October 18, 2022 4:14 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Air strikes cut power and water supplies in a repeatedly bombed Ukrainian city and pounded energy and infrastructure facilities elsewhere in the country on Tuesday, part of an apparent quickening effort by Russia to drive Ukrainians into the cold and dark as winter bites. All of Zhytomyr, a city with military bases 140 kilometers (85 miles) west of the capital, was without electricity and water after a double missile strike on an energy facility, said Mayor Serhiy Sukhomlyn. Hospitals were left running on backup power, he said. Missile strikes also hit an energy facility in Kyiv and severely damaged another in the south-central city of Dnipro, authorities said. The governor of the partly Russian-occupied southern Zaporizhzhia region also reported a fire at an infrastructure facility caused by suicide drones – so called because they slam into targets and explode.
October 18, 2022 4:10 am
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Two men were arrested after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers found loaded handguns in their carry-on bags at a checkpoint at Pittsburgh International Airport. According to a press release, a Pittsburgh man was arrested on Friday, Oct. 14 and a Colorado man was arrested on Saturday, Oct. 15. The Pittsburgh man had a loaded .380 caliber handgun and the Colorado man had a 9mm gun that was loaded with seven bullets, including one in the chamber. Both of the men were arrested on weapons charges. “Responsible gun owners know where their guns are at all times and they know that they are not permitted to carry them onto a flight,” said TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport Karen Keys-Turner in a press release. “If you want to travel with your firearm all someone has to do is pack it properly and be sure to bring along your carry permit, if you have one. Now these travelers face a stiff financial civil penalty in addition to having to deal with their arrest.”
October 18, 2022 4:07 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The state and national Republican parties are suing anew in Pennsylvania in an effort to block some mail-in ballots — those lacking the voter’s handwritten date on the return envelope — from being counted in November, when voters will elect a new governor and U.S. senator. The GOP’s filing late Sunday went straight to the state Supreme Court, with barely three weeks left before Election Day. The court does not have to take up the lawsuit. “The time for the Court to act is now,” lawyers for the Republican Party told the justices in the lawsuit. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration declined to comment, but it supports counting ballots with undated or improperly dated envelopes. The effort by Republicans to ensure that improperly dated or undated ballot envelopes are thrown out could help their candidates in tight contests around the state. As of Friday, nearly 1.2 million voters had applied for a mail-in ballot, with applications from registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans by an almost 4-to-1 ratio. Throwing out undated ballots would theoretically ensure that more Democratic ballots are tossed out, helping Republican candidates.
October 18, 2022 2:55 am
A North Strabane man who held police at bay for several hours earlier this month, threatening to shoot them and himself, had his preliminary hearing on Monday. Lance Stumpf, 53 will face a felony charge of terroristic threats and a misdemeanor charge of prohibited firearms possession. Stumpf’s girlfriend called county 9-1-1 to report that he was threatening suicide and would shoot police if they showed up at his North Strabane Township home. The incident caused the blocking of township streets and the lockdown of Canonsburg Hospital before the it ended nearly eight hours later. Originally the firearms charge was a first degree felony charge but negotiation between the defense counsel and district attorney had the original felony designation modified to a misdemeanor charge. Stumpf was ordered to undergo mental health and drug and alcohol evaluations. He will be arraigned on November 28.
October 18, 2022 2:35 am
NEWTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Police say political signs in southeastern Pennsylvania have been found booby-trapped with razor blades, which resulted in sliced fingers for one resident. Upper Makefield Township police said Sunday that a resident found a sign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro placed without permission on their property, and while trying to remove it found razor blades “placed around the perimeter of the sign.” Signs for two other Democratic candidates were also found to be booby-trapped. Police said their investigation continues and warned residents to use caution in removing signs placed on their property without permission.
October 17, 2022 5:22 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Donald Trump’s private company arranged for the Secret Service to pay for rooms at his properties in excess of government-approved rates at least 40 times during his presidency – including two charges for more than $1,100 per night. That is according to documents released Monday by a congressional committee investigating the former president. The House Oversight Committee said the Secret Service was charged more than $800 per night at least 11 times by his properties. The Trump Organization denied anything improper. It said it provided rooms to the Secret Service at cost or deep discount, adding that its business did not profit at all from the presidency.
October 17, 2022 3:52 pm
(AP) – The rapper formerly known as Kanye West is offering to buy right-wing friendly social network Parler shortly after he was blocked from posting on Twitter and Instagram for antisemitic posts. West, who is legally known as Ye, was locked out of Twitter and Instagram a week ago over antisemitic posts that the social networks said violated their policies. In one post on Twitter, Ye said he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” according to internet archive records, making an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale known as DEFCON. The potential purchase of Parler would give Ye control of a social media platform and a new outlet for his opinions with no gatekeeper.
October 17, 2022 4:33 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Voters in Georgia, Texas and some other states are facing new hurdles to cast a ballot during the midterm election under laws passed by Republican-led legislatures following President Donald Trump’s false claims that voter fraud cost him re-election in 2020. The restrictions have prompted groups that assist voters to reorient themselves so they can avoid running afoul of new barriers. They anticipate confusion and conflict at the polls, and are redoubling efforts to register and educate. The Brennan Center for Justice says lawmakers in 21 states have passed at least 42 restrictive laws since 2021. At least 33 of those are in effect for this year’s midterm.
October 17, 2022 4:31 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has officially kicked off the application process for his student debt cancellation program. He announced Monday that 8 million borrowers had already applied for loan relief during the federal government’s soft launch period over the weekend. Biden is encouraging the tens of millions eligible for potential relief to visit studentaid.gov and touting the application form, which he says will take less than five minutes to complete. He says an early, “beta launch” version of the online form released late Friday handled the early stream of applications “without a glitch or any difficulty.”
October 17, 2022 4:31 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A new poll shows 71% of voters think the future of the country is at stake when they vote in November’s midterm elections. That’s according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll findings suggest voters are motivated to turn out despite deep pessimism about the state of U.S. politics and dissatisfaction with the country. With less than a month to go, about 8 in 10 registered voters say casting their ballot this year is extremely or very important. That’s true of voters who prefer Republicans win majorities in Congress, and those who want to see Democrats remain in control.
