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.
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.
EXPLAINER: How mailed ballots slow results in Pennsylvania
Counting of mailed ballots in Pennsylvania is drawing renewed scrutiny amid a too-close-to-call U.S. Senate primary between Republicans David McCormick and Dr. Mehmet Oz. Former President Donald Trump blasted the state’s elections procedures on social media, even though there are no indications of any wrongdoing with those ballots other than a printing error that was slowing the tally in one county.
GOP's election inquiry: Courts, conspiracies and more costs
A Republican inquiry into Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election spurred on by former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud has spawned several court cases as it expands, grows in cost and shows signs it will drag well into 2022.
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Pennsylvania voters impose new limits on governor's powers
Pennsylvania voters became the first in the nation to curb their governor’s emergency powers, They approved constitutional amendments proposed for a statewide referendum Tuesday by Republican lawmakers angry over Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.
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A first: US Senate confirms transgender doctor for key post
Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate on March 24, confirmed Levine to be assistant secretary of health. She becomes the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. (Caroline Brehman/Pool via AP, File)Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate has confirmed former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be the nation’s assistant secretary of health. She is the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. She won confirmation by the Republican-majority Pennsylvania Senate.
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A first: US Senate confirms transgender doctor for key post
Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate on March 24, confirmed Levine to be assistant secretary of health. She becomes the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. (Caroline Brehman/Pool via AP, File)Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be the nation’s assistant secretary of health. She is the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. She won confirmation by the Republican-majority Pennsylvania Senate.
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States rapidly expanding vaccine access as supplies surge
Giving the vaccine to teachers and other school staff “will help protect our communities," Pennsylvania Gov. The Department of Health and Human Services has ordered all states to make teachers, school staff, bus drivers and child care workers eligible for shots. In Wisconsin, teachers will get priority when the state receives its first shipment of about 48,000 doses of the J&J vaccine, health authorities said. In Texas, where teachers have been battling to gain access to shots, state officials on Wednesday ordered vaccine providers to begin administering shots to school workers. “The more people we can get the safe and effective vaccine, the faster we can return to a sense of normalcy,” Michigan Gov.
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The Latest: SKorean economy shrinks for 1st time in 22 years
It marked the first annual contraction for the country’s economy since 1998, when it was in the midst of a crippling financial crisis. In comparison, the federal government previously said 38% of people would receive two doses by the end of June. Still, that’s 700,000 doses on hand, when the state is getting 200,000 doses this week, rising to 223,000 next week. AdBharat Biotech has already signed an agreement with Brazil to supply 20 million doses of the vaccine by September. ___COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s mask mandate will continue until a “critical mass” has been reached of people who have received the coronavirus vaccine, a spokesperson for Ohio Gov.
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Kapanen scores twice; Pens welcome back fans with 5-2 win
Kapanen scored two goals and the Penguins defeated the Flyers 5-2 on Tuesday night. Penguins’ players raised their sticks and saluted the fans in attendance following the win. Following a scoreless first period, Farabee and Kapanen scored 1:07 apart to open the second period. The Flyers will welcome fans back to the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday against Washington. The Penguins scored three goals and outshot the Flyers 13-3 to start the second period.
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The Latest: NHL's COVID-19 list at season-low three players
(Sarah Stier/Pool Photo via AP)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The list of players in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol dropped to a season-low three, despite the additions of Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby and Nashville’s Ryan Johansen. San Jose’s Tomas Hertl is the only other player on the list after entering his seventh day in the protocol. ___Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby will miss Tuesday night’s game against Philadelphia after being placed on the COVID-19 protocol list. The news comes a day after the NHL had a season-low four players in the COVID-19 protocol. AdTuesday night’s game will be the first game with fans in attendance at PPG Paints Arena since last March.
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States pass their own virus aid, not waiting on Washington
– Not waiting for more federal help, states have been approving their own coronavirus aid packages, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to help residents and business owners devastated by the the pandemic's economic fallout. North Carolina's governor wants additional state aid for such things as bonus pay for teachers and boosting rural internet speeds. The spending also provides fuel for critics who say states don’t need another massive infusion of cash from Congress. “The cascading effect, it’s actually a problem that most states are grappling with ... waiting for the relief money out of the feds,” she said. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, unveiled a $695 million emergency budget proposal that would use state money to address needs related to the coronavirus.
