrats in their 20s, 30s and 40s. The younger leaders included Abrams, Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., and the president of the Navajo Nation, Jonathan Nez.It remains to be seen whether the unconventional convention will give Biden the momentum he’s looking for.Preliminary estimates show that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/e9f0a6f8412643ec205d53becf29a035">television viewership</a>&nbsp;for the first night of the virtual convention was down compared with the opening of Hillary Clinton’s onsite nominating party four years ago.An estimated 18.7 million people watched coverage between 10 and 11 p.m. on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the Nielsen company said. Four years ago, the opening night drew just under 26 million viewers.Biden’s campaign said an additional 10.2 million streamed the convention online Monday night.“We are producing a digital convention, and people are watching,” Biden spokesman T.J. Ducklo tweeted.___

Democrats nominate Biden for epic challenge to oust Trump

WASHINGTON, DC —President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats are at odds over funding for the Postal Service as well as the use of mail-in ballots. 

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said his team across the nation is ready for the election.

“The United States Postal Service will play a critical role this year in delivering election mail for millions of voters across the country. There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether the Postal Service is ready, willing and able to meet this challenge," DeJoy said in a statement from his office.

"The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall. Even with the challenges of keeping our employees and customers safe and healthy as they operate amid a pandemic, we will deliver the nation’s election mail on time and within our well-established service standards. The American public should know that this is our number one priority between now and election day. The 630,000 dedicated women and men of the Postal Service are committed, ready and proud to meet this sacred duty.

I am announcing today the expansion of our current leadership taskforce on election mail to enhance our ongoing work and partnership with state and local election officials in jurisdictions throughout the country. Leaders of our postal unions and management associations have committed to joining this taskforce to ensure strong coordination throughout our organization. Because of the unprecedented demands of the 2020 election, this taskforce will help ensure that election officials and voters are well informed and fully supported by the Postal Service.

I came to the Postal Service to make changes to secure the success of this organization and its long-term sustainability. I believe significant reforms are essential to that objective, and work toward those reforms will commence after the election. In the meantime, there are some longstanding operational initiatives — efforts that predate my arrival at the Postal Service — that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic. To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.

I want to assure all Americans of the following:

In addition, effective Oct. 1, we will engage standby resources in all areas of our operations, including transportation, to satisfy any unforeseen demand.

I am grateful for the commitment and dedication of all the men and women of the Postal Service, and the trust they earn from the American public every day, especially as we continue to contend with the impacts of COVID-19. As we move forward"

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596998697812.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON, DC —President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats are at odds over funding for the Postal Service as well as the use of mail-in ballots. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said his team across the nation is ready for the election.“The United States Postal Service will play a critical role this year in delivering election mail for millions of voters across the country. There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether the Postal Service is ready, willing and able to meet this challenge," DeJoy said in a statement from his office. "The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall. Even with the challenges of keeping our employees and customers safe and healthy as they operate amid a pandemic, we will deliver the nation’s election mail on time and within our well-established service standards. The American public should know that this is our number one priority between now and election day. The 630,000 dedicated women and men of the Postal Service are committed, ready and proud to meet this sacred duty.I am announcing today the expansion of our current leadership taskforce on election mail to enhance our ongoing work and partnership with state and local election officials in jurisdictions throughout the country. Leaders of our postal unions and management associations have committed to joining this taskforce to ensure strong coordination throughout our organization. Because of the unprecedented demands of the 2020 election, this taskforce will help ensure that election officials and voters are well informed and fully supported by the Postal Service.I came to the Postal Service to make changes to secure the success of this organization and its long-term sustainability. I believe significant reforms are essential to that objective, and work toward those reforms will commence after the election. In the meantime, there are some longstanding operational initiatives — efforts that predate my arrival at the Postal Service — that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic. To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.I want to assure all Americans of the following: <ul>
 <li>Retail hours at Post Offices will not change.&nbsp;</li><li>Mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are.</li><li>No mail processing facilities will be closed.</li><li>And we reassert that overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed.</li>
 </ul>In addition, effective Oct. 1, we will engage standby resources in all areas of our operations, including transportation, to satisfy any unforeseen demand.I am grateful for the commitment and dedication of all the men and women of the Postal Service, and the trust they earn from the American public every day, especially as we continue to contend with the impacts of COVID-19. As we move forward"

Postmaster General: Post office ready to handle election mail

By MICHELLE R. SMITH, Associated Press&nbsp;

As the novel coronavirus began to spread this spring, Health Commissioner Gretchen Musicant tore up her budget to find funds to combat the crisis. Money for test kits. Money to administer tests. Money to hire contact tracers. And yet even more money for a service that helps tracers communicate with residents in dozens of languages.

