Jim Brewster will be sworn in as a state senator today, ending a dispute over counting ballots in Allegheny County. The U-S District Court for Western Pennsylvania ruled on Tuesday that disputed votes in the state’s 45th senatorial district should be counted. Republicans lost challenges in state and federal courts to Democrat Brewster’s narrow victory in November. But on January 5th, Senate Republicans blocked Brewster from taking the oath of office, insisting on another federal court ruling.

The G-O-P wanted to toss out 23-hundred mail-in ballots that lacked a written date on the outer envelope, but had been received on time. Marc Stier, who heads the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, says the court ruled the federal claims of Brewster’s opponent, Nicole Ziccarelli, failed on their merits. But the state Supreme Court had ruled those ballots could be counted. Stier believes Ziccarelli might have had a stronger case had she gone to court to demand that those similar ballots in Westmoreland County also be counted. About 15 years ago, Republicans joined with Democrats to extend and expand the Voting Rights Act. But Stier points out that the access to ballots – and even the voters’ right to choose electors in a presidential election – have become partisan issues.

Facing difficulty due to the novel coronavirus, Girl Scouts have found a way to create the first national delivery service collaboration in the organization’s history, using Grubhub Inc. to help the Girl Scouts ensure 2021 cookie sales are safe and socially distant.

We’re proud of the resourceful ways Girl Scouts are running their cookie businesses safely and using their earnings to make the world a better place,” interim GSUSA CEO Judith Batty stated in a news release. “This season, our girls will continue to exemplify what the cookie program taught them: how to think like entrepreneurs, use innovative sales tactics, and pivot to new ways of doing business when things don’t go according to plan.”

(Beaver Falls, Pa.) “Good News from the Mountain” with host Pastor Rod Smith will be broadcast at the special time of 4:30 p.m. today, January 13, 2021 on Beaver County Radio due to Pittsburgh Penguins Hockey on Beaver County Radio 1230 WBVP, 1460 WMBA, 99.3 FM and beavercountyradio.com .  The Penguins have their season opener on Beaver County Radio with pre-game at 5 p.m. and puck drop at 5:30 p.m.

The show will return to its normal time  of 6:30 p.m. next Wednesday January 20, 2021.

Representative Conor Lamb gave warning yesterday that there is an ‘ongoing threat’ to the Capitol, stating that thousands of ‘armed patriots’ are ready to descend on Washington D.C. to prevent Democrats from impeaching Trump and said they have stated that they will use their weapons against members of Congress.

In a closed-door briefing on Monday, law enforcement informed lawmakers, according to Lamb, that an ‘organized group’ of 4,000 people will try to prevent Democrats from entering the Capitol.

He said this group of people considers themselves patriots and that they are following an already set ‘rules of engagement’ on when to shoot and take more serious action.

Lamb says these threats are serious, and they are not just something they are imagining could happen.

A total of 15,000 National Guard members have now been activated and will deploy to Washington, D.C., to help provide security in the run up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

The number of Guard members coming in from other states has been growing, amid escalating fears of more violent protests in the wake of the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol last week.

Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, was given the authority to tap up to 15,000 Guard, but he has said that requests for assistance from the Secret Service, the U.S. Park Police and the Capitol Police have been increasing this week.

The Army also said Tuesday that officials are working with the Secret Service to determine which Guard members may need additional background screening. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Co., had asked Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy to have the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command screen Guard members coming in to ensure they were not “sympathetic to domestic terrorists.”

The Army said CID will not be reviewing all the Guard, but some members may be subject to additional background screening. Traditionally, those who get within close proximity to the president — or in this case the president-elect — are checked more closely.

So far, officials said they have not yet identified any Guard members who participated in the protests, but investigations are ongoing.

In a statement, the Army said the D.C. National Guard is also giving troops additional training as they arrive in the city, so they know to identify and report any extremist behavior to their commanders.

The Army also said it is working with the FBI to identify people who participated in Capitol attack, adding, “any type of activity that involves violence, civil disobedience, or a breach of peace may be punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice or under state or federal law.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is taking no responsibility for his part in fomenting a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week, despite his comments encouraging supporters to march on the Capitol and praise for them while they were still carrying out the assault. Trump says, “People thought that what I said was totally appropriate.”

He made the comments Tuesday during his first appearance in public since the Capitol siege, which came as lawmakers were tallying Electoral College votes affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. He was heading to Texas to trumpet his campaign against illegal immigration in an attempt to burnish his legacy with eight days remaining in his term.