July 22, 2022 3:24 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump has been convicted of contempt charges for defying a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The verdict was handed down on Friday after a trial in federal court in Washington. He was charged in a two-count indictment. One count was for refusing to appear for a deposition and the other was for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee’s subpoena. The 68-year-old Bannon faces up to two years in federal prison when he’s sentenced. Each count carries a minimum sentence of 30 days in jail.
July 22, 2022 4:20 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The spread of monkeypox in the U.S. could represent the dawn of a new sexually transmitted disease, though some health officials say the virus that causes pimple-like bumps might yet be contained before it gets firmly established. Experts don’t agree on the likely path of the virus. Some fear that it’s becoming so widespread that it’s on the verge of becoming an entrenched STD – like gonorrhea, herpes and HIV. But no one’s really sure, and some say testing and vaccines can still stop the outbreak from taking root. So far, more than 2,400 U.S. cases have been reported as part of an international outbreak that emerged two months ago.
July 22, 2022 4:16 am
NEW YORK (AP) – America’s top television networks turned prime time over to a gripping account of former President Donald Trump’s actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol – with one prominent exception. Fox News Channel did not show the hearing, electing to stay with its regular lineup of commentators, who either ridiculed or ignored the proceedings. Sean Hannity denounced it as a “show trial,” even as he was featured on all the other networks as the committee discussed his tweets to Trump administration officials. Fox News Channel has aired the hearings during the daytime, but not when its largest audience is available in the evening.
July 22, 2022 4:15 am
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for New York governor, was assaulted by a man who apparently tried to stab him at an upstate event. The head of the state Republican party chair said the congressman got a small scrape but wasn’t seriously injured. Zeldin said in a statement he was able to grab the attacker’s wrist and stop him for a few moments until others tackled him. Zeldin’s campaign said the attacker was taken into custody and the congressman continued his speech. He is challenging incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul this November.
July 22, 2022 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – For more than a year, President Joe Biden’s ability to avoid the coronavirus seemed to defy the odds. When Biden finally did test positive, the White House was ready. It set out to turn the diagnosis into a “teachable moment” and dispel any notion of a crisis. The White House offered repeated assurances Thursday that the president was hard at work while isolating in the residential areas of the White House with “very mild symptoms” of a runny nose, dry cough and fatigue. It was all part of an administration effort to offer Biden as the personification of the idea that any American can get COVID and recover without too much suffering if they’ve gotten their shots and taken other important steps.
July 22, 2022 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Despite desperate pleas from aides, allies, members of Congress and even his family, Donald Trump refused on Jan. 6 to call off the mob attack at the Capitol. Instead the defeated president told supporters in a video address they were “very special” as he finally sent them home at day’s end. One aide said at Thursday night’s hearing of the Jan. 6 House committee that Trump poured “gasoline on the fire” of the attack rather than calling off the mob laying siege. They said Trump was well aware of the deadly attack after sending his supporters to fight for his lost presidency.
July 22, 2022 4:07 am
A faction of Washington County residents has been calling on county commissioners to make changes to the way the county conducts voting. In what originally began as a campaign to audit the 2020 general election to search out fraud, has now transformed into a call for voting machines in the county to be replaced by paper ballots. Register of Wills, James Roman (pictured) and county resident Ashley Duff presented commissioners with 2157 signatures on petitions to try and get a ballot question on the November 2022 general election ballot asking for a vote on the use of paper ballots. Roman tried to get the issue on the agenda for the regular commissioners meeting on Thursday but was not successful. Efforts to try and have the question arbitrarily placed on the ballot have not been successful. In a prepared statement Roman pointed to a section of the voting machine law that he felt allowed commissioners to accept either of the proposals. Commissioner Chairwoman Diana Irey-Vaughn pointed to the section of the same law that pertains to Washington County. It states that commissioners are unable to arbitrarily place a question on a ballot removing voting machines from use. A method for petitioning is available if strict guidelines are followed. One of those guidelines is that signatures from voters equaling 10% of the previous general election be accurately presented to commissioners 60 days before the election. The signatures collected did not follow necessary format and fell more than 3000 short of the necessary 5193 needed to make application. It is unclear where the effort to change to paper ballots lies at this time.
July 22, 2022 4:04 am
The Trinity School Board voted to approve a revised maximum project cost and a new maximum building construction cost for the construction of the intermediate school and renovations for the middle school. The new maximum project number is $72 million and the new maximum building cost number is $39.5 million. Inflation in materials caused the bids to exceed an 8% threshold permitted by state law. The district will hold a public hearing on the new numbers on July 27 at 5:00 pm. The meeting will detail the specific factors that led to the cost increase. The public is invited to attend the public hearing and register their opinion with district leaders.
July 21, 2022 5:29 pm
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) – A woman who admitted her role in a scam that raised $400,000 using a fake story about a homeless man has been sentenced in federal court. A New Jersey judge sentenced Katelyn McClure Thursday to a prison term of one year and one day. McClure and her then-boyfriend Mark D’Amico fabricated the story that homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt, Jr., rescued her from the side of a Philadelphia highway in 2017. They publicized their story and more than 14,000 people donated, thinking the money was for Bobbitt. Prosecutors say the pair instead spent the money on luxury items and travel. McClure also pleaded guilty to state charges in 2019 and faces sentencing next month.
July 21, 2022 10:32 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, making him the second U.S. president to get the virus and underscoring the extent to which the virus has infiltrated American society. The 79-year-old Biden is fully vaccinated after getting two initial doses of the coronavirus vaccine and two boosters since. When a fully vaccinated person experiences a breakthrough infection, the chance of severe illness or death is low. The announcement highlights the unpredictable nature of a virus that has now infected numerous world leaders, despite an urgent global vaccination drive and feverish efforts at containment.
