July 21, 2022 5:29 pm
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) – A woman who admitted her role in a scam that raised $400,000 using a fake story about a homeless man has been sentenced in federal court. A New Jersey judge sentenced Katelyn McClure Thursday to a prison term of one year and one day. McClure and her then-boyfriend Mark D’Amico fabricated the story that homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt, Jr., rescued her from the side of a Philadelphia highway in 2017. They publicized their story and more than 14,000 people donated, thinking the money was for Bobbitt. Prosecutors say the pair instead spent the money on luxury items and travel. McClure also pleaded guilty to state charges in 2019 and faces sentencing next month.
July 21, 2022 10:32 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, making him the second U.S. president to get the virus and underscoring the extent to which the virus has infiltrated American society. The 79-year-old Biden is fully vaccinated after getting two initial doses of the coronavirus vaccine and two boosters since. When a fully vaccinated person experiences a breakthrough infection, the chance of severe illness or death is low. The announcement highlights the unpredictable nature of a virus that has now infected numerous world leaders, despite an urgent global vaccination drive and feverish efforts at containment.
July 21, 2022 10:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week rose to its highest level in more than eight months, a sign the labor market may be showing some weakness. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 16 rose by 7,000 to 251,000, up from the previous week’s 244,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most since Nov. 13, 2021 when 265,000 Americans applied for benefits. First-time applications generally reflect layoffs. Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet expected the number to come in at 242,000.
July 21, 2022 7:48 am
NEW YORK (AP) – William “Poogie” Hart, a founder of the Grammy-winning trio the Delfonics who helped write and sang a soft lead tenor on such classic “Sound of Philadelphia” ballads as “La-La (Means I Love You)” and “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” has died at age 77. His son told The New York Times that Hart died July 14 at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia from complications during surgery. From the late 1960s to the mid 1970s, the Delfonics had six top 40 pop hits and more than a dozen top 20 R&B hits, defined by the rich orchestral arrangements and layered harmonies that made Philadelphia soul as essential to the ’70s as Detroit’s Motown label had been in the previous decade. (Photo: AP)
July 21, 2022 7:26 am
Washington County Register of Wills James Roman wants County Commissioners to place a referendum on the November ballot asking; “Shall the use of voting machines be continued in Washington County?” Roman asked commissioners at Wednesday’s agenda meeting to place his request on the agenda and vote on it during Thursday afternoon’s regular meeting. He received no response to that request. Roman then refused to speak with WJPA News following that agenda meeting. Informing us that he no longer speaks to Washington County media outlets. He also informed us that he would be sending out a news release concerning the matter, but said we would not receive it. It was, however, sent to us. Roman is claiming evidence of voting irregularities in Washington County and says commissioners refuse to return calls or meet to discuss the matter. In the release, he invites the public and the media to his office prior to the commissioner’s 2 p.m. meeting with plans to then go to the meeting and present some two-thousand signatures and publicly request they vote on the proposed referendum and place it on the ballot in November. WJPA News will be at the commissioners meeting and will have more on this later in the day.
July 21, 2022 4:19 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – The pop culture extravaganza that is Comic-Con International is back to its old extravagance. Stars, cosplayers and fans are filling the San Diego Convention Center in full force after the pandemic forced it to go virtual for two years. They started pouring in for Wednesday’s preview night. The Mandalorian, Wonder Woman, and Sailor Moon could be seen walking the floor. Anticipated panels this year include a preview from Warner Bros. of the antihero film “Black Adam” featuring star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and peeks at forthcoming fantasy TV series, the “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” and the “Lord of the Rings” prequel “The Rings of Power.”
July 21, 2022 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats are pushing legislation through the House that would inscribe the right to use contraceptives into law. That vote is planned for Thursday. And it is Democrats’ latest campaign-season response to worries that a conservative Supreme Court that’s erased federal abortion rights could go further. House passage will send the measure to the Senate, where its fate seems uncertain. The push illustrates how Democrats are latching onto their own version of culture-war battles to appeal to female, progressive and minority voters. Democrats are casting the court and Republicans as extremists intent on obliterating rights taken for granted for years.
July 21, 2022 4:17 am
DETROIT (AP) – The FBI says it found no evidence of missing Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa during a search of land under a New Jersey bridge. Hoffa has been missing since 1975 when he was last seen in suburban Detroit. The decades-long mystery turned last year to land next to a former landfill under the Pulaski Skyway in Jersey City. The FBI conducted a search there in early June. Spokeswoman Mara Schneider says “nothing of evidentiary value was discovered.”
July 21, 2022 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A majority of Americans say Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide. That’s according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning Roe v. Wade asserted that abortion is not a constitutional right and handed states the authority to severely restrict or ban abortion. The poll shows many Americans back some restrictions on abortion, especially after the first trimester. It also shows that the most extreme measures introduced in some Republican-led states are at odds with the public – and with many of the people who live in them.
July 21, 2022 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House Jan. 6 committee will hold its final hearing of the summer in prime time. Thursday’s hearing aims to vividly make the case that Donald Trump’s lies about a stolen election fueled the grisly Capitol attack last year. The panel will delve into 187 minutes in which it says Trump did nothing to stop the violence but instead “gleefully” watched on television at the White House. The two-hour hearing will feature live testimony from two former White House aides. Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin says it will be “a profound moment of reckoning for America.”
