Flood of mail-in ballots spurs fight to change deadlines for Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — Some county and state officials are warning that a flood of mailed-in ballots in Pennsylvania — fueled by fears of in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic — will create problems in the primary election on Tuesday that must be fixed before they cause a disaster in this battleground...
Flood of mail-in ballots spurs fight in Pa. to change deadlines
HARRISBURG — Some county and state officials are warning that a flood of mailed-in ballots in Pennsylvania — fueled by fears of in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic — will create problems in Tuesday’s primary election that must be fixed before they cause a disaster in this battleground state in...
Legislature sends bills on coronavirus aid, $25B budget to Gov. Wolf
HARRISBURG — A piecemeal, no-new-taxes $25.8 billion budget headed to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk Thursday, as did legislation to distribute about $2.6 billion in emergency federal coronavirus aid to counties, nursing homes and wide range of other causes. Both won speedy approval in the Republican-controlled Legislature. The budget measure was...
Trump escalating war on Twitter, social media protectionsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump escalated his war on social media companies Thursday, signing an executive order challenging the liability protections that have served as a bedrock for unfettered speech on the internet. Still, the move appears to be more about politics than substance, as the president aims to rally...
Stimulus payments in form of debit card cause confusion across country
As the IRS encourages Americans to be on the lookout for scams related to federal coronavirus stimulus money, the agency is sending millions of people their money in the form of a debit card. The prepaid card was sent to 4 million people who did not provide their banking information...
Pennsylvania adds 625 coronavirus cases; total passes 70,000
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday reported 108 new deaths and 625 additional cases of the coronavirus. The state has now had 70,042 total cases and 5,373 deaths. Deaths have been recorded in 54 of the state’s 67 counties, and every county has had a positive case. More than...
Election HQ: Information on primary races in Western Pa.
Primary election day in Western Pennsylvania is Tuesday, June 2. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and voters are asked to wear a mask and practice social distancing inside polling places because of the coronavirus pandemic. In Allegheny County, your polling place might not be where it...
Pittsburgh’s Mon Incline turns 150 years old
Here’s one birthday celebrant that can do its own drive-by parade. One of Pittsburgh’s most iconic symbols — the Monongahela Incline — has turned 150 years old. (And it doesn’t look a day over 125!) The city’s first funicular — the technical name for an inclined transit system powered by...
Fires, looting rock Minneapolis after man’s death in police custody; 1 deadVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Fires burned and looters struck Thursday after violent protests over the death of a black man in police custody rocked a Minneapolis neighborhood for a second straight night, with damage stretching for miles across the city and Mayor Jacob Frey appealing to the governor to activate the National...
41 million Americans have lost jobs since coronavirus hit, but layoffs slowVideo
WASHINGTON — The coronavirus crisis threw at least 2.1 million Americans out of work last week despite the gradual reopening of businesses around the country, stoking fears Thursday that the scourge is doing deep and potentially long-lasting damage to the U.S. economy. Amid a few glimmers of hope, most of...
Stolen car recovered with 1-year-old in back seat
PHILADELPHIA — Police were searching for a suspect Thursday after recovering a car that was stolen with a 1-year-old in the back seat. The child’s mother had put her son in a child seat with the vehicle running when she ran back into the house to get an item that...
South Korea coronavirus cases make biggest jump in 50 days
South Korea on Thursday reported its biggest jump in coronavirus cases in more than 50 days, a huge setback that could erase some of its hard-won gains. Health officials warned that the resurgence is getting harder to track and social distancing and other steps need to be taken. The Korea...
College student wanted in 2 Connecticut slayings is capturedVideo
HARTFORD, Conn. — A college student sought by police as a suspect in a crime spree including two slayings in Connecticut has been captured, Connecticut State Police said Wednesday night. Peter Manfredonia, 23, had been the subject of a six-day search involving several police agencies and the FBI. He was...
West Virginia governor calls for more testing as prison coronavirus cases rise
CHARLESTON — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday said he wants widespread coronavirus testing at all the state’s correctional facilities as cases continue to rise inside a rural prison. At least 102 inmates and eight staffers at the Huttonsville Correctional Center in Randolph County have tested positive for the...
Texas court: Coronavirus fear alone not enough for mail balloting
AUSTIN — Texas officials fighting to block widespread mail-in voting during the pandemic claimed victory after the state’s highest court ruled Wednesday that a lack of immunity to the coronavirus doesn’t qualify someone to cast a ballot by mail. The decision was unanimous by the Texas Supreme Court, which is...
Pa. Dems accuse GOP of keeping Rep. Lewis’ coronavirus diagnosis a ‘secret’
Western Pennsylvania Democrats are accusing Republican lawmakers of keeping the status of a GOP colleague who tested positve for the coronavirus a “secret.” Rep. Andrew Lewis issued a statement on Wednesday making it known that he tested positive for covid-19 and has fully recovered. The freshman lawmaker from Dauphin County,...
Alabama reports 5,000 covid-19 cases in last 2 weeks
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama added more than 5,000 coronavirus cases over the last 14 days as the state lifted restrictions. As of Wednesday, more than 15,000 people had tested positive for coronavirus in Alabama and 581 had died. “The last two days we have maybe had our highest days so...
North Huntingdon historian seeks volunteers to help digitize WWI burial records
Andrew Capets’ initial interest in World War I was finding out more about his grandfather’s unit, the 313th Machine Gun Battalion. That research led the North Huntingdon resident and amateur historian to write “Good War, Great Men,” which focused on his grandfather’s battalion and its exploits, including fighting in the...
Man who hanged effigy of Kentucky governor fired from jobVideo
LOUISVILLE — A protester who participated in hanging an effigy of Kentucky’s governor at an armed rally on the State Capitol grounds has been fired from his job at an auto dealer. Neil Huffman Auto Group said it terminated the unidentified employee after an internal review, saying it “does not...
Postal service offers reward for info on paintball attacks in D.C. area
WASHINGTON — A $50,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the arrest and convictions of people who’ve been shooting mail carriers with paintball guns. The Washington Post reports that the mail carriers were attacked on Saturday in at least five incidents in Washington and Maryland. Postal Inspection...
Disney, SeaWorld announce plans for Florida parks to reopenVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — SeaWorld and Walt Disney World will reopen in Orlando in June and July after months of inactivity because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to plans a city task force approved Wednesday. The proposals will now be sent to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for final approval. The...
Mike Pompeo says Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from ChinaVideo
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has notified Congress that the Trump administration no longer regards Hong Kong as autonomous from mainland China, setting the stage for the united States to withdraw the former British colony’s preferential trade and financial status it has enjoyed since it reverted to Chinese...
Minneapolis mayor: Officer who put knee on man’s neck should be chargedVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — The mayor of Minneapolis called Wednesday for criminal charges against the white police officer seen on video kneeling against the neck of a handcuffed black man who complained that he could not breathe and died in police custody. Based on the video, Mayor Jacob Frey said officer Derek...
Biden: Wolf doing ‘one hell of a job’ during coronavirus pandemic
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Gov. Tom Wolf traded compliments Wednesday morning while discussing what the country needs to overcome the coronavirus pandemic. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and a Scranton native, spoke with the governor just hours after Wolf formally endorsed the Democrat’s bid to oust President...
Officials: 3 found dead in eastern Pa. home
LANSFORD — Authorities say three people were found dead in an eastern Pennsylvania home, but there was no immediate word on the cause of the deaths. The Carbon County coroner’s office confirmed Wednesday that three people were found dead Tuesday afternoon in the Lansford residence. WBRE-TV reported that the deceased...