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Race to vaccinate older Americans advances in many states
Two months after the first COVID-19 shots were administered, the race to vaccinate older Americans is gaining traction, with more than half of states reporting that a third of people 65 and up have received their first dose. (AP Photo/LM Otero)Two months after the first COVID-19 shots were administered, the race to vaccinate older Americans is gaining traction, with more than a third of people 65 and up having received their first dose in states that have provided data. Vaccine hesitancy is dropping quickly as older Americans talk to their friends who have been vaccinated, he said. Still, the vaccines have already had a real impact on the lives of older Americans. Lynn Bender and her husband, Mark Bender, both 70, got their second vaccine dose two weeks ago.
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Pivotal election figure leaving job under an unrelated cloud
Tom Wolf's cabinet under a cloud that has nothing to do with last year's election. But after navigating the sea of challenges in 2020, Boockvar is leaving her job in Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's Cabinet on Friday under a cloud that has nothing to do with last year's election. I head the agency.”Neither Boockvar nor Wolf's press secretary would say whether the governor asked for or demanded her resignation. AdShe was a senior advisor to Wolf on election modernization before the governor elevated her to be secretary of state in January 2019.
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The Latest: Wet snow turns to sleet in northern New England
A sprawling, lumbering winter storm has walloped the Eastern U.S., shutting down coronavirus vaccination sites, closing schools and halting transit. In its second day in the Northeast, a snow storm left nearly 15 inches (38 centimeters) of snow piled up in parts of New Hampshire. The Yale New Haven Health system, which runs several hospitals in southern Connecticut, said its vaccination sites were closed Tuesday and staff were contacting people to reschedule appointments. In New England, nearly 15 inches (38 centimeters) of snow piled up in southeast New Hampshire, and the mountains were getting heavy snow as well. The National Weather Service reported 30 inches of snow fell in parts of Sussex and Morris counties on Monday.
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The Latest: Massachusetts braces for snow's arrival, wind
The winter weather prompted school districts to cancel in-person learning on Monday, and many COVID-19 vaccination sites were closed and rescheduling appointments. As much as 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow was predicted to fall in areas throughout the day Monday and overnight. 11:30 a.m.BOSTON — The second phase of Massachusetts’ coronavirus vaccine rollout is being disrupted by a winter storm that’s causing schedule changes and at least one vaccination location to shutdown. A winter storm warning remained in effect until Tuesday for much of the state. Most of the state remained under winter storm warnings or winter weather advisories that were expected to remain in effect through Tuesday morning.
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State lawmakers are pushing to curb governors' virus powers
He is supporting a bill that would limit local emergency health orders to 14 days unless authorized for longer by the Legislature. Though legislative resistance to executive coronavirus orders has fallen largely along partisan lines in some states, lawmakers elsewhere are pushing back against governors of their own parties. Rob McColley introduced a bill this week that could rescind emergency health orders issued by Gov. Democrats who control the Maryland General Assembly are pressing for more transparency from Republican Gov. He is supporting a bill that would limit local emergency health orders to 14 days unless authorized for longer by the Legislature.
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Biden picks 1st transgender person for Senate-confirmed post
(Joe Hermitt/The Patriot-News via AP)WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. A pediatrician and former Pennsylvania physician general, Levine was appointed to her current post by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in 2017, making her one of the few transgender people serving in elected or appointed positions nationwide. A transition spokesperson also said Tuesday that Dawn O’Connell will serve as senior counselor for coronavirus response to the health and human services secretary. ___This story has been corrected to show there will be 100 million, not 100, shots.
