November 14, 2020 5:00 am
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Tropical Storm Iota has formed in the Caribbean and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it approaches Central America. It could wreak havoc in a region where people are still grappling with more than 120 deaths and many more missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Eta. The U.S. National Hurricane Center on Friday said Iota could bring dangerous wind, storm surge and rainfall to Nicaragua and Honduras by Sunday night. There were no coastal warnings or watches in effect as of Friday afternoon. Iota is the 30th named storm of this year’s record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season.
November 14, 2020 5:00 am
(WPXI) – With the holiday season already starting, you will probably start seeing social media posts about the “Secret Sister” gift exchange. The “Secret Sister” posts became popular in 2015, the Better Business Bureau said. It’s when you send one gift and expect to receive up to 36 in return. Every year the post has slight changes, for example, bottles of wine or $10 gifts, the BBB said, but no matter the cost or the presents, the exchange is technically a pyramid scheme and is illegal. The BBB said the gift exchange says to provide your name and address as well as the same information for a couple of friends and to add it to a list that was started by someone you may not know. Then you start buying and shipping gifts to people on the list, most likely complete strangers, all in the hope of getting gifts in return, which doesn’t always happen. In the end, you may be left empty-handed, with no gifts after spending money to buy and send your allotment. The U.S. Postal Inspection Services consider the gift exchange a form of gambling, and if you participate, you could face jail time, fines or a lawsuit for mail fraud, the BBB said.
November 13, 2020 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former President Barack Obama says he’s troubled by the Republican officials who are “going along with” President Donald Trump’s baseless accusations of widespread voter fraud. Obama made the comment in an interview Wednesday with CBS News. The full interview is set to air Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” Obama is promoting his new book, “A Promised Land.” The release date comes just days after Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, was elected president over Trump. Obama says the false claims about voter fraud are “one more step in delegitimizing not just the incoming Biden administration, but democracy generally.” He says it puts the U.S. on a “dangerous path.”
November 13, 2020 4:17 am
WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – Two workers are dead and a third person is missing after an apparent steam explosion in a maintenance building at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Connecticut. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut says one of the dead in the explosion Friday at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System campus in West Haven was a VA employee and the other was a contractor. VA Secretary Robert Wilkie says patient care was not affected. Firefighters say they responded to a steam explosion at a facilities building. The cause is being investigated. People were entering and exiting the main hospital building by late morning.
November 13, 2020 4:15 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Election officials in Georgia’s 159 counties are undertaking a hand tally of the presidential race that stems from an audit required by state law. The law requires that one race be audited by hand to check that the machines counted the ballots accurately, not because of any suspected problems with the results. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger chose to audit the presidential race, in which Democrat Joe Biden leads Republican President Donald Trump by about 14,000 votes. Raffensperger says the tight margin means a full hand count is necessary. The counties are to begin the audit by 9 a.m. Friday and complete it by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.
November 13, 2020 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has wrapped up his Rose Garden news conference celebrating progress made on bringing a coronavirus vaccine to market without taking questions from reporters. The White House has long boasted that Trump has been perhaps the most press accessible commander-in-chief in the nation’s history. But the president has become unusually press shy as he soldiers on with a legal effort to overcome his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden. Trump has made less than a handful of public appearances in recent days and has not answered White House reporters’ questions since before Election Day.
November 13, 2020 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A coalition of federal and state officials say they have no evidence that votes were compromised or altered in last week’s presidential election, rejecting unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud advanced by President Donald Trump and many of his supporters. The statement from cybersecurity experts, which trumpets the Nov. 3 election as the most secure in American history, amounts to the most direct repudiation to date of Trump’s efforts to undermine the integrity of the contest. It echoes repeated assertions by election experts and state officials that the election unfolded smoothly without broad irregularities.
November 13, 2020 4:08 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A judge in Pennsylvania is siding with President Donald Trump’s campaign in ordering counties not to count mail ballots for which the voter didn’t submit valid identification within six days after the Nov. 3 election. The injunction deals with a small number of ballots that may number a few thousand, or less. The ballots affected may not have been tabulated yet and are unlikely to affect the outcome of the presidential race in Pennsylvania. The Associated Press called the presidential contest for former Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday after determining the remaining ballots left to be counted in Pennsylvania would not allow Trump to catch up. Biden held an approximately 55,000-vote margin Thursday night.
November 13, 2020 4:08 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s highest-ranking law enforcement official says that more than a week after Election Day he still hasn’t seen any sign of widespread voter fraud. Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Thursday that lawyers for the Republican Party and President Donald Trump also haven’t produced any evidence of widespread fraud in the swirl of litigation they’re pursuing. Shapiro also says lawmakers in the Republican-majority General Assembly lack legal authority to attempt to replace Democrat Joe Biden’s Electoral College voters. The electors are due to convene in Harrisburg in about a month.
November 13, 2020 2:48 am
Shona Eakin is the CEO of Voices For Independence, the parent company of the Washington County based center for independent living, Transitional Paths to Independent Living, better known as TRPIL. She is also a Washington County native that has come home to open TRPIL’s new headquarters in the former YWCA building on W. Maiden Street. Eakin, herself is afflicted with physical challenges and remembers her physical therapy sessions at the YWCA swimming pool. She expressed pride in being able to revive this building and put it to use again for the community. The ribbon cutting ceremony held Friday marked the finish of phase one of renovations. Mostly office space has been created to help staff administer the care needed for disabled consumers. The common area is open and is being used as an internet café. Consumers may make an appointment to use the internet or learn computer skills. Phase 2 renovations will include the development of program rooms and the renovation of the auditorium. Despite the pandemic, TRPIL has been quite successful in meeting the needs of their consumers. Eakin wants everyone to know that if they are in need of disability services, they can reach out to TRPIL and they will help get the services needed. (Pictured l to r: Washington County Commissioners Larry Maggi; Washington Health System CEO Brook Ward; VOI/TRPIL CEO Shona Eakin VOI; Bob Bach with VOI and President of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, Jeff Kotula)
