June 2, 2020 4:05 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Amid protests over George Floyd’s death across Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf is ordering Philadelphia and five counties to count ballots in the primary election that arrive by mail for seven days after Tuesday’s 8 p.m. deadline. Wolf made the announcement Monday as the state prepared for a primary election like none other in its history Tuesday. Wolf’s order is limited to Philadelphia and Allegheny, Erie, Montgomery, Delaware and Dauphin counties. Already, counties are struggling with a flood of mail-in ballots and difficulties wrought by the pandemic. Wolf’s order faced an imminent challenge by Republican Party officials, who said it violates constitutional protections that ensure equal voting laws.
June 2, 2020 4:03 am
PITTSBURGH – Tuesday marks the 2020 primary election in Pennsylvania. Many normal aspects of this election have already changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All voters heading to the polls are asked to wear masks. If you don’t have one, one will be offered. The deadline to apply for an absentee or mail-in ballot has already passed. Mail-in ballots can be dropped off at the Washington County Elections office until 8 p.m. Also, remember that mail-in ballots will not be accepted at polling places on Election Day. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you are still in line at 8 p.m. when the polls close, you will still be allowed to cast your ballot.
June 2, 2020 3:57 am
PITTSBURGH – (WPXI)- Thousands of protesters gathered in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood Monday afternoon. It wasn’t until a few hours later when police said a small group of people split off from the peaceful protest and began to damage businesses in the area. Police said they started to throw rocks and other items at law enforcement, and smoke was thrown after officers gave numerous orders for them to disperse. Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said 9 officers were injured. All officers were evaluated and released from the hospital. Hissrich said least 4 windows were broken, but it doesn’t appear any businesses were looted. Two protesters were transported to hospital with injures that they said they got from bean bags. Hissrich said 20 people were arrested tonight, which include four people who are not from Pennsylvania. Police did clarify that officers deployed smoke and not tear gas.
June 2, 2020 2:01 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – About 500 fare collectors and other toll workers along the Pennsylvania Turnpike are about to those their jobs. The Turnpike Commission voted Tuesday to make the entire interstate network a cashless system. The cuts are the latest development in the agency’s multi-year transition from a system that’s largely relied on workers stationed in toll booths to collect cash to one that employs E-ZPass as well as automated license readers. The job losses will begin June 18, and the commission said some health benefits will remain in place for two years.
June 1, 2020 5:36 pm
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – George Floyd’s brother is pleading for peace in the streets, saying violence is “not going to bring my brother back at all.” President Donald Trump is berating most of the nation’s governors as “weak” for not cracking down harder on the lawlessness that has convulsed cities from coast to coast. The competing messages, one conciliatory, one bellicose, come as cities brace for another round of violence. In the past few days, stores have been ransacked, cars burned and windows smashed in some of the most widespread racial unrest since the 1960s.
June 1, 2020 2:55 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is deriding the nation’s governors as “weak” and demanding tougher crackdowns on burning and stealing in the aftermath of more violent protests in dozens of American cities. Trump spoke Monday to governors on a video teleconference with law enforcement and national security officials, telling the state leaders they “have to get much tougher” amid nationwide protests and criticizing their responses. The days of protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned at the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer. They turned violent in several cities, with looting and mayhem, and fires ignited in the park across from the White House.
June 1, 2020 2:42 pm
GRAFTON, W.Va. (AP) – Police say a man who recently moved from Texas to West Virginia has been charged in the beheading of his girlfriend’s father. The Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office says 28-year-old Nicholas Padron of Grafton turned himself in Saturday and was arraigned on a first-degree murder charge. Taylor County Sheriff Terry Austin says the body of 49-year-old Michael Blackburn was found in a home he shared with his daughter, her children and Padron. Austin told The Exponent Telegram the daughter wasn’t home at the time of Friday’s homicide. Padron is being held without bond in the North Central Regional Jail.
June 1, 2020 9:56 am
PITTSBURGH – The City of Pittsburgh declared a citywide curfew in response to violent protests on Saturday. The curfew was first put into place between 8:30 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday. It was again in place Sunday night and has been extended again to go into effect Monday night AT 8:30 and last until 6:00 Tuesday morning.
June 1, 2020 4:24 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – SpaceX has delivered two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. The Dragon capsule arrived Sunday morning, hours after a historic liftoff from Florida. It’s the first time that a privately built and owned spacecraft has delivered a crew to the orbiting lab. The capsule docked automatically, barely 19 hours after liftoff. SpaceX launched the Dragon from Kennedy Space Center on Saturday afternoon, the first astronaut launch from the U.S. to orbit in nearly a decade.
June 1, 2020 4:22 am
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) – The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline rose 8 cents over the past two weeks, to $2.05 per gallon. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey says Sunday that the jump comes as gasoline demand increases amid widespread easing of stay-at-home orders. Lundberg says the current average price is 88 cents less than it was a year ago. The highest average price in the nation for regular-grade gas is $3.10 per gallon in Honolulu. The lowest average is $1.55 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The average price of diesel is $2.55, up a penny.