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Guard troops pour into Washington as states answer the call
Military leaders spent chunks of Thursday evening and Friday calling states in an unprecedented appeal for more National Guard troops to help lock down much of the city in the days before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. Kate Brown said she turned down the federal request to send at least 100 more National Guard troops to D.C. “I didn’t think that we could safely fill that commitment,” Brown said. Oregon has already agreed to send 30 to Washington, but state leaders are worried about violence at the state capitol in Salem. At that point, the new round of calls to the state governors and military leaders began. Roy Cooper initially agreed to send 200 Guard, and on Friday spokesman Ford Porter said the state will send 100 more.
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States declare emergencies, close capitols ahead of rallies
Though details remain murky, demonstrations are expected at state capitols beginning Sunday and leading up to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday. Though details remain murky, demonstrations are expected at state capitols beginning Sunday and leading up to Biden's succession of President Donald Trump on Wednesday. More than a dozen governors also have called out the Guard to protect their own state capitols and aid local law enforcement officers. Some windows also were boarded at capitols in Wisconsin and Illinois, both of which activated the National Guard to help with security. “But we draw the line at threats to physical safety or to the Utah Capitol building.
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Dick Thornburgh, ex-governor and US attorney general, dies
Fix It.’ I’ve liked the day-in, day-out challenges of governance.”President Ronald Reagan appointed Thornburgh attorney general in the waning months of his administration. He was asked to stay on as attorney general when George H.W. When Thornburgh left the U.S. attorney general post in 1991, he made a run for U.S. Senate, losing to Harris Wofford in the general election. In 2002, the Justice Department tapped Thornburgh to help investigate WorldCom for mismanagement, irregularities and fraud. Three years later, Thornburgh married Ginny Judson, who raised his three sons and bore another, William.
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Demoralized health workers struggle as virus numbers surge
Doctors and nurses around the U.S. are becoming exhausted and demoralized as they struggle to cope with a record-breaking surge of COVID-19 patients that is swamping hospitals and prompting governors to clamp back down to contain the virus. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)Doctors and nurses around the U.S. are becoming exhausted and demoralized as they struggle to cope with a record-breaking surge of COVID-19 patients that is overwhelming hospitals and prompting governors to clamp back down to contain the virus. “We’re constantly looking for beds,” said Cassie Ban, an intensive care nurse at Indiana University Health. Health care workers will be among the first to start getting the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine in the coming days after the Food and Drug Administration gave it the final go-ahead Friday. Each one of those numbers is the death of a person who wasn’t ready to go yet.”Although concerns remain about getting enough beds, masks and other equipment, many frontline health workers are most worried about staff shortages.
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The Latest: US gives go-ahead for Pfizer coronavirus vaccine
This October 2020 photo provided by Pfizer shows freezers set up in a warehouse in Kalamzoo, Mich., in preparation for distribution of the company's coronavirus vaccine. ___THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:The White House is pressuring the FDA chief Stephen Hahn to grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine by the end of the day. Andrew Cuomo has reinstated indoor dining restrictions indefinitely in New York City in an effort to limit the increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Michigan’s health department argues the teaching restriction is necessary to control the spread of the coronavirus, especially after Thanksgiving gatherings. State Health Department officials on Friday confirmed 513 new cases of the coronavirus.
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The Latest: Australia leader to go slow on Pfizer vaccine
If approved, shots could begin within days for health care workers and people in nursing homes. Shots would then begin for health care workers and nursing home residents. ___CANBERRA, Australia — Australian researchers say they have abandoned development of a potential coronavirus vaccine because it produced false positive results on HIV tests. A health ministry statement says the government will first vaccinate health care workers, particularly those who deal with COVID-19 cases. ___HONOLULU — Hawaii expects to receive 80,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine in December for health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.
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Pennsylvania governor says he's tested positive for COVID-19
FILE - In this Sept 11, 2018, file photo, Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf said Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating at home. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating at home. Wolf is one of several governors who have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, including the governors of Oklahoma, Missouri, Virginia, Nevada and Colorado.
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Trump looks past Supreme Court loss to new election lawsuit
That's enough, if set aside, to swing the election to Trump. “We will be INTERVENING in the Texas (plus many other states) case,” Trump said hours before the high court filing. Shortly before tweeting about joining Paxton's case, Trump distanced himself from the Pennsylvania challenge, saying it wasn't his. “The case everyone has been waiting for is the State's case with Texas and numerous others joining," he said. Biden beat Trump by more than 80,000 votes in Pennsylvania, a state Trump had won in 2016.
