August 7, 2024 5:03 am
ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has declared herself and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “joyful warriors” as they spent their first full day as running mates rallying Democrats across the Midwest. But they got an idea of just how hotly contested the region would be when they overlapped on a Wisconsin tarmac with Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance. Meanwhile, the Harris campaign said it had raised $36 million in the first 24 hours after the vice presidential announcement. Wednesday’s trip aimed to shore up support among the younger, diverse, labor-friendly voters who were instrumental in helping President Joe Biden win the 2020 election. That coalition has shown signs of fraying over Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
August 8, 2024 5:06 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A new poll shows that most Americans believe this year’s presidential race will be crucial for the future of the country’s democracy. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs survey finds that they see the threat differently based on their political leanings. Nearly 6 in 10 Democrats say the November election is “extremely important” to the future of U.S. democracy, compared to about 4 in 10 independents and Republicans. Many Democrats continue to view former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy after he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. But the results also suggest that many of Trump’s supporters agree with him that President Joe Biden is the real threat to democracy.
August 8, 2024 5:07 am
VIENNA (AP) — Austria’s intelligence chief says chemical substances were found at the house of a 19-year-old Austrian suspected of planning an attack on upcoming Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna. The public security director at Austria’s Interior Ministry says investigators found chemical substances and and technical devices at the 19-year-old suspect’s house. Just a few weeks ago, the suspect had uploaded an oath of allegiance to the current leader of the Islamic State group militia to an internet account. The concerts’ cancellations devastated Swifties across the globe, many of whom had dropped thousands of euros on travel and lodging for the sold-out Eras Tour shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
August 7, 2024 5:00 am
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Tropical Storm Debby pushed bad weather up the East Coast and brought no respite to residents as far away as the Great Lakes and New Jersey, where heavy rain flooded highways and streets and stranded motorists. Officials in New York told people in basement apartments to prepare to flee as forecasters warned of flash flooding. The center of Debby was over the Atlantic Ocean east-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, by Wednesday afternoon. The storm has brought heavy rain to Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina since coming ashore on the Gulf Coast of Florida early Monday. However, moisture from Debby strengthened another storm system, causing strong thunderstorms across the Great Lakes and eastward Tuesday evening.
August 7, 2024 9:54 am
BROWNSVILLE, Pa. – (WPXI) – Emergency crews responded to a house fire in Fayette County early Wednesday morning. Fayette County dispatchers said the fire started in the 400 block of Green Street in Brownsville at 3:26 a.m. Dispatchers said no one was hurt in the blaze and that it’s not known at this time if the house was occupied.
August 7, 2024 4:50 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice to pick Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate disappointed fans of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was one of Harris’ finalists for the job and seen as someone who could help Democrats win a key swing state and make history by electing the first Jewish vice president. With his history of thrice winning statewide elections in Pennsylvania, Shapiro was seen as a strategic choice who could appeal to moderate voters, especially those in his pivotal state. But the governor faced critiques from some in the left of the party for a private school voucher program, natural gas infrastructure, and particularly his support for Israel’s war on Hamas.
August 7, 2024 5:02 am
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will spend their first full day as running mates in Wisconsin and Michigan. The trip is aimed at shoring up support among the younger, diverse, labor-friendly voters who were instrumental in helping President Joe Biden win the 2020 election. That coalition has shown signs of fraying over Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Leaders of the Arab American community and key unions say they are encouraged by Harris’ choice of a running mate. They believe it signals that she is listening to their concerns. The leaders had opposed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro because they thought he had gone too far in his support of Israel.
August 7, 2024 4:53 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – A national organization is asking people in Pennsylvania for help while they search for a missing teenage girl. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is looking for Haley Hardin, 14, of Louisville. The agency says Haley went missing on Aug. 4 from her Louisville home. She may still be in Kentucky, but she also may have traveled to Pennsylvania. Haley is 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. She has hazel eyes and red hair. Haley’s dad told NCMEC she’s never gone missing before and her family is concerned for her safety. He shared this message to his daughter: “Come home baby girl, I love you so much. Love, dad.” Anyone with information on where Haley is should contact NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678 or the Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office (Kentucky) at 1-502-543-7074.
August 7, 2024 5:04 am
FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — Military-run hearings for accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are in upheaval following Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to throw out a plea agreement. Defense attorneys contend the plea deal still stands and suspended participation in the pre-trial hearings while legal challenges to Austin’s action play out. The judge overseeing the case, acknowledged concerns over outside pressure on the case. The events of the past week are the latest significant disruption of the U.S. military prosecution of defendants accused in the 2001 killings of nearly 3,000 people, in an al-Qaida plot
August 7, 2024 5:16 pm
VIENNA (AP) — Organizers of three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna this week called them off on Wednesday after officials announced arrests over an apparent plot to launch an attack on an event in the Vienna area such as the concerts as part of her Eras Tour. Swift was scheduled to play at the Austrian capital’s Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Event organizer Barracuda Music said in a post on its Instagram channel late Wednesday that “we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.” (Photo: AP)
