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.
November 14, 2024 2:36 am
Harrisburg, PA — Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced today that unofficial results in the Nov. 5 general election race for U.S. Senate have triggered a legally required statewide recount. Senator Bob Casey and Dave McCormick have vote totals within the one-half of 1 percent margin that triggers a mandatory recount under state law. As of Wednesday, the unofficial returns for the U.S. Senate race submitted by all 67 counties show the following results for the top two candidates: Robert P. Casey Jr. – 3,350,972 (48.50%) and David H. McCormick – 3,380,310 (48.93%). Once counties finish counting their ballots, they must begin the recount no later than Wednesday, Nov. 20. They must complete the recount by noon on Nov. 26 and must report results to the Secretary by noon on Nov. 27. Results of the recount will not be published until Nov. 27th. The Department estimates that the recount cost will exceed $1 million of taxpayer funds. This is the eighth time the automatic recount provision has been triggered since the passage of Act 97 of 2004. In the four cases in which the recount was carried out, the initial results of the election were affirmed.
November 13, 2024 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump made a victor’s return to Washington on Wednesday, visiting the White House for a nearly two-hour meeting with President Joe Biden and committing to a straightforward transition of power despite actively working to disrupt the same process four years ago. Sitting in the Oval Office, in front of a strong fire in the fireplace, the former rivals shook hands before Biden called Trump “Mr. President-elect and former president” and then settled simply on “Donald.”“Congratulations,” the Democrat told the Republican. “I look forward to having, like they said, a smooth transition. Welcome. Welcome back.” Trump replied, “Thank you very much,” saying that “politics is tough. And it’s, in many cases, not a very nice world. But it is a nice world today, and I appreciate it very much.” Except for the opening moments, the meeting was private, with Biden and Trump joined by their chiefs of staff. Trump said the transition between the outgoing and incoming administrations “will be as smooth as it can get and I very much appreciate that, Joe.”
November 14, 2024 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Mike Johnson has won the Republican nomination to remain as House speaker, on track to keep the gavel after a morning endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump ahead of a full House vote in the new year. While Johnson has no serious challenger, he faces dissent within his ranks, particularly from hard-right conservatives and the Freedom Caucus withholding their votes as leverage to extract promises ahead. Trump told House Republicans that he’s with the speaker all the way, according to a person familiar with the remarks but unauthorized to discuss the private meeting. Johnson heaped praise on Trump, calling him the “comeback king.” Johnson said Rep. Matt Gaetz, tapped as Trump’s nominee for attorney general, resigned Wednesday, launching the process to fill his House seat.
November 13, 2024 4:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just hours after Republican Sen. John Thune was elected as the incoming Senate majority leader, President-elect Donald Trump presented him with one of his first tests — an announcement that he intends to nominate House Republican Matt Gaetz as attorney general. Two months before Trump takes office, he is challenging congressional Republicans to defy him as he says he will nominate potentially controversial figures to his Cabinet, including Gaetz, former Democratic House Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, and conservative media personality Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense.
November 14, 2024 4:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has had few defenders in Congress as reliable as Matt Gaetz. That kinship was rewarded Wednesday when Trump named Gaetz as his pick for attorney general, turning to a conservative loyalist in place of more established lawyers who’d been seen as contenders. In announcing the selection, Trump underscored the premium he places on loyalty, citing Gaetz’s support during the Russia investigation as central to his qualifications and signaling his view that government leaders should function not only as a president’s protector but also as instruments of retribution.
November 14, 2024 2:45 am
A priest from a Canonsburg Greek Orthodox Church pleaded guilty to one charge of theft by unlawful taking on Wednesday. George Athanasiou, 38 of Cecil Township entered an open plea of guilty to that charge. He faced more that 220 individual charges for his role in taking $155,000 from the All Saints Greek Orthodox Church from April of 2022 until November of 2023. In his plea proceeding, Athanasiou pledged to repay the $155,000 missing from church coffers. The punitive aspect of his sentence will be determined after a pre-sentencing investigation is completed. Athanasiou could face 7 years in jail, a $15,000 fine or both. He will be sentenced on February 18.
