March 5, 2024 5:00 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Six Republicans accused of falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner of Nevada’s 2020 presidential election will not stand trial until next January. A Nevada judge on Monday pushed back the trial date because of conflicting schedules. The judge also set a hearing for next month on a bid by state GOP chairman Michael McDonald and other defendants to throw out the indictment. Defense attorneys contend that Nevada state Attorney General Aaron Ford improperly brought the case in Las Vegas instead of Carson City, the state capital. They also say he failed to present evidence to the grand jury that would have exonerated their clients.
March 5, 2024 4:57 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state court says spreadsheets of raw data associated with every ballot cast in an election aren’t subject to public scrutiny. The Commonwealth Court ruled Monday on “cast vote records,” which were requested by an election researcher whose work has fueled right-wing attacks on voting procedures. The 5-2 ruling sides with Secretary of State Al Schmidt, whose office argued against access to these electronic records from Lycoming County for the 2020 General Election. The court majority says the cast vote records are the “electronic, modern-day equivalent” of all the votes in a traditional ballot box. State law says the contents of ballot boxes are not public records.
March 5, 2024 4:54 am
PITTSBURGH — Gas prices are going up in western Pennsylvania. The average price in the region, according to AAA, is $3.65, up two cents from last week. AAA said that a year ago, on March 6, 2023, the average price was $3.76. Here in Washington the average is also $3.65. Trple-A says the national average is nine-cents higher than one-week ago. Historically, March and April bring higher prices as travelers start heading out of town for Spring Break and demand increases. This week’s national average is 24-cents more than one-month ago.
March 5, 2024 4:47 am
Washington City Council heard public comment at their agenda meeting Monday night. One important comment was from Fern Sibert, Director of Clean and Tidy our County Inc. Fern announced several clean up dates that will occur in the area and she is looking for volunteers. On March 23 they will concentrate on roads and highway ramps. On April 20, parks and playgrounds will be the focus. She also said that she would like to possibly have a competition between city wards to see which ward could clean their area best. Finally, on May 18 the group will focus on waterway washup. Volunteers may sign up using QR Codes on flyers posted throughout the city and on the group’s Facebook page. Not only is Sibert picking up trash, she also has a cap sorting event coming up. She is looking for help to sort collected bottle caps to be packed up to be taken to be made into park benches and tables. She says that she has 7000 pounds of caps and she could use all of the help she can get. That event will be on April 6 from 9 AM until 6 PM at the Holy Trinity Church on Hewitt Avenue. Volunteer information about this event is also available on the Facebook page. In City business council will look to adopt several resolutions to apply for grants that will benefit the park comprehensive plan update and the Stone Pavilion floor rehabilitation project.
March 5, 2024 2:25 am
(WPXI) – Two more wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against a local healthcare facility – after a nurse allegedly killed two patients and hurt nearly a dozen more with intentional doses of insulin. Forty-one-year-old Heather Pressdee is facing dozens of charges for allegedly administering lethal doses of insulin to 19 additional patients at five different care facilities over a three year period. The wrongful death lawsuits were filed against Guardian Healthcare and its facility – Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center. They were filed on behalf of the families of Jack Allen Rogers and Norman Paul Hendrickson and claim their deaths were directly caused by Pressdee, who was the facility’s former Assistant Director of Nursing.
March 5, 2024 1:55 am
Former Washington City Councilman Allan Bunner died over the weekend at the age of 91. According to his obituary, he was a 1950 graduate of Washington High School and worked at Fairmont Supply Company for more than thirty years. After that he launched the Bunner Agency and worked there well into his 80’s. He was twice elected to City Council in both 1976 and 2004. He died Saturday. Family and friends will be received from 1 to 3 p.m and 6 to 8 p.m Wednesday at the William Neal Funeral Home along Allison Avenue in Washington.
March 4, 2024 4:10 pm
(AP) – JetBlue and Spirit Airlines are ending their proposed $3.8 billion merger after a federal judge blocked the deal, ruling it would hurt competition. JetBlue said Monday that even though both companies still believe in the benefits of a combination, they felt they were unlikely to meet the required closing conditions before a July 24 deadline. The airlines say they are mutually agreeing that terminating the deal is the best decision for both. A merger would have eliminated Spirit, the nation’s biggest discount airline. The Justice Department sued to block the deal and won in court.
March 4, 2024 1:51 pm
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — Norfolk Southern crews and contractors are working on cleanup and track repair after a collision and derailment in eastern Pennsylvania over the weekend. The derailment involved three trains that left some railroad cars scattered along a riverbank and at least one partially in the river. Officials in Northampton County say the derailment happened at 7:15 a.m. Saturday in Lower Saucon Township along the Lehigh River. It caused no reported injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board says one train hit a stopped train and a third hit wreckage from that crash. Norfolk Southern says cars from two of the trains derailed. The safety board is still gathering information at the scene. (Photo: AP)
March 4, 2024 10:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has restored Donald Trump to 2024 presidential primary ballots, rejecting state attempts to hold the Republican former president accountable for the Capitol riot. The justices ruled Monday that states, without action first from Congress, cannot invoke a post-Civil War constitutional provision to keep presidential candidates from appearing on ballots. The court’s move ends efforts in Colorado, Illinois, Maine and elsewhere to kick Trump off the ballot because of his attempts to undo his loss in the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. But some election observers warn that the issue could return to the court again after the election.
March 4, 2024 5:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and other top White House officials hosted a member of Israel’s wartime Cabinet who is visiting Washington in defiance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Benny Gantz, a centrist political rival of Netanyahu, sat down with several senior Biden administration officials. Among them were Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser. President Joe Biden is at Camp David, the presidential retreat just outside Washington, until Tuesday. An official from Netanyahu’s nationalist Likud party said Gantz did not have approval from the prime minister for his meetings in Washington.
