HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf wants Pennsylvania’s counties to replace their electronic voting systems with machines that leave a verifiable paper trail by the end of 2019, although counties warn that the price tag is a major problem. Wolf said Thursday that his goal is to make it affordable for counties through financing and getting a good deal on the machines.
Wolf says he hasn’t gotten to the point yet of asking the Legislature for money. The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania says the single greatest impediment to voting system upgrades is the lack of a funding source to meet the estimated $125 million price tag. In February, Wolf ordered counties that planned to replace their electronic voting systems to buy machines that leave a paper trail, a safeguard against hacking.
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — One worker was killed and two others were injured when a piece of machinery being used to repair a sewer hit an overhead power line in Pennsylvania. Cambria County Coroner Jeffrey Lees says a 30-year-old man died Thursday after being electrocuted at a work site in Johnstown. The current condition of the injured workers is unclear.
Lees says the machine they were using hit a power line that carries about 23,000 volts of electricity. Power to the area was cut off after the accident. All three workers were employed by Insight Pipe Contracting LLC. The company says it is cooperating with an investigation by federal workplace safety regulators. The name of the man who died has not been released. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Conor Lamb has been sworn in as the newest member of Congress after winning a closely watched special election in Pennsylvania. Members of the state’s congressional delegation escorted Lamb to the well of the House where House Speaker Paul Ryan administered the oath. A Pennsylvania Republican, Bill Shuster, jokingly told the House that he and Lamb come from the same side of the aisle: “Steelers fans, not Eagles.”
The top House Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, is recommending that Lamb serve on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee. The 33-year-old Lamb won his seat by about 750 votes in a Pittsburgh-area district Donald Trump captured by almost 20 percentage points in 2016.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rapper Meek Mill says he always thought ten years of probation would bring him back to prison. Mill spoke to news anchor Lester Holt from a Pennsylvania prison in a phone interview that aired Thursday on “NBC Nightly News.” The Philadelphia-born rapper, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, is fighting for release while appealing a two- to four-year sentence for a probation violation.
A judge said his drug use, arrests and other issues while under supervision merited the jail time. Mill’s lawyers accuse her of a “personal vendetta.” Mill tells Holt when he’s released, he sees himself “helping minorities that come from these situations like myself.” New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin visited Mill in prison Tuesday. Afterward, Kraft called for reform of the criminal justice system. Philadelphia’s mayor visited Wednesday.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Features
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A 15-year-old boy is challenging a policy that prevents high school boys from competing on girls’ dance teams in South Dakota. Attorneys filed Suit in U.S. District Court against the South Dakota High School Activities Association on behalf of Freddie Linden and his mother. Linden, who began dancing at age 7, tried to join the program at Dakota Valley High School in North Sioux City after he graduated from middle school but was told he couldn’t.
The suit says girls are allowed to participate on boys’ teams when there is no girls’ team, but not the other way around. . But the policy does not allow boys to participate on girls’ teams if the school does not field a team for boys. Linden’s attorneys contend the policy is discriminatory and unconstitutional, the Argus Leader reported.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Voters in Alaska’s largest city are on track to becoming the first in the U.S. to defeat a so-called bathroom bill. Anchorage’s Assembly passed a sexual orientation discrimination ordinance in 2015 but a repeal effort was mounted that also sought to force people to use public bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with gender at birth.
The repeal effort is losing by a 53-47 percent margin with tallying set to end Friday. Opponents of the bathroom bill have claimed victory and supporters have conceded defeat. Massachusetts voters in November will be asked whether they want to retain a law banning gender identity discrimination in public accommodations including allowing transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their gender identities.
NEW YORK (AP) — One of the first women to speak out against disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein says the #MeToo movement is “the most important thing” to happen to women since the right to vote. Italian actress and filmmaker Asia Argento spoke on Thursday at the opening panel of the Women in the World summit in New York City. She was joined by Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, an Italian model who has accused Weinstein of groping her.
They were joined by Laura Boldrini, a member of Italy’s parliament who is an outspoken advocate for women’s rights. Argento says speaking out is the one chance she’s had in her lifetime “to advance the whole human species.” Argento says Weinstein sexually assaulted her in 1997. Battilana Gutierrez says she was groped during a 2015 meeting in Manhattan. Weinstein has denied non-consensual sex allegations.
NEW YORK (AP) — Eight months before the company that owns the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to a former Playboy Playmate who claimed she’d had an affair with Donald Trump, the tabloid’s parent made a $30,000 payment to a less famous individual: a former doorman at one of the real estate mogul’s New York City buildings. As it did with the ex-Playmate, the Enquirer signed the ex-doorman to a contract that effectively prevented him from going public with a juicy tale that might hurt Trump’s campaign for president.
