Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman held their lone debate Tuesday night in the race for U.S. Senate. Among the issues was abortion, with Oz saying Fetterman is about as extreme as you can get on the issue. "He would demand federally mandated rules for all states to follow that would allow abortion at 38 weeks on the delivery table and it would force it to be subsidized by taxpayers across the country, no matter what their personal beliefs are. That's radical. That's extreme. That is out of touch," Oz said. Fetterman says his position is pro-woman and pro-choice. "I want to look into the face of every woman in Pennsylvania. If you believe the choice of your reproductive freedom belongs with Dr. Oz, then you have a choice. But if you believe the choice for abortion belongs between you and you're doctor, that's what I fight for," Fetterman said. Election day is two weeks from yesterday.
The Lisa Scheller for Congress campaign gets some big name support later today. Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley will be joining Scheller late this afternoon to support her bid to oust incumbent Congresswoman Susan Wild. Haley will be talking about Scheller's positions on inflation, crime, border security and the opioid crisis. The two will appear together at 5:45 this afternoon at Twin Lakes Country Club on Shankweiler Road in Allentown.
Monday was the deadline to register for next month's election. Most-recent numbers before Monday showed Democrats with nearly 29,000 more registered voters than Republicans in Lehigh County. Another 58,000 voters are either registered in another party or are unaffiliated. In Northampton County, registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by more than 17,000, with more than 43,000 others either unaffiliated or with a third party. In Carbon County, which makes up the third county in the local 7th Congressional District, Republicans have a 6100 registration advantage, with another 6800 either unaffiliated or with a third party. A week ahead of the registration deadline, registered Democrats outnumbered GOP voters statewide 4 million to 3.5 million.
While election day's still two weeks off, many people in Pennsylvania have already voted. Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman says some 1.2 million postal ballots have been requested and more than 556,000 have already been returned. That's about 43-percent. "You can find the latest mail-in and absentee ballot numbers at www.vote.pa.gov/county. There, we provide a daily mail ballot report spreadsheet that is updated at noon each day and shows breakdowns of requested and returned ballots by county and by party," Chapman says.
Pennsylvania State Police say an Amber Alert has been issued for a 6-year-old girl. Zoe Moss was last seen in Downingtown, Chester County at 6:10 Tuesday night. She is 3-foot-8 and weighs 50 pounds. She has light brown hair and blue eyes. Police believe she may be at special risk of harm or injury. State Police say she was last seen with Vanessa Gutshall, who was operating a gray 2016 VW Jetta.
A Poconos man has died days after being involved in a crash in Monroe County. 65-year-old Ralph Boyer was pronounced dead Monday afternoon at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem. The Saylorsburg area man was the front seat passenger in a vehicle that rolled over last Wednesday afternoon on Fiddletown Road, near Kunkletown. Pennsylvania State Police and the coroner's office are investigating.
Police are investigating a hit-and-run crash in South Whitehall Township. It happened just after midnight very early Tuesday morning when someone riding a bicycle was hit in the 3100 block of Hamilton Boulevard. That person was taken to the hospital, but their condition has not been released.
State GOP lawmakers are trying to get legislation passed before the election break that would slow down ESG considerations. The acronym asks corporate investors to factor environmental, social and governance scores into their decisions when issuing loans and insurance. The idea has become controversial because conservative lawmakers contend that ESG considerations impose personal values on businesses. The lawmakers' proposal is called the Virtue, Liberty, and Independence Act.
The fourth anniversary of the attacks on the Tree of Life Synagogue in suburban Pittsburg will be observed Wednesday. An alleged white supremacist reportedly shot and killed eleven worshipers at the synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood in 2018. A U.S. district judge who's overseeing charges for Robert Gregory Bowers told CNN that his trial will happen next year, most likely between April and June.
For the third year in a row, tolls on the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike are going up. According to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which runs both highways, tolls are increasing by three-percent starting January 1st. That means the average Turnpike toll for passenger cars would increase from four-dollars-and-95-cents, to five-dollars-and-ten-cents, while tolls on the Parkway would increase from one-dollar-and-96-cents for E-ZPass customers to two-dollars-and-two-cents. Officials say the increase is due to a bigger 2023 budget.
The Powerball lottery jackpot continues to grow. The multi-state lottery has gone months without a top-prize winner bringing tonight's estimated jackpot to 700-million dollars. Western Pennsylvania players will learn at 11 o'clock tonight if they've become millionaires.
Philadelphia Phillies fans are buying new gear at a record pace. Fans have set a 24-hour record for League Championship Series merchandise sales according to Fanatics and MLB. Cubs fans previously held the record since 2016. The World Series will begin on Friday night in Houston.