November 4, 2021 4:08 am
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – Kyle Rittenhouse shouted “Friendly! Friendly! Friendly!” as he was being chased by a man he eventually shot to death during street protests against racial injustice. That’s according to a police detective who testified at his murder trial Wednesday in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Video took center stage Wednesday in the Illinois man’s trial in the shootings of three men – two fatally – after Rittenhouse traveled to Kenosha in August 2020 with a medical kit and a rifle in what he says was an effort to safeguard property from damaging riots. One of the videos came from an FBI surveillance plane some 9,000 feet above. Rittenhouse’s defense attorney argued that the video showed the first man Rittenhouse shot confronted him in “the classic ambush.”
November 4, 2021 4:06 am
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey narrowly won reelection in his reliably blue state while a Republican political newcomer delivered a stunning upset in the Virginia governor’s race. That’s sending a warning to Democrats that their grip on power in Washington may be in peril. In Virginia, Glenn Youngkin became the first Republican to win statewide office in a dozen years, uniting former President Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters with enough suburban voters to notch a victory. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Murphy won after Jack Ciattarelli mounted a surprisingly strong campaign on issues including taxes and opposition to pandemic mask and vaccination mandates.
November 4, 2021 4:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House is preparing to debate and vote on a revised draft of President Joe Biden’s now-$1.85 trillion domestic policy package as well as a companion $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says House votes are possible Thursday. The Democrats have bolstered the package by adding a new paid family leave program, work permits for immigrants and a state and local tax break. Eager to show voters they can deliver after dismal election results, they finished up the overall package Wednesday. Debate is expected to open Thursday but voting could slip into Friday.
November 4, 2021 4:01 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – With Republicans on the cusp of sweeping Pennsylvania’s statewide judicial races, the GOP is finding more reasons to smile a year away from a high-stakes election in which voters will pick a new governor and a new U.S. senator. Republicans could be considered favored in both contests next year: the party of the president almost always loses seats in Congress in midterm elections, and a Republican has always replaced an outgoing Democratic governor in Pennsylvania’s current political era. Republican campaign strategist, Christopher Nicholas, pointed to a slate of countywide victories in Bucks County, a political bellwether north of Philadelphia. He says that also bodes well for Republicans next year.
November 4, 2021 2:46 am
(WPXI) – A man accused of killing a postal worker, who was his former neighbor, in Collier Township could face the death penalty. Eric Kortz, 53, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of murdering an employee of the United States and using a firearm to do so, Acting United States Attorney Stephen Kaufman announced Thursday. According to investigators, Kortz, of Sheraden, confessed to shooting and killing 58-year-old Louis Vignone while he was in his mail truck on his route on Oct. 7. They said Kortz told them he believed Vignone poisoned his family when they were neighbors. If convicted, Kortz faces a maximum sentence of death. He could also receive a term of life imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both.
November 3, 2021 4:12 am
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – A friend of Kyle Rittenhouse testified that the Illinois teen was “freaking out” and “really scared” in the moments after he shot three people during street protests against racial justice, and that Rittenhouse told him he had to do it because “people were trying to hurt him.” Dominick Black said Tuesday he was stunned when Rittenhouse called him seconds after the first shooting to say he had just shot someone. He was the first witness after opening statements at Rittenhouse’s murder trial cast him in sharply different lights. Testimony is expected to continue on Wednesday.
November 3, 2021 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a gun rights case that could lead to more guns on the streets of New York and Los Angeles. The case also could threaten restrictions on guns in subways, airports, bars, churches, schools and other places where people gather. The case the justices are hearing Wednesday could dramatically increase the number of people eligible to carry firearms as they go about their daily lives. The case centers on New York’s restrictive gun permit law and the right to carry a gun outside the home for self-defense.
November 3, 2021 4:08 am
(AP) – School children take the spotlight this week as the U.S. enters a new phase in COVID-19 vaccination aimed at curbing deaths, hospitalizations and more than a year of disrupted education. With authorities promising enough vaccine to protect the nation’s 28 million kids ages 5-11, pediatricians’ offices, pharmacies, hospitals and schools were poised to begin the shots after the final OK late Tuesday. Many locations planned mass vaccination events in coming days. The vaccine – one-third the dose for teens and adults – requires two shots three weeks apart. Children who get vaccinated before Thanksgiving will be fully covered by Christmas.
November 3, 2021 4:06 am
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and Republican Jack Ciattarelli were virtually deadlocked early Wednesday after a campaign centered on the incumbent’s progressive policies and handling of the pandemic. The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race as votes from Tuesday’s election were still being tallied. Incomplete returns showed Ciattarelli and the first-term governor were separated by about 1,200 votes out of more than 2.3 million cast. A Ciattarelli win would send a jolt through state and national politics, though a win by Murphy for a second consecutive term as a Democrat would break historic trends in the state.
November 3, 2021 4:05 am
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Republican former business executive Glenn Youngkin has won Virginia’s governor’s race, a major political turnabout in a state that had been trending increasingly blue. The win has alarmed national Democrats already nervous about holding their party’s narrow control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. The party was looking at potentially more bad news in New Jersey where incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy was in a tight reelection race. The 54-year-old Youngkin, a political newcomer, beat Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014 to 2018. President Joe Biden won Virginia by a comfortable 10 percentage points last year, and New Jersey by 15.
