Trump fires Chris Krebs, head of DHS election security agency
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired the director of the federal agency that vouched for the reliability of the 2020 election. Trump fired Christopher Krebs in a tweet, saying his recent statement defending the security of the election was “highly inaccurate.” The firing of Krebs, a Trump appointee...
GOP seeks to postpone Maricopa County election certification
PHOENIX — The Arizona Republican Party has asked a judge to bar Maricopa County from certifying its Nov. 3 election results, including Democrat Joe Biden’s win over President Donald Trump, until the court issues a decision about the party’s lawsuit seeking a new hand-count of a sampling of ballots. The...
Second Georgia county finds previously uncounted votesVideo
ATLANTA — A second Georgia county has uncovered a trove of votes not previously included in election results, but the additional votes won’t change the overall outcome of the presidential race, the secretary of state’s office said Tuesday. A memory card that hadn’t been uploaded in Fayette County, just south...
Raids, arrests as German police investigate Dresden jewelry theft
BERLIN — More than 1,500 police carried out a series of searches in Berlin and arrested three people in a massive operation connected to the spectacular theft of 18th-century jewels from a unique collection in Dresden last November, authorities said Tuesday. The operation was coordinated by police and prosecutors in...
Amazon opens online pharmacy, shaking up another industry
NEW YORK — Now at Amazon.com: insulin and inhalers. The retail colossus opened an online pharmacy Tuesday that allows customers to order medication or prescription refills and have them delivered to their front door in a couple of days. The potential impact of Amazon’s arrival in the pharmaceutical space rippled...
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, 87, says he tested positive for coronavirus
WASHINGTON — Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving Republican senator and third in the line of presidential succession, said Tuesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Grassley announced earlier Tuesday that he was quarantining after being exposed to the virus and was waiting for the results of a...
Controversial Fed nominee Judy Shelton fails in Senate test vote
WASHINGTON — The nomination of Judy Shelton, President Donald Trump’s controversial pick for the Federal Reserve, is stalled in the Senate after Vice President-elect Kamala Harris returned to the chamber to cast a key vote in a tally Tuesday. Two key Republicans were absent because of covid-related concerns. The 47-50...
Hundreds of nurses strike at Philadelphia-area hospitalVideo
LANGHORNE — Hundreds of nurses have gone on strike at a suburban Philadelphia hospital, citing low staffing levels amid rising coronavirus cases. The walkout that began at 7 a.m. Tuesday involves the 700-plus registered nurses at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne and their allies in the Pennsylvania Association of...
Ohio governor orders 3-week retail curfew to slow virus
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday announced a three-week retail curfew running from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. to slow the spread of the coronavirus as cases stay at near-record high levels. DeWine said this measure, effective Thursday, is needed to reduce cases and stop the state’s...
Trump cuts troop levels to 2,500 in Iraq and Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said Tuesday the U.S. will reduce troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan by mid-January, asserting that the decision fulfills President Donald Trump’s pledge to bring forces home from America’s long wars even as Republicans and U.S. allies warn of the dangers of withdrawing...
Pennsylvania expands mask mandate as coronavirus cases rise
New orders from Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health expand on an April order mandating masks be worn in public, extending the conditions under which one must be worn to include indoors when with anyone outside their household. The orders, which also give further guidance to hospitals and colleges, are meant to...
Pa. Supreme Court rejects Trump campaign claim that Republicans lacked access to Philly vote count
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Republican monitors observing vote counting in Philadelphia were given sufficient access under state law to view the proceedings. In a 5-2 decision, the court overturned a lower court decision that ordered monitors with President Donald Trump’s campaign be allowed within 6 feet of...
Volunteers still needed to test variety of covid-19 vaccines
Two covid-19 vaccines might be nearing the finish line, but scientists caution it’s critical that enough people volunteer to help finish studying other candidates in the U.S. and around the world. Moderna Inc. and competitor Pfizer Inc. recently announced preliminary results showing their vaccines appear more than 90% effective, at...
Pennsylvania sets another record for new covid-19 cases, nearly 6,000 cases reported
Pennsylvania reported 5,900 new covid-19 cases Tuesday, the new high for daily cases in the state. With the new cases, the seven-day case total stands at 36,856 for the period of Nov. 11 through Tuesday. The seven-day case average is 5,265. Both figures are new records in Pennsylvania. There were...
Pentagon says it shot down unarmed missile in sea-based test
WASHINGTON — In a first for the Pentagon’s push to develop defenses against intercontinental-range ballistic missiles capable of striking the United States, a missile interceptor launched from a U.S. Navy ship at sea hit and destroyed a mock ICBM in flight on Tuesday, officials said. Previous tests against ICBM targets...
Financially troubled startup helped power Trump campaign
SAN FRANCISCO — President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign was powered by a cell phone app that allowed staff to monitor the movements of his millions of supporters, and offered intimate access to their social networks. While the campaign may be winding down, the data strategy is very much alive,...
Joe Biden filling top White House team with campaign veterans
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden announced a raft of top White House staff positions on Tuesday, drawing from the senior ranks of his campaign and some of his closest confidants to fill out an increasingly diverse White House leadership team. Biden confirmed that former campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon will...
Remains found in 1988 identified as West Virginia fugitive
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Remains found in Ohio in 1988 have been identified as a West Virginia fugitive, authorities said. DNA testing was used to identify the remains as John Paul Devaughn, who was wanted for parole violations in West Virginia, WDTV-TV reported, citing the U.S. Marshals Service. Devaughn was convicted...
Levine to announce ‘targeted efforts’ to control covid cases
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine is set to announce “targeted efforts” to control the spread of covid-19 as case counts across the state continue to rise. The announcement, set for 1 p.m., comes a day after Levine told members of the media there were no plans to shut...
Overly’s Country Christmas, a timeless holiday tradition, opens Thursday, Nov. 19
A talking Christmas tree, a donkey named Edgar and more Christmas lights than Clark Griswold’s house are just some of the things you’ll see at the famous Overly’s Country Christmas, a classic holiday destination since 1956. Overly’s is a family tradition deeply rooted in Westmoreland County. This year’s event will...
Head of government agency under pressure to let presidential transition proceed
WASHINGTON — The head of an obscure federal agency that is holding up the presidential transition knew well before Election Day that she might soon have a messy situation on her hands. Before Nov. 3, Emily Murphy, the head of the General Services Administration, held a Zoom call with Dave...
Dangerous Hurricane Iota makes landfall on Nicaragua coastVideo
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Powerful Hurricane Iota made landfall on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast late Monday, threatening catastrophic damage to the same part of Central America already battered by equally strong Hurricane Eta less than two weeks ago. Iota had intensified into an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm early in the day,...
Georgia elections chief says Sen. Lindsey Graham asked about rejecting more absentee ballotsVideo
ATLANTA — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham asked him if he had the power to reject more absentee ballots as election officials are conducting a recount and audit of the presidential race. Raffensperger, in an interview with The Washington Post on Monday, said the...
As deaths spiral, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem opposes mask rulesVideo
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Monday showed no sign of budging from her hands-off approach to the pandemic, despite finding herself among a dwindling number of Midwest governors holding out against mask mandates and facing a death rate in her state that has risen to...
Feds reject Pa.’s plan to spend up to $300M in stimulus money for property tax relief
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — For more than a decade, state lawmakers have sent yearly payments to Pennsylvania’s school districts so they can lower...
