HARRISBURG, Pa. —

Norfolk Southern has pledged several million dollars to cover the cost of the response and recovery in Pennsylvania after last month's derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals just across the border in Ohio, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday.

Video above: Toxic waste from East Palestine train derailment being shipped out

Shapiro's office said he met with Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw on Thursday and secured an initial commitment for financial aid as the cleanup from the Feb. 3 derailment continues.

Norfolk Southern has made similar pledges to Ohio, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered the company to cover the costs of cleanup from the derailment that toppled 38 rail cars in East Palestine, Ohio.

No one was hurt, but concerns that the chemicals could explode led state and local officials to approve releasing and burning toxic vinyl chloride from five tanker cars and to evacuate half of East Palestine and the surrounding area near the Pennsylvania border. Shapiro said Norfolk Southern will pay $5 million to reimburse fire departments for equipment that was contaminated or damaged and $1 million to Beaver and Lawrence counties to help business owners and residents whose livelihoods were damaged.

Another nearly $1.4 million will go to state agencies that responded, including for setting up a health clinic for residents, Shapiro said.

Shapiro's office said he will push Norfolk Southern to cover any additional costs that accumulate.

Video below: Pennsylvania Senate committee to subpoena Norfolk Southern CEO

In Ohio, Norfolk Southern previously announced more than $1 million to replace fire equipment used in the response to the fiery wreck, plus $1 million for East Palestine and more than $1.2 million for evacuation costs for nearly 900 families and businesses.

The company has said it is "committed to coordinating the cleanup project and paying for its associated costs," and wants to ensure that East Palestine's residents and natural environment recover.

Federal and state officials have repeatedly said it's safe for evacuated residents to return to the area and that air testing in the town and inside hundreds of homes hasn't detected any concerning levels of contaminants. However, some residents say they're still suffering from illnesses nearly a month later.

Norfolk Southern also announced on Monday a six-point safety plan that it says will immediately enhance the safety of its operations.

Video below: Transportation Secretary Buttigieg makes visit to East Palestine train derailment site

As the nationwide unemployment rate continues to sit in unprecedented territory, the dramatic job loss numbers also mean millions of Americans have suddenly found themselves without health insurance.

Experts call it a cruel twist during the pandemic, meaning many people who get sick with COVID-19 may not get the health care help they need because they don’t have coverage.

“We have massive numbers of people who are worried about their health but who no longer have coverage,” said Michelle Johnson, who oversees the nonprofit Tennessee Justice Center.

Johnson says calls to her organization have increased dramatically in the last few months as Americans are finding themselves uninsured after losing their jobs due to COVID-19.

“We’re just going to continue seeing people who are losing their insurance,” she said.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly 27 million people in the United States may have lost employer-sponsored insurance. Roughly half of Americans receive health insurance through their jobs. And while programs like COBRA allow people who have been laid off to continue their coverage, many can’t afford to pay those costs with no income.

Johnson says the problem is particularly troubling in state’s like hers where Medicaid expansion already meant there were hundreds of thousands of residents who were uninsured.

She hopes the federal government might consider opening enrollment in the Affordable Care Act to help those who have suddenly lost coverage.

Johnson’s biggest concern though, is the consequences may prove deadly as those without coverage now avoid trips to the doctor or emergency room for fear of getting stuck with bills they can’t afford.

“People will delay getting the care they need because they’re worried about being a financial burden,” said Johnson.

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II has made a knight of the 100-year-old World War II veteran who captivated the British public by walking 100 laps of his garden and raising some 33 million pounds ($40 million) for the National Health Service.

The queen tapped the blade of a sword once owned by her father on the shoulders of Tom Moore on Friday to turn the hero of a nation into a knight of the realm.

Moore steadied himself against his now-famous walker and wheeled himself close enough to stand in front of Elizabeth but skipped the normal practice of taking a knee before the monarch.

Before being knighted, CNN reports that Moore said, "If I kneel down, I'll never get up again."

He revealed afterward that he and the 94-year-old queen spoke about ages.

The 10th largest prize in Powerball history is up for grabs Saturday night.The winning numbers for the Oct. 2 drawing are 42, 38, 47, 52, 28, with a Powerball of 1.The Powerball jackpot has reached an estimated $635 million thanks to 39 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner, a record streak for the game dating back to June 5. There hasn't been a bigger Powerball jackpot since a $731.1 million prize was won on Jan. 20.The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

SAN DIEGO —

A San Diego businesswoman whose Ponzi scheme bilked hundreds of people out of nearly $400 million was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in federal prison.