While Musicant diverted workers from violence prevention and other core programs to the COVID-19 response, state officials debated how to distribute $1.87 billion Minnesota received in federal aid.

As she waited, the&nbsp;<a href="https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/documents/budget/covid19-mn-fund/covid-19-minnesota-fund-notice-of-action-20-06-30-20.pdf" target="_blank">Minnesota Zoo</a>&nbsp;got $6 million in federal money to continue operations, and a debt collection company outside Minneapolis received at least $5 million from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, according to federal data.

It was not until Aug. 5 — months after Congress approved aid for the pandemic — that Musicant’s department finally received $1.7 million, the equivalent of $4 per Minneapolis resident.

“It’s more a hope and a prayer that we’ll have enough money,” Musicant said.

Since the pandemic began, Congress has set aside trillions of dollars to ease the crisis. A joint Kaiser Health News and Associated Press investigation finds that many communities with big outbreaks have spent little of that federal money on local public health departments for work such as testing and contact tracing. Others, like in Minnesota, were slow to do so.

For example, the states, territories and 154 large cities and counties that received allotments from the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund reported spending only 25% of it through June 30, according to reports that recipients submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Many localities have deployed more money since that June 30 reporting deadline, and both Republican and Democratic governors say they need more to avoid layoffs and cuts to vital state services. Still, as cases in the U.S. top 5 million and deaths soar past 165,000, Republicans in Congress are pointing to the slow spending to argue against sending more money to state and local governments to help with their pandemic response.

“States and localities have only spent about a fourth of the money we already sent them in the springtime,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. Congressional Democrats’ efforts to get more money for states, he said, “aren’t based on math. They aren’t based on the pandemic.”

Negotiations over a new pandemic relief bill broke down last week, in part because Democrats and Republicans could not agree on funding for state and local governments.

KHN and the AP requested detailed spending breakdowns from recipients of money from the Coronavirus Relief Fund — created in March as part of the $1.9 trillion CARES Act — and received responses from 23 states and 62 cities and counties. Those entities dedicated 23% of their spending from the fund through June to public health and 7% to public health and safety payroll.

An additional 22% was transferred to local governments, some of which will eventually pass it down to health departments. The rest went to other priorities, such as distance learning.

So little money has flowed to some local health departments for many reasons: Bureaucracy has bogged things down, politics have crept into the process, and understaffed departments have struggled to take time away from critical needs to navigate the red tape required to justify asking for extra dollars.

“It does not make sense to me how anyone thinks this is a way to do business,” said E. Oscar Alleyne, chief of programs and services at the National Association of County and City Health Officials. “We are never going to get ahead of the pandemic response if we are still handicapped.”

Last month, KHN and the AP detailed how state and local public health departments across the U.S. have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/e28724a125a127f650a9b6f48f7bb938">starved for decades</a>. Over 38,000 public health worker jobs have been lost since 2008, and per capita spending on local health departments has been cut by 18% since 2010. That’s left them underfunded and without adequate resources to confront the coronavirus pandemic.

“Public health has been cut and cut and cut over the years, but we’re so valuable every time you turn on the television,” said Jan Morrow, the director and 41-year veteran of Ripley County health department in rural Missouri. “We are picking up all the pieces, but the money is not there. They’ve cut our budget until there’s nothing left.”

Why did the Minneapolis health department have to wait so long for CARES Act money?

Congress mandated that the Coronavirus Relief Fund be distributed to states and local governments based on population. Minneapolis, with 430,000 residents, missed the threshold of 500,000 people that would have allowed it to receive money directly.

The state of Minnesota, however, received $1.87 billion, a portion of which was meant to be sent to local communities. Lawmakers initially sent some state money to tide communities over until the federal money came through — the Minneapolis health department got about $430,000 in state money to help pay for things like testing.

