October 20, 2020 4:07 am
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – President Donald Trump has come out swinging against Dr. Anthony Fauci and polls that show Trump trailing Democrat Joe Biden in key battleground states. The president is trying to buck up his team two weeks out from Election Day as he campaigns in the West. He’s dismissing the cautionary coronavirus advice of his scientific experts as well as polling that shows him trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden across key battleground states. Trump, back on the trail after his own coronavirus hospitalization, blasted government scientists for their criticism of his handling of the pandemic and called Fauci “a disaster.”
October 20, 2020 4:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court will allow Pennsylvania to count mailed-in ballots received up to three days after the election, rejecting a Republican plea. The justices divided 4-4 Monday, an outcome that upholds a state Supreme Court ruling that allowed election officials to receive and count ballots until Nov. 6, even if they don’t have a clear postmark. Republicans, including President Donald Trump’s campaign, have opposed such an extension, arguing that it violates federal law that sets Election Day as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and that such a decision constitutionally belongs to lawmakers, not the courts.
October 20, 2020 2:37 am
PITTSBURGH — Multiple school districts around southwestern Pennsylvania are closing school campuses as more students and staff are becoming infected with the novel coronavirus. “Over the last two weeks, we’ve reported 2,000 news cases of COVID-19 among school-age children,” said Dr. Rachel Levine, Pa. Department of Health secretary. Monday night, the Baldwin-Whitehall school district announced three elementary schools will be closed for the rest of the week after a substitute teacher who had worked at each campus tested positive for the virus. In the Quaker Valley School District, 129 students and staff are in quarantine; 14 current COVID-19 cases in the middle and high school forced the district to close both schools for the next two weeks. The McKeesport School District reported six new cases in the past 24 hours among students, teachers and staff. Officials said they believe the cases are “fully contained” and that custodians are using “spray-striker machines” to disinfect all surfaces. In Westmoreland County, Hempfield, Latrobe and Norwin schools are also grappling with a spike in coronavirus cases. Latrobe has 28 current cases, and students are in classes five days a week despite the community spread entering the “significant phase” in the county. The Pa. Department of Health’s recommendation for that district is to move 100% virtual until it’s contained. Norwin reported seven new cases Monday alone among students and staff. The district is considering transitioning from hybrid to five days a week in-person instruction next month. However, some students and board members publicly said they are not comfortable with that. State officials said it has been extremely tough to pinpoint where cases are coming from. The health secretary said two out of every three people who spoke with contact tracers between Oct. 4 and Oct. 10 refused to say whether they traveled to a business or attended a mass gathering in the prior two weeks.
October 20, 2020 2:14 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Dozens of Pennsylvania doctors have called on President Donald Trump to cancel his Erie campaign rally on Tuesday night, citing the rising number of coronavirus cases in the state. A letter signed by more than 75 physicians from around the state said such campaign events endanger public health and give a false impression that the coronavirus is “no longer with us.” The doctors also raised concerns about what they claimed was Trump spreading misinformation about the virus. If Trump does not cancel the rally, the doctors urged people not to attend.
October 19, 2020 3:34 pm
MIAMI (AP) – Tropical Storm Epsilon has formed in the central Atlantic, the latest in what has been a very active hurricane season. The storm has maximum sustained winds near 40 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says additional strengthening is expected and Epsilon is forecast to be at or near hurricane strength by early Thursday. The storm is centered about 735 miles southeast of Bermuda and is currently stationary. This year’s hurricane season has had so many storms that the Hurricane Center has turned to the Greek alphabet for storm names after running out of official names.
October 19, 2020 3:19 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Six Russian military officers sought to disrupt through computer hacking the French election, the Winter Olympics and U.S. businesses. That’s according to a Justice Department indictment unsealed Monday that details attacks on a broad range of political, financial and athletic targets. The indictment also accuses the defendants, all alleged officers in the Russian military agency known as the GRU, in destructive attacks on Ukraine’s power grid and in a hack-and-leak effort directed at the political party of French President Emmanuel Macron during the 2017 election. The indictment does not charge the defendants in connection with interference in American elections.
October 19, 2020 3:17 pm
LAS VEGAS (AP) – President Donald Trump is trying to buck up his campaign staffers two weeks from Election Day as he campaigns in the West. He’s also dismissing the cautionary coronavirus advice of his scientific experts as well as polling that shows him trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden across key battleground states. Trump said during a conference call with campaign aides on Monday that he believes he’s going to win, allowing that he didn’t have that same sense of confidence two weeks ago when he was hospitalized with COVID-19. Trump blasted his government’s own scientists for their criticism of his handling of the coronavirus and called Dr. Anthony Fauci “a disaster.” (Photo: CNN)
October 19, 2020 2:56 pm
(AP) – Monday is the last day in Pennsylvania to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election in which the presidential battleground state is playing a central role in the contest between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Voter registration in Pennsylvania has hit a record high in this cycle, and as of Friday, the latest statistics available, voter rolls were about 17,000 short of hitting 9 million. That includes nearly 4.2 million Democrats and nearly 3.5 million Republicans. Democrats continue to hold a substantial registration edge, but Republicans have narrowed the gap by about 200,000 from 2016’s presidential election to about 700,000 now.
October 19, 2020 7:50 am
A two vehicle crash closed the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 in South Strabane Township Monday morning. The crash occurred just before 6 a.m. at mile-marker 21.5 near the south junction to Interstate 79. The crash involved a truck and a car. There has been no word on injuries. Unconfirmed reports said the driver of the truck got out on his own and several people were reportedly in the car. Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers say Hazmat crews were called to the scene because of a diesel fuel spill. Traffic finally began moving again eastbound just after 9 a.m.
October 19, 2020 4:24 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Twitter has blocked a post from an adviser to President Donald Trump who suggested that masks do not work to stop the spread of coronavirus. Scott Atlas joined the White House in August as a science adviser. He had tweeted “Masks work? NO.” The post said widespread use of masks is not supported. It was blocked Sunday. A Twitter spokesperson says the tweet violated a company policy that prohibits sharing false or misleading misinformation about COVID-19. In such cases, Twitter disables the account until its owner deletes the post in question. Atlas called Twitter’s action censorship.
