November 14, 2024 4:22 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republicans went to court in Pennsylvania on Thursday amid vote counting in the U.S. Senate election between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick, as the campaigns prepare for a recount and press counties for favorable ballot-counting decisions. The lawsuits ask courts not to allow counties to count mail-in ballots where the voter didn’t write a date on the return envelope or wrote an incorrect date. The two GOP suits could be among many before the last vote in the Senate race is counted, especially with the contest headed toward a state-mandated recount. The Associated Press called the race for McCormick last week, concluding that not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas Casey was winning for him to take the lead. As of Thursday, McCormick led by about 26,000 votes out of more than 6.9 million ballots counted — inside the 0.5% margin threshold to trigger an automatic statewide recount under Pennsylvania law. The national and state Republican parties asked the state Supreme Court to bar counties from counting the ballots, saying those decisions violate both the court’s recent orders and its precedent in upholding the requirement in state law.
November 14, 2024 1:55 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump. A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the 218 House victories that make up the majority. Republicans earlier gained control of the Senate from Democrats. With hard-fought yet thin majorities, Republican leaders are envisioning a mandate to upend the federal government and swiftly implement Trump’s vision for the country.
November 14, 2024 5:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump spent much of his first term feeling stung and betrayed by those he’d placed in power. This time, he’s not taking chances. As he works to fill his administration a second time, Trump has turned to a head-spinning mix of candidates. Many of those he’s chosen are personal friends. Others are familiar faces on Fox News Channel or other conservative outlets. Some have extensive experience in the areas they’ve been chosen to lead, while others have seemingly none. Some seem chosen to shock and awe, some to reassure, others to unleash chaos.
November 14, 2024 5:11 am
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran as an independent in this year’s presidential race, abandoned his bid after striking a deal to give Trump his endorsement with a promise to have a role in health policy in the administration. Trump also announced Thursday that he has chosen Doug Collins, a former congressman from Georgia, to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, and said he was nominating North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to lead the Department of the Interior.
November 14, 2024 5:02 am
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — For the third straight year, efforts to fight climate change haven’t lowered projections for how hot the world is likely to get. That’s according to a new analysis Thurdsay from Climate Action Tracker, a group of scientists and analysts who study government policies and calculate projections of warming. The group also said that recent developments in China and the United States are likely to slightly worsen the outlook. They said Earth is on a path to be 2.7 degrees Celsius, or 4.9 Fahrenheit, warmer than pre-industrial times. That’s far above the 1.5-degree Celsius target set at 2015 climate talks in Paris. The world has already warmed 1.3 degrees, and climate scientists say the heat is driving ever more extreme and damaging weather around the globe.
November 14, 2024 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Mike Johnson has won the Republican nomination to remain as House speaker, on track to keep the gavel after a morning endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump ahead of a full House vote in the new year. While Johnson has no serious challenger, he faces dissent within his ranks, particularly from hard-right conservatives and the Freedom Caucus withholding their votes as leverage to extract promises ahead. Trump told House Republicans that he’s with the speaker all the way, according to a person familiar with the remarks but unauthorized to discuss the private meeting. Johnson heaped praise on Trump, calling him the “comeback king.” Johnson said Rep. Matt Gaetz, tapped as Trump’s nominee for attorney general, resigned Wednesday, launching the process to fill his House seat.
November 14, 2024 4:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has had few defenders in Congress as reliable as Matt Gaetz. That kinship was rewarded Wednesday when Trump named Gaetz as his pick for attorney general, turning to a conservative loyalist in place of more established lawyers who’d been seen as contenders. In announcing the selection, Trump underscored the premium he places on loyalty, citing Gaetz’s support during the Russia investigation as central to his qualifications and signaling his view that government leaders should function not only as a president’s protector but also as instruments of retribution.
November 14, 2024 2:45 am
A priest from a Canonsburg Greek Orthodox Church pleaded guilty to one charge of theft by unlawful taking on Wednesday. George Athanasiou, 38 of Cecil Township entered an open plea of guilty to that charge. He faced more that 220 individual charges for his role in taking $155,000 from the All Saints Greek Orthodox Church from April of 2022 until November of 2023. In his plea proceeding, Athanasiou pledged to repay the $155,000 missing from church coffers. The punitive aspect of his sentence will be determined after a pre-sentencing investigation is completed. Athanasiou could face 7 years in jail, a $15,000 fine or both. He will be sentenced on February 18.
November 14, 2024 2:36 am
Harrisburg, PA — Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced today that unofficial results in the Nov. 5 general election race for U.S. Senate have triggered a legally required statewide recount. Senator Bob Casey and Dave McCormick have vote totals within the one-half of 1 percent margin that triggers a mandatory recount under state law. As of Wednesday, the unofficial returns for the U.S. Senate race submitted by all 67 counties show the following results for the top two candidates: Robert P. Casey Jr. – 3,350,972 (48.50%) and David H. McCormick – 3,380,310 (48.93%). Once counties finish counting their ballots, they must begin the recount no later than Wednesday, Nov. 20. They must complete the recount by noon on Nov. 26 and must report results to the Secretary by noon on Nov. 27. Results of the recount will not be published until Nov. 27th. The Department estimates that the recount cost will exceed $1 million of taxpayer funds. This is the eighth time the automatic recount provision has been triggered since the passage of Act 97 of 2004. In the four cases in which the recount was carried out, the initial results of the election were affirmed.
November 13, 2024 5:40 pm
(AP) – Let the office debates begin – John Krasinski is People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2024. The magazine announced the actor-writer-director as its pick Tuesday night during “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Krasinski starred in “The Office” before launching the “Quiet Place” franchise and leading the action series “Jack Ryan.” He joked in an interview with the magazine that he’s hoping his wife, fellow actor Emily Blunt, makes good on a promise to plaster the cover as wallpaper at their home. He takes the mantle from last year’s honoree, Patrick Dempsey. Previous recipients include Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John Legend, Michael B. Jordan and Pierce Brosnan. (Photo: AP)
