July 18, 2024 4:57 am

MILWAUKEE (AP) — JD Vance used his Wednesday night address to the Republican National Convention to share the story of his hardscrabble upbringing and make the case that his party best understands the challenges facing struggling Americans. The 39-year-old Ohio senator is a relative political unknown. In his first prime-time speech since becoming the nominee for vice president, Vance spoke of growing up poor in Kentucky and Ohio, his mother addicted to drugs and his father absent, and how he later joined the military and went on to the highest levels of U.S. politics.
July 18, 2024 4:57 am

FREEPORT, Pa. (AP) — Thousands of mourners paid their respects at a Pennsylvania banquet hall to the family of a former fire chief who was fatally shot during the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Trump sent a note of condolence hailing Corey Comperatore as a hero. The crowd appeared to be made up of friends, neighbors and strangers who showed their appreciation for the man who officials said spent his final moments shielding his wife and daughter from gunfire at the campaign rally. Fire trucks and police vehicles filled the parking lot outside the building. Comperatore, who was 50, also worked as a project and tooling engineer. A private funeral is scheduled for Friday.
July 18, 2024 4:55 am

LAS VEGAS (AP) — President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling in Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms” from the infection. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says Biden will fly to his home in Delaware, where he will “self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.” The news had first been shared by UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía, who told guests at the group’s convention in Las Vegas that president had sent his regrets and could not appear because he tested positive for the virus.
July 18, 2024 4:53 am

Federal transportation officials are providing $5 billion to replace or improve aging bridges in 16 states. The grants announced Wednesday by President Joe Biden’s administration come from a $1 trillion infrastructure package he signed into law in 2021. The largest project provides an additional $1.4 billion to help replace two bridges carrying Interstate 5 traffic over the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. Other projects receiving $500 million or more include bridges in Cape Code, Massachusetts; Mobile, Alabama; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. More than 42,000 bridges across the U.S. are in poor condition, and they are on average 70 years old.
July 18, 2024 2:46 am

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Newhart has died at age 94. Jerry Digney, Newhart’s publicist, says the actor died Thursday in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses. The accountant-turned-comedian gained fame with a smash album and became one of the most popular TV stars of his time. Newhart was a Chicago psychologist in “The Bob Newhart Show” in the 1970s and a Vermont innkeeper on “Newhart” in the 1980s. Both shows featured a low-key Newhart surrounded by eccentric characters. The second had a twist ending in its final show — the whole series was revealed to have been a dream by the psychologist he played in the other show. (Photo: Ap)
July 18, 2024 1:44 am
State Police have reportedly charged two men in connection with a shooting that injured a toddler and a woman in Greene County. Warrants have been issued for 20 year old Jeremy Currey of Washington and 19 year old Darius Wolfe of Claysville. Both face four counts of attempted homicide and conspiracy charges. Police say five shots were fired into an apartment at Mountain View Garden Apartments in Waynesburg. The woman has struck in the left eye while the two-year old child was hit in the right thigh. The victims were not identified. Both were treated and released from Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia. No other information is currently available.
July 17, 2024 5:42 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee has issued a subpoena to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle compelling her to appear before the committee on Monday for what is scheduled to be the first congressional hearing into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general also says it’s investigating the Secret Service’s handling of security for Trump the day a gunman tried to assassinate him at a Pennsylvania rally. The agency said Wednesday the objective is to evaluate the Secret Service’s “process for securing” Trump’s Saturday event. The Secret Service has said it will participate with congressional committees looking into the shooting.
July 17, 2024 5:40 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — California Rep. Adam Schiff has become the highest-profile Democrat to call for President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid, as the party pushes ahead with plans to hold a virtual vote to formally make Biden its nominee in the first week of August. That’s before the party’s convention opens in person two weeks later. The move to schedule the roll call vote comes after nearly 20 Democratic members of Congress have called on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race in the wake of his halting debate performance against Republican former President Donald Trump last month. Among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Wednesday
July 17, 2024 12:52 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “The Bear” has gone on a tear at Wednesday morning’s Emmy nominations with a comedy-series record 23, and “Shogun” led all nominees with 25 in a dominant year across categories for FX. “The Bear,” the FX show about a struggling chef and his ramshackle crew, could easily top the 13 nominations it got last year. Another FX show, “Shogun,” could be the favorite in the drama category, but Emmy veteran “The Crown” could also loom large. The nominations come just six months after the last Emmys, which were delayed by last year’s Hollywood strikes. The Emmys will air on ABC on Sept. 15.
July 17, 2024 10:52 am
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — A common refrain on the streets of Butler, Pennsylvania, in the wake of Saturday’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump was: “Of all the places.” The town is rural and neighborly. And it’s in Trump country. Residents expressed shock that an attempt would be made on his life in such a Trump stronghold. Butler County sits on the western edge of a presidential swing state. The Republican won there twice with about 66% of the vote, and about 57% of the county’s 139,000 registered voters are Republican. A local attorney likened it to the pope being shot in Vatican City.