But when it came time to decide how to use the CARES Act money, lawmakers in Minnesota’s Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-controlled House were at loggerheads.

Myron Frans, commissioner of Minnesota Management and Budget, said that disagreement, on top of the economic crisis and pandemic, left the legislature in turmoil.

Then following the police killing of George Floyd, the city erupted in protests over racial injustice, making a difficult situation even more challenging.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz favored targeting some of the money to harder-hit communities, a move that might have helped Minneapolis, where cases have surged since mid-July. But lawmakers couldn’t agree. Negotiations dragged on, and a special session merely prolonged the standoff.

Finally, the governor divvied up the money using a population-based formula developed earlier by Republican and Democratic legislative leaders that did not take into account COVID-19 caseloads or racial disparities.

“We knew we needed to get it out the door,” Frans said.

The state then sent hundreds of millions of dollars to local communities. Still, even after the money got to Minneapolis a month ago, Musicant had to wait as city leaders made difficult choices about how to spend the money as the economy cratered and the list of needs grew.

“Even when it gets to the local government, you still have to figure out how to get it to local public health,” Musicant said.

Meanwhile, some in Minneapolis have noticed a lack of services. Dr. Jackie Kawiecki has been providing help to people at a volunteer medical station near the place where Floyd was killed — an area that at times has drawn hundreds or thousands of people per day. She said the city did not do enough free, easy-to-access testing in its neighborhoods this summer.

“I still don’t think that the amount of testing offered is adequate, from a public health standpoint,” Kawiecki said.

A coalition of groups that includes the National Governors Association has blamed the spending delays on the federal government, saying the final guidance on how states could spend the money came late in June, shortly before the reporting period ended. The coalition said state and local governments had moved “expeditiously and responsibly” to use the money as they deal with skyrocketing costs for health care, emergency response and other vital programs.

New York’s Nassau County was among six counties, cities and states that had spent at least 75% of its funds by June 30.

While most of the money was not spent before then, the National Association of State Budget Officers says a July 23 survey of 45 states and territories found they had allocated, or set aside, an average of 74% of the money.

But if they have, that money has been slow to make it to many local health departments.

As of mid-July in Missouri, at least 50 local health departments had yet to receive any of the federal money they requested, according to a state survey. The money must first flow through local county commissioners, some of whom aren’t keen on sending money to public health agencies.

“You closed their businesses down in order to save their people’s lives and so that hurt the economy,” said Larry Jones, executive director for the Missouri Center for Public Health Excellence, an organization of public health leaders. “So they’re mad at you and don’t want to give you money.”

The winding path federal money takes as it makes its way to states and cities also could exacerbate the stark economic and health inequalities in the U.S. if equity isn’t considered in decision-making, said Wizdom Powell, director of the University of Connecticut Health Disparities Institute.

“Problems are so vast you could unintentionally further entrench inequities just by how you distribute funds,” Powell said.

The amounts eventually distributed can induce head-scratching.

Some cities received large federal grants, including Louisville, Kentucky, whose health department was given $42 million by April, more than doubling its annual budget. Because of the way the money was distributed, Louisville’s health department alone received more money from the CARES Act than the entire government of the city of Minneapolis.

Philadelphia’s health department was awarded $100 million from a separate fund from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Honolulu County, where cases have remained relatively low, received $124,454 for every positive COVID-19 case it had reported as of Aug. 9, while El Paso County in Texas got just $1,685 per case. Multnomah County, Oregon — with nearly a quarter of its state’s COVID-19 cases — landed only 2%, or $28 million, of the state’s $1.6 billion allotment.

Rural Saline County in Missouri received the same funding as counties of similar size, even though the virus hit the area particularly hard. In April, outbreaks began tearing through a Cargill meatpacking plant and a local factory. By late May, the health department confirmed 12 positive cases at the local jail.

Tara Brewer, Saline’s health department administrator, said phone lines were ringing off the hook, jamming the system. Eventually, several department employees handed out their personal cell phone numbers to take calls from residents looking to be tested or seeking care for coronavirus symptoms.

“Everything fell behind,” Brewer said.

The school vaccination clinic in April was canceled, and a staffer who works as a Spanish translator for the Women, Infants and Children nutritional program was enlisted to contact trace for additional coronavirus exposures. All food inspections stopped.

