Connect with us

Pennsylvania

Trump, Harris focus attention on key swing state of Pennsylvania – UPI.com

Published

on

Trump, Harris focus attention on key swing state of Pennsylvania – UPI.com


Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was scheduled to return to Pennsylvania for a rally in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday as both he and Democratic opponent Kamala Harris focus on the key swing state this weekend. File Photo by Allison Dinner/EPA-EFE

Aug. 17 (UPI) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic opponent Kamala Harris will be focusing their attention on Pennsylvania with weekend visits to the vital swing state.

Trump is scheduled to attend a rally at 4 p.m. EDT Saturday in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., targeting the northeastern section of the Keystone State, while Harris is set to kick off a bus tour of western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh on Sunday, a day before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Trump on Monday is scheduled to be in York, Pa., at a machining manufacturer to address the economy.

Advertisement

Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is scheduled to appear Saturday at a 2 p.m. EDT rally in his native state of Nebraska. The event is planned for the Astro Theater in Omaha.

Trump is a frequent visitor to Pennsylvania — Saturday’s scheduled rally will mark his seventh visit to the state this year and at least the fifth time he’s appeared in Wilkes-Barre since 2016, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. President Joe Biden won that state in 2020 but Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016.

With a pair of recent polls showing Harris edging past him in Pennsylvania, Trump has used his recent appearances to paint her and Walz as “extreme liberals” and “communists” while hurling personal insults at the Democratic nominee.

He excoriated Harris during a Wednesday rally in Ashville, N.C., as a “radical-left person from San Francisco,” claiming she and Walz are “beyond socialists,” while insulting her personally as “not intelligent.” He doubled down on the personal insult later in the week and claimed he is “entitled” to do so.

Trump also said this week he believes Harris is vulnerable in Pennsylvania due to her past support for a ban on natural gas produced by hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”

Advertisement

Over the past decade, advances in fracking and horizontal drilling have led to a boom in the state’s oil and gas production. In 2022, Pennsylvania accounted for 19% of U.S. marketed natural gas production, with more natural gas produced than in any other state except Texas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.

While running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, Harris along with most of her competitors aligned themselves with the progressive wing of the party in supporting a ban on fracking as an environmental danger. Harris has since altered her position and now claims Trump is misrepresenting it.

During an appearance at his New Jersey country club on Thursday, Trump again highlighted the vice president’s one-time opposition to fracking, saying, “I think she will do very badly in Pennsylvania. You have to frack.”

Demonstrating the importance the Trump campaign places on Pennsylvania, it proposed that two debates between the GOP nominee and Harris be held in the state. One of them so far has been approved by both sides — a live televised debate in Philadelphia on Sept. 10 to be broadcast on ABC.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024. Trump, on the last night of the convention, accepted the GOP nomination for president. Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo
Advertisement



Source link

Pennsylvania

Shirley Ann Dailey

Published

on

Shirley Ann Dailey


Shirley Ann Dailey, 89, of Daytona Beach, Florida (formerly of Montoursville, Pennsylvania), passed away peacefully on February 23, 2026, surrounded by her family at AdventHealth Hospital in Daytona Beach.

Born December 14, 1936, in Sayre, Pennsylvania, she was the daughter of the late John and Laura (Reinbold) White. She met the love of her life, Gordon Ell Dailey whom she shared over 60 years of marriage until his passing in 2023.

Shirley grew up in Buffalo, New York, and Dushore, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Turnpike High School in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, and continued her education with two years of college. She went on to have a distinguished career spanning more than 40 years. Her professional journey included roles with the Social Security Administration, General Motors, Pennsylvania Department of General Services, and most notably, 30 years of dedicated service with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). She served as an Administrative Assistant to the District Executive for PennDOT Engineering District 3-0. Shirley took great pride in her work and spoke fondly of her time at PennDOT throughout her retirement.

Advertisement

In her personal life, Shirley enjoyed collecting artwork, caring for her home, taking walks, bicycling, and vacationing with her family.

Surviving is a son, David (Crista) Dailey of Daytona Beach, Fla.; a grandson, Garrett Dailey, of Daytona Beach, Fla.; sisters, Regina (Drew) Bagley of Shunk, Pa., and Deborah (Ray) Thall of Mechanicsburg, Pa. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents and husband, Shirley was preceded in death by a sister, Margaret Pier, and a brother, William White.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at McCarty-Thomas Funeral Home, 733 Broad Street, Montoursville, Pennsylvania, with Pastor David Smith officiating. Burial will follow in Twin Hills Memorial Park, Muncy. Friends may call from 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.

Expressions of sympathy may be sent to the family at mccarthythomas.com.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Pennsylvania

First-of-its-kind legislative funding approved for gambling support in Pennsylvania

Published

on

First-of-its-kind legislative funding approved for gambling support in Pennsylvania


Content on this page may include affiliate links. If you click and sign up/place a wager, we may receive compensation at no cost to you.

