February 20, 2020 4:19 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Bernie Sanders was the only Democratic candidate on the debate stage who thinks the candidate with the most delegates should win the party’s presidential nomination even if he or she doesn’t have a majority. His rivals on Wednesday night in Las Vegas say the party should let the convention play out according to rules set by the party, which allow for multiple rounds of voting if a candidate is unable to get a majority of the delegates on the first round. It sets up a clash should the primary season end without a clear winner, giving way to a contested convention. Meanwhile, from the opening bell, Democratic presidential foes unleashed an aggressive verbal assault on New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg and raised new questions about Bernie Sanders’ take-no-prisoners politics in a contentious debate Wednesday night on the Las Vegas Strip. The former New York City mayor was forced to defend his divisive record on race, gender and Wall Street in his debate-stage debut. Sanders, appearing in his ninth debate of the 2020 primary season, tried to beat back pointed questions about his health and his ability to defeat President Donald Trump this fall.
February 20, 2020 4:06 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The notion of banning fracking is dividing the Democrats running for president and increasingly dividing Democrats in the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania. The divide was clear, again, on Wednesday night’s debate stage in Las Vegas during questioning about climate change. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says moving to energy efficiency and sustainable energy will create up to 20 million new jobs. Other Democrats on stage preferred to refer to natural gas as a “transition fuel” to non-fossil fuels and talked about getting tough on methane emissions. Pennsylvania’s top Democrats have tried to discourage talk of a fracking ban, while labor leaders point to thousands of building trades members working in the industry.
February 20, 2020 4:05 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – As many Pennsylvania counties adopting new hand-marked ballot voting systems, a persistent criticism is a perceived loss of privacy in polling places when filling them out and scanning them. State lawmakers raised those complaints Wednesdayáwith Gov. Tom Wolf’s top elections officials during an Appropriations Committee hearing. Critics say other voters or poll workers may be able to see how someone voted while they are filling out their ballot or while they are feeding their ballot into an electronic scanner that reads it. Election officials say some complaints can be solved by using curtains or other privacy devices, or changing a polling place’s layout.
February 20, 2020 4:02 am
ETNA, Pa. — (WPXI) – A child was injured and multiple residents were displaced after a landslide crashed into an Allegheny County apartment building. Investigators said the landslide happened around 6:15 p.m. Wednesday on Butler Street in Etna. Neighbors said the landslide “sounded like an earthquake” and the whole building shook. Fire officials told our news partners at Channel 11 everyone who lives in that building were told they cannot stay in the building overnight due to the slide, and those who needed a place to stay were taken to a nearby church. Red Cross officials said they provided eight adults and one child with shelter, clothing and food. The child who was injured was not seriously hurt, according to investigators. Traffic was halted briefly but is now back to normal. An engineer is coming out Thursday to assess the building’s safety before the tenants move back in.
February 19, 2020 2:54 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has ousted the Pentagon’s top policy official who had certified last year that Ukraine had made enough anti-corruption progress to justify releasing congressionally authorized aid. The Trump administration’s delay in releasing that aid was central to the president’s impeachment by the House on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate voted to acquit the president. But in the wake of the Senate trial, an emboldened Trump has gone after officials he has perceived as being disloyal. John Rood, the undersecretary of defense for policy, is the latest official to be purged. (Photo: CNN)
February 19, 2020 7:45 am
Longtime Washington County Judge Honorable Richard DiSalle is being remembered by many. He Died Sunday at the age of 93. DiSalle was a native of Canonsburg and a 1944 Graduate of Chartiers High School. He began practicing law in Washington COunty in 1951. He was first elected to the Court of Common Pleas in Washington County in 1969. He would hold that seat until 1977 when he was appointed to Commonwealth Court and then the Superior Court of Pa. He retired from the bench in 1982 and returned to private practice before finally retiring at the age of 87. Friends will be received beginning Friday afternoon at the Mario DeAngelo Funeral Home in Canonsburg. A mass of christian burial is scheduled for Saturday morning at St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church. (Photo: ADR Options)
February 19, 2020 4:20 am
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Ryan Newman has been released from a Florida hospital two days after a frightening crash on the final lap of the Daytona 500. He had been hospitalized since Monday night. Roush Fenway Racing says the 42-year-old driver was fully alert and walking around the hospital in the hours before he left. No details about his injuries have been released. The team has since updated its roster for this weekend’s race at Las Vegas with Ross Chastain filling in for Newman. There is no timetable for Newman’s return.
February 19, 2020 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General William Barr has told people close to him he’s considering quitting his post after President Donald Trump wouldn’t heed his warning to stop tweeting about Justice Department cases. That’s according to an administration official who spoke Tuesday to The Associated Press. The revelation comes days after Barr said in a television interview that Trump’s tweets about Justice Department cases and staffers make it “impossible” for him to do his job. The next day, Trump ignored Barr’s request and insisted that he has the “legal right” to intervene in criminal cases. Barr’s spokeswoman says the attorney general “has no plans to resign.”
February 19, 2020 4:18 am
BEIJING (AP) – New virus cases in China continued to fall, with 1,749 new infections and 136 new deaths after China’s leader said disease prevention and control was at “a critical time.” Japan also confirmed more infections of the new coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, bringing the total to 542. The quarantine of the ship’s passengers and crew ends later Wednesday. The updated figures on the virus for mainland China bring the total for cases to 74,185 and deaths to 2,004. New cases have fallen to under 2,000 daily for the past two days. Hong Kong has reported the second death in the city.
February 19, 2020 4:17 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A man fatally shot in a Hollywood Hills home has been identified as young rapper Pop Smoke. His label, Republic Records, issued a statement saying “We are devastated by the unexpected and tragic loss of Pop Smoke.” Los Angeles police did not immediately confirm the identification. Police say officers responding to a 911 call about intruders breaking into a home found a man who had been shot. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. Police said the 911 call came from “back East.” They say some other people in the house were detained but released. Public listings show that the home is owned by Edwin Arroyave and his wife Teddi Mellencamp, daughter of singer John Mellencamp and star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
