Analysis: Trump’s vote diatribe both shocking, unsurprising
WASHINGTON — It was at the same time shocking and utterly to be expected. As the nation held its collective breath and awaited the result of the 2020 presidential election, President Donald Trump stepped to the podium in the White House on Thursday and made a full-frontal attempt to undermine...
Republican lawmakers rebuke Trump’s claims of voter fraud
WASHINGTON — Republican senators, governors and other elected officials have swiftly pushed back against President Donald Trump and his baseless claim that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, tweeted Thursday that the president’s claims of fraud are “getting insane.” If Trump has...
Allegheny County’s new daily covid-19 cases trend upward to 239
Allegheny County on Friday reported 239 new cases of covid-19, the highest daily total since July. The county’s 7-day average has been climbing for two weeks and sits at 174 cases. The Allegheny County Health Department said 146 cases were confirmed from 1,668 new PCR tests and 93 cases are...
Republican DeFoor elected Pennsylvania’s auditor general
HARRISBURG — Timothy DeFoor has been elected to become auditor general, Pennsylvania’s elected fiscal watchdog. The Republican controller in Dauphin County outpaced Democrat Nina Ahmad for the statewide position. DeFoor campaigned on his record of spending three decades conducting governmental audits and fraud investigations. Democrat Eugene DePasquale is finishing up...
Unemployment drops to 6.9% and U.S. adds a solid 638,000 jobs
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added 638,000 jobs in October, a solid pace though far fewer than needed to regain most of the jobs lost to the pandemic recession just as new viral cases are setting record highs. The gain suggested that a tentative economic recovery may remain intact even in...
Slow march to Pa. victory? Joe Biden methodically builds lead over Donald TrumpVideo
HARRISBURG — Joe Biden looks poised to pull away for good from President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. Biden, the former vice president and Democratic challenger, expanded his lead in the latest figures from the Pennsylvania Department of State. Biden led 3,335,345 (49.64%) to 3,307,167 (49.22%) — by about 28,000 votes....
Presidential election exposes America’s ‘perilous’ divideVideo
NEW YORK — Presidential elections can be revealing moments that convey the wishes of the American people to the next wave of elected officials. So far, the big reveal in the contest between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden is the extent of the cavernous divide between...
3 killed, 2 wounded in Toledo apartment building shooting
TOLEDO, Ohio — A shooting at an apartment building in Toledo has left three people dead and two others wounded, authorities said. Police responding to reports of shots fired at the Parqwood Apartments found the victims shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday. It’s not yet known what sparked the shooting or...
Sen. Pat Toomey: Trump claims ‘very disturbing,’ no sign of widespread election fraud
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania criticized President Donald Trump’s baseless allegations of election fraud in an interview with “CBS This Morning” on Friday, saying that there is no evidence of widespread wrongdoing in his state. “The president’s speech last night was very disturbing to me because he made very,...
Trump predicts ‘lot of litigation’ in fight to keep his job
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is looking at a political map in which he might have to persuade the Supreme Court to set aside votes in two or more states to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president. That’s a substantially different scenario than in the contested presidential election of 2000,...
Russia under stain as it sets new virus record
MOSCOW — Russia’s daily number of new coronavirus infections topped 20,000 Friday, setting a new record since the beginning of the pandemic. Russia’s tally of confirmed coronavirus cases — currently the fourth largest in the world — has exceeded 1.7 million following a quick spread of contagion since September. The...
Spain: Former king is target of 3rd corruption investigation
MADRID — Spanish Supreme Court prosecutors have opened a third corruption investigation involving former monarch Juan Carlos I of Spain, officials said Friday. Attorney General Dolores Delgado and top anti-corruption prosecutor Alejandro Luzón told reporters the probe is still at an “embryonic” stage, private news agency Europa Press reported. They...