Gina Champion-Cain, 57, received more than the sentence recommended by prosecutors. At the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns noted that some victims were friends she had known for years, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

"This went on for seven years. This wasn't just strangers hoping to get rich," Burns said. "This is a level of deceit and betrayal I wasn't fully aware of."

Champion-Cain was best known for her chain of now-closed Patio restaurants but also had clothing and vacation rental businesses. The scheme involved Champion-Cain getting people to invest in a business — American National Investments — that supposedly made high-interest loans to businesses seeking California liquor licenses.

Instead, some of the investment money was used to repay earlier investors in a classic Ponzi scheme, authorities said. Other money went to propping up Champion-Cain's failing businesses but millions more paid for a luxury lifestyle that included homes, cars, jewelry and box seats for San Diego Padres and Chargers games, prosecutors said.

The scheme took in at least $372 million from more than 490 investors, who lost at least $180 million, prosecutors said.

Champion-Cain pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy, securities fraud and obstruction of justice.

In a court statement, Champion-Cain said her main goal is to recover money for her victims, although the judge said much of the money had been spent.

In a statement to a probation officer last year, Champion-Cain wrote that she had intended for the lending program to be legitimate but it grew out of control and she began "making up" deals, the Union-Tribune reported.

"I always told myself that I would be able to pay these notes back someday with the massive growth of the empire I was trying to build," she wrote.

Chicago Title, the escrow company that Champion-Cain used to hold investor money she raised, was sued by investors and so far has reached settlements with nearly 200 of them for more than $60 million, the Union-Tribune said.

Crispin Torres, the former financial officer of American National Investments, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with the scheme and was sentenced this month to four years in prison.

A Utah man promised investors his business could turn dirt into gold and swindled millions of dollars from them over several years, according to federal officials. Now, he has been sentenced to prison for his role in an $8 million telemarketing fraud scheme. Marc Tager, 55, is the latest defendant to be sentenced in the scam that started in 2014, according to the Department of Justice. On April 14, he was sentenced to 43 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, money laundering and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.Tager, from Sandy, Utah, was one of four men charged in connection with the scheme that scammed 140 people, most older than 65, according to a news release from the DOJ. Jonathon Shoucair, 69; Matthew Mangum, 51; and Kenneth Gross, 75, were sentenced last year.Officials say Tager, Shoucair and Mangum were the leaders of the scam and they told investors they had a revolutionary process developed by Mangum that could extract gold from dirt. Related video: Keep The Identity Thieves Away With These Simple Tips"Investors were told that the defendants controlled this proprietary, breakthrough, nanotechnology that used environmentally friendly means to recover microscopic particles of gold from dirt," reads the news release.Gross, from Porter Ranch, California, would cold-call potential investors, according to the DOJ, and then pass along interested parties to Tager and Shoucair, who would obtain funds from the victims."What investors did not know was that Tager and Shoucair first met while serving multi-year federal prison sentences together for previous fraud related convictions," reads the release. In 2005, Tager was serving a two-year sentence for mail fraud when he met Shoucair, who was serving a five-year prison sentence for running a $50 million telemarketing fraud, according to officials.Victims of the new scheme were told the money they invested would be used to pay for space, equipment and material to develop Mangum's supposed breakthrough process, according to the DOJ, and that once it was developed it would generate huge returns for investors. Instead, Tager, Shoucair and Mangum formed a consulting business and made "fraudulent statements to investors to secure funding that was only partially used to support the business, which was never profitable."To make their scheme seem legit, the trio created a website for the business, according to the DOJ, that said it owned an 80-acre mining claim with a substantial amount of mineral-rich ore and that their revolutionary mining technology could achieve 20 times the yield of traditional mining at a fraction of the cost. It also promised that "investors would achieve 100% percent returns on their money in 12 months."In total, $8 million was raised from investors through the use of a national telemarketing strategy, according to the DOJ. Officials estimated that only $3 million of the funds was used to pay for potentially legitimate business expenses."However, three million dollars of investors' money was spent for the personal benefit of Tager, Mangum, and Shoucair, with another two million dollars of the funds going to pay telemarketers, including Gross, who helped raise the funds," reads the release.The Utah US Attorney's Office prosecuted the case. The investigation was a collaboration by the Utah Department of Commerce Division of Securities, FBI and IRS.Shoucair, from North Hills, California, was sentenced last October to 72 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and money laundering.Mangum, from South Jordan, Utah, was sentenced in November to 48 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.