October 17, 2024 5:13 am
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge has declared that seven new election rules recently passed by the State Election Board are “illegal, unconstitutional and void.” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox issued the order Wednesday after holding a hearing on challenges to the rules. The rules that Cox invalidated include three that had gotten a lot of attention — one that requires that the number of ballots be hand-counted after the close of polls and two that had to do with the certification of election results. He ordered the board to immediately remove the rules and to inform all state and local election officials that the rules are void and not to be followed.
October 17, 2024 5:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris engaged in a combative interview with Fox News on Wednesday. She sparred with anchor Bret Baier on immigration and her shifting policy positions while asserting that if elected, she would not represent a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency. Harris’ interview marked her first foray onto the network, which is popular with conservative viewers. She’s looking to broaden her outreach to GOP-leaning voters with less than three weeks until Election Day. Her nearly 30-minute sit-down with Baier repeatedly grew heated, with the two talking over each other. Harris tried repeatedly to pivot the conversation to attacking Trump.
October 17, 2024 5:14 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse dating back decades. An attorney says it is the largest single child sex abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese. Attorneys for 1,353 people who allege that they suffered horrific abuse at the hands of local Catholic priests reached the settlement after months of negotiations with the archdiocese. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say there is justice in accountability. After the announcement of the agreement in principle, Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a statement, “I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart.”
October 17, 2024 5:04 am
QANA, Lebanon (AP) — Officials say Israeli airstrikes have pounded areas across Lebanon, killing at least 27 people over the past 24 hours, including more than a dozen in a southern town where Israeli bombardments in previous conflicts are seared into local memory. Elsewhere in the south, a city’s mayor was among the dead in a strike Wednesday that Lebanese officials said targeted a meeting coordinating relief efforts. Fifteen people were killed late Tuesday in the southern town of Qana, with Israel saying it targeted Jalal Mustafa Hariri, a Hezbollah commander. In 1996, Israeli artillery shelling on a United Nations compound housing hundreds of displaced people in Qana killed at least 100 civilians.
October 17, 2024 12:46 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor-dancer Mitzi Gaynor has died at age 93. Gaynor starred as Nellie Forbush in the 1958 film of “South Pacific” and appeared in other musicals with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly in the 1950s and early 1960s. She starred in the musicals “Golden Girl,” “The I Don’t Care Girl” and Bloodhounds of Broadway.” Gaynor, among the last survivors of the so-called golden age of the Hollywood musical, died of natural causes in Los Angeles on Thursday morning, her long-time managers Rene Reyes and Shane Rosamonda confirmed in a statement to The Associated Press. In the all-star “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” Gaynor danced with Donald O’Connor but was overshadowed by a rising star, Marilyn Monroe. (Photo: AP)
October 17, 2024 5:03 am
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Former One Direction singer Liam Payne was found dead after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, local officials told Argentine media. He was 31. Buenos Aires police say in a statement that Payne fell from the third floor, resulting in “extremely serious injuries.” Medics confirmed his death on the spot. The spokesperson for the Security Ministry of Buenos Aires municipality tells The Associated Press that police were dispatched to the hotel in response to an emergency call about an “aggressive man” and Payne “had thrown himself from the balcony of his room.” Authorities are investigating the circumstances of his death and have not made an official cause of death determination.
October 17, 2024 4:58 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Robinson Township leaders voted two to one on a new police department. McDonald Boro has been patrolling Robinson Township for 20 years and their contract expires this year. The township manager told Channel 11 it’s a decision they didn’t take lightly. Our evaluation process for choice of agency involved a combination of in-person interviews, polling, site visits and extensive consultations with the chiefs,” said Crystal Brown. “I do feel like Mount Pleasant township, although it was a controversial choice for some residents, I think it was a responsible choice.” The board received similar proposals from the North Fayette, McDonald, Smith and Mount Pleasant Departments. Mount Pleasant Chief Matthew Tharp gave Channel 11 a statement saying, “If the contracted service is finalized, we are excited at the opportunity to work with their community, visitors and business to provide professional police services as we do for our community now. We are fortunate enough to have five police officers who currently or previously worked for the municipality that previously covered Robinson Township, which will greatly aid in knowing many of their residents, streets and best routes to respond for emergencies in their community. ” Community members have been outspoken about the decision, with some embracing the chance and pushing for regionalization, others against the decision, and others want more questions answered.
October 17, 2024 4:52 am
SOUTH FAYETTE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Wednesday morning, South Fayette Township neighbors who live along Boyce Road and close to a giant water main break, found themselves without water. Pennsylvania American Water says a broken 36-inch concrete cylinder water main is to blame. Officials started emergency repairs and are currently working to get it fixed. Until then, Boyce Road from Hunting Ridge to Mayview Road is closed. Drivers who need to get to Route 19 and Washington Pike will have to detour for the foreseeable future. Pennsylvania American Water says there are currently 15 customers who don’t have any water. Officials anticipate their service being restored on Thursday morning. There’s no ETA on when the road will reopen.
October 16, 2024 4:16 am
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge has blocked a new rule that requires Georgia Election Day ballots to be counted by hand after the close of voting. The ruling came a day after the same judge ruled that county election officials must certify election results by the deadline set in law. In a ruling late Tuesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote, that the so-called hand count rule “is too much, too late” and blocked its enforcement while he considers the merits of the case. McBurney on Monday had ruled in a separate case that county election officials cannot “refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance.”
October 16, 2024 4:13 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to unveil a blueprint for his country’s victory in the war against Russia. The plan to be presented to Parliament on Wednesday is considered by many as Ukraine’s last resort to strengthen its hand in any future cease-fire negotiations with Russia. Zelenskyy is keen to advance the plan before a new U.S. leader is sworn in next year. Thus far, none of the Western allies have publicly endorsed the five-point plan or commented on its feasibility. Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhii Leshchenko announced on Monday that Zelenskyy would present the plan to Parliament.
