Top Stories category, Page 831
Media narrative of U.S. election: Bad news for Trump, GOP
NEW YORK — Americans awoke Wednesday to Election Day outcomes that remained nearly as murky as the night before: “House, Senate control still hangs in the balance,” a CNN caption blared. Yet if the results of midterm elections hadn’t solidified, the media narrative clearly had. Good night for Democrats. Bad...
Minor poll problems twisted into false U.S. election claims
Former President Donald Trump and some other Republicans are twisting minor voting problems in U.S. midterm elections into conspiracy theories and false claims to sow doubt about Democratic victories, continuing efforts since 2020 to undermine Americans’ confidence in voting. Election Day unfolded without major or widespread voting snags, yet some...
9 people injured after vehicle crashes into Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus in Oakland
Nine people suffered what officials described as non-life-threatening injuries late Wednesday morning when a Jeep crashed into a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus, shattering its windshield. The crash happened around 11 a.m. at Allequippa Street and Sutherland Drive in Oakland near the University of Pittsburgh campus when a Jeep swerved around...
Hurricane Nicole forms; Florida awaits rare November stormVideo
MIAMI — A Florida-bound storm strengthened into Hurricane Nicole on Wednesday after pounding the Bahamas as U.S. officials ordered evacuations that included former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. It’s a rare November hurricane for storm-weary Florida, where only two such hurricanes have made landfall since recordkeeping began in 1853 —...
Election takeaways: No sweep for the Republicans after all
WASHINGTON — For weeks, Republicans predicted a “red wave” would carry them to power in Congress, as voters repudiated majority Democrats for failing to tame skyrocketing inflation and address worries about rising crime. The reality appeared far different early Wednesday. Rather than a wholesale rejection of President Joe Biden and...
Why AP called Pennsylvania Senate for John Fetterman
WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman was winning the outstanding in-person and absentee votes in Philadelphia and in a suburban county. That meant essentially that most of Dr. Mehmet Oz’s votes had been counted and allowed the Associated Press to call the race early Wednesday for Fetterman. Fetterman’s...
Why AP called Pennsylvania governor’s race for Josh Shapiro
WASHINGTON — Republican Doug Mastriano could not catch up to Democrat Josh Shapiro’s lead in the Pennsylvania governor’s race. The deeper into the night it got, the clearer it was that the GOP state senator couldn’t overtake Shapiro’s lead. That’s when The Associated Press called the contest early Wednesday for...
Warwick up big in Pittsburgh City Council special election race
Democrat Barb Warwick held a commanding lead Tuesday night in a special election race to fill a vacant Pittsburgh City Council seat. With about nearly 83% of precincts reporting results in the 5th District as of 10:05 p.m., Warwick had collected over 76% of the votes counted compared with under...
Mishaps, distrust spur Election Day misinformation
Voters casting ballots in the pivotal midterms on Tuesday grappled with misleading claims about glitchy election machines and delayed results, the final crest of a wave of misinformation that’s expected to linger long after the last votes are tallied. In Arizona, news of snags with vote tabulators spawned baseless claims...
Abby Major keeps 60th state House seat
Republican incumbent Abby Major secured a win for the state’s new 60th House District against newcomer Democrat Bob George. Unofficial results show Major earned about 69% of the votes compared to George’s 31%. Major had 18,957 votes, compared to George’s 8,507 votes. “Thank you to the people of the Kiski...
Democrat Josh Shapiro wins Pennsylvania governor’s race
HARRISBURG — Democrat Josh Shapiro won the race for governor of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, securing the office for four years in a state where the future of abortion rights is on the line, along with management of the 2024 election in a battleground that is often decisive in choosing presidents....
Democrat Mandy Steele defeats Republican Ted Tomson in 33rd state House
Mandy Steele, the Democratic candidate for the 33rd State House District, defeated Republican Ted Tomson to represent the newly drawn district that includes Alle-Kiski towns from Harrison to Aspinwall. As of Wednesday afternoon, Steele of Fox Chapel captured about 55% of the votes compared to Tomson of Fawn, who earned...
