November 15, 2024 5:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a resounding election victory, President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans say they have a “mandate” to govern. But it’s opening an uneasy political question: Will there be any room for dissent in the U.S. Congress? Trump is laying down a gauntlet even before taking office. He is challenging the Senate to dare defy him over the nominations of Matt Gaetz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other controversial choices for his administration. He even suggests Congress simply go on recess to allow his nominees to be installed without votes. It’s forcing Congress to decide how far it will go in confronting Trump and opposing his wishes.
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 15, 2024 5:03 am
CARNEGIE, Pa. — (WPXI) – Flames ripped through a popular Irish Pub in Carnegie on Thursday afternoon and the community is in disbelief. Riley’s Pour House has been a Main Street staple since 1979. The fire reportedly started in the kitchen. “It’s a sad day. Sad that it happened to them because they’re pretty good people in there,” Brandon Griffin said. Photos shared with Channel 11 show that part of the pub was engulfed by flames. Half of the business completely burned down. The building was demolished Thursday night. No one was hurt, but the building is a total loss. The fire spread to the buildings on both sides. Right now the extent of that damage isn’t known. Riley’s Pour House took to social media, first to thank their patrons for their support and to assure them that staff is safe. In a second update, the pub said there have been reports of fake accounts posing as fundraising pages. The pub said they will share any legitimate fundraisers directly to their Facebook page. “We kindly ask that you avoid donating to these fraudulent pages, as they are attempting to exploit our tragedy for personal gain. Thank you for your support and vigilance,” the post reads.
November 15, 2024 4:28 pm
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Hundreds of Las Vegas hotel workers have gone on strike at a casino near the Strip. It’s the first open-ended strike in 22 years for the Culinary Workers Union, which represents 60,000 hospitality workers across Nevada. That includes the 700 who went on strike Friday morning at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The strike comes after a bitter and highly publicized fight for a new contract that started over a year ago. Housekeepers, cocktail waitresses, porters, bellmen and more were on the picket line Friday. The union says it’s trying to win the same pay raises and benefits that it’s gotten for the rest of its Las Vegas members since last November.
November 15, 2024 5:09 am
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian government’s plan to ban children from social media to protect them from harm has won almost universal political support. But keeping them off social media looks far more difficult in practical terms. Experts in technology and child welfare called the 16-year age limit “too blunt” to work effectively. Leo Puglisi, who founded an online streaming news service at age 11, said the ban is “just kicking the can down the road” because it leaves young people unprepared for when they go online eventually. Supporters say social media is doing too much harm to not have an age limit. More about how the ban would work may be known next week when the legislation is introduced in Parliament.
November 15, 2024 5:14 am
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Cities in Asia and the United States emit the most heat-trapping gas that feeds climate change, and Shanghai is the most polluting. That’s according to new data that combines observations and artificial intelligence to quantify emissions around the world. Seven states or provinces spew more than 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases. All are in China except for the U.S. state of Texas, which ranked sixth. The data comes from an organization co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and released Friday at the United Nations climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan. Nations at the talks are trying to set new targets to cut such emissions.
November 14, 2024 5:36 pm
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. HHS is a massive Cabinet agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid. (Photo: AP)
November 14, 2024 4:39 pm
(WPXI) – Flames ripped through a popular Irish Pub in Carnegie Thursday afternoon. Allegheny County dispatchers say police officers, firefighters and medics were called to 215 E Main Street, at 1:11 p.m. on Thursday. Authorities say when they arrived Riley’s Pour House was engulfed by flames. Half of the business has completely burned down. As of 1:40 p.m., the emergency crews had raised the fire response to four alarms. The fire has spread to neighboring businesses. There are no reported injuries at this time and the cause of the fire has not been released.
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.