The payout to the former Playmate, Karen McDougal, stayed a secret until The Wall Street Journal published a story about it days before Election Day. Since then curiosity about that deal has spawned intense media coverage and, this week, helped prompt the FBI to raid the hotel room and offices of Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. The story of the ex-doorman, Dino Sajudin, hasn’t been told until now.
The Associated Press confirmed the details of the Enquirer’s payment through a review of a confidential contract and interviews with dozens of current and former employees of the Enquirer and its parent company, American Media Inc. Sajudin got $30,000 in exchange for signing over the rights, “in perpetuity,” to a rumor he’d heard about Trump’s sex life — that the president had fathered a child with an employee at Trump World Tower, a skyscraper he owns near the United Nations. The contract subjected Sajudin to a $1 million penalty if he disclosed either the rumor or the terms of the deal to anyone.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Screen Actors Guild on Thursday called for an end to auditions and professional meetings in private hotel rooms and residences in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. SAG-AFTRA issued new guidelines that expand the guild’s code of conduct in an effort to curtail sexual harassment in the entertainment industry. SAG is asking producers and executives to refrain from holding professional meetings in hotel rooms and homes, and is urging its members not to agree to meetings in such “high-risk locations.”
The announcement is the part of the union’s initiative to improve workplace safety following the many accusations made against Weinstein. The now disgraced movie mogul is alleged by dozens of actresses to have used business meetings in private locations to make unwanted sexual advances. “We are committed to addressing the scenario that has allowed predators to exploit performers behind closed doors under the guise of a professional meeting,” said Gabrielle Carteris, president of SAG-AFTRA.
CHICAGO (AP) — Which one are you? A night owl or an early bird? Researchers say it may make a difference — healthwise. A Northwestern University study found that those who stay up late, but struggle to drag themselves out of bed in the morning are more at risk of dying over a 6-year period than those who turn in early and leap out of bed when the sun rises. Scientists say the difference held true even after adjusting for expected health problems in night owls, such as metabolic dysfunction and heart disease.
NEW YORK (AP) — Whether you know nothing about hockey or know something about hockey, Snoop Dogg is hoping to teach you more. Snoop, who’s a hockey fan, appears in a series of “Hockey 101” videos for the NHL as “Dogg Cherry.” In the first one about the Stanley Cup, Snoop explains the history of the trophy and points out typos that are on it, including one mildly profane one. The videos are on the NHL website. The playoffs started Wednesday.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Sports, Scores & Skeds
CHICAGO (AP) — Gregory Polanco lofted a pair of solo home runs to help back a third straight solid start by Trevor Williams, and the Pittsburgh Pirates pulled away from the Chicago Cubs 6-1. Francisco Cervelli lined a three-run shot in the seventh off Cubs reliever Justin Wilson as Pittsburgh scored four times in the inning to break open a tight game. Adam Frazier also went deep for Pittsburgh, which improved to 9-3.
Here are the scores from yesterday’s sports events:
———
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Cleveland 9 Detroit 3
Final Boston 6 N-Y Yankees 3
Final Minnesota 4 Chi White Sox 0
Final L-A Angels 7 Kansas City 1
———
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 6 Chi Cubs 1
Final St. Louis 13 Cincinnati 4
Final Colorado 5 Washington 1
Final San Francisco 7 San Diego 0
———
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Tampa Bay 5 New Jersey 2
Final Boston 5 Toronto 1
Final OT Columbus 4 Washington 3
Final Nashville 5 Colorado 2
Final San Jose 3 Anaheim 0
TODAY’S SPORTS SCHEDULE
———
INTERLEAGUE
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay 7:10 p.m.
———
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Toronto at Cleveland 7:10 p.m.
Baltimore at Boston 7:10 p.m.
N-Y Yankees at Detroit 7:10 p.m.
Chi White Sox at Minnesota 8:10 p.m.
Texas at Houston 8:10 p.m.
L-A Angels at Kansas City 8:15 p.m.
Oakland at Seattle 10:10 p.m.
———
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Atlanta at Chi Cubs 2:20 p.m.
St. Louis at Cincinnati 6:40 p.m.
Colorado at Washington 7:05 p.m.
Milwaukee at N-Y Mets 7:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Miami 7:10 p.m.
San Francisco at San Diego 10:10 p.m.
Arizona at L-A Dodgers 10:10 p.m.
———
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh 7:00 p.m.
Minnesota at Winnipeg 7:30 p.m.
L.A. Kings at Vegas 10:00 p.m.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