It was late July when $250,000 in federal CARES Act money finally reached the 11-person health department, Brewer said — four months after Congress approved the spending and three months after the county’s first outbreak.

That was far too late for Brewer to hire the army of contact tracers that might have helped slow the spread of the virus back in April. She said the money already has been spent on antibody testing and reimbursements for groceries and medical equipment the department had bought for quarantined residents.

Another problem: Some local health officials say that the laborious process required to qualify for some of the federal aid discourages overworked public health officials from even trying to secure more money and that funds can be uneven in arriving.

Lisa Macon Harrison, public health director for Granville Vance Public Health in rural Oxford, North Carolina, said it’s tough to watch major hospital systems — some of which are sitting on billions in reserves — receive direct deposits, while her department received only about $122,000 through three grants by the end of July. Her team filled out a 25-page application just to get one of them.

She is now waiting to receive an estimated $400,000 more. By contrast, the Duke University Hospital System, which includes a facility that serves Granville, already has received over $67.3 million from the federal Provider Relief Fund.

“I just don’t understand the extra layers of onus for the bureaucracy, especially if hundreds of millions of dollars are going to the hospitals and we have to be responsible to apply for 50 grants,” she said.

The money comes from dozens of funds, including several programs within the CARES Act. Nebraska alone&nbsp;<a href="https://budget.nebraska.gov/assets/COVID-19/StateofNebraskaCovid-19andContacts.pdf" target="_blank">received money from</a>&nbsp;76 federal COVID relief funding sources.

Robert Miller, director of health for the Eastern Highlands Health District in Connecticut, which covers 10 towns, received $29,596 of the $2.5 million the state distributed to local departments from the CDC fund and nothing from CARES. It was only enough to pay for some contact tracing and employee mileage.