Fetterman defeats Oz to win Pa.’s key Senate race, flip GOP-held seat to Democrats
Democrat John Fetterman earned a hard-fought win over Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s pivotal U.S. Senate race. Oz called Fetterman early Wednesday morning to concede the race, according to the Fetterman campaign. Fetterman had collected about 51% of the votes counted compared with 47% for Oz, according to...
Summer Lee wins 12th District race, poised to become Pa.’s first Black woman in Congress
State Rep. Summer Lee defeated Plum Councilman Mike Doyle on Tuesday night in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District and is poised to become the state’s first Black woman in Congress. With 97% of the district’s precincts reporting results just before midnight, the Democrat Lee had collected 55.5% of the votes counted...
Man fatally shot in Pittsburgh
A man is dead after being fatally shot in Pittsburgh on Tuesday evening. Public Safety spokeswoman Amanda Mueller said Zone 3 officers were dispatched for two Shotspotter alerts shortly after 8:30 p.m. One alert was along the 200 block of Wilbur Street, and the other was along the 1000 block...
Deluzio defeats Shaffer in 17th Congressional District race
Iraq War veteran and voting rights attorney Chris Deluzio defeated former Ross Commissioner Jeremy Shaffer in Pennsylvania’s newly redrawn 17th Congressional District. The district includes all of Beaver County and part of Allegheny County. Most of the area has been represented by U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, who chose not to...
2022 midterms roundup: Top races across the country
Ron DeSantis wins 2nd term as Florida governor TALLAHASSEE — Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis won reelection to a second term Tuesday in a dominant victory over Democrat Charlie Crist, bolstering his rise as a prominent GOP star with potential White House ambitions. DeSantis’ win continues a rightward shift for...
Voters report problems at some polls, but Westmoreland County says human error most likely cause
Voters in several precincts in the Alle-Kiski Valley reported problems with voting machines Tuesday, but Westmoreland County election officials said the machines worked properly. At issue were votes cast in three precincts in New Kensington and at least one in Lower Burrell. In each of the cases, voters reported that,...
Syrian man who plotted to blow up North Side church gets 17 years in federal prison
Mustafa Mousab Alowemer told a federal judge Tuesday that coming to the United States in 2016 from war-torn Syria where he witnessed dozens, if not hundreds, of atrocities as a child made him “feel like a human being, safe, conflict-free and peaceful.” It was a place that should have been...
2022 Pennsylvania general election results
The close races for Pennsylvania’s next governor and for its open U.S. Senate seat were the top draws as Western Pa. voters made their way to the polls Tuesday. Overnight, Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman was declared the winner of the Senate seat, and Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro had...
Trial begins for Youngwood man accused of rape, kidnapping
An 18-year-old woman told a Westmoreland County jury that she was raped and sexually assaulted for hours earlier this year at a Youngwood home. “It seemed like it lasted forever,” she testified Tuesday during the first day in the rape trial of Brandon Giron. Giron, 23, is charged with rape,...
Powerball ticket sold in California snags record $2.04B win
LOS ANGELES — Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in Southern California has won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot after more than three months without anyone hitting the top prize. The winning numbers were selected Tuesday morning, nearly 10 hours after the scheduled Monday night drawing because of problems...
7 charged with homicide in Indiana County man’s stabbing death
Seven people are charged with criminal homicide in the kidnapping and killing of an Indiana County man last month, state police and the Indiana County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday. Six Johnstown residents were among those accused in the stabbing death of Hayden R. Garreffa, 19, of East Wheatfield, whose...
Spirit Airlines to cut flights from Arnold Palmer Regional to Ft. Lauderdale
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport is marketing itself to other low-cost carriers as Spirit Airlines told officials it will be halting its flights from the Unity area to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Dec. 5. Spirit’s decision leaves Orlando as the sole destination for commercial flights from the airport near Latrobe, where...
Doctor denounces Allegheny County’s use of health workers to count votes
Allegheny County Health Department workers are pitching in with Election Day duties, prompting one Pittsburgh-based doctor to criticize the move at a time when the county’s health resources are in high demand. “I think it’s a poor use of resources — I don’t think people became doctors and epidemiologists to...
