Top Stories category, Page 1312
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,...
Trib HSSN’s WPIAL football playoffs primer for Nov. 6, 2020
Ten WPIAL football teams will punch their tickets to the championships tonight, while two others will battle for district gold. The WPIAL Class 6A championship game will be contested tonight at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium, while teams in Class 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and A will take part in 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...
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...
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...
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...
Explainer: How much misinformation is kicking around?
They go together all too closely these days: momentous events — and bad information that tells an inaccurate story about how they’re happening. The two days since Election Day, predictably, demonstrate this to be true. Karen Mahabir, fact check and misinformation editor for The Associated Press, says her team of...
Inspired to help others, North Huntingdon woman donates kidneyVideo
A North Huntingdon wife and mother of two — inspired to help others during the coronavirus pandemic — may have given a complete stranger the gift of life. “With all the horrible things going on out there (with the pandemic), I wanted to give a little bit of hope back...
We asked voters: What is your hope for the next 4 years?Video
Voters the Trib spoke with this week overwhelmingly said they want to see citizens set aside their political differences and come together. “Honestly, I’m looking for people to just be more kind to each other,” said Krystal Folwer of Bon Air. Watch what voters from across the region had to...
Woodland Hills High School student found shot to death in Swissvale park
Allegheny County Police are investigating after the body of a teenage boy was found Wednesday in a Swissvale park. Woodland Hills High School revealed in a letter that the student was a junior. He has not been identified. Police said he was 16. “We are deeply saddened by the loss...
Allegheny County officials explain why thousands of ballots can’t yet be counted
More than 35,000 ballots cast in Allegheny County will not be counted until Friday at the earliest, and county officials estimate there could be thousands more provisional ballots in boxes that have yet to be opened. About 29,000 ballots cannot be opened until 5 p.m. Friday as dictated by a...
Missouri election judge worked despite covid-19 diagnosis, then died
O’FALLON, Mo. — A suburban St. Louis election official who worked at a polling place on Election Day despite a positive test for the coronavirus has now died, raising concerns for the nearly 2,000 people who voted there. St. Charles County, Missouri, spokeswoman Mary Enger said in a news release...
Judges in Michigan, Georgia dismiss Trump campaign lawsuits
WASHINGTON — Judges in Georgia and Michigan quickly dismissed Trump campaign lawsuits Thursday, undercutting a campaign legal strategy to attack the integrity of the voting process in states where the result could mean President Donald Trump’s defeat. The rulings came as Democrat Joe Biden inched closer to the 270 Electoral...
Pennsylvania sees 2,900 new coronavirus cases, highest daily increase since pandemic began
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health reported 2,900 new positive cases of coronavirus on Thursday, following a day where the state saw over 2,700 cases. There were also 47 new deaths announced. The first days of November are continuing a spike in coronavirus cases that started in October. The state has seen...
Report: Pa. liquor profits up despite pandemic challenges
The covid-19 pandemic was as big a driver of alcohol sales as Christmas in Pennsylvania, according to the latest report from the state Liquor Control Board. Allegheny County reported the top sales figures, with more that $288 million in 2019-20, according to the report. Westmoreland County ranked 9th with sales...
Allegheny County adds 189 new coronavirus cases
After adding 200 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, Allegheny County recorded 189 new cases on Thursday. The county has seen an average of 164 new daily cases over the past seven days, while adding 1,150 new cases in that time. The new cases bring the county’s total to 16,599, according...
McKees Rocks rehab founder gets 10 years for selling heroin
David Francis struggled with drug addiction his whole life, using heroin for the first time at age 9. He served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and held a variety of jobs, including as a commercial boat captain and semi-pro baseball player. Following several years of sobriety, in January...
Westmoreland officials deciding fate of 4K questionable ballots; 3,600 provisional ballots to be counted Friday
Westmoreland County elections officials on Thursday night continued to individually review by hand 4,000 potentially defective mail-in ballots that were set aside earlier this week. Elections Bureau Director JoAnn Sebastiani said it appears most of those ballots looked at so far have been approved for counting with only a small...
Allegheny County ballot count nears end; Westmoreland officials discussing questionable ballots
The finish is in sight. Allegheny County officials said late Wednesday that about 90% of mail ballots had been scanned and counted, with about 35,413 such ballots still needing to be tabulated out of the 348,485 returned in all. Elections staff reported having scanned 313,072 mail ballots. That brings the...
Carnegie Museum and Library complex in Oakland turns 125 years old
It was the early 1890s and Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie was already one of the richest men in the world. Anxious to do something for what he called the “toilers,” the laborers and steel workers of Pittsburgh who enabled him to amass a fortune worth over $300 billion in today’s...
Biden pushes closer to victory in race for the White House
Democrat Joe Biden was pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, securing victories in the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump’s path. With just a handful of states still up for grabs, Trump tried to press his...
Steelers players buy dinner for Allegheny County vote counters
As the vote-counting operation in Allegheny County stepped into the national spotlight Wednesday night, some members of the local football team made sure those doing the heavy lifting were well fed. Pittsburgh Steelers players had meals – chicken, rigatoni, vegetables, rolls, pie and more – delivered from The Goose Express...
