June 12, 2020 4:02 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Political leaders and election experts are concerned about the strength of the U.S. voting system ahead of the November presidential contest. With less than five months to go, fears are mounting that several battleground states are not prepared to administer problem-free elections under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic. That’s because of long lines disproportionately affecting voters of color in places with a history of voter suppression, a dramatic shortage of poll workers scared away by the coronavirus and an emerging consensus that it could take several days to determine a winner because of an increase in mail voting.
June 12, 2020 3:58 am
An investigation is underway into the death of a trucker after his rig crashed at a construction site on Interstate 70 east at the South Junction to Interstate 79 in South Strabane Township.
Authorities say fifty-nine-year-old Phillip Keesling of Indiana died after his tractor-trailer failed to round a left curve at exit 21 just after one o’clock Friday morning. The truck crashed through a sign, into the construction zone and then slammed into a metal pole before traveling over an overpass sidewalk and overturning. A section of the roadway was closed for several hours. (Photo: WPXI)
June 12, 2020 2:22 am
Harness racing is returning to the Meadows Racetrack and Casino. The State Health Department on Wednesday approved the facilities mitigation plan related to the coronavirus. Kim Hankins, the Executive Director of the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association says they are working towards a draw and the return of racing on Monday. According to Hankins, three months without racing has been a “hardship”. He says they have been “training horses for three months without any income” and they are “very elated to be back to racing”. Hankins says it will be recommended that everyone on the backstretch wear a mask, especially in the paddock. Drivers do not have to wear a mask on the track. As for limitations on spectators, he says that is still be formulated by casino management.
June 11, 2020 5:30 pm
(AP) – The Dow Jones industrials lost more than 1,800 points, nearly 7%, as increases in coronavirus cases deflated optimism that the economy could recover quickly from its worst crisis in decades. The pullback Thursday comes after the market has been screeching higher for more than two months at a pace that many skeptics say was overdone and didn’t reflect the dire state of the economy. A day earlier, the Federal Reserve said the road back to recovery would be long. Bond yields fell sharply, a sign of increasing caution among investors. Crude oil prices sank 8%.
June 11, 2020 2:18 pm
(WPXI) – A street in downtown Pittsburgh is about to be closed off, and it has nothing to do with construction and everything to do with the pandemic. The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership announced the group has been working on this intervention to narrow Sixth Street since May. Part of the road in front of Tako and Butcher and the Rye will now be used for outdoor seating. The PDP is also putting up barricades to protect the diners eating outside. Chris Watts, the vice president of mobility for the PDP, said this is being done to help restaurants bring in more revenue and bring more life to downtown. Watts said with more people working from home and fewer commuters coming into the area, now is the time to give it a try. If the trial run is successful, PDP plans to do the same in the 900 block of Penn Avenue, Market Square, and further up Sixth Street to Fort Duquesne Boulevard.
June 11, 2020 10:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The nation’s top military officer says it was a mistake for him to have been in Lafayette Square with President Donald Trump last week. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says his presence “created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.” He called it “a mistake” that he has learned from. Milley and Defense Secretary Mark Esper walked from the White House to Lafayette Square with Trump and others on June 1 amid street protests, and the president posed for photographers holding up a Bible in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church. “I should not have been there,” Milley told a National Defense University commencement ceremony Thursday.
June 11, 2020 9:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, evidence that many Americans are still losing their jobs even as the economy appears to be slowly recovering with more businesses partially reopening. The latest figure from the Labor Department marked the 10th straight weekly decline in applications for jobless aid since they peaked in mid-March when the coronavirus hit hard. Still, the pace of layoffs remains historically high. The total number of people who are receiving unemployment aid fell slightly, a sign that some people who were laid off when restaurants, retail chains and small businesses suddenly shut down have been recalled to work.
June 11, 2020 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says he’s planning to hold his first rally of the coronavirus era on June 19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And he says he’s planning more events in Florida, Texas and Arizona as well. Trump made the announcement during a roundtable with African American supporters Wednesday afternoon. His signature rallies often draw tens of thousands of people but have been on hiatus since March 2 because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has now killed more than 110,000 people in the U.S. The rally will take place on Juneteenth, the commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Tulsa has its own troubling history on race.
June 11, 2020 4:17 am
One of four police officers charged in the death of George Floyd has posted bail and is out of jail. Online records show that 37-year-old Thomas Lane posted bail of $750,000 and was released from Hennepin County Jail, with conditions, shortly after 4 p.m. Records show the other three officers remain in custody. Lane is charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter for his role in the arrest of Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died on Memorial Day in Minneapolis while in police custody. Lane’s attorney did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
June 11, 2020 4:16 am
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Buffalo’s mayor has announced several changes to police practices amid widespread calls for racial equality and police accountability. Mayor Byron Brown says the city will halt arrests for low-level, non-violent offenses like marijuana possession and make it easier for the public to view police body camera video under reforms announced Wednesday. The city also will replace its police Emergency Response Team with a new “Public Protection Unit” after two members of the former unit were videotaped shoving a 75-year-old protester, who fell and cracked his head. The protester remains hospitalized and the officers are facing felony charges.
