November 25, 2020 3:57 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Fifteen alleged members and associates of the south Philadelphia and southern New Jersey organized crime family face federal racketeering and related charges. According to a superseding indictment unsealed Monday, the defendants engaged in racketeering conspiracy, illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion and drug trafficking. Federal prosecutors allege the crime family sought to use its “reputation and influence to exercise control over criminal rackets, like bookmaking and loansharking, in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, particularly Atlantic City.” Ten of the defendants are accused of engaging in racketeering and collecting unlawful debts. The remaining five are accused of running an illegal gambling business and other charges.
November 25, 2020 3:08 am
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – Americans got their first look at President-elect Joe Biden’s proposed national security team. He brought his intended nominees forward Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware. Among those on the team: former Secretary of State John Kerry, who’s to take the lead on climate change. Altogether, Biden’s picks signal a shift from President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy and a return to global engagement. Some are veterans of the Obama administration. The incoming president will nominate longtime adviser Antony Blinken to be secretary of state, lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas to be homeland security secretary, Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Jake Sullivan as national security adviser. (Photo: CNN)
November 25, 2020 2:38 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania officials say Democrat Joe Biden has been certified as the winner of the presidential vote in the state. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf first disclosed in a tweet Tuesday that the Pennsylvania Department of State had certified the vote count for president and vice president. The Pennsylvania results show Biden with 3.46 million votes, Trump with 3.38 million and Libertarian Jo Jorgensen with 79,000. The certification culminates three weeks of vote counting and a string of failed legal challenges by President Donald Trump. Biden has collected 306 overall electoral votes to Trump’s 232.
November 24, 2020 5:37 pm
There was a shooting in downtown Pittsburgh Tuesday afternoon. Emergency dispatchers say police and medics were called out to Seventh Street and Fort Duquesne Boulevard. One person was shot and another person was taken into custody. Police said according to their initial investigation, a man in a car got into an argument with another man on a bicycle. The man who was in the car drove up onto the sidewalk, hit a Port Authority bus shelter and then got out and fired multiple shots at the person on the bike. The bicyclist was shot in the leg and was taken to a hospital in stable condition. Police said the driver in the car is in custody and charges are pending.
November 24, 2020 3:52 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Beyonce is bringing her black parade to the Grammys: The pop star’s anthem about Black pride scored multiple nominations Tuesday, making her the leading contender with nine. Beyonce picked up song and record of the year bids with “Black Parade,” which she released on Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free. The song, which reached the Top 40 on the pop charts, is also nominated for best R&B song and best R&B performance. Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Roddy Ricch each earned six nominations and are the second-most nominated acts. (Photo: CNN)
November 24, 2020 2:37 pm
(AP) – OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has pleaded guilty to criminal charges and formally admitted its role in the opioid crisis. Tuesday’s plea before a judge in Newark, New Jersey, is part of a larger settlement with the U.S Department of Justice that also includes resolving civil claims. The Stamford, Connecticut-based company is to pay $225 million as part of the deal, while $8 billion in forfeitures and penalties could be waived because of a proposed deal to resolve thousands of other lawsuits. Advocates are upset that the guilty plea applies only to the company and not executives or members of the Sackler family who own it.
November 24, 2020 4:19 am
DETROIT (AP) – General Motors will recall about 7 million big pickup trucks and SUVs worldwide to replace potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators. The move came Monday after the U.S. government told the automaker it had to recall 6 million of the vehicles in the U.S. GM says it will not fight the recall, which will cost $1.2 billion. The company had petitioned the agency four times starting in 2016 to avoid a recall, contending the inflators are safe. Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to fill air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate and blow apart a metal canister, spewing shrapnel. Twenty-seven people have been killed worldwide by the exploding inflators.
November 24, 2020 4:15 am
NEW YORK (AP) – “Jeopardy!” says champion contestant Ken Jennings will be the first interim guest for the late Alex Trebek, and the show will try other guest hosts before naming a permanent replacement. Jennings begins taping next week and his first episodes will air on the week of Jan. 11. He’s well-known to fans of the game show for his 74-game winning streak and victory in last year’s prime-time ‘Greatest of All Time’ competition. ‘Jeopardy!’ announced that the last week of shows recorded by Trebek before his death will air starting on Jan. 4, in order to give more fans the chance to see them.
November 24, 2020 4:13 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York City’s first African-American mayor, David Dinkins, has died. He was 93. Dinkins broke barriers when he was elected to lead the city in 1989 but the Democrat’s calm and low-key demeanor was seen by critics as a flaw and Dinkins only served one term. The New York Police Department says initial indications were that he died of natural causes. Dinkins, a calm and courtly figure with a penchant for tennis and formal wear, was a dramatic shift from both his predecessor, Ed Koch, and his successor, Rudolph Giuliani – two combative and often abrasive politicians in a city with a world-class reputation for impatience and rudeness.
November 24, 2020 4:12 am
ATLANTA (AP) – County election workers across Georgia have begun an official machine recount of the roughly 5 million votes cast in the presidential race in the state. The recount was requested by President Donald Trump after certified results showed him losing the state to Democrat Joe Biden by 12,670 votes, or 0.25%. Under state law, the losing candidate can request a recount when the margin is less than 0.5%. Trump’s campaign on Saturday formally requested the recount. The recount is being done using high-speed scanners, which read and tabulate the votes in accordance with a state election board rule. Last week, election officials completed a hand tally of the votes that confirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s lead.
