Pet Valu plans to close all U.S. stores due to ‘severe impact from covid-19’
Pet Valu Inc., a pet food retailer with several stores in the Pittsburgh region, on Wednesday announced plans to wind down its U.S. operations “due to severe impact from covid-19.” Pet Valu said it expects its 358 U.S. stores and warehouses, scattered throughout the Northeast and Midwest, and its U.S....
World waits nervously, impatiently for U.S. vote count
From Ford Model T cars that popped off the assembly line in just 90 minutes to 60-second service for burgers, the United States has long had a major hand in making the world a frenetic and impatient place, primed and hungry for instant gratification. So waking up to the news...
Pa. reports 2nd-highest coronavirus case total
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health reported 2,795 new positive cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the second-highest total since the pandemic began in March. The new cases bring the state’s total to 217,666, following Tuesday’s record high total of 2,875 new cases. The health department had 49,087 test results reported through 10...
Wolf: ‘Every vote is going to count,’ Trump lawsuit is ‘simply wrong’Video
Gov. Tom Wolf reiterated his confidence in the state’s elections process Wednesday night as workers statewide raced to tabulate hundreds of thousands of ballots left to be counted and the Trump administration attempts to block the count. “Pennsylvania has made important progress in counting millions of mail-in ballots. That continues...
DEA collects record amount of prescription drugs on Take Back Day
A record amount of prescription medication — nearly 1 million pounds — was collected nationwide Oct. 24 during the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Drug Take Back Day. That includes nearly 37,000 pounds of unwanted, expired or unused prescription medication turned over at 209 collection sites in Pennsylvania, according to data released...
Flash of luck: Astronomers find cosmic radio burst source
A flash of luck helped astronomers solve a cosmic mystery: What causes powerful but fleeting radio bursts that zip and zigzag through the universe? Scientists have known about these energetic pulses — called fast radio bursts — for about 13 years and have seen them coming from outside our galaxy,...
How many votes did Kanye West get in the presidential race?Video
The 2020 election results are still rolling in, and it might be days or weeks before the presidential race is decided between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. But Kanye West knows he didn’t win. The rapper admitted defeat after getting just 60,000 votes in 12 states....
Scattered protests in U.S. cities, but no wide unrest seen
WASHINGTON — Scattered protests took place from Washington, D.C. to Washington state in the hours after polls closed, but there were no signs of widespread unrest or violence linked to the U.S. election. The outcome of the hard-fought contest for the presidency remained undecided Wednesday, stirring worries that prolonged uncertainty...
Voters in pivotal Pennsylvania keep nation on edge of seat
HARRISBURG — Legal challenges and a mountain of uncounted ballots promised a long watch Wednesday to find out who the people of Pennsylvania chose as president, even as a host of other major races in the state — including for several congressional seats, statewide officers and the Legislature — remained...
Shelling in Syria rebel enclave kills 7, including children
BEIRUT — Syrian government on Wednesday shelled the last rebel last enclave in the country’s northwest, killing at least seven people, including three children, rescuers and activists reported. The attack came during a day of heavy rain, and targeted the city of Idlib city and two towns, to the north...
Coronavirus cause of Algeria president’s hospitalization
ALGIERS, Algeria — Algeria’s secretive presidency confirmed Wednesday that the mysterious illness that caused President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to be hospitalized in Germany last month was the coronavirus. The presidency said that the state of 74-year-old Tebboune’s health is “gradually improving” and he “continues to receive treatment in a specialized German...
Calm returns to Vienna as police probe gunman who killed 4
VIENNA — Life in Vienna returned to something like normal Wednesday as Austrian authorities investigated whether a 20-year-old man who fatally shot four people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group had any accomplices. Officials say the suspect, identified as 20-year-old Kujtim Fejzulai, had a previous conviction for...
Presidency hinges on tight races in battleground states
WASHINGTON — The fate of the United States presidency hung in the balance Wednesday morning, as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden battled for three familiar battleground states — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House. It was unclear...
U.S. formally exits Paris pact aiming to curb climate change
BERLIN — The United States on Wednesday formally left the Paris Agreement, a global pact forged five years ago to avert the threat of catastrophic climate change. The move, long threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump and triggered by his administration a year ago, further isolates the United States in...
Democrat Mark Kelly flips Republican Senate seat in Arizona
PHOENIX — Democrat Mark Kelly won the Arizona Senate seat once held by John McCain, riding Arizona’s changing electorate to flip a Republican Senate seat in a state long dominated by the GOP. Arizona will send two Democrats to the Senate for the first time in nearly 70 years when...
There’s no winner in the presidential race. That’s OK
WASHINGTON — America woke up Wednesday morning without a winner of the presidential election. That’s OK. Critical battleground states including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania remained without declared winners, leaving both President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden short of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House....
China vows ‘proper’ response to U.S. arms sale to Taiwan
BEIJING — China vowed Wednesday that it will make a “proper and necessary response” if the U.S. proceeds with its latest planned arms sale to Taiwan. Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the sale of $600 million in armed drones to the island “brutally interferes in China’s internal affairs and...
Democrats head toward House control, but lose incumbents to GOPVideo
WASHINGTON — Democrats drove Wednesday toward extending their control of the House for two more years but with a potentially shrunken majority as they lost at least six incumbents and failed to oust any Republican lawmakers in initial returns. By 3 a.m., Democrats’ only gains were two North Carolina seats...
Trump’s false victory claim risks touching off turmoilVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s claim of victory from the White House early Wednesday carries no official weight yet risks touching off turmoil and a protracted legal fight over the election outcome. Democrat Joe Biden hasn’t conceded. The Associated Press, the unofficial but respected interpreter of election results, hasn’t called...
Networks preach patience as election stretches past midnightVideo
For weeks, media outlets warned a frazzled nation that it would have to be patient waiting for a decision in the bitter campaign between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden. That’s one prediction that turned out to be true. As midnight passed on the East Coast and the will of...
Push to relax drug laws gains big victories on state ballots
A nationwide push to relax drug laws took a significant step forward Tuesday as more states legalized marijuana for adults and voters made Oregon the first state to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of street drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. The drug measures were among 120 proposed...
These Pa. counties won’t start counting mail ballots until Wednesday
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. This article is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. Officials in Pennsylvania...
Gov. Tom Wolf urges patience as vote count continues
Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said Tuesday night that there were only isolated problems at the polls and no significant issues reported during Tuesday election. They also reiterated people to be patient as the votes are tallied. “I encourage all of us to take a deep...
Authorities: Man bites off mother’s nose during attack
FAIRVIEW, Ohio — A Fairview man who bit off his mother’s nose and beat her with a tea kettle during an argument in their home has been charged with felonious assault, authorities said. Sean Ohman, 36, of Fairview, reported the attack around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said. Responding officers found...
State row office elections may hang on mail-in ballot count
Early returns suggested two incumbent Democratic state row officers — Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and state Treasurer Joe Torsella — could be in trouble in their reelection bids. With about 32% of the vote tallied Tuesday evening, Shapiro was lagging Allegheny County Republican challenger Heather Heidelbaugh by 45% to...
