October 2, 2024 2:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Voting has begun in the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania. Counties are mailing out ballots, offering over-the-counter voting and opening satellite election offices. Seth Bluestein sits on Philadelphia’s election commission. He said Wednesday that voters in the state’s largest city have returned about 15,000 mail-in ballots. That’s about 10% of the 150,000 ballots the city mailed so far. It’s also opening 10 satellite election offices. Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, says voters who applied for mail-in ballots have started receiving them. Montgomery County, the state’s third-most populous county, is mailing out ballots and this week it’s unveiling eight satellite election offices and a mobile voter services van. (Photo: AP)
October 3, 2024 4:59 am
(AP) – An Islamic health organization in Lebanon said that an Israeli strike in the capital Beirut killed seven health and rescue workers. The airstrike in the residential Bashoura district overnight targeted an apartment in a multi-story building that houses an office of the Health Society, a group of civilian first responders affiliated to Hezbollah. It was the closest strike to the central downtown district of Beirut, where the United Nations and government offices are located. The strike came as Israel was pursuing a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah, while also conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children.
October 3, 2024 4:53 am
BEIRUT (AP) — Israel is pressing forward on two fronts. The military is pursuing a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah that left eight Israeli soldiers dead Wednesday and conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. As Israel vowed to retaliate for Iran’s ballistic missile attack a day earlier, the region braced for further escalation. Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and the Hamas militants who run the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip, launched dozens of missiles into Israel on Tuesday night. It was another escalation in a cycle that is pushing the Middle East closer to a regional war. Israel warned that the attack would have repercussions.
October 3, 2024 4:45 am
BELLE VERNON, Pa. — (WPXI) – A fifth-grade student at Marion Elementary in the Belle Vernon School District reportedly threatened to bring a gun to campus while he was on the bus Tuesday, according to a letter from the superintendent. The letter says that multiple students overheard the comment and reported it to the bus driver. The driver notified the school administration, and the student was kept home from school on Wednesday. According to the superintendent, the student will be kept out of school while the situation is investigated by local law enforcement “Please know that the safety of our students is our top priority, and we take this matter very seriously. We encourage you to speak with your children about the importance of reporting concerning comments or behaviors to a trusted adult, as the students on the bus did today. Their quick action allowed us to address this situation swiftly,” the letter reads.
October 2, 2024 5:43 pm
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have toured the hurricane-devastated areas of North Carolina and Georgia. Biden, in a helicopter, flew over toppled trees, twisted metal and towering piles of debris Wednesday in the normally tourist friendly downtown of Asheville, North Carolina. At the same time, Harris was getting her own look at the storm’s damage in Georgia. Both were seeking to demonstrate a larger commitment and competence in helping damaged communities after Donald Trump’s false claims about their administration’s response. Harris praised the workers straining, in her words, “to meet the needs of people who must be seen, who must be heard.” (Photo: AP)
October 2, 2024 5:44 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prosecutors say Donald Trump laid the groundwork to try to overturn the 2020 election even before he lost, knowingly pushed false claims of voter fraud and “resorted to crimes” in his failed bid to cling to power. A newly unsealed court filing lays out fresh details from the landmark criminal case against the former president. It argues that the former president is not entitled to immunity from prosecution. It was submitted by special counsel Jack Smith’s team following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents and narrowed the scope of the prosecution.
October 2, 2024 4:07 pm
Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced that charges were filed against former Greene County District Attorney David Russo (pictured) and former Chief Detective for the Greene County DA’s Office, Zachary Sams, following a presentment from the 51st Statewide Investigating Grand Jury. Russo, 47, of Holbrook, Greene County, and Sams, 40, of McDonald, Washington County, were charged Wednesday morning. Russo was arrested and appeared before Magisterial District Judge Tom Ankrom and bail was set at $50,000 unsecured. Zachary Sams was served with a summons to appear in court. Russo and Sams were both charged with retaliation for past official action, official oppression and conspiracy; additionally, Russo was charged with conflict of interest and misapplication of entrusted property. The charges detailed in the presentment stem from a series of ongoing disputes that developed between Russo and other Greene County officials, and the actions Russo and Sams took, using the powers of their office, against their critics. The common thread underpinning the case was Russo’s desire to deliver retribution against his political enemies and bolster his reelection bid. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Heather Serrano, Deputy Attorney General Aaron McKendry, and Senior Deputy Attorney General James Price.
October 2, 2024 9:57 am
STEELTON, Pa. (AP) – The Republican challenger trying to flip the U.S. Senate seat in swing-state Pennsylvania says he’ll press for U.S. military action in Mexico to target fentanyl trafficking networks. David McCormick is proposing a controversial and complicated idea that seemed to originate with former President Donald Trump. McCormick is challenging Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania. The issue of fighting fentanyl is playing a big role in the campaign. McCormick envisions using the U.S. military’s drones and special operations teams in Mexico to destroy fentanyl trafficking cartels. Critics say such operations would do little to hurt the cartels or stem the flow of fentanyl, while raising delicate questions about sovereignty.
October 2, 2024 5:09 am
The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania GOP have turned to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in the ballot curing legal battle here in Washington County. They have filed and appeal asking the high court to review the Commonwealth Court ruling that upheld Common Pleas Court Judge Brandon Neuman’s order that the county elections board notify voters who made fatal mistakes on their mail-in ballots and allowing them to cast a provisional ballot instead. Washington County Commissioners Chairman Nick Sherman says they are taking a wait and see approach over whether the high court will take the case. The elections board is to hold a special meeting this morning at 10 a.m. to discuss how to handle absentee and mail-in ballots for the November 5 election. It will be held in the meeting room of the Crossroads Center. WJPA News will be there.
October 2, 2024 4:55 am
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — Three residents of a northeastern Pennsylvania county are suing to overturn a local official’s announcement she will prevent all four of its drop boxes for mail-in ballots from being deployed. The Luzerne County lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks a judge’s order that the drop boxes for use by those voting by mail and absentee ballot be in place for the Nov. 5 election. The plaintiffs say Luzerne County manager Romilda Crocamo lacks authority for statements made last month that the county won’t use drop boxes “because of purported safety and security concerns.” Drop boxes are used to hand over completed mail ballots by those who don’t want to put them through the mail. Crocamo is declining comment.
