November 25, 2020 4:04 am
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) – A science professor at a Michigan university is being investigated and has been placed on a administrative leave after denying the severity of the coronavirus and using racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs on Twitter. Ferris State University President David Eisler said Monday in a statement that Thomas Brennan was placed on leave Thursday for his remarks. The university’s student-run newspaper, The Torch, first reported last week about the professor’s tweets. Eisler says the university “strongly rejects” and condemns the professor’s remarks. Brennan says his is not racist or anti-Semitic.
November 25, 2020 4:02 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – California’s health secretary urged people to say “no” to family and friends who want to gather for Thanksgiving, joining other officials in issuing dire warnings about the spread of the coronavirus. Dr. Mark Ghaly said Tuesday that it’s not too late to cancel or change plans to limit celebrations. The warning came as the pandemic forced four more counties with surging cases to be placed under the most restrictive rules for business operations and as Los Angeles was poised to issue the first stay-home order since spring.
November 25, 2020 3:59 am
North Strabane Supervisors met Tuesday night and the largest action item on the agenda was the adoption of a preliminary 2021 budget. Township Manager Andrew Walz presented the $30,170,570 budget that does include a .5 mil tax increase to residents. That tax is divided between two categories. The fire department will receive .35 mil of that tax increase, parks and recreation will receive the remaining .15 mil. Both of those departments have been running deficits for over 5 years, this tax increase is designed to halt that practice. Walz states that the township has not had a tax increase since 1992 and in fact has had two tax cuts in the last ten years. The budget passed on a 3-2 margin with supervisors Harold Close and Marcus Staley dissenting. Close agrees with the tax increase for the fire department but does not agree a tax increase is needed for parks and recreation. He believes the department can be funded in other ways. The budget will be formally adopted in December.
November 25, 2020 3:57 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Fifteen alleged members and associates of the south Philadelphia and southern New Jersey organized crime family face federal racketeering and related charges. According to a superseding indictment unsealed Monday, the defendants engaged in racketeering conspiracy, illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion and drug trafficking. Federal prosecutors allege the crime family sought to use its “reputation and influence to exercise control over criminal rackets, like bookmaking and loansharking, in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, particularly Atlantic City.” Ten of the defendants are accused of engaging in racketeering and collecting unlawful debts. The remaining five are accused of running an illegal gambling business and other charges.
November 25, 2020 3:08 am
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – Americans got their first look at President-elect Joe Biden’s proposed national security team. He brought his intended nominees forward Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware. Among those on the team: former Secretary of State John Kerry, who’s to take the lead on climate change. Altogether, Biden’s picks signal a shift from President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy and a return to global engagement. Some are veterans of the Obama administration. The incoming president will nominate longtime adviser Antony Blinken to be secretary of state, lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas to be homeland security secretary, Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Jake Sullivan as national security adviser. (Photo: CNN)
November 25, 2020 2:38 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania officials say Democrat Joe Biden has been certified as the winner of the presidential vote in the state. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf first disclosed in a tweet Tuesday that the Pennsylvania Department of State had certified the vote count for president and vice president. The Pennsylvania results show Biden with 3.46 million votes, Trump with 3.38 million and Libertarian Jo Jorgensen with 79,000. The certification culminates three weeks of vote counting and a string of failed legal challenges by President Donald Trump. Biden has collected 306 overall electoral votes to Trump’s 232.
November 24, 2020 5:37 pm
There was a shooting in downtown Pittsburgh Tuesday afternoon. Emergency dispatchers say police and medics were called out to Seventh Street and Fort Duquesne Boulevard. One person was shot and another person was taken into custody. Police said according to their initial investigation, a man in a car got into an argument with another man on a bicycle. The man who was in the car drove up onto the sidewalk, hit a Port Authority bus shelter and then got out and fired multiple shots at the person on the bike. The bicyclist was shot in the leg and was taken to a hospital in stable condition. Police said the driver in the car is in custody and charges are pending.
November 24, 2020 3:52 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Beyonce is bringing her black parade to the Grammys: The pop star’s anthem about Black pride scored multiple nominations Tuesday, making her the leading contender with nine. Beyonce picked up song and record of the year bids with “Black Parade,” which she released on Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free. The song, which reached the Top 40 on the pop charts, is also nominated for best R&B song and best R&B performance. Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Roddy Ricch each earned six nominations and are the second-most nominated acts. (Photo: CNN)
November 24, 2020 2:37 pm
(AP) – OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has pleaded guilty to criminal charges and formally admitted its role in the opioid crisis. Tuesday’s plea before a judge in Newark, New Jersey, is part of a larger settlement with the U.S Department of Justice that also includes resolving civil claims. The Stamford, Connecticut-based company is to pay $225 million as part of the deal, while $8 billion in forfeitures and penalties could be waived because of a proposed deal to resolve thousands of other lawsuits. Advocates are upset that the guilty plea applies only to the company and not executives or members of the Sackler family who own it.
November 24, 2020 4:19 am
DETROIT (AP) – General Motors will recall about 7 million big pickup trucks and SUVs worldwide to replace potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators. The move came Monday after the U.S. government told the automaker it had to recall 6 million of the vehicles in the U.S. GM says it will not fight the recall, which will cost $1.2 billion. The company had petitioned the agency four times starting in 2016 to avoid a recall, contending the inflators are safe. Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to fill air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate and blow apart a metal canister, spewing shrapnel. Twenty-seven people have been killed worldwide by the exploding inflators.