The digital-first gambling support model aims to strengthen the PA online casino industry’s overall infrastructure, including the integration of care coordination and self-help tools.

Players at Pennsylvania online casinos may soon find more responsible gaming resources thanks to a new, first-of-its kind rollout of a digital platform for gambling support known as Almond Digital Health. Approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, it represents the first legislative-led and funded program in the United States that aims to bolster the state’s overall gambling support infrastructure. If you’re in Pennsylvania, sign up for DraftKings Casino and get 1,000 Flex Spins:

Legislators take digital-first approach to responsible gambling

Advertisement

Another example of lawmakers looking to modernize responsible gambling resources among legal sportsbooks and PA online casinos, the program will offer anonymous, multilingual access to responsible gambling educational materials as well as self-help tools and connections to treatment services.

Officials called it the first legislative-backed, digital-first gambling support program of its kind in the nation, with the goal of filling gaps in access to care. That certainly created some urgency for legislators as the real money online casino and licensed sports betting industries in Pennsylvania continue to expand and grow.

The Almond Digital Health platform will be integrated into mobile casino apps, along with in-person casinos and through partnerships with universities and sports betting operators.

Ultimately, officials look to create earlier intervention opportunities to address potential gambling addictions and provide more readily available responsible gambling tools and resources. Get started at BetMGM Casino now here:

New responsible gambling initiative will complement existing resources

Advertisement

While the program is expected to be rolled out over the next several weeks, it is not designed to replace all of the existing tools and resources offered throughout the state and via PA online casinos. Rather, the Almond platform will act more as a complement to help fill gaps in access as the legal gambling industry continues to grow.

Kath Middleton, chief product officer of Almond Digital Health, emphasized that the platform is about “scale and access,” noting that Pennsylvania is “building an approach that works both within and outside traditional care settings.”

According to a press release, online casino gaming, sports betting, in-person gambling and the lottery has generated tens of billions of dollars in annual wagering. With that growth, officials wanted to ensure that Pennsylvanians had “practical, accessible and multilingual ways” to engage early with and understand all the available options for responsible gaming.

In rolling out the Almond program, Rep. Joe McAndrew highlighted that more and more people betting on sports or playing casino games online will be exposed to responsible gambling habits and how to prevent addiction through education – in fact, earlier than traditional resources.

It’s a practical approach, Rep. Joe Prokopiak echoed, that will provide “instant impact” for individuals struggling with addiction or at risk of developing one. “It’s an evolved issue,” Prokopiak said, which the state can now address “with an evolved solution.”

Advertisement
Avatar



Source link

Continue Reading

Pennsylvania

Jewish Pennsylvania judge leaves Democratic Party over antisemitism | The Jerusalem Post

Published

on

Jewish Pennsylvania judge leaves Democratic Party over antisemitism | The Jerusalem Post


An elected Supreme Court justice in Pennsylvania announced Monday night that he has left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent, citing concerns about antisemitism.

In a statement, David Wecht, who is Jewish and served as Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party chair from 1998 to 2001, said he believed antisemitism has moved from the fringe of the Democratic Party to the mainstream.

“Nazi tattoos, jihadist chants, intimidation and attacks at synagogues, and other hateful anti-Jewish invective and actions are minimized, ignored, and even coddled,” he wrote. “Acquiescence to Jew-hatred is now disturbingly common among activists, leaders, and even many elected officials in the Democratic Party.”

Wecht wrote that he had long understood that antisemitism “always festered on the fringe” of the right, a fact that hit home in 2018 when a far-right shooter killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where he and his wife were married in 1998.

Advertisement

“In the years that have followed, that same hatred has grown on the left,” he said in his statement. “It is the duty of all good people to fight this virus, and to do so before it is too late.”

Wecht previously made national headlines for his 2020 ruling against an effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania.

Through a spokesperson, Wecht declined to be interviewed about his exit from the Democratic Party.

Wecht’s comments come as Democrats wrestle with a range of internal tensions over antisemitism.

The ascent of Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who recently covered up a Nazi Totenkopf skull-and-crossbones tattoo, to become Maine’s Democratic candidate for Senate, and the increasing coziness between some progressive politicians and Hasan Piker, the leftist streamer who has said he favors Hamas over Israel, have particularly alarmed some members of the Jewish community.

Advertisement

Wecht is the son of renowned forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht, who was involved in investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Wecht’s mother, translator Sigrid Ronsdal, spent the first six years of her life living under Nazi occupation in Norway.

“I know David and his legendary father, Cyril,” Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who has clashed with his Party over Israel, tweeted following Wecht’s announcement. “As I’ve affirmed, I’m not changing my Party – but I fully understand David’s personal choice. The Democratic Party must confront its own rising antisemitism problem.”





Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending