Biden seeing collapsed stretch of Interstate 95 from the air over Philadelphia
President Joe Biden is taking an aerial tour of the collapsed stretch of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia and plans to meet with first responders and workers involved in rebuilding the critical stretch of highway along the East Coast.
Pennsylvania high court appears split over plan to force power plants to pay for carbon emissions
Justices on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court are indicating that they're likely to have split opinions on whether a governor can force power plant owners to pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
EPA orders Norfolk Southern to clean up toxic derailment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Norfolk Southern on Tuesday to pay for the cleanup of the East Palestine, Ohio train wreck and chemical release as federal regulators took charge of long-term recovery efforts and promised worried residents they wouldn’t be forgotten.
Majority of 16k canceled Pa. mail-in ballots were from Dems
New state data shows that an election eve Pennsylvania court decision that said mail-in ballots without accurate handwritten dates on their exterior envelopes can’t count resulted in otherwise valid votes being canceled in the high-stakes November election.
Incoming Pa. governor taps GOP ex-official for election post
A former Philadelphia election official who has told of enduring death threats whipped up by Donald Trump for defending the city’s 2020 vote-counting against the former president’s lies will be nominated for the top election administration post in Pennsylvania by the incoming governor, Josh Shapiro.
Biden says of candidate Fetterman: 'John IS Pennsylvania'
An energized President Joe Biden returned Friday to the Keystone State, his 15th visit since he took office, this time to attend a fundraiser with Vice President Kamala Harris and other leaders to boost Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman.
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Pennsylvania's Fetterman makes 2022 US Senate run official
Fetterman will run for U.S. Senate, making the announcement Monday, Feb. 8, 2021 after kicking off an exploratory fundraising campaign last month that raised over $1 million. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania’s larger-than-life lieutenant governor, the 6-foot-8, bald and tattooed John Fetterman, will run for U.S. Senate, making the announcement Monday after kicking off an exploratory fundraising campaign last month that raised over $1 million. Another possibility is Jeff Bartos, a suburban Philadelphia real estate investor who started running for U.S. Senate before switching horses to become Fetterman's opponent for lieutenant governor in 2018. AdThe Senate seat in the presidential battleground is being left open after two-term Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey announced in October that he would not run again. Considering that kind of disgrace to the Senate, his style “should be the last of our concerns," Fetterman said.
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Biden takes lead over Trump in Pennsylvania, Georgia
Democratic candidate Joe Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania and Georgia over President Donald Trump on Friday morning. The outcome in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, and North Carolina will determine whether Biden defeats Trump in the presidential election. Some analysts believe Biden is poised to become the first Democrat in history to win Georgia since 1992. ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTESTrump has 214 electoral votes and he needed 56 more, while there are still 68 votes up for grabs. Victories in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina would still leave him short 5 votes.
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Trump needs to win Pennsylvania to win reelection, analysts say
The path to possible reelection was narrow for President Donald Trump who needs to win Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes to stay in the race, analysts said. The path to possible reelection was narrow for President Donald Trump who needs to win Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes to stay in the race, analysts said. He was moving close to victories in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina for 51 more electoral votes, which still leave him short 5 votes. Trump has a slight lead in GeorgiaThe race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden is tight in Georgia where Trump is leading with a small margin on Friday morning. Biden leads in ArizonaFormer Vice President Joe Biden is leading the race in Arizona.
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US judge orders stop to Postal Service cuts, echoing others
PHILADELPHIA – A federal judge in Philadelphia joined others Monday in ordering a halt to recent Postal Service cuts that critics say are causing mail delays and threatening the integrity of the presidential election. Postal Service itself that shows “a pronounced increase in mail delays across the country” since July, the judge found. The Postal Service, in response, called election mail the agency's “number one priority." Shapiro was joined in the Philadelphia case by attorneys general in California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina and the District of Columbia. In the Washington case, which involved several presidential election battleground states, U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian said state officials had made a “strong showing” that the Trump administration was using the Postal Service “as a tool in partisan politics.”
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US Catholic bishops: clergy sex abuse claims tripled in 2019
In the latest annual report on clerical sex abuse, dioceses and other Catholic entities reported paying out $281.6 million during the year for costs related to allegations, including payments for cases reported in previous years. There has been a huge overall surge in allegations over the past three years as dioceses faced unprecedented pressure to address the decades-old problem of clergy sex abuse. It is the 17th abuse report issued since 2002, when the U.S. bishops established and adopted a comprehensive set of procedures to address sex abuse allegations. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which advocates for survivors of clergy sex abuse, expressed concern about a section of the report indicating that only 60% of parishes nationwide were performing safety audits on their own. Every single sitting attorney general should be investigating cases of clergy abuse in their state, identifying enablers and removing them from power, and ensuring that hidden abusers are made known to their communities.
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People are blowing up, or just taking, ATMs in Philadelphia
A member of the Philadelphia bomb squad surveys the scene after an ATM machine was blown-up at 2207 N. 2nd Street in Philadelphia, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. (David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)PHILADELPHIA – Explosions have hit 50 cash machines in and near Philadelphia since the weekend, and one man has died, in a coordinated effort to steal them or take the money inside, authorities said Wednesday. An email seeking comment on Crump's behalf was sent to the Defender Association of Philadelphia, listed in court documents as representing Crump. Crump was taken into custody during an undercover buy, and his vehicle was found to have enough dynamite to blow up at least four more ATMs, Shapiro said. “This individual, whether he proves to be associated with coordinated efforts to blow up ATMs in Philadelphia, sought to take advantage of civil unrest to sow chaos and destruction,” Shapiro said.

Purdue Pharma, opioid cases have preliminary proposed settlement
Copyright 2019 CNN(CNN) - Purdue Pharma has reached a preliminary proposed settlement with multiple state, local and tribal governments that accuse the company of helping to drive the opioid crisis, officials said. It allows the Sackler family to walk away billionaires and admit no wrongdoing," Shapiro said in a statement obtained by CNN. Sackler family wants a 'global resolution'The Sackler family issued a short statement Wednesday, but did not address the proposed settlement. Attorneys general in Connecticut and Massachusetts told CNN they have not made any settlement agreement with Purdue Pharma at this time. The attorneys general from Tennessee and North Carolina also wrote they expected Purdue Pharma to file for bankruptcy protection "imminently."