May 2, 2021 7:43 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican Susan Wright of Texas, the widow of the first member of Congress to die after contracting COVID-19, advanced to a U.S. House runoff for her late husband’s seat Saturday night. But who she will face remained too early to call. With nearly all votes counted, Republican Jake Ellzey led Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez by 354 votes in the race for the second runoff spot in Texas’ 6th Congressional District, which has long been GOP territory. Ellzey is a state lawmaker who narrowly lost the GOP nomination for the seat in 2018 and carried the backing of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. It is the second time Sanchez has run for the seat after losing to Ron Wright in 2018. The date of the runoff has not yet been announced. Just weeks into his second term, Rep. Ron Wright died in February after being diagnosed with COVID-19. He was 67 and had also been battling lung cancer. Susan Wright, a GOP activist, was quickly seen as a favorite after entering the race and was endorsed by former President Donald Trump days before the election. She led with more than 19% of the vote.
May 2, 2021 7:41 am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Republicans booed Sen. Mitt Romney but ultimately rejected a motion to censure him Saturday for his votes at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trials. The measure narrowly failed, 798 to 711, in a vote by delegates to the state GOP convention, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Romney drew heavy boos when he came to the podium earlier in the day. Davis County delegate Don Guymon, who authored the resolution, said Romney’s votes to remove Trump from office “hurt the Constitution and hurt the party.” “This was a process driven by Democrats who hated Trump,” Guymon said. “Romney’s vote in the first impeachment emboldened Democrats who continued to harass Trump.” The proposal, among several platform changes debated Saturday, also sought to praise the other members of Utah’s congressional delegation for their support of the former president.
May 2, 2021 7:39 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX safely returned four astronauts from the International Space Station on Sunday, making the first U.S. crew splashdown in darkness since the Apollo 8 moonshot. The Dragon capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, just before 3 a.m., ending the second astronaut flight for Elon Musk’s company. It was an express trip home, lasting just 6 1/2 hours. The astronauts, three American and one Japanese, flew back in the same capsule — named Resilience — in which they launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in November.
May 2, 2021 7:36 am
PITTSBURGH — This is the first weekend that people can go into any Rite Aid store in Pennsylvania and get a Covid-19 vaccination. Rite Aid is expanding Covid-19 vaccines to all 2,500 stores in 17 states, including Pennsylvania. Pharmacists are administering the Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Scheduling an appointment in advance is recommended to reduce wait time, however, walk-in vaccinations are available on a limited basis in every store.
May 2, 2021 4:19 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — A vehicle belonging to the Allegheny County Airport Authority was stolen Friday and driven through the glass doors of the landside terminal’s moving walkway where it crashed into a concrete pillar. When police arrived, they found Harry Griffith, 35, of North Carolina hiding behind the Hyatt Hotel, injured. An airport spokesperson tells our news partner WPXI, “It was learned that the Airport Authority employee had parked his vehicle to collect trash from receptacles near the building. After he had exited and began gathering the trash, he heard the vehicle and turned to see it being driven into the building. The driver then jumped out of the vehicle and ran and was followed by the airport employee.” According to Allegheny County Police, Griffith was transported to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries. Charges are pending.
May 2, 2021 4:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A Philadelphia judge running for a seat on Pennsylvania’s highest court is disavowing any connection to QAnon, even though she did an interview with supporters of the conspiracy theory who also listed her as a featured speaker at an upcoming gathering. Common Pleas Court Judge Paula Patrick sat for an interview on a YouTube and podcast show hosted by the two conservative social media personalities who are organizing the event. She told The Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday that she wasn’t invited and didn’t plan to attend the event in Gettysburg in June. Patrick said she thought the show was targeted to a Christian audience. By Friday, her name had been removed from the event’s website.
May 2, 2021 2:44 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – Pittsburgh-based United States Steel Corporation has canceled its plans to upgrade the Mon Valley Works. U.S. Steel announced nearly two years ago in May 2019 its plans for $1 billion in upgrades to the Mon Valley Works facilities, including a casting and rolling facility and cogeneration power plant. Since then, the company announced several capital spending delays on the project and in March 2020 delayed construction of the project, which by then had increased to a promised $1.5 billion, until further notice. On the company’s earnings call Friday morning, U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt talked in depth about the company’s recent environmental sustainability goals and initiatives. He said to achieve its goal to become carbon neutral by 2050 it must make “difficult decisions.”
May 1, 2021 10:38 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. is keeping in place a requirement that people wear masks on planes and all other forms of public transit because of COVID-19. The Transportation Security Administration said Friday that the requirement will stay through at least Sept. 13. It had been set to expire May 11. The rule requires people to wear masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 across all transportation networks in the U.S. That includes at airports, on buses and on trains. People under 2 and with certain disabilities are exempt. Penalties for violating the rule start at $250.
May 1, 2021 10:34 am
JERUSALEM (AP) – Clerics and faithful from Eastern Orthodox churches are marking the annual Holy Fire ceremony inside Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulcher church. Hundreds packed in Saturday to the church revered as the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, with only a few wearing masks and no distancing. Entry has been restricted to those fully vaccinated. Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III led the event. The scene at the church was a stark contrast to last year’s, when only a handful of religious leaders held the centuries-old ceremony in a near-empty setting enforced by the coronavirus pandemic. Israel has significantly lifted most of restrictions, including mask-wearing in public, after a world-leading vaccination drive.
May 1, 2021 10:31 am
VIENNA (AP) – High-ranking diplomats from China, Germany, France, Russia and Britain have resumed talks focused on bringing the United States back into their landmark nuclear deal with Iran. The U.S. will not have a representative at the table when the diplomats meet in Vienna on Saturday because former President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the country out of the deal in 2018. Trump also restored and augmented sanctions to try to force Iran into renegotiating the pact with more concessions. U.S. President Joe Biden wants to rejoin the 2015 agreement, and a U.S. delegation in Vienna is taking part in indirect talks with Iran. Diplomats from the other world powers are acting as go-betweens.
