November 12, 2024 5:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Speaker Mike Johnson is beginning the hard fight to retain his gavel. The first test will come Wednesday during internal House Republican leadership elections that will establish the new power centers for a Washington dominated by President-elect Donald Trump. While Johnson has no serious challenger for the speakership, he faces dissent within his ranks, particularly from hard-right conservatives. Johnson needs just a simple majority in Wednesday’s closed-door voting to win the GOP nomination to become speaker. But he will need majority support of the full House, 218 votes, to actually take hold of the gavel on Jan. 3 when the new Congress convenes.
November 13, 2024 5:03 am
Transgender youth in the United States have been flooding crisis hotlines since the election of Donald Trump, who made anti-transgender themes central to his campaign. Many teens worry about how their lives could change once he becomes president. The Rainbow Youth Project, which serves LGBTQ+ young people, has received more than 5,500 calls to its crisis hotline in the past 10 days — nearly 2,000 more calls than it typically gets in an entire month. Trump’s administration can swiftly start work on one major change: It can exclude transgender students from Title IX protections. Those affect school policies on students’ use of pronouns, bathrooms and locker rooms.
November 13, 2024 5:02 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has struck Kyiv with a sophisticated missile and drone attack for the first time in 73 days. The top official in the Ukrainian said Wednesday that capital defense forces destroyed several cruise and ballistic missiles and up to a dozen drones. In the past, such combined attacks aimed to overwhelm air defenses and cause maximum damage. A 48-year-old man suffered head injuries, according to emergency services.
November 13, 2024 5:40 pm
(AP) – Let the office debates begin – John Krasinski is People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2024. The magazine announced the actor-writer-director as its pick Tuesday night during “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Krasinski starred in “The Office” before launching the “Quiet Place” franchise and leading the action series “Jack Ryan.” He joked in an interview with the magazine that he’s hoping his wife, fellow actor Emily Blunt, makes good on a promise to plaster the cover as wallpaper at their home. He takes the mantle from last year’s honoree, Patrick Dempsey. Previous recipients include Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John Legend, Michael B. Jordan and Pierce Brosnan. (Photo: AP)
November 12, 2024 4:51 am
False posts circulating on social media claim that billionaire Elon Musk facilitated alleged election fraud through his internet service provider Starlink, manipulating the vote count, particularly in swing states, through election equipment such as ballot tabulators. Starlink, a subsidiary of Musk’s SpaceX company, uses satellites to offer high-speed internet, even in remote areas. These claims are unfounded. Election officials from multiple swing states told The Associated Press that their voting equipment doesn’t use Starlink and is not even connected to the internet. States across the U.S. have additional security measures to ensure that the count is accurate, according to experts. Election officials and security agencies have reported no significant issues with the 2024 race.
November 12, 2024 5:42 pm
SAN DIEGO (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump named Stephen Miller his deputy chief of staff and Tom Homan as his “border czar,” appointing a battle-tested duo to design and direct immigration policy from the White House. Their plans include mass deportations and restoring Trump-era policies that President Joe Biden dismantled. Both had critical jobs in the first Trump administration and are unapologetic defenders of its immigration policies, which included separating thousands of parents from their children at the border to deter illegal crossings. Both spent the last four years angling for this moment.
November 12, 2024 4:53 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge is postponing a decision on whether to undo President-elect Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money case because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity. New York Judge Juan M. Merchan had been set to rule Tuesday. Instead, he told Trump’s lawyers Tuesday he’d delay the ruling until Nov. 19. According to emails filed in court, Trump’s lawyers asked for the delay over the weekend, arguing there are “strong reasons for the requested stay, and eventually dismissal of the case in the interests of justice.” A jury convicted Trump in May of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump denies any wrongdoing.
November 12, 2024 6:57 am
BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese police say a driver has killed 35 people and injured another 43 severely when he deliberately rammed his car into people exercising at a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai. Police had detained a 62-year-old man for the attack late Monday, on the eve of the country’s premier aviation exhibition by the People’s Liberation Army, hosted annually in the city. His dissatisfaction with a divorce settlement was cited by police as a possible motive in a preliminary investigation.
November 12, 2024 2:49 am
Peters Township Council voted to approve a $42,500 expenditure to hire the Fitch and Associates company to conduct a study on how to best provide emergency medical services in the community. Ambulance services are now provided by Peters Township Ambulance, sponsored by VFW Post 764. Tom McMurray, Director of Peters Township Ambulance says that the organization has provided ambulance service since 1963. McMurray says that the study will analyze all aspects of the operation and make recommendations on how to proceed in the future. He says that staff at the organization is strong right now but staffing nationwide has been a challenge especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. He pointed to decreasing reimbursements for trips as a concern going forward. McMurray is a member of a four-person committee that is recommending the study. He calls it a proactive step by the township to make sure that emergency medical services are there when they are needed. The other members of the committee were Peters Township Fire Chief Mike McLaughlin, Township Manager Paul Lauer and Assistant Township Manager Kyle Thauvette. The study will commence at the beginning of 2025.
November 12, 2024 4:46 am
ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Collier Township police are filing charges against the juvenile involved in an incident that caused the Chartiers Valley School District to have all remote learning. Parents had waited most of the day to see if classes would be back in person Tuesday before getting alerted Monday around 7 p.m. that students would be back in the classroom. Chartiers Valley parent Candice Connor says it was around 10 p.m. Sunday when she was notified that all Chartiers Valley schools would be virtual on Monday. “It said there was a credible threat so they were canceling school and that was alarming,” Connor said. The move comes after police say a “credible” threat was made against the school district in addition to Parkway West Career and Technology Center. Both the school district and police haven’t specified exactly what the threat was, what it said or if it was on social media. Investigators said a juvenile was behind the threat, but didn’t say if it was a Chartiers Valley student or not. Monday night, the Bridgeville Police Department released information on its social media page saying that the juvenile was arrested by Bridgeville officers Monday night for separate charges stemming from separate incidents. Chartiers Valley Parents received an email around 7 p.m. Monday letting them know classes would be back in person. The interim superintendent explained the issue was fully resolved and that a juvenile experiencing a crisis was receiving appropriate help and support. That juvenile is being held in a secure juvenile holding facility. There will be extra police officers at all Chartiers Valley School campuses on Tuesday.
