November 20, 2021 3:58 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate will pay up to $270,000 over the next six months to have a consulting firm examine the 2020 election with an eye toward developing changes to state election law. The “forensic investigation” is being launched in response to pressure from Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump upset over his 80,000-vote loss in the state. Dubuque, Iowa-based Envoy Sage will be paid out of the Senate Republican leader’s taxpayer-funded leadership account. Democrats say the had no role in picking Envoy Sage and call the review political, unnecessary and costly.
November 20, 2021 3:44 am
Our news partners at WPXI report that the Allegheny County Police Department’s Homicide Unit responded to an incident in McKeesport Friday afternoon after a man was found stabbed. At approximately 3:23 p.m., 911 was notified of a stabbing in the 500 block of Sinclair Street, where first responders found an adult man suffering from a stab wound to the chest. He was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:46 p.m. after medical professionals attempted life saving measures. Homicide detectives are investigating. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the County Police Tip Line 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
November 19, 2021 12:50 pm
(WPXI) – The sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Fenway Sports Group is one step closer to being official. Various media outlets are reporting that the boards of the FSG and the Penguins have approved the sale of the team. The board of the National Hockey League still have to vote. They are awaiting a final approval from the NHL, per a source close to the Penguins. Under the deal, Mario Lemieux would remain a minority owner.
November 19, 2021 10:14 am
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) – The White House says President Joe Biden will briefly transfer power to Vice President Kamala Harris when he undergoes a “routine colonoscopy.” Press secretary Jen Psaki says Biden will be under anesthesia Friday during the procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Harris “will work from her office in the West Wing during this time.” The 78-year-old Biden is the oldest person to serve as president and is at Walter Reed for his first routine physical since taking over at the White House. Biden had his last full exam in December 2019. Doctors reported then he was “healthy, vigorous” and “fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.”
November 19, 2021 9:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. is moving to open up COVID-19 booster shots to all adults, letting them choose another dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Regulators authorized broader use of the shots Friday, seeking to simplify what has been a confusing list of who’s eligible. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has to agree before tens of millions more Americans qualify, The agency’s scientific advisers voted in support of the move. The U.S. government is trying to get ahead of rising coronavirus cases that experts fear could snowball into a winter surge with upcoming holiday travel.
November 19, 2021 4:23 am
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) – Defense attorneys for the three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery rested Thursday after calling a total of seven witnesses. The people who testified in the men’s defense included the man who fatally shot Arbery, Travis McMichael. Six neighbors testified about their concerns regarding crime in the neighborhood. McMichael and his father, Greg McMichael, armed themselves and pursued the 25-year-old Black man in a pickup truck after he ran past their home from the house under construction. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase in his own truck and recorded cellphone video. All of the defendants are white.
November 19, 2021 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has joined with the leaders of Canada and Mexico to revive what used to be a North American tradition before the Trump presidency. Together they made the case Thursday that their nations can work together and show that “democracies can deliver” even as they try to sort out their differences on key issues. As Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador spoke of their mutual respect, the three leaders also found themselves negotiating fresh strains on trade, immigration, climate change and other matters.á
November 19, 2021 4:19 am
AURORA, Colo. (AP) – Three people were shot Friday in the parking lot of a high school in the Denver suburb of Aurora, and the school is on lockdown, police said Friday. The shooting came after six students from another Aurora high school were shot and injured Monday at a park near their school. The Aurora Police Department tweeted that two of the people shot shortly before 12:30 p.m. on Friday outside Hinkley High School were taken to a hospital and that a third managed to get to a hospital on their own. No additional details were immediately available and police did not immediately respond to telephone messages seeking comment.
November 19, 2021 4:18 am
A surge in COVID-19 cases in the Upper Midwest has some Michigan schools keeping students at home ahead of Thanksgiving. In Minnesota, the military is sending medical teams to relieve hospital staffs overwhelmed by patients. Meanwhile, the federal government is moving closer to expanding booster shots for everyone in the U.S., though many states aren’t waiting. Massachusetts and Utah became the latest to say anyone 18 or older can roll up a sleeve for one. Cold weather states continue to dominate the fresh wave of cases over the last seven days, including New Hampshire, North Dakota and Wisconsin. But the Southwest has trouble spots, too, including Arizona and New Mexico.
November 19, 2021 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) -A sharply divided House has approved the Democrats’ sweeping social and environment bill, a big victory for President Joe Biden. Republicans solidly opposed the measure, but Democrats prevailed after the party’s progressives and moderates ended months of disputes over its size and scope. The legislation now moves to the Senate, where moderates like West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin are poised to curtail the bill further. The measure would bolster child care assistance, create free preschool, curb seniors’ prescription drug costs and combat climate change. Passage came after new cost estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the legislation would cause federal deficits to grow by $160 billion over the coming decade.
