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.
July 21, 2022 10:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week rose to its highest level in more than eight months, a sign the labor market may be showing some weakness. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 16 rose by 7,000 to 251,000, up from the previous week’s 244,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most since Nov. 13, 2021 when 265,000 Americans applied for benefits. First-time applications generally reflect layoffs. Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet expected the number to come in at 242,000.
July 21, 2022 7:48 am
NEW YORK (AP) – William “Poogie” Hart, a founder of the Grammy-winning trio the Delfonics who helped write and sang a soft lead tenor on such classic “Sound of Philadelphia” ballads as “La-La (Means I Love You)” and “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” has died at age 77. His son told The New York Times that Hart died July 14 at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia from complications during surgery. From the late 1960s to the mid 1970s, the Delfonics had six top 40 pop hits and more than a dozen top 20 R&B hits, defined by the rich orchestral arrangements and layered harmonies that made Philadelphia soul as essential to the ’70s as Detroit’s Motown label had been in the previous decade. (Photo: AP)
July 21, 2022 7:26 am
Washington County Register of Wills James Roman wants County Commissioners to place a referendum on the November ballot asking; “Shall the use of voting machines be continued in Washington County?” Roman asked commissioners at Wednesday’s agenda meeting to place his request on the agenda and vote on it during Thursday afternoon’s regular meeting. He received no response to that request. Roman then refused to speak with WJPA News following that agenda meeting. Informing us that he no longer speaks to Washington County media outlets. He also informed us that he would be sending out a news release concerning the matter, but said we would not receive it. It was, however, sent to us. Roman is claiming evidence of voting irregularities in Washington County and says commissioners refuse to return calls or meet to discuss the matter. In the release, he invites the public and the media to his office prior to the commissioner’s 2 p.m. meeting with plans to then go to the meeting and present some two-thousand signatures and publicly request they vote on the proposed referendum and place it on the ballot in November. WJPA News will be at the commissioners meeting and will have more on this later in the day.
July 21, 2022 4:19 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – The pop culture extravaganza that is Comic-Con International is back to its old extravagance. Stars, cosplayers and fans are filling the San Diego Convention Center in full force after the pandemic forced it to go virtual for two years. They started pouring in for Wednesday’s preview night. The Mandalorian, Wonder Woman, and Sailor Moon could be seen walking the floor. Anticipated panels this year include a preview from Warner Bros. of the antihero film “Black Adam” featuring star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and peeks at forthcoming fantasy TV series, the “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” and the “Lord of the Rings” prequel “The Rings of Power.”
July 21, 2022 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats are pushing legislation through the House that would inscribe the right to use contraceptives into law. That vote is planned for Thursday. And it is Democrats’ latest campaign-season response to worries that a conservative Supreme Court that’s erased federal abortion rights could go further. House passage will send the measure to the Senate, where its fate seems uncertain. The push illustrates how Democrats are latching onto their own version of culture-war battles to appeal to female, progressive and minority voters. Democrats are casting the court and Republicans as extremists intent on obliterating rights taken for granted for years.
