October 17, 2020 9:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A New York tabloid’s puzzling account about how it acquired emails purportedly from Joe Biden’s son has raised some red flags. One of the biggest involves the source of the emails: Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani has traveled abroad looking for dirt on the Bidens, developing relationships with shadowy figures, including a Ukrainian lawmaker who U.S. officials have described as a Russian agent and part of a broader Russian effort to denigrate the Democratic presidential nominee. The FBI is investigating whether the emails are part of a foreign influence operation.
October 17, 2020 4:32 am
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reports a slight increase in total gaming revenue in September over the same period last year. $284,235,444 in revenue was reported for total gaming and fantasy contests. That is a 1% increase over September 2019. Locally, the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh reported a 29% drop in revenue. The Meadows reported a 25% drop in revenue. Statewide, the largest revenue gaining games were Internet Slots and Internet Table Games.
October 17, 2020 4:20 am
A Washington man was sentenced to federal prison for his conviction of possession of a controlled substance and intent to deliver a controlled substance. Ramone Barnes, 34 formally of Washington, will spend the next 10 years in prison. Barnes distributed five bricks of fentanyl to undercover agents on June 26, 2017. On September 25, 2017 agents seized 10 grams of fentanyl in connection with the earlier arrest. Investigators for the Pennsylvania State Police Drug Law Enforcement Division and the Washington County District Attorney’s Office Drug Task Force cooperated in the investigation.
October 16, 2020 5:38 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The FBI is investigating whether emails that were published by the New York Post related to Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, are connected to a possible Russian influence operation. That’s according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The newspaper said that it had obtained a hard drive from Rudy Giuliani containing the emails, and that the messages were found on a laptop that had been left at a Delaware computer repair shop but never retrieved. The unlikely account raised immediate questions about Russian involvement.
October 16, 2020 5:37 pm
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – President Donald Trump’s administration has reversed course and approved a previously rejected California application for disaster relief funds to clean up damage from six recent wildfires. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement Friday that he had just got off the phone with Trump who approved the major disaster declaration. The White House earlier said the Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected the request because it was not supported by data needed for approval.
October 16, 2020 4:53 am
It’s back to the classroom for students in the Trinity School District. The board voted overwhelming Thursday to amend its health and safety plan. Full-time in-person instruction for grades K-through- 5 will be Monday through Friday. Students in grades 6 -through-12 will be in class Monday through Thursday with remote instruction on Friday’s. Director Jim Knapp tells WJPA News that he was initially against the idea but voted to approve the plan because of “parental pressure”. Knapp says “I believe this is what the majority of people want here in Washington County”. Knapp went on to say that the “district’s pandemic coordinator, who is a medical professional, did not come out and say that he recommends it, but he provided the board with evidence he felt strongly that we should go”. Knapp says the district has been working on preparing classrooms for the influx of students. He says he has heard as many as 89 percent plan to return. According to Knapp, it will be difficult in terms of social distancing but says “the recommendation is six feet but it is not required”. Superintendent Dr. Michael Lucas was not available for comment following the meeting.
October 16, 2020 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska has told constituents that President Donald Trump mocks Christian evangelicals in private and “kisses dictators’ butts.” Sasse made the comments Wednesday during a telephone town hall this week when he was asked why he has been so critical of a president of his own party. Sasse is running for a second term representing the reliably red state. He criticized Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and said Trump’s family has treated the presidency “like a business opportunity.” The comments were first reported by the Washington Examiner after it obtained an audio recording of the senator’s comments.
October 16, 2020 4:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s campaign and Republicans raised $247.8 million in September – better than the month before, but still lagging far behind his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, who raised $383 million over the same stretch. Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee and its joint fundraising committees finished the month with $251.4 million cash on hand – dramatically less than the $432 million Biden reported having in the bank just weeks before the Nov. 3 election. Trump and Republicans jointly raised $210 million in August, a robust sum dwarfed by the record $364.5 million raised by Democrats and Biden.
October 16, 2020 4:01 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The Trump White House has installed two political operatives at the nation’s top public health agency to try to control the information it releases about the coronavirus pandemic as the administration seeks to paint a positive outlook, sometimes at odds with the scientific evidence. The two appointees assigned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Atlanta headquarters in June have no public health background. They have instead been tasked with keeping an eye on Dr. Robert Redfield, the agency director, as well as scientists, according to a half-dozen CDC and administration officials who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal government affairs.
October 16, 2020 4:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden showed striking differences in temperament, views on racial justice and approaches to the pandemic that has reshaped the nation in dueling televised town halls. They squared off, in a way, Thursday night, their scuttled second debate replaced by the separate events. Trump was defensive about his administration’s handling of the coronavirus, and evasive when pressed about whether he took a required COVID-19 test before his first debate with Biden. Trump refused to denounce the QAnon conspiracy group, and only testily did so regarding white supremacists. Biden, for his part, denounced the White House’s handling of the virus.
