October 13, 2020 4:13 am
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) – A late-stage study of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been paused while the company investigates whether a study participant’s “unexplained illness” is related to the shot. The company said in a statement Monday evening that illnesses, accidents and other so-called adverse events are an expected part of large clinical studies. Its physicians and a safety monitoring panel will try to determine what might have caused the illness. The pause is at least the second such hold to occur among several vaccines that have reached large-scale final tests in the U.S. Final-stage testing of a vaccine made by AstraZeneca and Oxford University remains on hold in the U.S., though it has restarted elsewhere.
October 13, 2020 4:12 am
SANFORD, Florida (AP) – Defiant as ever about the coronavirus, President Donald Trump has turned his first campaign rally since contracting COVID-19 into a full-throated defense of his handling of the pandemic that has killed 215,000 Americans. Trump joked Monday that he was healthy enough to plunge into the Florida crowd and give voters “a big fat kiss.” There was no social distancing among the thousands in front of Trump and mask-wearing was spotty as he held forth for an hour, trying to to get his struggling reelection campaign back on track with just weeks left before Election Day.
October 13, 2020 4:11 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California’s chief elections officer has ordered Republicans to remove unofficial ballot drop boxes set up in at least four counties. Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Monday the boxes are illegal. But Republicans refused to remove them. They said they were just taking advantage of California’s liberal ballot collection law that allows anyone to collect ballots from voters and deliver them to county election offices. Padilla’s office sent Republicans a cease and desist letter ordering them to remove the drop boxes by Thursday. Attorney General Xavier Becerra threatened to prosecute anyone trying to improperly solicit ballots. The boxes have been reported in Los Angeles, Orange, Fresno and Ventura counties.
October 13, 2020 4:10 am
PITTSBURGH —(WPXI)- A local postal worker is off the job, accused of throwing away mail intended for Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood. The United States Postal Service confirmed there was a mail-in ballot application among the dumped items, along with dozens of political advertisements. The discarded mail was found in a garbage can at Persad Center on Butler Street in Lawrenceville — the same place the postal worker delivers mail to. “We needed to call the postal office to let them know,” said Carlos Torres, the interim executive director of the Persad Center Torres said he took quick action after his facilities manager found the mails in the trash can last week. “This particular morning, he looked into the trash can right outside the main entrance of the building and noticed that there was mail that had not been delivered,” Torres said. “None of the mail belonged to us. We left it alone because we didn’t want to damage any evidence so to speak.” Security cameras captured the postal worker doing the same thing more than once. “Caught on video — the postal worker, who after delivering our mail, went back into their vehicle and took something out of their vehicle and put it in the trash. And this happened over a number of days,” Torres said. “Voter security, making sure everyone gets the proper documents so they can exercise their right to vote is essential. So it is very concerning that this is happening. Not only on our property but also this time in our society,” Torres said. Once the investigation is complete, the case will be presented to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for federal prosecution.
October 12, 2020 4:40 pm
PHOENIX (AP) – The mother of Arizona Sen. John McCain, Roberta McCain, has died. She was 108. A spokesperson for her daughter-in-law Cindy McCain says Roberta McCain died Monday. A cause of death was not immediately released. Roberta McCain married into a storied military family, eloping with Navy ensign John McCain Jr., who eventually became a four-star admiral. Roberta McCain used her feisty personality to campaign for her son during his 2008 run for the White House and remained active well into her 90s. Her son, John McCain, died in 2018. (Photo: CNN)
October 12, 2020 1:14 pm
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Wisconsin judge has upheld Gov. Tony Evers’ mask mandate in the face of a conservative challenge. St. Croix County Circuit Judge R. Michael Waterman ruled Monday that Evers did not overstep his authority by issuing multiple emergency orders on the coronavirus. Evers says the mask order was within his power and that he has followed the recommendations of public health experts. The lawsuit argued that Evers can issue only one emergency declaration per crisis. Wisconsin is among the worst COVID-19 hot spots in the country, topping more than 150,000 positive cases on Sunday.
October 12, 2020 12:51 pm
(WPXI) – Police have issued an arrest warrant for a man they say is responsible for the deadly shooting at Monroeville Mall last week. Police accuse Lawrence Mark Murphy, 20, of shooting Saheed Gayle in the parking lot of Monroeville Mall on Oct. 7. Gayle was taken to a hospital, where he died. Homicide detectives said evidence showed the shooting occurred during an argument and that Gayle was not randomly targeted. Murphy is facing criminal homicide and weapons violations. Police said he had ties to the Braddock area. Anyone who sees Murphy should call 911 or Allegheny County police.
October 12, 2020 8:58 am
PITTSBURGH – (WPXI)- One person died and two others were taken to a hospital after a cement truck was involved in a multi-vehicle crash Monday morning in Pittsburgh’s South Side, officials said. The crash, which involved a van, a car and the cement truck, happened shortly before 7:30 a.m. in the area of South 18th and Crosman streets. Police said a passenger in the van was killed. The drivers of the van and truck were taken to a hospital. The car was parked at the time of the crash.
October 12, 2020 4:27 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A federal judge in Pennsylvania is throwing out a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign, dismissing its challenges to the battleground state’s poll-watching law and its efforts to limit how mail-in ballots can be collected and which of them can be counted. Trump’s campaign said it would appeal at least one element of Saturday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan, with barely three weeks to go until Election Day in a state hotly contested by Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The lawsuit was opposed by the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, and the state Democratic Party.
October 12, 2020 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says he is ready to return to the campaign trail, a declaration that comes despite unanswered questions about his health on the eve of a Florida rally kicking off the final weeks before Election Day. The White House doctor has said Trump is no longer at risk of transmitting the coronavirus but has not said explicitly whether Trump has tested negative for it. The president insisted Sunday he is now “immune” from the virus, a claim that is impossible to prove.
