February 23, 2021 4:04 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Republican Party committee members in Pennsylvania expect to meet Wednesday night to decide whether to censure U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey amid a GOP backlash over his vote to convict Donald Trump during the former president’s second impeachment trial. The state party chairman, Lawrence Tabas, emailed committee members Monday to schedule the meeting. He emailed them on Feb. 13, moments after the Senate vote, telling them to expect a meeting. A censure vote is a symbolic gesture that may have no real effect on Toomey since he isn’t seeking reelection next year. Toomey was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump of “incitement of insurrection.”
February 22, 2021 10:37 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Dominion Voting Systems has filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against the founder and CEO of Minnesota-based MyPillow. The lawsuit alleges that Mike Lindell falsely accused Dominion of rigging the 2020 presidential election. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the District of Columbia on Monday. It alleges that Lindell ignored repeated warnings from Dominion. The voting technology company has filed similar lawsuits against Donald Trump lawyers Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell. Dominion’s lawsuit accuses Lindell of repeatedly telling what the lawsuit labels the “Big Lie” that the company stole the election. Lindell and MyPillow’s general counsel did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
February 22, 2021 9:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – In a significant defeat for former President Donald Trump, the Supreme Court is declining to step in to halt the turnover of his tax records to a New York state prosecutor. The court’s action Monday is the apparent culmination of a lengthy legal battle that had already reached the high court once before. Trump’s tax records are not supposed to become public as part of prosecutors’ investigation, but the high court’s action is a blow to Trump because he has for so long fought to keep his tax records shielded from view. The ongoing investigation the records are part of could also become an issue for Trump in his life after the presidency.
February 22, 2021 4:22 am
CYBERSPACE (AP) – The grocery chain Kroger is acknowledging that it, too, was among the targets of the massive data hack into U.S. corporate and government computers. Kroger says it believes personal data, including Social Security numbers of customers of its pharmacy and clinic may have been swiped. The company says it believes less than 1% of its customers were affected. Also believed to have been compromised: data about some current and former employees. Kroger says it will contact those affected and offer them free credit monitoring services.
February 22, 2021 4:19 am
(AP) – The COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. has topped 500,000, all but matching the number of Americans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined. The lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, are about equal to the population of Kansas City, Missouri, and greater than that of Miami; Raleigh, North Carolina; or Omaha, Nebraska. The U.S. toll is by far the highest reported in the world. Despite the rollout of vaccines since mid-December, a closely watched model from the University of Washington projects more than 589,000 dead by June 1.
February 22, 2021 4:17 am
HOUSTON (AP) – Hospitals across the South are grappling with water shortages as the region carries on with recovery efforts in the wake of a devastating winter storm. Meanwhile, the weather offered a balmy respite – temperatures as high as the mid-60s in Houston. At the height of the storm, hospitals were left scrambling to care for patients amid record cold, snow and ice. The storm was especially damaging in parts of the country more accustomed to going through winter with light jackets and short sleeves. The icy blast ruptured water mains, knocked out power to millions of utility customers and contributed to at least 76 deaths.
February 22, 2021 4:16 am
Federal aviation regulators are ordering United Airlines to step up inspections of all Boeing 777s equipped with the type of engine that suffered a catastrophic failure over Denver Saturday. United says it is temporarily removing those aircraft from service. Boeing has recommended aircraft with the engines be grounded pending a decision on inspections. The announcements came a day after United Airlines Flight 328 had to make an emergency landing at Denver International Airport after its right engine blew apart just after takeoff. The National Transportation Safety Board said two of the engine’s fan blades were fractured although it did caution that it was too early to draw conclusions about how the incident happened.
February 22, 2021 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s attorney general nominee is vowing to prioritize combating extremist violence and said his first focus would be on the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as he sought to assure lawmakers that the Justice Department would remain politically independent on his watch. The federal appeals court judge was snubbed by Republicans for a seat on the Supreme Court in 2016. Garland appeared Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee and is widely expected to sail through his confirmation process with bipartisan support. He says the “attorney general represents the public interest, particularly and specifically as defined by the Constitution and the statutes of the United States.” He pledged that he does “not plan to be interfered with by anyone.” (Photo: AP)
February 22, 2021 4:09 am
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – The president of Penn State University has announced plans to retire at the end of his current contract, which runs through June of next year, and a phased approach to finding his replacement is set to begin this spring. President Eric Barron announced his plans to university trustees Friday. He assumed the office in 2014. The process of finding a successor will begin in the spring with students, faculty, donors and others asked to weigh in on the qualities and qualifications they want in the next university president. The selection committee’s search is to start in the early summer.
February 22, 2021 4:07 am
LEBANON, Pa. (AP) – A Pennsylvania police officer is facing federal charges stemming from the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump over the results of the 2020 election. North Cornwall Township officer Joseph Fischer is listed a patrolman on the department’s site. He’s charged with obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and obstruction of justice. Authorities allege that he posted a Facebook video showing the recorder entering the building and getting into a “physical encounter” with at least one police officer. A message seeking comment was sent to Fischer.
