November 6, 2024 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A series of bomb threats across multiple battleground states and baseless claims of wrongdoing by former President Donald Trump disrupted an otherwise smooth Election Day in a tumultuous presidential election. The bomb threats in parts of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin turned out to be hoaxes, but they forced some polling places to evacuate and extend hours, and delayed the counting of some ballots. The FBI said many of Tuesday’s hoax bomb threats appeared to originate from Russian email domains, though federal cybersecurity officials cautioned that the culprits were not necessarily Russian. Despite no evidence of widespread problems, Trump made unsubstantiated claims related to elections in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
November 6, 2024 5:08 am
HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Cuba as a powerful Category 3 hurricane shortly after powerful winds knocked out the country’s power grid. Forecasters warn that Rafael could bring “life-threatening” storm surges, winds and flash floods to western swaths of the island, after knocking out power and dumping rain on the Cayman Islands and Jamaica. The storm is bad news for Cuba, which is struggling with devastating blackouts while recovering from another hurricane two weeks ago that killed at least six people in the eastern part of the island.
November 5, 2024 3:51 pm
(WPXI) – A Fayette County home was destroyed in a fire Tuesday afternoon. A Fayette County 911 dispatcher tells Channel 11 that a fire on South 9th Street in Connellsville was reported around noon with flames shooting from the roof. The dispatcher says one person was airlifted from the scene. A neighbor said at one point it sounded like there was an explosion that shook nearby homes. “I was sitting at my kitchen table just getting ready to eat lunch and I mean it just ‘boom’ the whole house shook and that’s when I came outside to see what happened and that’s when I seen the smoke and then I could hear a gentleman yell ‘help me, help me.’” Jay Urvan said. “It’s a shame. The people that own that house have been working on it and it’s a total loss. It’s a shame.” The cause of the fire is not currently known.
November 5, 2024 4:55 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Washington County is expecting high voter turnout on Election Day, comparable to the last presidential election which saw 78%. Elections leaders say some areas of the county will see long lines, including Southpointe where voters experienced two-hour waits in 2020. “I think we had extraordinary turnouts in the last two presidential elections and I don’t see why this would be any different, and a lot more money is being spent, we are all getting 30-plus texts a day,” voter William Minor said. At the Washington County Board of Elections, workers were sorting ballots in precinct order on Monday. Mail-in ballots came in from Oct. 7 through 29. More than 33,000 voters requested them in Washington County, and 24,000 have come in. More than 2,000 people came to request a ballot in person, fill it out and submit it, which is the closest option the state has to early voting. Washington County’s Director of Elections Melanie Ostrander is encouraging voters to double-check they have the correct precinct. Knowing there could be long lines, she doesn’t want voters to get to the front of the line and discover they were at the wrong place. “We feel good about tomorrow here in Washington County, we expect voter turnout to be high, at about 78%, which is comparable to 2020,” Ostrander said. “We are encouraging people to be patient, there will be lines with the turnout as high as we expect. There were lines in past presidential elections as well, our poll workers are prepared and equipped to handle the line.” Ostrander wants voters to know… anyone in line at 8 p.m. when the polls close will be able to vote, but you have to be in line at 8 p.m. If you arrive after polls close you cannot vote.
November 5, 2024 4:28 am
The presidential campaign comes down to a final push across a handful of states on the eve of Election Day. Kamala Harris spent all of Monday in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes offer the largest prize among the states expected to determine the Electoral College outcome. Donald Trump held four rallies in three states, beginning in Raleigh, North Carolina, stopping twice in Pennsylvania with events in Reading and Pittsburgh, then ending in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
November 5, 2024 4:44 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race between three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick will help determine control of the chamber. Casey is seeking a fourth term after facing what he has called his toughest reelection challenge yet. McCormick is making his second Senate run after losing narrowly to Dr. Mehmet Oz in 2022’s Republican primary. He left his job as CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund to run. The race ran on national themes, from abortion rights to inflation. But it also turned on local ones, too, such as Casey’s accusation that McCormick is a rich carpetbagger from Connecticut trying to buy Pennsylvania’s Senate seat.