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High court rejects GOP bid to halt Biden's Pennsylvania win
In this Nov. 5, 2020, file photo, the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court has rejected Republicans' last-gasp bid to reverse Pennsylvanias certification of President-elect Joe Bidens victory in the electoral battleground. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Republicans' last-gasp bid to reverse Pennsylvania's certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the electoral battleground. In any case, Biden won 306 electoral votes, so even if Pennsylvania’s results had been in doubt, he still would have more than the 270 electoral votes needed to become president. Republicans had pleaded with the justices to intervene immediately after the state Supreme Court turned away their case last week.
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US virus deaths hit record levels with the holidays ahead
Virtually every state is reporting surges in cases and deaths. The virus is blamed for more than 285,000 deaths and 15 million confirmed infections in the United States. Southern California’s Riverside University Health System Medical Center went so far as to open an ICU in a storage room. The state is averaging more than 5,000 confirmed or suspected cases per day. That’s below the summer peak of 3,200 but more than double the most recent low point in mid-October.
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The Latest: Hong Kong re-imposes restaurant dining bans
Hong Kong on Wednesday reported an additional 100 cases, bringing its two-week total to 1,274. Hong Kong has reported a total of 7,075 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic, with 112 deaths. The Texas Department of State Health Services also said 9,028 people were hospitalized across the state. Since late November, the new daily cases have soared past 10,000 on several days, with 15,103 new cases reported Tuesday, according to state health officials. ___BOISE, Idaho — Idaho public health officials abruptly ended a meeting Tuesday evening after the Boise mayor and chief of police said intense anti-mask protests outside the health department building — as well as outside some health officials’ homes — were threatening public safety.
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The Latest: UN makes Dec. 27 'Epidemic Preparedness' day
She said Health Department managers urged her to manipulate information to paint a rosier picture and that she pushed back. Asa Hutchinson announced plans Monday for a series of community meetings across Arkansas to address the growing surge of coronavirus cases. The state Department of Education is expected to give public school systems the green light to follow the relaxed quarantine rules. But the health department is sticking to a 14-day recommendation for prisons and nursing homes where people live together in tight quarters. When averaged out over seven days, South Carolina is seeing about 2,300 new COVID-19 cases a day.
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Source: Pa. lawmaker gets a positive test at Trump meeting
HARRISBURG, Pa. – A Pennsylvania state senator abruptly left a West Wing meeting with President Donald Trump after being informed he had tested positive for the coronavirus, a person with direct knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press. Trump told Mastriano that White House medical personnel would take care of him, his son and his son’s friend, who were also there for the Oval Office meeting and tested positive. Dozens of White House staffers and others close to the president have also tested positive, including the first lady and two of the president’s sons. Trump even participated, calling from the White House while one of his lawyers held a phone up to a microphone. The person with knowledge of the White House visit said several people rode in a large van from Gettysburg, where the policy committee met in a hotel, to the White House.
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Source: Pa. lawmaker gets a positive test at Trump meeting
Trump told Mastriano that White House medical personnel would take care of him, his son and his son’s friend, who were also there for the Oval Office meeting and tested positive. Dozens of White House staffers and others close to the president have also tested positive, including the first lady and two of the president’s sons. The meeting with Trump was to strategize about efforts regarding the election, the person said. Trump even participated, calling from the White House while one of his lawyers held a phone up to a microphone. The person with knowledge of the White House visit said several people rode in a large van from Gettysburg, where the policy committee met in a hotel, to the White House.
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Pennsylvania high court rejects lawsuit challenging election
Biden beat Trump by more than 80,000 votes in Pennsylvania, a state Trump had won in 2016. The week-old lawsuit, led by Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of northwestern Pennsylvania, had challenged the state's mail-in voting law as unconstitutional. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, had certified Biden as the winner of the presidential election in Pennsylvania. Wolf quickly appealed McCullough's decision to the state Supreme Court, saying there was no “conceivable justification” for it. On Friday, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia roundly rejected the Trump campaign’s latest effort to challenge the state’s election results.
