Pennsylvania
Trump sets sights on Pennsylvania and Harris plans to head west as hurricane scrambles campaigning
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is holding rallies on Wednesday in pivotal Pennsylvania while Vice President Kamala Harris prepares for another visit to the West — even as Hurricane Milton menaces Florida and threatens to overshadow presidential campaigning.
Trump, the former president and current Republican nominee, has events scheduled in Scranton — birthplace of President Joe Biden — and in Reading, where he is expected to talk about the economy and immigration in a city that is two-thirds Hispanic.
The hurricane caused Trump to put off a virtual event Tuesday night focused on health care and postpone a Univision town hall in Miami.
Harris plans her own Univision town hall Thursday in Las Vegas before returning to Arizona in what will be her second visit to both states in less than two weeks. Before flying to Nevada, she will virtually attend a briefing on the storm and the federal response that Biden is receiving Wednesday at the White House.
Biden already postponed a trip scheduled this week to Germany and Angola, saying, “I just don’t’ think I can be out of the country at this time.”
Milton is approaching just days after Hurricane Helene killed more than 220 people in six Southeastern states and left behind a swath of destruction that federal, state and local authorities are trying to alleviate even as they now brace for the next storm.
Harris spent Tuesday in New York taping interviews on ABC’s “The View,” with radio personality Howard Stern and on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” During her interview on “The View” and later amid her taping with Colbert, Harris failed to name major ways her future administration would be substantially different from Biden’s.
“There is not a thing that comes to mind,” Harris said on “The View.”
Trump reacted on his social media platform, posting that Harris said “she would have done nothing different” than Biden whom he called “the WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.”
Harris had her own sharp words for her opponent. Reacting to reports in Bob Woodward ’s new book, “War” that Trump, while president, secretly sent COVID-19 test kits to Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2020, when they were hard to find in the United States, she said incuriously, “You remember what those days were like?”
“You remember how many people did not have tests and were trying to scramble to get them?,” Harris asked during the taping with Colbert. “Remember how rare it was to have them?”
She said of Trump, “And this man is giving COVID test kits to Vladimir Putin. Think about what this means,” before adding, “He thinks Vladimir Putin is his friend. What about the American people? They should be your first friends.”
Trump denied the reporting. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the U.S. sent test kits. which he referred to as “testers,” but denied that the exchange occurred in secret.
“There were no secret shipments. The pandemic was starting back then,” Peskov said in a message on Wednesday. “Many countries were exchanging equipment. We sent ventilators. Testers came from America.”
Pennsylvania
Neighbors welcome man home to Downingtown, Pennsylvania, after months in ICE detention
A Chester County, Pennsylvania, man is back home with his family after spending more than eight months in ICE detention.
Supporters of Carlos Della Valle spent months rallying and writing letters to immigration officials, urging them to release him. Now the Downingtown resident is sharing what it feels like to finally be home and why uncertainty still hangs over his future.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Carlos Della Valle said about being home. “You know, it’s so many months and it just didn’t seem like it was going to happen.”
Supporters lined the street outside his Downingtown home on Wednesday, cheering as he returned from a detention center in Louisiana. The 49-year-old said it still feels surreal to be back in Chester County after 258 days in ICE custody.
Della Valle, whose wife and son are U.S. citizens, has lived in Chester County for nearly 30 years. He said he came to the United States from Guerrero, Mexico, at age 20 after fleeing cartel violence.
“I was afraid for my life,” he said.
At age 21, Della Valle said, he was detained and sent back to the Mexican border, but he was never formally deported.
During a trial in August 2025, a jury acquitted him of illegally re-entering the country. Despite the verdict, he was taken into ICE custody because he does not have legal status in the United States.
Carlos Della Valle was released from ICE custody last week but said he still worries about what comes next.
“They tried to deport me twice, so what’s to stop that from happening again?” he said.
Carlos Della Valle said he now has weekly check-ins with ICE and is working with an attorney to get a work permit so he can return to his job as a plant manager at a small adhesive company.
His wife, Angela Della Valle, said the family’s experience pushed her to become more involved in immigration reform efforts.
“The Dignity Act that’s been authored by Congresswoman Maria Salazar is a very, very powerful piece of legislation,” Angela Della Valle said. “It would allow Carlos to stay since he’s linked to a U.S. citizen wife. It would allow him to work.”
For now, Angela Della Valle said she’s focused on appreciating the moments they missed during his time in detention.
“It’s amazing being together again and even more powerful to be able to come back together home,” Angela Della Valle said.
Since returning home, Carlos Della Valle said he has been reconnecting with friends and recently attended a Phillies game with his family.
“We loved being there,” he said.
Central Presbyterian Church in Downingtown is hosting a “Welcome Home Carlos” open house Saturday night to celebrate Carlos Della Valle’s release.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania mom wins $1 million from lottery scratch-off:
When 32-year-old Beth Dudley, a mom of two, walked into a convenience store in Salem Township, Westmoreland County, last month, she was stressed out about her flat tire.
Now, after winning $1 million from a scratch-off ticket, not only is Dudley getting a new tire, but she’s thinking about getting an entirely new car.
The Pennsylvania Lottery celebrated Dudley on Friday ahead of Mother’s Day, presenting her with a commemorative $1 million check.
Luck didn’t seem to be on Dudley’s side when she visited the Crabtree Gas and Go on Roosevelt Way in April. But she said she decided to treat herself to a lottery ticket anyway.
“I thought, ‘What’s it going to hurt?’” Dudley said. “I play occasionally. Before I won, my brother said, ‘You’re going to get the tire changed and your whole world will turn around.’”
And turn around it did. Dudley scratched the ticket and learned that she had won $1 million.
“I thought, ‘Am I seeing this right?’ Then I just started to cry,” said Dudley.
She said she was crying so much that when she called her mom, her mom thought something was wrong. She called her husband next, and she said he didn’t quite believe her at first.
Now she plans on buying a new car and investing the rest of her winnings. One thing’s for sure: she’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day this year with a little more money in the bank.
“It’s great to see a hardworking mom who juggles so much have some luck come her way,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne said.
Pennsylvania
Former Pennsylvania 911 director sentenced to decades in prison for child sex crimes
Former Somerset County 911 director Bradley Lavan has been sentenced to as long as 120 years behind bars for sex crimes he committed against five children.
Late last year, Bradley Lavan pleaded guilty late last year to dozens of charges stemming from a 2023 arrest where police alleged he sexually abused five young children.
Lavan was ordered Thursday to serve 60 to 120 years in state prison, a sentence that Somerset County District Attorney Tom Leiden called “appropriate,” citing the seriousness of the crimes he committed.
“Today, justice was served,” Leiden said, adding that “the sentence should assure that Mr. Lavan is never able to prey on innocent children again.”
At the time of his arrest, then District Attorney Molly Metzgar said that it was alleged that Lavan groomed children in ages from 3 to 6 years old and forced them into performing various sex acts on him while they were in his home.
Police at the time said that Lavan’s time as the 911 director in Somerset County ended before he was arrested and the charges and his work with the county weren’t connected.
“This successful prosecution and sentence are the result of the District Attorney’s Office’s commitment to seeking justice for victims and for protecting the children of Somerset County,” Leiden said. “We will continue to work tirelessly to make Somerset County a safe place to live, work, and raise a family.”
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