Miller said that he could theoretically apply for a little more from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but that the reporting requirements — which include collecting every receipt — are extremely cumbersome for an already overburdened department.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1588175688546.png" alt="A health care worker at a drive-through coronavirus testing center in April in Garden City. photo by Corinne Boyer / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>A health care worker at a drive-through coronavirus testing center in April in Garden City. photo by Corinne Boyer / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By MICHELLE R. SMITH, Associated Press&nbsp;As the novel coronavirus began to spread this spring, Health Commissioner Gretchen Musicant tore up her budget to find funds to combat the crisis. Money for test kits. Money to administer tests. Money to hire contact tracers. And yet even more money for a service that helps tracers communicate with residents in dozens of languages.While Musicant diverted workers from violence prevention and other core programs to the COVID-19 response, state officials debated how to distribute $1.87 billion Minnesota received in federal aid.As she waited, the&nbsp;<a href="https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/documents/budget/covid19-mn-fund/covid-19-minnesota-fund-notice-of-action-20-06-30-20.pdf" target="_blank">Minnesota Zoo</a>&nbsp;got $6 million in federal money to continue operations, and a debt collection company outside Minneapolis received at least $5 million from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, according to federal data.It was not until Aug. 5 — months after Congress approved aid for the pandemic — that Musicant’s department finally received $1.7 million, the equivalent of $4 per Minneapolis resident.“It’s more a hope and a prayer that we’ll have enough money,” Musicant said.Since the pandemic began, Congress has set aside trillions of dollars to ease the crisis. A joint Kaiser Health News and Associated Press investigation finds that many communities with big outbreaks have spent little of that federal money on local public health departments for work such as testing and contact tracing. Others, like in Minnesota, were slow to do so.For example, the states, territories and 154 large cities and counties that received allotments from the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund reported spending only 25% of it through June 30, according to reports that recipients submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department.Many localities have deployed more money since that June 30 reporting deadline, and both Republican and Democratic governors say they need more to avoid layoffs and cuts to vital state services. Still, as cases in the U.S. top 5 million and deaths soar past 165,000, Republicans in Congress are pointing to the slow spending to argue against sending more money to state and local governments to help with their pandemic response.“States and localities have only spent about a fourth of the money we already sent them in the springtime,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. Congressional Democrats’ efforts to get more money for states, he said, “aren’t based on math. They aren’t based on the pandemic.”Negotiations over a new pandemic relief bill broke down last week, in part because Democrats and Republicans could not agree on funding for state and local governments.KHN and the AP requested detailed spending breakdowns from recipients of money from the Coronavirus Relief Fund — created in March as part of the $1.9 trillion CARES Act — and received responses from 23 states and 62 cities and counties. Those entities dedicated 23% of their spending from the fund through June to public health and 7% to public health and safety payroll.An additional 22% was transferred to local governments, some of which will eventually pass it down to health departments. The rest went to other priorities, such as distance learning.So little money has flowed to some local health departments for many reasons: Bureaucracy has bogged things down, politics have crept into the process, and understaffed departments have struggled to take time away from critical needs to navigate the red tape required to justify asking for extra dollars.“It does not make sense to me how anyone thinks this is a way to do business,” said E. Oscar Alleyne, chief of programs and services at the National Association of County and City Health Officials. “We are never going to get ahead of the pandemic response if we are still handicapped.”Last month, KHN and the AP detailed how state and local public health departments across the U.S. have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/e28724a125a127f650a9b6f48f7bb938">starved for decades</a>. Over 38,000 public health worker jobs have been lost since 2008, and per capita spending on local health departments has been cut by 18% since 2010. That’s left them underfunded and without adequate resources to confront the coronavirus pandemic.“Public health has been cut and cut and cut over the years, but we’re so valuable every time you turn on the television,” said Jan Morrow, the director and 41-year veteran of Ripley County health department in rural Missouri. “We are picking up all the pieces, but the money is not there. They’ve cut our budget until there’s nothing left.”POLITICS AND RED TAPEWhy did the Minneapolis health department have to wait so long for CARES Act money?Congress mandated that the Coronavirus Relief Fund be distributed to states and local governments based on population. Minneapolis, with 430,000 residents, missed the threshold of 500,000 people that would have allowed it to receive money directly.The state of Minnesota, however, received $1.87 billion, a portion of which was meant to be sent to local communities. Lawmakers initially sent some state money to tide communities over until the federal money came through — the Minneapolis health department got about $430,000 in state money to help pay for things like testing.But when it came time to decide how to use the CARES Act money, lawmakers in Minnesota’s Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-controlled House were at loggerheads.Myron Frans, commissioner of Minnesota Management and Budget, said that disagreement, on top of the economic crisis and pandemic, left the legislature in turmoil.Then following the police killing of George Floyd, the city erupted in protests over racial injustice, making a difficult situation even more challenging.Democratic Gov. Tim Walz favored targeting some of the money to harder-hit communities, a move that might have helped Minneapolis, where cases have surged since mid-July. But lawmakers couldn’t agree. Negotiations dragged on, and a special session merely prolonged the standoff.Finally, the governor divvied up the money using a population-based formula developed earlier by Republican and Democratic legislative leaders that did not take into account COVID-19 caseloads or racial disparities.“We knew we needed to get it out the door,” Frans said.The state then sent hundreds of millions of dollars to local communities. Still, even after the money got to Minneapolis a month ago, Musicant had to wait as city leaders made difficult choices about how to spend the money as the economy cratered and the list of needs grew.