September 16, 2020 4:20 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The magazine Scientific American chose Democrat Joe Biden over President Donald Trump in the first presidential endorsement in the publication’s 175-year history. The magazine’s top editor said there really wasn’t much debate over the choice. Laura Helmuth says the magazine’s editors were worried about Trumps’ commitment to science four years ago, but the reality has turned out worse than expected, particularly with the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Not everyone agrees. The magazine has taken some criticism from some who feel that it has overstepped its bounds. Helmuth said it was a coincidence that Scientific American’s endorsement appeared a day after Trump questioned science at a meeting involving the California wildfires.
September 16, 2020 4:19 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – As coronavirus deaths push past 1,200 and cases continue to rise Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds stands firm in her opposition to requiring masks or authorizing local cities and counties to enforce face covering mandates widely viewed by medical professionals and scientists as an effective way to slow COVID-19 spread. Reynolds encourages Iowans to wear masks but says orders are not enforceable. She’s been photographed recently at GOP events hugging and talking closely with others without a mask but claims she does wear one and says photo snapshots aren’t reflective of her practice. Community virus spread continues to be high in some counties which lead to a government recommendation of a statewide mask mandate, but Reynolds has declined to enact one.
September 16, 2020 4:18 am
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) – Joe Biden has made his first trip to Florida as the Democratic presidential nominee with an urgent mission to boost support among Latinos who could decide the election in one of the nation’s fiercest battleground states. Biden said during a Hispanic Heritage Month kickoff event that “the Latino community holds in the palm of their hand the destiny of this country.” He also went after President Donald Trump, charging he’s “failed the Hispanic community time and time again.” A win for Biden in Florida would dramatically narrow Trump’s path to reelection. But there are mounting concerns that Biden may be slipping in the state, particularly with influential Latino voters.
September 16, 2020 4:16 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – President Donald Trump is denying he played down the threat of the coronavirus earlier this year, although there is an audio recording of him stating he did just that. Trump is also continuing to cast doubt on the widely accepted scientific conclusions of his own administration strongly urging the use of face coverings. He says, “There are people that don’t think masks are good.” The president participated in a televised town hall Tuesday with uncommitted voters, hosted by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. In an exchange with one voter, Trump said he actually “up-played” the virus threat.
September 16, 2020 4:14 am
JERUSALEM (AP) – The Israeli military has struck Hamas militant sites in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire toward Israel the previous night that coincided with the signing of normalization agreements between Israel and two Arab countries at the White House. Wednesday’s exchange offered a stark reminder that the festive events in Washington would likely do little to change Israel’s most pressing conflict next door. The barrage began Tuesday night just as the ceremony in Washington was getting underway to formalize the new agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Two Israelis were lightly wounded. The military said it struck about 10 sites belonging to Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers
September 16, 2020 4:13 am
UNDATED (AP) – Authorities in Pensacola, Florida, say 200 National Guard members will be arriving Thursday in response to Hurricane Sally, which hit the Gulf Coast with wind and drenching rains that have caused flooding.At a Wednesday afternoon news conference, Escambia County authorities announced a dusk to dawn curfew for the next three days. They also said there have been 377 rescues so far from water-stricken areas. Sally lumbered ashore Wednesday morning near the Florida-Alabama line as Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds and rain measured in feet, not inches. It has swamped homes and trapped people in high water as it creeps inland. (Photo: CNN)
September 16, 2020 4:09 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Officials in the presidential battleground of Pennsylvania have told counties they cannot reject a ballot solely because an election official believes a signature doesn’t match the one in the voter’s file. The guidance prompted the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh to drop a federal lawsuit Monday. The groups had sought to ensure voters could fix ballots that are missing signatures or flagged for a mismatch. Concerns have risen that thousands of November mail-in ballots could be discarded in a state that helped propel President Donald Trump to the White House in 2016.
September 16, 2020 4:08 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania state representatives are giving their approval to a bill that would keep governors from using their emergency powers to shut down houses of worship during emergencies. All Republicans and roughly half the Democrats voted Tuesday for the bill, which was sent to the Senate. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf hasn’t closed churches during the pandemic, but he’s asked church leaders to take steps to protect their congregants. The bill would amend the state Religious Freedom Protection Act to ban governors from infringing on anyone’s ability to assemble for worship or to travel to their place of worship.
September 16, 2020 4:05 am
Pittsburgh area doctors are continuing the study into what possible effects fracking and drilling could have on childhood cancer rates in southwestern Pennsylvania. The SWPA Environmental Health Project hosted a seminar via Zoom Tuesday night with University of Pittsburgh Doctor Shaina Stacy, who serves as a postdoctoral associate. Dr. Stacy says that multiple studies have been implemented to see if the fracking process could cause problems with spikes in childhood cancers and birth defects. Dr. Stacy has studied cases of pediatric leukemia in this area from 2007-2015, and has found that in that time, roughly 15-33 cases have occurred in Washington County. The doctor says with more wells in a particular area, there is more risk of health problems. She thinks that additional testing and studies are needed, and that the delay in case recordings at the state level causes issues in the accurate completion of their work.
September 15, 2020 5:55 pm
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer says the city has agreed to a settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor that includes a $12 million payment and police reforms after the Black woman was fatally shot by police who burst into her home at night. Taylor’s death sparked months of protests in Louisville and calls nationwide for the officers to be criminally charged. The state’s attorney general is investigating police actions in the March 13 fatal shooting. The lawsuit was filed in April by Taylor’s mother and alleged the police used flawed information when they obtained a “no-knock” warrant to enter the 26-year-old woman’s apartment in March. (Photo: CNN)
