November 6, 2024 2:44 am
Washington County Director of Elections Melanie Ostrander was pleased with how Tuesday night’s election turned out. Ostrander says the night was largely free of any distractions, save one. In the Borough of Houston, a judge of elections had to be removed because he was deemed to be violating the rights of a poll watcher. The incident was calmly resolved. Overall Ostrander said that approximately 120,000 of the 148,000 registered voters in Washington County took part in the election. That number included mail in ballots, absentee ballots and precinct voting. That was an 80% participation rate according to Ostrander. Less than 200 mail in ballots that arrived on Election Day are left to count. On Friday, the Board of Elections will hold a canvassing meeting to make determinations on ballots concerning over-votes and stained ballots that could not be read by scanners.
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 5:03 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military says North Korea has fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern sea as the country continues its weapons demonstrations ahead of the U.S. presidential election. Japan says at least seven North Korean missiles flew as far as 250 miles and landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The launches come days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a flight test of the country’s newest intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach the U.S. mainland. North Korea claimed that the Hwasong-19 it tested on Oct. 31 was “the world’s strongest ICBM,” but experts say the solid-fuel missile was too big to be useful in war.
November 5, 2024 5:02 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian officials say an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza has killed at least 20 people, mostly women and children. Israel is waging a nearly monthlong air and ground operation in what was already the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory. The strike late Monday hit a home where several displaced families were sheltering in the town of Beit Lahiya, near the border with Israel. That’s according to the director of the recently raided and barely functioning Kamal Adwan Hospital, which received the casualties. Health oficials say separate strikes elsewhere in Gaza early Tuesday killed another 10 people.
November 5, 2024 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s federal law enforcement and election security agencies are debunking two new examples of Russian election disinformation on the eve of Election Day. In a joint statement late Monday, they pointed to a recent article posted by Russian actors falsely claiming that U.S. officials across presidential swing states were orchestrating a plan to commit fraud, as well as a video that falsely depicted an interview with an individual claiming election fraud in Arizona. The effort described by federal officials is part of a wide-ranging influence operation by Russia designed to undermine confidence in the electoral process. The officials also drew fresh attention to Iran’s attempts to interfere in the election.
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.
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 4:57 am
SEATTLE (AP) — A strike by 33,000 Boeing factory workers is coming to an end after more than seven weeks. The aerospace giant’s unionized machinists voted on Monday to accept a company contract offer that includes a 38% wage increase over four years. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers says 59% of its members who cast ballots agreed to approve the third Boeing offer put to a vote. The strike started in mid-September and deprived the company of much-needed cash by shutting down production at its factories in the Pacific Northwest. The union says the machinists it represents can return to work as soon as Wednesday. President Joe Biden congratulated the two sides.
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 4:44 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.