2 Wisconsin officers shot, wounded in exchange of gunfire
DELAFIELD, Wis. — Two officers were shot and wounded early Friday after confronting a hit-and-run suspect in Wisconsin, police said. Delafield Police Chief Erik Kehl said that one of his officers and another from nearby Hartland confronted a man suspected in the hit-and-run crash outside a Holiday Inn at Interstate...
Networks cut away from Trump’s White House address
NEW YORK — ABC, CBS and NBC all cut away from President Donald Trump on Thursday as he spoke from the White House to make an unfounded accusation that the presidential election was being stolen from him. Trump had tried to commandeer the nation’s airwaves at a time when the...
Armed men arrested near Philadelphia vote counting location
PHILADELPHIA — Two men armed with loaded handguns were arrested Thursday near the Philadelphia convention center where an ongoing vote count could decide the presidential election, police said. Joshua Macias, 42, and Antonio LaMotta, 61, traveled from the Virginia Beach, Virginia, area in a Hummer and did not have permits...
A more conservative court hears same-sex foster parent case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed likely to side with a Catholic social services agency in a dispute with Philadelphia over the agency’s refusal to work with same-sex couples as foster parents. The case is a big test of religious rights on a more conservative court. Catholic Social...
Election officials worried by threats and protesters
Election officials in several states said Thursday they are worried about the safety of their staffs amid a stream of threats and gatherings of angry protesters outside their doors, drawn by President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the race for the White House. “I can tell you...
Federal judge denies Trump campaign bid to halt vote count in Philadelphia
A bid by the Trump campaign to stop the vote count in Philadelphia over observer access has been denied by a federal judge. According to the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond has urged the sides to develop an agreement that allows the final ballots to be tallied...
Trump steps to podium, lets loose on integrity of election
WASHINGTON — For 40 hours, President Donald Trump fumed in private and tweeted his grievances in all caps. When he at last emerged, it was to stand behind the presidential seal in the White House and deliver a diatribe most notable for his litany of false statements about the election...
Counties with worst virus surges overwhelmingly voted Trump
U.S. voters went to the polls starkly divided on how they see President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. But in places where the virus is most rampant now, Trump enjoyed enormous support. An Associated Press analysis reveals that in 376 counties with the highest number of new cases...
Shapiro takes lead in tight race in attorney general race; contenders still battling for treasurer; DeFoor wins auditor general
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro was poised to claim a second term in office Friday morning as the mail-in ballot count continued, while Timothy DeFoor of Dauphin County became the first Republican to serve as state auditor general in more than 20 years. Shapiro, 47, a Democrat from Montgomery County,...
Republican Sean Parnell won’t concede in 17th District, criticizes Conor Lamb for declaring victory in tight race
Republican candidate Sean Parnell said Thursday he will not concede in the 17th Congressional District race against incumbent U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb until all eligible votes have been reported and a clear winner is verified. As of Friday morning, Lamb, 36, a Mt. Lebanon Democrat, led Parnell, 39, a Trump-backed...
Guatemala president says 37 dead in landslides caused by Eta
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei said Thursday that a water-soaked mountainside in the central part of the country had slid onto the town of San Cristobal Verapaz, burying homes and leaving at least 25 dead. Two other slides in Huehuetenango had killed at least 12 more, he said....
Covid vaccine will not be a panacea, says Pa. health secretary
Pennsylvania’s top health official said Thursday the state is ready to distribute a covid-19 vaccine in a manner that prioritizes health care workers and vulnerable populations but stressed that a vaccine – whenever one becomes available – will not be a panacea. There are six drug manufacturers working on covid-19...
Joe Biden pulls with 42,000 votes of President Donald Trump
Joe Biden is closing quickly in Pennsylvania. The former vice president and Democratic challenger pulled to within 42,000 votes of President Trump as of 9:35 p.m. Thursday. Trump led 3,277,521 (49.74%) to 3,235,482 (49.11%), but the lead consistently dropped throughout the day as mail ballots continued to be tallied. As of...
