AP PA Headlines 6/10/20
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The counting from Pennsylvania’s first foray into mass voting by mail is wrapping up a week after the primary, with results of some of races still up in the air. State and county elections officials said Tuesday there were a few comparatively minor issues during the voting, which featured new paper-trail machines in some counties and a crushing demand for mail-in ballots under a state law passed last year. At least five incumbent state lawmakers lost their primaries and three others are in close contests. Elections officials say some improvements to the vote-counting process should be made before November, when the presidential race is sure to bring high turnout.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s mayor has backed off a proposed $14 million increase to the police department’s revised budget and pledged to review use-of-force polices as protesters across the country demand deep changes to policing in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Mayor Jim Kenney’s proposals Tuesday came after 14 of the city’s 17 council members signed a letter objecting to the increase in funding for police and calling for the city to “recalibrate” budget priorities. The original draft budget for next year called for a $5 million increase over fiscal year 2020 levels. After the coronavirus pandemic, the proposed increase was upped by another $14 million. Kenney is now calling for keeping the department’s funding even next year.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania hospitals will be required to replace soiled or damaged respirators on request, require universal masking and take other steps to protect health care workers from the new coronavirus under an order issued Tuesday by the state health secretary. With unionized nurses raising the alarm about hazardous working conditions, Health Secretary Rachel Levine pledged to “deliver a safer environment” for health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 death toll passed 6,000 as the Health Department reported 61 additional deaths linked to the disease. Since early March, infections have been confirmed in more than 76,400 people in Pennsylvania.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ignited fresh controversy over his “law and order” push by peddling another unfounded conspiracy theory. This time, he raised suspicions about a 75-year-old protester hospitalized after being shoved to the pavement by police. Trump tweeted — without evidence — that the confrontation in Buffalo, New York, may have been a “setup” as he again sided with police officers over protesters and demonstrated his willingness to spread and amplify unfounded charges cooked up by far-right outlets.
The move comes as Trump, who calls himself the “president of law and order,” has taken a tough line against protesters who have been demonstrating after the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck. Aides have been urging Trump to strike a more unifying tone, worried that his divisive response to the protests is animating parts of the Democratic base and benefiting his rival, Democrat Joe Biden, months before November’s election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the D.C. National Guard have tested positive for COVID-19 in the wake of the mass protests across the nation’s capital last week. A guard spokeswoman says the exact number of those infected won’t be released — but authorities believe it is not a large number. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information publicly. While some Guard troops responding to the protests wore protective equipment, most didn’t — and it was largely impossible to maintain any social distancing.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — George Floyd’s killing at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis and the global protests that followed might normally have drawn a muted diplomatic response from the Vatican. But from Pope Francis on down, the Vatican has instead mounted an intensive response. It has denounced the killing and other instances of police brutality while encouraging peaceful protests. Experts say the message in a U.S. election year suggests that Francis wants to convey a clear statement about where American Catholics should stand ahead of President Donald Trump’s bid for a second term in November.
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A corrections officer who participated in a counterprotest to a Black Lives Matter demonstration in New Jersey in which people reenacted the death of George Floyd was suspended after the video was widely shared on social media. In the video shot Monday, protesters march along a street in Franklin Township, Gloucester County, chanting “George Floyd!” and “Black Lives Matter!” They pass a private property and a man kneeling on the neck of another man shouts unintelligibly back at protesters. The New Jersey Department of Corrections put out a statement Tuesday that said they were made aware that one of its officers participated in the stunt and has been suspended and banned from department facilities while officials investigate.
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man is facing felony charges after police said he let a 12-year-old girl drive his SUV and told her to speed because he wanted to be a “cool father” — even though he’s not her dad. Arrest reports say Shaun Michaelsen told the arresting officer Monday he’s friends with the girl’s mother and the girl was staying with him for a few days. The 41-year-old told officers the girl asked if she could drive, so he thought “it would be cool” and that he was trying to be a “cool father.” Michaelsen also told officers he’d been drinking. He is being held without bond on several charges.
NEW YORK (AP) — CNN has come off the ratings winner when it comes to news channels. Nielsen reports that since news of the death of George Floyd broke, CNN’s prime-time audience has risen 238% over last year. Other news channels are also seeing spikes over the same time period. Fox News Channel is up 61% and MSNBC is up 40%.
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