Juul hoped to sway PA: AP's many Penna. and national headlines | - wkok.com

AP PA Headlines 3/9/20

HARRISBURG. Pa. (AP) — Health officials in Pennsylvania have announced two more presumptive cases of the new coronavirus, making a total of six in the commonwealth so far. The Pennsylvania Department of Health said the two new cases announced Sunday are in adults in Montgomery County, in addition to two other Montgomery County cases announced Saturday. All four are described as having mild symptoms and are in isolation at home. On Friday, officials confirmed the first two cases, one adult in Delaware County and one in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Wayne County, both also described as mild cases of people in isolation in their homes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s largest electronic-cigarette company, Juul Labs, donated tens of thousands of dollars to the campaigns of state attorneys general. The donations were part of an effort to build relationships with these powerful officials and potentially head off legal challenges over how Juul promoted and sold its vaping products. But the company’s approach may be backfiring. Thirty-nine states announced late last month that they’ll investigate whether Juul’s early viral marketing efforts illegally targeted teens and made misleading claims about the nicotine levels in its devices.

Juul says it is working to earn “the trust of society,” by working with various government officials. Juul did donated to AG Josh Shapiro’s campaign and a compromise was worked last year, but last month Shapiro announced that Pennsylvania would sue Juul for allegedly misleading the public about the addictiveness of its e-cigarettes.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a head-on crash involving a car and a minivan killed three people in Pennsylvania over the weekend. Police in West Earl Township say the car was heading north on Route 222 when it crossed the median and struck the minivan head-on at about noon Saturday. The Lancaster County coroner said the 73-year-old car driver and 60-year-old Harold Sheaffer, who was in the minivan, died at the scene. Sixty-year-old Dawn Sheaffer was pronounced dead at Lancaster General Hospital. An 8-year-old girl who was also in the minivan had minor injuries. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — From the Associated Press…Democratic Party leaders in Pennsylvania say they were happy that Joe Biden emerged from the presidential primary pack to become the consensus pick to lead the party’s moderate wing. They say Biden has longstanding relationships with Democratic leaders in Pennsylvania and that made him their favorite candidate to beat President Donald Trump here.

Party insiders who support Biden in Pennsylvania, however, had worried that his campaign wouldn’t survive a crowded primary before voters flocked to the former vice president on Super Tuesday. John Cordisco, Bucks County’s Democratic Party chairman, says Biden’s success has brought a feeling that things will be OK for the party. Pennsylvania’s primary is on April 28.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is insisting that sexism wasn’t to blame for the end of Elizabeth Warren’s Democratic presidential campaign, even as he showered her with insults that are often deployed against women. Trump also claimed Friday that “people don’t like her” and called the Massachusetts senator “a very mean person.”

Trump has a long history of making unkind comments about women. While he has defended himself as an equal-opportunity insulter, Trump has been particularly callous when it comes to women, going after their physical appearances and dwelling on their attacks. Warren dropped out of the race Thursday after failing to win a single Super Tuesday state.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris has endorsed Joe Biden for president, pledging to “do everything in my power” to help elect him. She is the latest dropout from the Democratic presidential race to line up behind the former vice president in his battle with Bernie Sanders for the nomination. The decision by the California senator who was one of three black candidates seeking to challenge President Donald Trump further solidifies the Democratic establishment’s move to close circles around Biden after his Super Tuesday success. Sanders announced that he’d won the endorsement of civil right icon Jesse Jackson and would be campaigning with him in Michigan on Sunday.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s campaign has filed its third lawsuit against a news organization in the past two weeks. Friday’s action, against CNN, follows similar arguments made against The New York Times and The Washington Post. Each of the cases concern opinion pieces that talk about Trump campaign involvement with Russia. The CNN lawsuit says the campaign was damaged by an assertion in a website opinion piece that the idea of Russia helping in 2020 was still on the table. CNN said it would not comment on the lawsuit; other critics say the cases are designed to send a message to the press to not mess with

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The nation’s ‘calmer in chief’ is working overtime. President Donald Trump says he isn’t concerned that the coronavirus is getting closer to the nation’s capital and the White House. Maryland officials warned Saturday that a person who attended the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in the suburb of Oxon Hill had tested positive for the virus. Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the conference, but the White House says there is no indication that either had been in close proximity to the infected attendee. The Pentago says a Marine at Virginia’s Fort Belvoir became the first military case of coronavirus reported inside the U.S.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump will skip an annual bipartisan St. Patrick’s Day lunch at the Capitol and blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Trump instead will celebrate at the White House with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Thursday, five days before St. Patrick’s Day. The annual luncheon is meant to celebrate longstanding relations between the U.S. and Ireland. The White House blamed Pelosi for actions and rhetoric it says are tearing the nation apart. Trump remains incensed that Pelosi led the House effort to impeach him. A Pelosi spokesman accused the White House of engaging in petty, partisan politics.

LONDON (AP) — Every month, a group of London artists paint their faces with randomly colored shapes and patterns aimed at defying facial recognition cameras. Then they lead a walk silent walk through various parts of the city to provoke discussion about the growing use of the controversial technology. Anyone can join the walks led by the Dazzle Club, whose founders are concerned about facial recognition’s potential for “rampant surveillance,” lack of regulation, inaccuracy and how it affects public spaces. Participants must also paint their faces using a style called CV Dazzle that uses cubist-inspired designs to thwart the computer.

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, are fulfilling their last royal commitment this week when they appear at the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey. The event Monday is the last time they will be seen at work with the entire royal Windsor clan before they fly off into self-imposed exile in North America. It ends a two-month drama that began when the couple announced plans to walk away from their roles as senior members of Britain’s royal family and earn their own living. It’s uncharted territory for Harry and the House of Windsor, with only the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936 to serve as a warning of the potential pitfalls.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers might lift a decades-old ban on yoga in public schools, though the bill would keep the greeting “namaste” on the forbidden list. A bill by Rep. Jeremy Gray of Opelika would let local school systems decide if they want to teach yoga, poses and stretches. However, it would require the moves to have exclusively English names. It would also prohibit the use of chanting, mantras and saying the greeting “namaste.” The Alabama Board of Education voted in 1993 to prohibit yoga, hypnosis and meditation in schools. The ban was pushed by conservative groups.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — According to the weekend’s box office numbers, North American audiences are not staying away from theaters amid virus concerns. Disney and Pixar’s “Onward” topped the charts and the basketball drama “The Way Back” also opened in line with expectations. Studios on Sunday estimate that “Onward” earned $40 million from 4,310 North American locations. Internationally it picked up $28 million. Disney noted that outside of Asia-Pacific regions, coronavirus concerns have not made a material impact. “The Invisible Man” fell to second place in its second weekend with $15.2 million. And “The Way Back” picked up $8.5 million from largely older audiences.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A gruyere from Switzerland has been named the world’s best cheese, chosen from a record number of entrants from 26 nations in the World Championship Cheese Contest in Wisconsin. The cheese from Bern, Switzerland made its maker, Michael Spycher of Mountain Dairy Fritzenhaus, a two-time winner. Spycher also won in 2008. The Wisconsin State Journal says the winner was announced Thursday and three Wisconsin cheeses were finalists. The contest is the largest technical cheese, butter and yogurt competition in the world and started Tuesday in Madison with a record 3,667 entries. The 55 judges taste, sniff and inspect the 132 classes of dairy products during the biennial contest.