During a special meeting Tuesday night, the Altoona Area School District Board of Directors voted 5 to 4 to approve a shift to fully remote instruction beginning next Tuesday.

The decision comes as the state government has tightened COVID-19 mitigation policies intended to curb growing cases across Pennsylvania.

The vote means all 12 schools in the Altoona Area School District will be online until Feb. 1 or until Blair County sees two consecutive weeks of a disease transmission level that’s less than the current “substantial” level.

As Pennsylvania heads into Thanksgiving week, Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced new enforcement measures aimed at businesses, schools and the biggest drinking night of the year.

Businesses will now be penalized if they do not force customers to wear masks indoors, following an existing health advisory.

“If they come inside, they need to follow the procedures,” said Wolf. “We have those signs that say ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service. Well, no mask, no service.”

As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in Blair County, local leaders are encouraging residents to follow precautions and take advantage of the free testing the state Department of Health has set up at the Blair County Convention Center.

Bruce Erb, chairman of the Blair County Commissioners, said the site at the Convention Center has been very busy — 500 to 600 tests a day.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump is appealing a federal judge’s dismissal of his campaign’s effort to block the certification of votes in Pennsylvania.

The president and other plaintiffs filed notice of appeal to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday, a day after the judge issued a scathing order shooting down claims of widespread irregularities with mail-in ballots.

Pennsylvania officials can certify election results that currently show Democrat Joe Biden winning the state by more than 80,000 votes, a federal judge ruled Saturday, dealing President Donald Trump’s campaign another blow in its effort to invalidate the election.

U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew Brann in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, turned down the request for an injunction by President Donald Trump’s campaign, spoiling the incumbent’s hopes of somehow overturning the results of the presidential contest.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — An $11 billion no-new-taxes spending package won passage in a lame-duck Friday night session in Pennsylvania’s Legislature, as lawmakers sought to plug a multibillion-dollar deficit brought on by the pandemic and carry state government operations through the rest of the fiscal year.

Lawmakers voted as they rushed to wrap up their two-year session. A coronavirus outbreak in the House of Representatives caused hours of delay Friday before the main spending bill passed the chamber, 104-97, and the Senate, 31-18.

As Pennsylvania sets multiple records for one-day increases in COVID-19 cases in recent days, Penn Highlands Healthcare announced Thursday it’s offering rapid COVID-19 testing in six locations.

Chief Operating Officer Mark Norman announced during a conference call that rapid testing will be available in six Penn Highlands locations for symptomatic individuals or those who have been exposed. Those include Clearfield, DuBois, Punxsutawney, Moshannon Valley, St. Marys and Huntingdon.