Saturday, December 19, 2020 10:45 am
AP: States spent over $7B competing for early virus supplies
DAVID A. LIEB and CAMILLE FASSETT | Associated Press
Ray Bellia had a good business before the coronavirus pandemic. He topped $4 million in annual sales from his New Hampshire store that specialized in protective gear for police.
Then he got a call from a buyer with the state of Massachusetts asking if he had anything that could protect people from COVID-19. As it happened, he did. He went on to sell the state 300,000 disposable masks for 97 cents each. From that point on, it s been just insanity, Bellia said.
Dec 19, 2020
ATHENS TOWNSHIP â The Athens Township Supervisors passed its 2021 budget during a meeting on Wednesday.
In a unanimous vote, the supervisors approved a $5,226,976 spending plan for next year.
The township expects $5,310,342 in revenue and $5,226,976 in expenses as part of its 2021 budget.
Supervisors Chairwoman Kirstie Lake said at a meeting last week that the difference in revenue and expenditures does not come with an increase in taxes for township residents.
Lake said that the township is going into âmaintenance modeâ in 2021 in order to keep the expenses down and not raise taxes.
The township plans on $291,000 in highway maintenance, including: $163,000 in materials, $15,000 to rent machinery and equipment and $30,000 in contracted repairs to roads.
AP: States spent more than $7 billion competing for early coronavirus supplies
Updated Dec 19, 2020;
Posted Dec 19, 2020
Ray Bellia holds up personal protective masks and gloves, used by medical and law enforcement professionals, in the warehouse of his Body Armor Outlet store, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, in Salem, N.H. Bellia s store rapidly evolved into one of the nation s 20 largest suppliers of personal protective equipment to states this past spring, according to a nationwide analysis of state purchasing data by The Associated Press.AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Facebook Share
Ray Bellia had a good business before the coronavirus pandemic. He topped $4 million in annual sales from his New Hampshire store that specialized in protective gear for police.
States spent over $7B competing for early virus supplies, records show
The scramble for protective gear led to inflated prices in the first months of the pandemic, an AP investigation found. âNone of us knew what we were doing.â
Â
Â
An Indiana National Guardsman pushes a pallet of medical supplies to be delivered in Indianapolis in March as states ramped up for the pandemic. At the time, records reviewed by AP show, millions of dollars flowed from states to businesses that had never before sold such supplies. [ DARRON CUMMINGS | AP ]
Published Dec. 19, 2020
Ray Bellia had a good business before the coronavirus pandemic. He topped $4 million in annual sales from his New Hampshire store that specialized in protective gear for police.
States spent $7B+ competing for early coronavirus supplies
By David A. Lieb and Camille Fassett
Published
(Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Ray Bellia had a good business before the coronavirus pandemic. He topped $4 million in annual sales from his New Hampshire store that specialized in protective gear for police.
Then he got a call from a buyer with the state of Massachusetts asking if he had anything that could protect people from COVID-19. As it happened, he did. He went on to sell the state 300,000 disposable masks for 97 cents each. From that point on, it’s been just insanity, Bellia said.