January 25, 2021 4:17 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A Democratic state lawmaker is criticizing Pennsylvania’s vaccine rollout as muddled, saying other states are doing a much better job at distribution and communication. The scolding from Sen. Lindsey Williams of Allegheny County is a sign of mounting frustration over the stubbornly slow pace of vaccinations and shifting guidance about who is eligible to get them. Williams says Pennsylvania residents “deserve clearer communication and more concrete answers” from the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf, a fellow Democrat. The Wolf administration blames a lack of supply for slow vaccine rollout. Meanwhile, unions representing police and prison guards are expressing outrage at having been placed behind smokers in line for COVID-19 shots.
January 24, 2021 1:28 am
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — An 18-year-old Illinois teen charged with fatally shooting two people during a protest in southeastern Wisconsin last year is prohibited from associating with known white supremacists under a judge’s recently modified bail conditions. Kyle Rittenhouse was 17 during the Aug. 25 demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as hundreds were protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. Rittenhouse has been charged with multiple counts, including reckless and intentional homicide, endangerment and being a minor in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors allege Rittenhouse, who is white, left his home in Antioch, Illinois, and traveled to Kenosha to answer a call for militia to protect businesses. Kenosha was in the throes of several nights of chaotic street demonstrations after a white officer shot Blake in the back during a domestic disturbance, leaving Blake paralyzed.
January 24, 2021 1:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The words of Donald Trump supporters who are accused of participating in the deadly U.S. Capitol riot may end up being used against him in his Senate impeachment trial as he faces the charge of inciting a violent insurrection. At least five supporters facing federal charges have suggested they were taking orders from the then-president when they marched on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 to challenge the certification of Joe Biden’s election win. But now those comments, captured in interviews with reporters and federal agents, are likely to take center stage as Democrats lay out their case. It’s the first time a former president will face such charges after leaving office.
January 24, 2021 1:25 am
WUHAN, China (AP) — A year ago, a notice sent to smartphones in Wuhan at 2 a.m. announced the world’s first coronavirus lockdown, bringing the bustling central Chinese industrial and transport center to a virtual standstill almost overnight. It would last 76 days. Early Saturday morning, however, residents of the city where the virus was first detected were jogging and practicing tai chi in a fog-shrouded park beside the mighty Yangtze River. Life has largely returned to normal in the city of 11 million, even as the rest of the world grapples with the spread of the virus’ more contagious variants. Efforts to vaccinate people for COVID-19 have been frustrated by disarray and limited supplies in some places. The scourge has killed more than 2 million people worldwide. Traffic was light in Wuhan but there was no sign of the barriers that a year ago isolated neighborhoods, prevented movement around the city and confined people to their housing compounds and even apartments. Wuhan accounted for the bulk of China’s 4,635 deaths from COVID-19, a number that has largely stayed static for months. The city has been largely free of further outbreaks since the lockdown was lifted on April 8, but questions persist as to where the virus originated and whether Wuhan and Chinese authorities acted fast enough and with sufficient transparency to allow the world to prepare for a pandemic that has sickened more than 98 million.
January 24, 2021 1:21 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WPXI)— Changes could be coming to Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania as well as for antlerless deer hunting. The Board of Game Commissioners held its first meeting of the year Saturday, giving preliminary approval to hunting and trapping seasons as well as limits for harvesting. There could be expanded Sunday hunting opportunities this year. The proposal would allow hunting for other species during archery deer and firearms bear seasons, including small game. Migratory game birds and wild turkey would still be excluded. Hunters across the state could be allowed to apply for and receive additional antlerless deer licenses, provided a hunter holds no more than four unfilled tags at a time. If the measure is adopted, hunters would still have to mail antlerless license applications to county treasurers. Over-the-counter sales would begin in early September and hunters could pick up a fourth antlerless license in areas where there are some remaining. There would be no limit on the total number of antlerless licenses a hunter could buy in a license year. The board introduced a plan to eliminate the use of rifles for fall-turkey hunting in response to declining turkey populations. The game commission said rifles are responsible for 33% of the fall-turkey harvest. There was also a proposal introduced that would allow for hunting antlered and antlerless deer at the same time throughout the entire firearms season across the entire state. If the proposal is adopted, the number of antlerless licenses would be reduced to reflect the additional five days of hunting. Steps were taken to allow digital licenses in Pennsylvania. The process was started at the meeting to allow eLicenses to be carried in the field as an alternative to carrying a paper license. Harvest tags would still be physically issued. These and other measures will be voted on at the board’s meeting in April.
January 24, 2021 1:15 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Larry King, who interviewed presidents, movie stars and ordinary Joes during a half-century in broadcasting, has died at age 87. Ora Media, the studio and network he co-founded, tweeted that King died Saturday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. No cause of death was given, but CNN had earlier reported he was hospitalized with COVID-19. King was a nightly fixture on CNN from 1985 through 2010. He won two Peabody Awards but made no claims to being an intellectual. He preferred to ask presidents what they liked about their jobs rather than their foreign policy. He welcomed everyone from the Dalai Lama to Elizabeth Taylor.
January 24, 2021 1:12 am
A Greene County man was killed in an accident just after six o’clock Friday morning on Interstate 79. According to the Washington County Coroner’s Office, 54-year-old Timothy Hardin of Jefferson died when his vehicle collided with a tractor trailer. Authorities say Hardin was traveling north on the interstate in Amwell Township, near the Amity/Lone Pine exit, when his vehicle left the roadway, crossed the median into the southbound lanes and plowed into the truck. Hardin was taken to Washington Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Hardin’s cause of death is pending an autopsy. The trucker, John E. Berry, 62, of McConnelsville, Ohio, was not injured. Both southbound lanes of the interstate were closed until shortly before ten a.m. Authorities continue to investigate the crash.
January 23, 2021 9:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has made his first calls to foreign leaders as America’s commander in chief. He dialed up Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday at a strained moment for the U.S. relationship with its North American neighbors. Biden’s call to Trudeau came after the Canadian leader publicly expressed disappointment over Biden’s decision to issue an executive order halting construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Biden also spoke with López Obrador on Friday, a week after the Mexican president accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of fabricating drug trafficking charges against the country’s former defense secretary.
January 23, 2021 9:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Opening arguments in the Senate impeachment trial for Donald Trump on the charge of incitement of insurrection will begin the week of Feb. 8. That’s according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who announced the schedule Friday evening. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will send the article of impeachment against Trump to the Senate on Monday. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell wanted to postpone the impeachment trial until February to give the former president time to prepare his case, and he welcomed the agreement. The House impeached Trump on a single charge of incitement of insurrection for the deadly attack on the Capitol that unfolded on Jan. 6
January 23, 2021 9:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Newly confirmed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will have to contend not only with a world of security threats and a massive military bureaucracy, but also with a challenge that hits closer to home: rooting out racism and extremism in the ranks. Austin took office Friday as the first Black defense chief, in the wake of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, where retired and current military members were among the rioters touting far-right conspiracies. The retired four-star Army general told senators this week that the Pentagon’s job is to “keep America safe from our enemies. But we can’t do that if some of those enemies lie within our own ranks.”
