HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A primary election like none other in state history awaits Pennsylvania voters Tuesday. That’s when those who haven’t contributed to the flood of mail-in ballots may encounter new machines designed to improve security by creating a paper record. Polling places in some counties have been moved or consolidated to cope with a pandemic-driven drop in election workers, and special social distancing rules will be in place. The result of the highest profile contests on the ballot are a foregone conclusion. President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are the presumptive major-party nominees. The only statewide races are for the “row offices” — attorney general, auditor general and treasurer.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Amid protests over George Floyd’s death across Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf is ordering Philadelphia and five counties to count ballots in the primary election that arrive by mail for seven days after Tuesday’s 8 p.m. deadline. Wolf made the announcement Monday as the state prepared for a primary election like none other in its history Tuesday. Wolf’s order is limited to Philadelphia and Allegheny, Erie, Montgomery, Delaware and Dauphin counties. Already, counties are struggling with a flood of mail-in ballots and difficulties wrought by the pandemic. Wolf’s order faced an imminent challenge by Republican Party officials, who said it violates constitutional protections that ensure equal voting laws.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police in Philadelphia have fired nonlethal bullets and tear gas at police protesters who halted downtown interstate highway traffic just before a 6 p.m. curfew took effect. The crowds during the evening rush hour on Interstate 676 also closed a major bridge between Philadelphia and New Jersey suburbs. Some protesters climbed a steep embankment and scaled a fence as police acted. More than two dozen were arrested as a few hundred others moved to block the grand Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The confrontation came after a weekend of largely peaceful protests inspired by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis but followed by vandalism and looting.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania officials are reporting comparatively low figures for new COVID-19 infections and deaths, a sign the pandemic’s impact may be on the wane. The Health Department said Monday there were 12 additional deaths. That brings the total number this year to 5,567, of which 3,557 have occurred among nursing homes or personal care facilities. The agency said 356 new cases were reported, a figure that may reflect that reports from weekends have generally brought lower numbers. So far more than 72,000 Pennsylvanians have had confirmed cases of COVID-19.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania state government’s revenue shortfall grew in May to $2.6 billion, as the effects of the state’s coronavirus-related shutdowns and delayed tax-filing deadlines hammered tax collections for a third straight month. The state collected $2.1 billion in May, which was $440 million, or 17%, less than projected at the beginning of the fiscal year, the state Department of Revenue said Monday. Through 11 months of the fiscal year, the state’s collections of $29.6 billion is
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — President Donald Trump is paying a visit Friday to a Maine manufacturer of specialized swabs used in testing for the coronavirus. The first word of the visit came during a discussion between Trump and governors on Monday following a weekend of demonstrations, some violent, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Maine Gov. Janet Mills criticized the governor for calling governors “weak” and urging them to “dominate” protesters by arresting and imprisoning them. She urged to “check his rhetoric at the door” when he visits on Friday. Trump spoke Monday to governors on a video teleconference with law enforcement and national security officials, telling the state leaders they “have to get much tougher” amid nationwide protests and criticizing their responses. The days of protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden has met with community leaders at a predominantly African American church amid the coronavirus pandemic to address exploding racial tensions that have begun to reshape the upcoming presidential election. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has struggled in recent weeks to be heard over the noise of dueling national crises. But after another night of violent protests, Biden gathered Monday with roughly a dozen black leaders during an in-person meeting in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, then held a virtual meeting with mayors from Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota. He told the mayors that he thinks a “tidal wave” of change is coming.
NEW YORK (AP) — Those tuning in to CBS/Viacom cable stations got a dose of reality before they got to see their regular programming. All the outlets under the network’s umbrella went dark yesterday at 5, p.m. eastern. The stations aired a black screen — and the sound of a person breathing. The blackout lasted 8 minutes, 46 seconds, the same amount of time a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on George Floyd’s neck as he lay on the ground, pleading for air. The screens were on channels including MTV, Comedy Central, BET and CMT.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The premise of the new Netflix movie is a guy who accidentally invites the wrong woman to go on a trip with him to Hawaii. One of the stars of the film, Nick Swardson, says he can relate — he’s been mistaken for someone else. He says he’ll go to a restaurant and say his name is Nick, and someone will say, “Right this way, Mr. Nolte.” Rob Schneider, who also appears in the film, says Pauly Shore gets mistaken for him and he loves that because he knows it annoys Shore. Schneider says he sometimes gets mistaken for Billy Crystal and he doesn’t know how he feels about that yet.
BOSTON (AP) — A lawyer for a Massachusetts strip club that’s been sued by Carmen Electra and several other models and actresses for allegedly using their images in advertising and other promotional materials without permission says he’s prepared to go to trial. The Salem News reports that Carlos Apostle, an attorney for the Golden Banana club in Peabody, told a federal judge Thursday that there won’t be a settlement in the case. The lawsuit filed last July on behalf of Electra, whose legal name is Tara Leigh Patrick, and the other models alleges the club used their images without any permission or compensation and in so doing, defamed them.
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