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They’re baaack: Trump and allies still refuse election loss
The 2020 presidential race is turning into the zombie election that Trump just won’t let die. The judge admonished the Trump campaign in a scathing ruling about its lack of evidence. “We have a duty to certify this election based on these returns.”Still, the Trump legal team dismissed the certification as “simply a procedural step” and insisted it would fight on. Trump and his allies have brought at least four cases in Michigan that sought — unsuccessfully — to block certification of election results in part or all of the state. Tom Wolf certified Biden as the winner, an appeals court judge ordered state officials to halt any further steps toward certifying election results.
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Biden certified as winner of Pennsylvania presidential vote
All rights reserved)HARRISBURG, Pa. – Democrat Joe Biden was certified Tuesday as winner of the presidential election in Pennsylvania, culminating three weeks of vote counting and a string of failed legal challenges by President Donald Trump. Tom Wolf first disclosed in a tweet that the Department of State had certified the vote count for president and vice president. Wolf sent a “certificate of ascertainment” to the national archivist Washington with the slate of electors who support President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Patton Mills said she was gratified that Pennsylvania was “the state that made it possible” for Biden to win. The Pennsylvania results show Biden and Harris with 3.46 million votes, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence with 3.38 million, and Libertarian Jo Jorgensen with 79,000.
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In blistering ruling, judge throws out Trump suit in Pa.
U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Brann wrote in his order that Trump had asked the court to disenfranchise almost 7 million voters. “That has not happened.”Even if he'd won the Pennsylvania case, Trump would have needed to win other lawsuits in other states where he'd also asked to delay certification. Some Trump allies have expressed hope that state lawmakers could intervene in selecting Republican electors. Brann ruled that Pennsylvania officials can certify election results that currently show Biden winning the state by more than 80,000 votes. Opposing lawyer Mark Aronchick suggested Giuliani must not know the Pennsylvania election code.
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Biden wins Michigan, Wisconsin, now on brink of White House
A full day after Election Day, neither candidate had cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. Trump’s campaign requested a recount, though statewide recounts in Wisconsin have historically changed the vote tally by only a few hundred votes. After the victories in Wisconsin and Michigan, he was just six Electoral College votes away from the presidency. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said the president would formally request a Wisconsin recount, citing “irregularities" in several counties. The Trump campaign on Wednesday pushed Republican donors to dig deeper into their pockets to help finance legal challenges.
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Millions of mailed ballots not yet returned in key states
FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, file photo, an election worker places a vote-by-mail ballot into an official ballot drop box outside of an early voting site, in Miami. Just days before the presidential election, millions of mail-in ballots have still not been returned in key battleground states. Many of those are due in county offices by Tuesday, Nov. 3, but the latest Postal Service delivery data suggests its too late for voters to drop their ballots in the mail. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
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Millions of mail ballots not yet returned in key states
Just days before the presidential election, millions of mail-in ballots have still not been returned in key battleground states. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)ATLANTA – Just days before the presidential election, millions of mail ballots have yet to be returned in key battleground states, and election officials warn that time is running out for voters who want to avoid a polling place on Election Day. At least 35 million mail ballots had been returned or accepted as of early Wednesday, according to data collected by The Associated Press. That surpasses the 33.3 million total mail ballots returned during the 2016 election, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Yet an estimated 1.9 million ballots were still outstanding in Florida, along with 962,000 in Nevada, 850,000 in Michigan and 1 million in Pennsylvania.
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'We need you': GOP hunts for new voters in Trump territory
Trump campaign banners wave in the wind along Route 8 in Middlesex Township, Pa., in conservative Butler County on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. So his fate lies in large part in places like Butler County, an overwhelmingly white, conservative county north of Pittsburgh. The wire rope that holds up the Brooklyn Bridge was made in Butler County. The obstacle for Trump is that Democrats — they had a competitive presidential primary — have more voters and generated a better return rate. Catherine Lalonde, 59, wasn’t even registered as a Democrat in 2016, but the trained nurse now leads the Butler County party.
