January 23, 2021 9:13 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – One winning ticket has been sold in the $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot. The top prize drawn on Friday is the third-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history. The winning numbers are: 4, 26, 42, 50, 60 and a Mega Ball of 24. The winning ticket was sold at a Kroger store in Novi, Michigan. The Mega Millions jackpot had been growing since Sept. 15, when a winning ticket was sold in Wisconsin. Friday night’s drawing comes two days after a ticket sold in Maryland matched all six numbers drawn and won a $731.1 million Powerball jackpot.
January 23, 2021 4:40 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The son of a couple killed in a Pittsburgh synagogue attack that killed 11 worshippers is suing the National Rifle Association, saying the group’s inflammatory rhetoric led to the violence. Marc Simon is the son of Sylvan and Bernice Simon. He filed the wrongful death lawsuit Thursday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court against the NRA, the gun maker Colt’s Manufacturing Co. and the accused synagogue shooter, Robert Bowers. Colt manufactured the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle allegedly used by Bowers. Bowers is charged with killing 11 congregants at the Tree of Life synagogue in October 2018 in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. He has pleaded not guilty.
January 23, 2021 4:35 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A Democratic state lawmaker is criticizing Pennsylvania’s vaccine rollout as muddled, saying other states are doing a much better job at distribution and communication. The scolding from Sen. Lindsey Williams of Allegheny County is a sign of mounting frustration over the stubbornly slow pace of vaccinations and shifting guidance about who is eligible to get them. Williams says Pennsylvania residents “deserve clearer communication and more concrete answers” from the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf, a fellow Democrat. The Wolf administration blames a lack of supply for slow vaccine rollout. Meanwhile, unions representing police and prison guards are expressing outrage at having been placed behind smokers in line for COVID-19 shots.
January 23, 2021 4:33 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf is elevating two officials involved in his administration’s response to the coronavirus to replace the departing Dr. Rachel Levine as his health secretary and physician general. Wolf said Friday he intends to nominate a deputy chief of staff, Alison Beam, to take over as secretary of the Department of Health. Wolf, meanwhile, elevated Dr. Wendy Braund, the Covid-19 response director for the department, to the position of the acting interim physician general. Beam has helped coordinate the administration’s pandemic response. Levine’s last day was to be Friday, as she prepares to become President Joe Biden’s nominee to be his assistant secretary of health.
January 22, 2021 1:53 pm
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – The NFL says 7,500 health care workers vaccinated for the coronavirus will be given free tickets to next month’s Super Bowl to be played in Tampa, Florida. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also said in a news release Friday that attendance at the Feb. 7 game would be limited to those workers and about 14,500 other fans. Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has a capacity of just under 66,000. Most health care workers who will get free game tickets will come from the Tampa Bay area and central Florida. Goodell says all 32 NFL teams will choose workers for the game.
January 22, 2021 11:45 am
ATLANTA (AP) – The baseball great and one-time home run king Hank Aaron has died. The Atlanta Braves said he died peacefully in his sleep early Friday. No cause was given. Aaron endured racist threats with stoic dignity during his pursuit of Babe Ruth but went on to break the career home run record in the pre-steroids era. “Hammerin’ Hank” set a wide array of records during a 23-year career spent mostly with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, including RBIs, extra-base hits and total bases. But the Hall of Famer will be remembered for one swing above all others, the one that made him baseball’s home-run king., died early Friday. Hank Aaron was 86.
January 22, 2021 10:43 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will send the article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made the announcement on Friday when he opened the Senate. Republican leader Mitch McConnell wants to postpone the impeachment trial until February to give the former president time to prepare and review his case. The House impeached Trump on a single charge of incitement of insurrection for the deadly attack on the Capitol that unfolded on Jan. 6. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the trial has to happen even though Trump has left office so that there is accountability.
January 22, 2021 6:48 am
(WPXI) – A Washington County home was destroyed by intense flames early Friday morning. The fire started just after 3:30 a.m. at a home on Vaneal Road in South Franklin Township. Heavy flames and thick smoke could be seen pouring from the home. Everyone got out of the home, but fire officials said the home is a total loss. A woman living at the home woke up and smelled smoke, and within seconds, flames took over the entire home. She managed to alert her sleeping loved ones and run to safety in the frigid temperatures. Fire officials say a family of four lived in the home, and neighbors said it was a miracle they managed to escape. It appears the family didn’t have working smoke detectors, the fire chief said. Fire officials are still working to determine how the fire started.
January 22, 2021 4:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – After surviving nearly a year of darts and undermining comments from former President Donald Trump, Dr. Anthony Fauci is back. He now speaks with the authority of the White House again. The doctor called it “liberating” Thursday to be backed by a science-friendly administration that has embraced his recommendations to battle COVID-19. And Fauci made clear that he believes the new administration will not trade in the mixed messages that so often came from the Trump White House, where scientific fact was often obscured by the president’s political agenda.
January 22, 2021 4:21 am
Public health experts are blaming COVID-19 vaccine shortages around the U.S. in part on the Trump administration’s push to get states to vastly expand their vaccination drives to reach the nation’s estimated 54 million people age 65 and over. The push that began over a week ago has not been accompanied by enough doses to meet demand, leading to frustration and confusion. President Joe Biden has vowed to turn things around. Because of the shortages, some New York City vaccination sites are canceling or postponing shots or no longer making appointments for people.
