November 13, 2020 4:08 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s highest-ranking law enforcement official says that more than a week after Election Day he still hasn’t seen any sign of widespread voter fraud. Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Thursday that lawyers for the Republican Party and President Donald Trump also haven’t produced any evidence of widespread fraud in the swirl of litigation they’re pursuing. Shapiro also says lawmakers in the Republican-majority General Assembly lack legal authority to attempt to replace Democrat Joe Biden’s Electoral College voters. The electors are due to convene in Harrisburg in about a month.
November 13, 2020 2:48 am
Shona Eakin is the CEO of Voices For Independence, the parent company of the Washington County based center for independent living, Transitional Paths to Independent Living, better known as TRPIL. She is also a Washington County native that has come home to open TRPIL’s new headquarters in the former YWCA building on W. Maiden Street. Eakin, herself is afflicted with physical challenges and remembers her physical therapy sessions at the YWCA swimming pool. She expressed pride in being able to revive this building and put it to use again for the community. The ribbon cutting ceremony held Friday marked the finish of phase one of renovations. Mostly office space has been created to help staff administer the care needed for disabled consumers. The common area is open and is being used as an internet café. Consumers may make an appointment to use the internet or learn computer skills. Phase 2 renovations will include the development of program rooms and the renovation of the auditorium. Despite the pandemic, TRPIL has been quite successful in meeting the needs of their consumers. Eakin wants everyone to know that if they are in need of disability services, they can reach out to TRPIL and they will help get the services needed. (Pictured l to r: Washington County Commissioners Larry Maggi; Washington Health System CEO Brook Ward; VOI/TRPIL CEO Shona Eakin VOI; Bob Bach with VOI and President of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, Jeff Kotula)
November 12, 2020 4:37 pm
Washington County Judge Gary Gilman has dismissed charges of attempted child-luring and interfering with child custody against a South Strabane Township man. Gilman ruled that authorities failed to establish enough evidence against 67-year-old Jan Ondra, who was charged following allegations that he tried to lure a child into his van in Clarksville in June of 2019. In his ruling, Gilman said that, while many may consider Ondra’s behavior to be socially questionable or unacceptable, it does not rise to the level of criminal conduct. Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone will reportedly review the court’s decision.
November 12, 2020 1:42 pm
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – Officials say one of the first cruise ships to ply through Caribbean waters since the pandemic began ended its trip early after one passenger fell ill and is believed to have COVID-19. The SeaDream is carrying 53 passengers and 66 crew, with the majority of passengers hailing from the U.S. according to Sue Bryant, who is aboard the ship and is a cruise editor for The Times and The Sunday Times in Britain. She told The Associated Press on Thursday that one passenger became sick on Wednesday and forced the ship to turn back to Barbados. The ship had yet to dock as authorities tested those on board.
November 12, 2020 8:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 709,000, the fourth straight drop and a sign that the job market is slowly healing. The figures coincide with a sharp resurgence in confirmed viral infections to an all-time high above 120,000 a day. Cases are rising in 49 states, and deaths are increasing in 39. The nation has now recorded 240,000 virus-related deaths and 10.3 million confirmed infections.
November 12, 2020 4:10 am
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Tropical Storm Eta is dumping torrents of blustery rain on Florida’s west coast as it slogs over the Gulf of Mexico toward an expected Florida landfall north of the heavily populated Tampa Bay area. The National Hurricane Center in Miami predicted Eta would rumble ashore sometime Thursday and then move northeast across Florida. Eta briefly gained hurricane strength at midweek before weakening to a tropical storm nearing landfall. There were no immediate reports of injuries or serious damage or flooding in the U.S. Eta first hit Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane, killing at least 120 people in Central America and Mexico before moving into the Gulf of Mexico.
November 12, 2020 4:09 am
Texas has become the first state with more than 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. And California is nearing that mark as a surge of infections engulfs the country. Across the U.S., over 10.3 million cases have been recorded. Cases per day are now on the rise in 49 states, and deaths per day are climbing in 39. A month ago, the U.S. was experiencing about 730 COVID-19 deaths a day. Now that’s up to 970 deaths a day.
November 12, 2020 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden says he’s not worried that President Donald Trump has broken with tradition by not letting him read the ultra-secret daily brief containing the nation’s most sensitive intelligence before inauguration. Biden says he can’t make national security decisions yet anyway so he doesn’t need it. National security and intelligence experts hope Trump eventually decides to share the so-called President’s Daily Brief with Biden. They say U.S. adversaries can take advantage of the country during an American presidential transition and key foreign issues will be bearing down on Biden when he walks in the Oval Office.
November 12, 2020 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Abrupt changes in the Pentagon’s top leadership have raised fears about what President Donald Trump may try to do in his final two months of office. Another concern is whether the military’s long held apolitical nature could be upended. It’s unclear if Trump’s motive for the shakeup is to strike out against those he deemed not loyal enough or if there is a broader plan to enact policy changes Trump can tout in his final days as commander in chief. Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says, “We do not take an oath to an individual.”
November 12, 2020 4:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden has chosen his longtime adviser Ron Klain to reprise his role as his chief of staff. Biden said Wednesday that Klain’s “deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again.” The choice of Klain underscores the effort the incoming Biden administration will place on the coronavirus response from day one. Klain served as the coordinator to the Ebola response during the 2014 outbreak.
