January 8, 2021 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia says “all options are on the table” for charging members of the violent pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol – including sedition charges. Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for D.C., says prosecutors plan to file 15 federal cases on Thursday for crimes including unauthorized access and theft of property, and investigators are combing through reams of evidence to bring additional charges. More than 90 people have been arrested by police in Washington and more arrests are likely.
January 8, 2021 4:22 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and the state’s hospital association are at odds over how best to create space for critically ill coronavirus patients. The disagreement comes as health officials warn that already strained medical facilities will soon be overwhelmed by a new surge from the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. California health authorities reported Thursday a record two-day total of 1,042 virus deaths, with many people infected during the surge after Halloween and Thanksgiving. The California Hospital Association says the state is moving too slowly to find ways to handle so many cases. State officials counter that moves made this week to limit nonessential surgeries and transfer patients to hospitals with more available beds will save lives.
January 8, 2021 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has become the second Cabinet secretary to resign a day after a pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. In a resignation letter Thursday, DeVos blamed President Donald Trump for inflaming tensions in the violent assault on the seat of the nation’s democracy. She says, “There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao tendered her resignation earlier Thursday. News of DeVos’ resignation was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
January 8, 2021 4:18 am
Boeing will pay $2.5 billion to settle a criminal charge related to its troubled 737 Max jetliner. The Justice Department announced the settlement Thursday, nearly two years after the second of two crashes that killed 346 people in all. Boeing is agreeing to pay money for crash victims’ families, airline customers and airlines, as well as a fine. The 737 Max entered service in 2017. The first crash occurred in October 2018 in Indonesia, and a second occurred five months later in Ethiopia. In both cases, an automated system pushed the noses of the planes down, and pilots were unable to regain control.
January 8, 2021 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – With 13 days left in his term, President Donald Trump has finally bent to reality, acknowledging his electoral defeat amid growing talk in Washington of trying to force him from office early. His statement came at the end of a day when the cornered president stayed out of sight in the White House, silenced on some of his favorite internet lines of communication, while watching the resignations of several top aides, including two Cabinet secretaries. As officials sifted through the aftermath of the pro-Trump mob’s siege of the U.S. Capitol, there was growing discussion Thursday of impeaching him a second time or invoking the 25th Amendment to oust him from the Oval Office.
January 8, 2021 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. Capitol Police are reporting that Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick died Thursday night due to injuries sustained while on-duty during the Wednesday riots at the Capitol. The report said Sicknick was responding to the riots at the U.S. Capitol and was injured while physically engaging with protesters. Supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on Wednesday as Congress was tallying the Electoral College votes to confirm Democrat Joe Biden won the election. After he was injured, Sicknick returned to his division office and collapsed. áHe was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. áThe death will be investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department, the Capitol Police and federal investigators.
January 8, 2021 2:39 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – The U.S. Justice Department says it has charged a West Virginia state lawmaker with entering a restricted area of the U.S. Capitol after he live streamed himself with rioters. Ken Kohl is a top deputy federal prosecutor in Washington. He announced the charge against Derrick Evans during a call Friday in which he announced dozens of new charges against members of a mob that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday. It wasn’t immediately known if Evans is in custody. Several other state lawmakers across the country traveled to Washington, D.C., for demonstrations this week but it’s unknown if any other elected official joined the mob of Donald Trump supporters attacking the U.S. Capitol.
January 8, 2021 2:23 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, is taking a definitive step toward running for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2022. Fetterman said Friday he’s exploring a run for U.S. Senate. Previously, Fetterman had said that he was considering running for either governor or U.S. Senate in 2022. But Fetterman says he’s no longer interested in running for governor. He says he’ll have a final decision in the coming weeks. Both offices, governor and U.S. Senate, are coming open in 2023. Fetterman, the former mayor of small-town Braddock, near Pittsburgh, came in third in 2016’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate before running successfully for lieutenant governor in 2018.
January 8, 2021 2:17 am
Washington City Council met once again virtually. The meeting was highlighted by promotions in the police department and new hires in the fire department. Civil Service Chairman Richard Beck offered several police candidates for promotion to corporal and sergeant but only two accepted the promotions. Mayor Scott Putnam expressed displeasure with candidates that refused promotion. Beck then offered a list of 40 fire department candidates eligible for hire and council hired the top 3. Council also awarded a bid to Pierce Manufacturing for a new fire truck in the amount of $633,195. That truck will be delivered in the next 12-16 months. In a reorganization function council kept all departments the same with Mayor Scott Putnam heading up Public Affairs; Councilmen Matt Staniszewski leading Parks and Recreation; Ken Westcott, Public Works, Joe Manning, Accounts and Finance and Joe Pintola, Public Safety. The law firm of Dodaro, Matta and Cambest remains as solicitor and the Harshman CE Group, LLC will remain as the city engineer. Council’s next meeting will be held virtually again at 1PM on February 4.
January 7, 2021 5:20 pm
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – A West Virginia lawmaker took video of himself and fellow supporters of President Donald Trump storming the U.S. Capitol, triggering calls for his resignation. The video was deleted off the state lawmaker’s social media page later Wednesday. The footage shows Republican Del. Derrick Evans wearing a helmet and clamoring at the door of the Capitol to breach the building. Lawmakers from other states also traveled to the nation’s capital to protest the results of the Electoral College on Wednesday. It’s unclear if any other elected official forced their way into the U.S. Capitol.