November 5, 2024 2:08 am
Cecil Township Supervisors finished seven months of research, public hearings and debate about revisions to their gas and oil ordinance. A 3-1-1 vote authorized changes to the existing ordinance that allows wells to operate within 500 feet of a structure. By the same vote, supervisors repealed the ordinance that created the oil and gas overlay districts. The new ordinance will require new wells to be 2500 feet away from any protected structure and 5000 feet away from schools and hospitals. Operation hours will change from the current 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM time frame to 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM. The new ordinance also contains a clause that if a property owner is within the 2500 foot setback, that owner can negotiate with their neighbors to form a consensus to allow drilling closer than the required 2500 feet. Additional sound and vibration restrictions have also been added. A capacity crowd was on hand to witness the approval. Not one resident was identified to be against the approval. The final vote saw Supervisors Tom Casciola, Cindy Fisher and Frank Egizio vote in favor of the changes. Supervisor William Ciaffoni abstained and Supervisor Darlene Barni recused. In a public hearing held immediately before the voting meeting, Supervisor Cindy Fisher delivered an emotional statement summing up what the supervisors had been through over the last seven months. She called out a representative of Range Resources in the audience for what she described as harassment of her and two other supervisors for charges filed against them regarding the Sunshine Law. That representative was identified as Andrew Ritter, Vice President of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs. Ritter declined to comment on the board’s action.
November 4, 2024 2:20 am
HARRISBURG – Attorney General Michelle Henry announced Monday that a federal district court has granted the Office of Attorney General’s motion for a temporary restraining order that will pause the shuttering of the Pyrex glass manufacturing plant in Washington County, pending further order of the court. The federal court’s ruling prevents owner Anchor Hocking Holdings, and its private equity partner, Centre Lane Partners, from removing equipment and other materials from the Charleroi Plant in relocation efforts before the next scheduled hearing. The court agreed with the Office of Attorney General, that at this stage in the case, “immediate and irreparable injury will result” from such actions, according to an order issued Thursday. “The closure of this longtime manufacturing hub will have permanent impact on the Charleroi community and surrounding neighborhoods, which depend on the plant for employment that is vital to the local economy and prosperity of families living there,” Attorney General Henry said. “My office intervened in plans to close what is the only large-scale manufacturing operation in that area, and we are very pleased that the federal district court agreed with our position.” A hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction is scheduled for Nov. 12th. Owner/operators Anchor Hocking recently announced plans to close the Charleroi Pyrex Plant and move equipment to Anchor Hockings facilities in Lancaster, Ohio. About 300 employees were expected to be impacted by the closure. The Office of Attorney General’s Antitrust Section is litigating the matter.
November 5, 2024 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The final day of voting in the 2024 presidential election arrives with tens of millions of Americans having already cast their ballots. Those include record numbers in battleground states like Georgia and North Carolina. As of Monday, Associated Press tracking of advance voting nationwide showed over 80 million ballots cast. That’s slightly more than half the total number of votes in the last presidential election. Despite long lines in some places and a few hiccups common to all elections, early in-person and mail voting has proceeded without major problems. The absence of any significant, widespread problems has not stopped former President Donald Trump from making claims of fraud or election interference, a likely prelude to challenges after Election Day.
November 5, 2024 5:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Control of Congress is stake this election. Races for the House and Senate will determine which party holds the majority — and the power to boost or block a new president’s agenda. Key contests are playing out alongside the White House race but also in unexpected corners of the country. In New York and California, Democrats are trying to win back Republican-held seats and House control. Vote counting in some races could extend well past Tuesday. Senate attention is focused on Montana and the “blue wall” turf of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, as Republicans try to wrest the majority from Democrats. A few seats could determine the outcome.