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Judge throws out Trump campaign's Pennsylvania lawsuit
The ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan — who was appointed by Trump — in Pittsburgh also poured cold water on Trump’s claims that Pennsylvania is fertile ground for election fraud. The state's attorney general, Josh Shapiro, a Democrat whose office fought the Trump campaign's claims, called the lawsuit a political stunt designed to sow doubt in the state's election. “We told the Trump campaign and the president, ‘put up or shut up’ to his claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania," Shapiro told The Associated Press. Trump’s campaign had asked Ranjan to declare that guidance unconstitutional and to block counties from following it. Ranjan wrote Trump’s campaign could not prove that the president has been hurt by election fraud or even that he is likely to be hurt by fraud.
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The Latest: California governor tests negative for virus
The governor’s office said Newsom was tested on Wednesday after someone in the governor’s office tested positive. The staff member who tested positive had not interacted with Newsom or anyone else who often sees the governor. ___HARTFORD, Conn. -- Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force says she is concerned about the uptick in coronavirus cases in the Northeast. The virus has killed at least 5,416 people in Louisiana, according to the state health department. A cluster of fewer than 20 people tested positive for the virus at the Nashville Rescue Mission’s facility for women and children, Brian Todd said.
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Toomey says he won't run for another Senate term or governor
Toomey had long expressed an interest in running for governor, and he drew calls on a daily basis from people who he said wanted to help him run for governor or for reelection to the Senate. Toomey said he still hopes to become chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. With both offices open in 2022, Democrats have a bench of prospects who have won statewide races — Lt. Gov. Republicans, meanwhile, are left without any natural heir or obvious front-runner for either governor or U.S. Senate. ___ This story has been corrected to show that Toomey has said he still hopes to become chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, not the Senate.
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Delays in verifying mail-in ballots will slow election tally
Many states allow local officials to start processing those ballots weeks before Election Day or even as they arrive. Republican state lawmakers there have not allowed additional time to process ballots that arrive before Election Day, despite pleas from local election officials. Tom Wolf and state lawmakers to set aside a larger partisan fight and let them process mail-in ballots before Election Day. The day before Election Day already is a busy one for local election officials scrambling to get ready for in-person voters. With such a dramatic increase, county election officials would be overwhelmed if they had to wait until Election Day to process ballots, Sterling said.
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No course correction for state Republicans after Trump test
Also Friday, Republicans who control the Louisiana House of Representatives supported a package of measures aimed at unraveling the state’s coronavirus restrictions imposed by Gov. It's not clear how many Republican lawmakers from the state interacted with Trump — who was there Tuesday for the debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden — or his entourage in recent days, Smith said. Rep. John Becker, a Republican from Cincinnati who has led efforts to undo the coronavirus restrictions and mask mandate imposed by Gov. Tom Wolf's power to impose coronavirus restrictions. The virus is a leading issue in the campaign for governor in Missouri, where Republican Gov.
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The Latest: Cal State Long Beach campus announces quarantine
State health officials also reported that 990 new confirmed cases raised the Oklahoma caseload to at least 83,510. The state also reported 128 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday, which was the most recent available data. Florida has had the third-most confirmed COVID-19 cases of any state, trailing only two larger states, California and Texas. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday there were 1,005 positive cases tallied on Friday out of 99,953 tests, for a 1% positive rate. Lapses in security at the hotels were given as the major reason for a second wave of COVID-19 cases.
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The Latest: Honolulu to allow some activities to resume
(AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)HONOLULU -- Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell says the city plans to allow some activities that were shut down last month to control the spread of the coronavirus to resume under new guidelines. Gary Herbert will increase pandemic restrictions in two Utah cities as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in the state. The county accounted for 42% of the state’s cases despite having only 20% of state’s population. Eric Holcomb’s statewide mask mandate and other coronavirus restrictions poses a possible disruption to his reelection campaign. But the real toll is thought to be much higher, in part because many COVID-19 deaths were probably ascribed to other causes, especially early on, before widespread testing.