November 20, 2024 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is clearly prizing experience on television as he chooses people to serve in his new administration. Trump likes what he calls that “central casting” look. His choices for defense secretary and transportation chief — Pete Hegseth and Sean Duffy — have both had shows on Trump’s favorite network, Fox News. Duffy is a former lawmaker and also was a cast member on MTV’s “The Real World.” Trump has tapped Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former syndicated talk show host and heart surgeon, to head the agency that oversees health insurance programs for millions of older, poor and disabled Americans.
November 20, 2024 5:00 am
Vigils and other events are being held to draw attention to transgender people who have lost their lives due to violence in the past year. Wednesday marked Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is held every Nov. 20. The Human Rights Campaign says at least 36 transgender people have been killed by violence over the past 12 months. That number is likely higher because of deaths not being reported, misreported or because the victims are misgendered. This year’s events follow an election where transgender people were the focus of a costly barrage of attack ads by Republicans.
November 19, 2024 5:19 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he is nominating Dr. Mehmet Oz, who hosted a long-running television talk show, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Oz, who ran a failed bid to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, has been an outspoken supporter of Trump and in recent days expressed support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for the nation’s top health agency, Health and Human Services. Trump has also chosen Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition operation helping to find the team that will work in the next administration. (Photo: AP)
November 19, 2024 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Donald Trump says he wants Sean Duffy to be his transportation secretary. That would position Duffy to oversee a complex system of pipelines, railroads, cars, trucks, airlines and mass transit systems, as well as funding for highways. Duffy is a former member of Congress who represented a Wisconsin district for nine years. He is the second Fox-affiliated TV host to be tapped by Trump. Duffy also has a background in reality TV, like Trump. A former contestant on MTV’s “Road Rules,” Duffy was featured on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston” in 1997. He met his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, during “Road Rules: All Stars” in 1998. Duffy later was a co-host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business until he left the network Monday. He declined to run for governor of Wisconsin in 2022, despite Trump’s urging, and is a former lumberjack athlete. (Photo: AP)
November 19, 2024 4:46 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s state Supreme Court is weighing in on a flashpoint amid ongoing vote counting in the U.S. Senate election between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick. On Monday, it ordered counties not to count mail-in ballots that lack a correct handwritten date on the return envelope. It’s a win for McCormick and a loss for Casey as the campaigns prepare for a statewide recount. The Associated Press called the race for McCormick, concluding that not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas Casey was winning for him to take the lead. As of Monday, McCormick led by about 17,000 votes out of almost 7 million ballots counted.
November 19, 2024 2:42 am
The Peters Township School Board ratified a labor agreement with their clerical unit, paraprofessionals and bus drivers. The group was represented by the Peters Township Federation of Teachers and they agreed to a four year contract. Walt Michalski was the Chief Negotiator for the group, he said that they won 4% raises in each of the four years of the contract. The negotiations were characterized as long by both parties. According to Michalski, working on improvements to a tiered system of pay was very tedious but the union was able to revise a system that many times had an employee in a tier for up to ten years. Brad Rau, Business Manager for the school district said that they were able to achieve concessions on health benefit payments from the group. He stated that inflationary pressures have become extremely expensive for the district. The vote was 8-0 with one abstention by Rolf Briegel due to a possible conflict of interest. Both sides congratulated each other on what they both called a very fair contract for both sides. This deal combined with a five year deal with teachers back in July will bring the district labor peace for a good period of time.
November 19, 2024 5:22 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — New York prosecutors oppose any effort to dismiss Trump’s hush money conviction, but say they are open to delaying sentencing until after his second term. In a court filing Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said it’s OK with a sentencing delay while Trump’s lawyers try to get the case tossed out in light of his election. Judge Juan M. Merchan has not set a timetable for his decision. Trump’s spokesperson characterized prosecutors Tuesday filing as “a total and definitive victory” for Trump. Sentencing had been scheduled for Nov. 26. The president-elect was convicted in May of falsifying business records. The case alleges that he covered up a scheme to influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to squelch a story of extramarital sex. Trump denies the allegations.
November 19, 2024 4:55 am
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a revised nuclear doctrine declaring that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country. Putin’s endorsement of the new nuclear deterrent policy on Tuesday comes on the 1,000th day after he sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. It follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles. The signing of the doctrine, which says that any massive aerial attack on Russia could trigger a nuclear response, reflects Putin’s readiness to threaten use of the country’s nuclear arsenal to force the West to back down as Moscow presses a slow-moving offensive in Ukraine.
November 18, 2024 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the top remaining vacancies in President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Cabinet is his treasury secretary — and the views of his top contenders there reflect broader questions about how the president-elect might wield tariffs in his new administration. Billionaire investor Scott Bessent, considered a leading candidate, has talked up tariffs as a negotiating ploy. Another prominent contender, Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, has expressed more support for broad tariffs. Lutnick is co-chair of Trump’s transition operation and is helping put forward candidates for key roles, including treasury. Trump is also looking at other potential candidates as he decides who can best implement his economic agenda — and how big a role tariffs will play.
November 19, 2024 2:45 am
Attorney General Michelle Henry announced that a former certified registered nurse practitioner from western Pennsylvania was sentenced Thursday to 11.5 to 23 months followed by 8 years of probation for writing fraudulent prescriptions for thousands of Oxycodone pills. Joseph G. Sapp, 56, previously pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver, Medicaid fraud, forgery, and related charges. A collaborative investigation led by the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigations and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit revealed Sapp wrote prescriptions to be filled at pharmacies in Westmoreland, Allegheny, Fayette, and Washington counties. Sapp wrote the prescriptions for himself and for others, in exchange for money, defrauding Medicaid in the process. “The defendant had a professional responsibility to prescribe medications for people in need, and instead, betrayed his duties by contributing to the opioid epidemic and expanding access to Oxycodone,” Attorney General Henry said. “Those who administer these powerful medications will be held to the highest standard, and remain accountable when they break the law.” During an interview, Sapp admitted to using Medicaid fraudulently to submit false claims for prescriptions that were not medically necessary, and to illegally picking up prescriptions under false identities. He also confessed to forging prescriptions and providing drugs to others in exchange for money.
