45 Republican senators voted against moving ahead with next month's impeachment of former President Donald Trump. Pat Toomey was not among them. In a statement, Toomey said, "There are legal and constitutional arguments both favoring and opposing an impeachment trial of a former president. In my view, the text and context of the Constitution, the meaning of the term ‘impeachment’ to the founders, and the most relevant precedents indicate that it is constitutionally permissible for the Senate to consider the impeachment of President Trump." 67 senators must vote to convict the former president and yesterday's vote would seem to make that an extremely unlikely occurrance.
Gov. Tom Wolf is frustrated with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and says the issue is a pretty simple math problem. "We have received about 1.5 million vaccines and since it's a two-shot cycle that means we have enough for basically 750,000 Pennsylvanians. There are over 4 million people in the 1A category and that means we need eight million vaccines," Wolf says. The governor says the state expected the it was going to have an expanded supply when he expanded vaccine eligibility last week to everyone 65 and older and those 16 and older with chronic medical problems. Wolf says it's 'incredibly disappointing the national vaccine is extremely limited.'
Pennsylvania reported 4628 new cases of coronavirus Tuesday, pushing the state's overall total to 812,495 since the beginning of the pandemic. 219 new coronavirus-related deaths were also reported. That overall total in Pennsylvania now stands at 20,883.
New Jersey is marking two coronavirus milestones on the same day. The state surpassed 600,000 infections Tuesday after reporting 4017 new cases. It was the same day New Jersey announced it had administered upwards of 600,000 coronavirus vaccines.
The Liberty High School boys basketball team has been suspended from practicing or playing for three days for violating the district's mask rules. Superintendent Joseph Roy made the call a day after school board members voiced concern with pictures they saw showing players wearing their masks around their chin or under their noses during a recent game against Northampton Area High School. The team is suspended through tomorrow. Their next game is Saturday.
Police in Allentown are investigating a shooting that left one person dead Wednesday afternoon. Residents in the 200 block of North Jordan Street reported hearing what they thought were fireworks around 4 o'clock, but they soon discovered what they heard were actually gunshots. No arrests have been made and the victim's name has not been released.
There are now 14 hearings planned to look into Pennsylvania's election procedures and how 2020 was conducted. Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar says there've been too many lawmakers who've advanced incorrect information about the November election. "In the past, a lot of the sources of misinformation were from our overseas adversaries. We worried about Russia and China and Iran and they're sitting there not having to do anything because our elected officials are serving the purpose of our overseas adversaries," Boockvar says.
The Harrisburg-area woman accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's laptop during the riot at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month is being ordered to stay off the internet. Tuesday a judge ordered Riley Williams to stay off the web, saying she is too much of a cyber risk to be allowed free access. Williams can use the internet to contact her lawyer and her mother has to monitor her as part of her release conditions. Her next court hearing is slated for March. Meanwhile, Pelosi's laptop remains missing.
About 450 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard will be in Washington DC until mid-March. The Guard says they'll be helping help with crowd management, assisting with traffic control and performing other duties. They will be housed in hotel rooms. The Guard says about 2,350 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard were in Washington at one point to help secure the Capitol after the January 6 riot and for Joe Biden’s inauguration last week.
Calls continue growing for the head of New Jersey's prison system to step down. It comes as law enforcement investigate accusations of beatings at the state's only women's-only prison in Clinton. Five more stat lawmakers added to the mounting list Tuesday, calling for Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks to be placed on leave while the allegations are checked out. At least 30 people have been reportedly suspended at the facility, including Associate Administrator Sean St. Paul, who was in charge on January 11th when prisoners say officers brutally beat three women.
Gillian's Wonderland Pier on the Ocean City Boardwalk is facing bank auction due to mounting mortgage debt. The 91-year-old family amusement pier has reportedly defaulted on $8 million in mortgage debt. Just last week a judge ordered the pier to auction in order to satisfy the debt, but Ocean City Mayor and pier owner Jay Gillian says he's found financing in order to avoid auction and plans to have it open this summer.