“Even when it gets to the local government, you still have to figure out how to get it to local public health,” Musicant said.Meanwhile, some in Minneapolis have noticed a lack of services. Dr. Jackie Kawiecki has been providing help to people at a volunteer medical station near the place where Floyd was killed — an area that at times has drawn hundreds or thousands of people per day. She said the city did not do enough free, easy-to-access testing in its neighborhoods this summer.“I still don’t think that the amount of testing offered is adequate, from a public health standpoint,” Kawiecki said.A coalition of groups that includes the National Governors Association has blamed the spending delays on the federal government, saying the final guidance on how states could spend the money came late in June, shortly before the reporting period ended. The coalition said state and local governments had moved “expeditiously and responsibly” to use the money as they deal with skyrocketing costs for health care, emergency response and other vital programs.New York’s Nassau County was among six counties, cities and states that had spent at least 75% of its funds by June 30.While most of the money was not spent before then, the National Association of State Budget Officers says a July 23 survey of 45 states and territories found they had allocated, or set aside, an average of 74% of the money.But if they have, that money has been slow to make it to many local health departments.As of mid-July in Missouri, at least 50 local health departments had yet to receive any of the federal money they requested, according to a state survey. The money must first flow through local county commissioners, some of whom aren’t keen on sending money to public health agencies.“You closed their businesses down in order to save their people’s lives and so that hurt the economy,” said Larry Jones, executive director for the Missouri Center for Public Health Excellence, an organization of public health leaders. “So they’re mad at you and don’t want to give you money.”The winding path federal money takes as it makes its way to states and cities also could exacerbate the stark economic and health inequalities in the U.S. if equity isn’t considered in decision-making, said Wizdom Powell, director of the University of Connecticut Health Disparities Institute.“Problems are so vast you could unintentionally further entrench inequities just by how you distribute funds,” Powell said.‘EVERYTHING FELL BEHIND’The amounts eventually distributed can induce head-scratching.Some cities received large federal grants, including Louisville, Kentucky, whose health department was given $42 million by April, more than doubling its annual budget. Because of the way the money was distributed, Louisville’s health department alone received more money from the CARES Act than the entire government of the city of Minneapolis.Philadelphia’s health department was awarded $100 million from a separate fund from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Honolulu County, where cases have remained relatively low, received $124,454 for every positive COVID-19 case it had reported as of Aug. 9, while El Paso County in Texas got just $1,685 per case. Multnomah County, Oregon — with nearly a quarter of its state’s COVID-19 cases — landed only 2%, or $28 million, of the state’s $1.6 billion allotment.Rural Saline County in Missouri received the same funding as counties of similar size, even though the virus hit the area particularly hard. In April, outbreaks began tearing through a Cargill meatpacking plant and a local factory. By late May, the health department confirmed 12 positive cases at the local jail.Tara Brewer, Saline’s health department administrator, said phone lines were ringing off the hook, jamming the system. Eventually, several department employees handed out their personal cell phone numbers to take calls from residents looking to be tested or seeking care for coronavirus symptoms.“Everything fell behind,” Brewer said.The school vaccination clinic in April was canceled, and a staffer who works as a Spanish translator for the Women, Infants and Children nutritional program was enlisted to contact trace for additional coronavirus exposures. All food inspections stopped.It was late July when $250,000 in federal CARES Act money finally reached the 11-person health department, Brewer said — four months after Congress approved the spending and three months after the county’s first outbreak.That was far too late for Brewer to hire the army of contact tracers that might have helped slow the spread of the virus back in April. She said the money already has been spent on antibody testing and reimbursements for groceries and medical equipment the department had bought for quarantined residents.Another problem: Some local health officials say that the laborious process required to qualify for some of the federal aid discourages overworked public health officials from even trying to secure more money and that funds can be uneven in arriving.Lisa Macon Harrison, public health director for Granville Vance Public Health in rural Oxford, North Carolina, said it’s tough to watch major hospital systems — some of which are sitting on billions in reserves — receive direct deposits, while her department received only about $122,000 through three grants by the end of July. Her team filled out a 25-page application just to get one of them.She is now waiting to receive an estimated $400,000 more. By contrast, the Duke University Hospital System, which includes a facility that serves Granville, already has received over $67.3 million from the federal Provider Relief Fund.“I just don’t understand the extra layers of onus for the bureaucracy, especially if hundreds of millions of dollars are going to the hospitals and we have to be responsible to apply for 50 grants,” she said.The money comes from dozens of funds, including several programs within the CARES Act. Nebraska alone&nbsp;<a href="https://budget.nebraska.gov/assets/COVID-19/StateofNebraskaCovid-19andContacts.pdf" target="_blank">received money from</a>&nbsp;76 federal COVID relief funding sources.Robert Miller, director of health for the Eastern Highlands Health District in Connecticut, which covers 10 towns, received $29,596 of the $2.5 million the state distributed to local departments from the CDC fund and nothing from CARES. It was only enough to pay for some contact tracing and employee mileage.Miller said that he could theoretically apply for a little more from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but that the reporting requirements — which include collecting every receipt — are extremely cumbersome for an already overburdened department.So he wonders: “Is the squeeze worth the juice?”Back in Minneapolis, Musicant said the new money from CARES allowed the department to run a free COVID-19 testing site Saturday, at a church that serves the Hispanic community about a mile from the site of Floyd’s killing.It will take more money to do everything the community needs, she says, but with Congress deadlocked, she’s not sure they’ll get it anytime soon.___