June 23, 2021 4:10 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A Republican rewrite of election law is now in the hands of the state Senate after a tense debate in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The bill that passed Tuesday would mandate voter IDs, alter registration and ballot counting deadlines and give conservatives the auditing procedures they have demanded. It got out of the state House on a 110 to 91 vote Tuesday despite Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto threat. It would change the registration deadline from 15 days to 30 days before an election. Mail-in ballots would have to be requested 15 days before the vote. Drop boxes for mail-in ballots would be limited to seven days before an election.
June 23, 2021 3:48 am
Nearly 200 people came out for a rally in support of union members on strike against Allegheny Technologies, Inc. in Washington on Tuesday. Union members from United Steel Workers local 7139-5 assembled in front of the plant and were joined by union members from other plants around Pittsburgh and from Louisville, Ohio. Unit Chair for Local 7139-5 Randy Denman, Jr. states that the bargaining has been going on since a one year extension to the previous contract was signed to get the company through the Covid-19 pandemic. Denman says that since the extension expired negotiations have gone badly. ATI is being accused of bargaining in bad faith and even using illegal methods. Mike Baumgardener from Louisville, Ohio states that the company is using “service bargaining” methods that send company people to the rank and file members and discuss the contract with them on the production floor instead of discussing the contract at the bargaining table. Baumgardener states that is illegal and unfair. Denman states that the company has not given workers a raise in pay in 8 years. The company is looking for members to contribute more toward health care. Denman also states that the company is sitting on $600 million and has paid large bonuses to corporate staff. Workers have been on strike since March 30.
June 23, 2021 3:10 am
An Allegheny County man facing charges of filming children in various states of undress in a Canonsburg gymnasium waived his charges to court. Anthony Lee Fletcher, 37 of Pittsburgh spoke with his attorney David Shrager for more than 30 minutes before agreeing to stand trial for those charges. Fletcher is facing six felony charges of illegal filming of children and three charges of child pornography for filming three girls changing clothes in a restroom of the Armory Youth Center in Canonsburg using a hidden camera. First Assistant District Attorney Jason Walsh stated that Washington County will prosecute Fletcher to the fullest extent. Fletcher is also facing charges in Allegheny County for the filming of him raping an unresponsive girl in his residence.
June 22, 2021 12:38 pm
Residents within a half-mile radius of 89 Pleasant Valley Road in Claysville were evacuated for a brief time Monday night after reports of an apparent well-pad fire. According to a post on the Claysville Fire Department’s Facebook page, the call came in as an active fire and the evacuations were precautionary. Residents were allowed back into their homes around ten o’clock. Authorities say the situation was brought under control quickly.
June 22, 2021 12:30 pm
The State Police Fire Marshal is investigating reports of smoke inside of a home in the 400 block of Woodland Road in Canonsburg Monday night. Authorities say heavy smoke was reported coming from the basement of the home, but it remains unclear exactly what caused the smoke. Authorities say a firefighter was treated at the scene after falling down the basement stairs.
June 22, 2021 4:17 am
The U.S. has reached a pair of encouraging milestones as the COVID-19 pandemic’s grip on the nation continues to loosen. COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have dipped below 300 a day for the first time since the outbreak’s early days in March 2020. Meanwhile, 150 million Americans are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer. Now, however, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that more Americans are dying every day from accidents, chronic lower respiratory diseases, strokes or Alzheimer’s disease than COVID-19.
June 22, 2021 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is expected to fall short of his commitment to shipping 80 million COVID-19 vaccine doses abroad by the end of June. Officials say that’s due to regulatory and other hurdles. The White House, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with new plans for sharing the shots abroad. On Monday, the White House announced the final allocations for the doses, with 60 million shots going to the global COVAX vaccine-sharing alliance and 20 million being directed to specific partners. A White House official said shipments will go out as soon as countries are ready to receive the doses and the administration sorts out logistical complexities.
June 22, 2021 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Democrats’ expansive elections and voting bill is all but certain to be rejected in a key Senate test vote. The action Tuesday is expected to provide a dramatic example of Republicans’ use of the filibuster to block legislation. It’s also forcing hard questions for Democrats over next steps. Backers of the For the People bill see it as the civil rights issue of the era, and they say it’s needed to protect voting rights as states impose restrictive new laws. In the evenly split Senate, Republicans are united in opposition.
June 22, 2021 4:11 am
CARMICHAEL, Calif. (AP) – Authorities say a pickup truck driver rammed two people in Northern California, killing one, and injured three other people in a rampage that included attacking people with a crowbar and pulling a gun. The driver was shot and wounded Monday by another gun-wielding man but is expected to survive. The Sacramento County sheriff’s office says the man drove his truck onto sidewalks and curbs in Carmichael Monday morning, hitting two people, then rear-ended another car, attacked that driver with a crowbar and pulled a gun before he was wounded. Authorities say they don’t yet know the motive for the attack.
June 22, 2021 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A government watchdog says that deaths among Medicare patients in nursing homes soared by 32% last year amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Department of Health and Human Services inspector general found two devastating spikes eight months apart in the most comprehensive look yet at COVID-19’s toll among its most vulnerable victims. Investigators say there were more than 169,000 additional deaths last year among Medicare recipients in nursing homes. Also, cases and deaths among Asian patients tracked the more severe impacts seen among Blacks and Latinos. Indeed, Asian Medicare enrollees in nursing homes saw the highest increase in death rates, with 27% dying in 2020.
