Democrats shun idea of Pelosi floor fight in speaker’s race
By LISA MASCARO, AP Congressional Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) — Call it the chaos theory for picking the next House speaker.
Those Democrats trying to stop California Rep. Nancy Pelosi from reclaiming the job say they don’t need a rival candidate just yet. Instead, they plan to show that Pelosi lacks the votes to win the race. And then, they say, new challengers will emerge.
It’s strategy that has other Democrats cringing at the prospect of their new House majority in disarray. They say voters swept them to office in this month’s elections to govern, not become bogged down by the kind of Republican infighting that sent Ohio Rep. John Boehner to an early exit as speaker and weakened his successor, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.
The last thing they want is a floor fight over the leadership post when Congress opens work in January.
“If the first Democratic value they see is chaos, I don’t think that’s very good,” said Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who recently wrote an op-ed with colleagues supporting Pelosi. “I don’t think it’s a good look at all.”
The chaos theory will be put to a test this coming week when House Democrats meet in private for a vote nominating Pelosi to become speaker in January. She held that post from 2007 to 2011, the first woman to serve as speaker.
After one potential rival stepped aside, Pelosi is expected to easily win the majority from her ranks. But opponents have hopes of denying her the broader support she needs when the new Congress holds a vote in January.
One of those organizing against her, Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., said recently that the lack of a sure-fire challenger is beside the point. The goal is to force the question.
“The whole concept of you can’t beat somebody with nobody is a Nancy Pelosi talking point,” she said.
As Rice and others in the group led by Reps. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Tim Ryan of Ohio see it, it’s all in the math.
At the moment, there are at least 15 Pelosi opponents, making for a razor-thin vote. House Democrats won a 233-seat majority in the 435-member House in the November midterm election, with a few races still uncalled. Pelosi needs 218 to win the job, if all Republicans oppose her, which is likely. The margin could expand slightly with absences or if lawmakers simply vote “present.”
“The first step is showing that she cannot get to 218,” Rice told reporters, “and then I believe the challengers will emerge that can allow new members to say, Ok here’s another possibility, now I get it.”
Moulton, a Marine veteran, said earlier he hopes it will be “a chaotic debate” for new leadership because “that would be healthy for the party.”
But after the election delivered Democrats the House majority, it’s an approach that may require a leap of faith that other lawmakers are unwilling to take, especially as Pelosi amasses an outpouring of support from advocacy groups, labor unions and even former President Barack Obama in a display of raw power.
Trying to head off that debate, Pelosi sent a letter to colleagues thanking “so many of you for the strong support you have given me” and asked that “we all support” the party’s nominee for speaker when the full House votes. “Our unity is our power,” she wrote.
At one point Pelosi’s opponents counted 17 Democrats on a letter against Pelosi and were hoping for more. But one by one, some of them started standing down.
A potential rival, Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, decided against a challenge, agreeing instead to lead a new subcommittee on voting integrity. Pelosi revived that panel and recommended Fudge for the post, elevating an issue important to the Congressional Black Caucus, especially after close races this month in Florida and Georgia.
Another opponent, Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., dropped his opposition after he said Pelosi agreed to have him take the lead on his proposal to expand Medicare as an option for those age 50 to 65.
As opponents regrouped, Pelosi was home for the holiday recess in California, working the phones and doling out the kinds of perks that show the potential power of being speaker in ways it hasn’t been wielded on Capitol Hill.
Boehner and Ryan struggled to corral their majority since Republicans gained control of the House in 2011. The revolt from within the GOP ranks started with the 2010 tea party election and continued with the Freedom Caucus that pushed Boehner to early retirement. Ryan was able to pass the GOP tax bill into law but the right flank repeatedly flexed its muscle including during California Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s recent election as minority leader.
Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., said she remembers being in the House chamber as the Boehner speaker’s race teetered, and thinking the dysfunction on display wasn’t good for Republicans or Democrats.
She wrote the op-ed with Beyer in part because she cannot imagine facing voters in the St. Paul suburbs back home if a floor fight emerges as the Democratic majority’s first order of business.
“People in Minnesota would be very, very disappointed — from disappointed to outrage — that we are blowing an opportunity,” she said. “Those voters aren’t looking for chaos. They’re looking for effective, responsible governing.”
Newly elected members, especially those who pledged to oppose Pelosi and make way for a new generation of leaders, are caught in the middle.
One who supports Pelosi, Rep.-elect Katie Hill of California, said Democrats “need to minimize any internal party strife” and “hit the ground running day one.”
Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said in a tweet: “I hope that we can move swiftly to conclude this discussion about party positions, so that we can spend more time discussing party priorities.” She backs Pelosi.
Seasoned lawmakers, including Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., say now is not the moment for a public split.
“I wouldn’t want to see it come to the floor, in front of the nation,” Cleaver said. “I don’t want to shake the confidence of the millions of people who stepped out to vote.”
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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
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Follow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lisamascaro and https://twitter.com/AP_Politics

Deer-related crashes spike in Pennsylvania
By Joe Sylvester and Justin Strawser, The Daily Item
SUNBURY, Pa. (AP) — If you live in the Valley and drive, there’s a good chance you’ve struck a deer.
It’s not just in the Valley. More Pennsylvanians have collided with a white-tailed deer, as of June 30, than ever before, based on claims filed with State Farm, the top auto insurer in the state and country.
Travis Lau, the communications director for the Game Commission, said Wildlife Management Unit 4D, which has parts of Union and Snyder counties, and WMU3E, which has parts of Union and Snyder counties and the majority of Northumberland and Montour counties, both increased in estimated deer population in 2017 and 2018. WMU4D was a one-year increase from 63,000 to 100,000 and WMU4E saw a continuing trend from 62,000 to 70,000.
Because WMU4E is showing a trend, Lau said they allocated for more hunting licenses this year.
The numbers are based on estimates as well as what the commission knows about the harvest. The commission believes that only one-third of hunters report their harvest, said Lau.
While State Farm estimates deer-vehicle collisions have decreased slightly to 1.33 million, from 1.34 million, nationally between 2017 and 2018, they have gone up in Pennsylvania, to 141,777, from the previous year’s 141,145. The company measures claims between July 1 and June 30 in each fiscal year, so the company could include a true rut, or mating, season.
More than half (58.7 percent) of the drivers who participated in an online poll at dailyitem.com said they have hit a deer while driving on Pennsylvania roads.
“November is usually the number one hit month when it comes to a (deer-vehicle) collision,” said State Farm spokesman Dave Phillips. “The average claim is between $4,179 and $4,341. “We’ve probably been in the top five for as long as we’ve been doing this study.”
Officer Bill Williams, of the Northeast Region of the Game Commission, said deer habitats are not shrinking in state or federal lands, but, “We’re always losing habitat on private lands” that might push deer out of those areas.
When in the rut, deer tend to be less cautious, especially the buck, he said.
“The decrease in daylight increases testosterone in the bucks, so that keys them in to breed,” Williams said. “They will chase a doe around until she is receptive. That could take days. They’ll run across highways and roads.”
During fawning season from May to June, does are also looking for a place for their young, he added.
“There’s another spike in being hit,” she said.
Phillips said 10 percent of all deer collisions with vehicles in the country occur in Pennsylvania.
“West Virginia is number one because of the odds or risk of a collision,” Phillips said. “But 10 percent of all deer claims are in Pennsylvania, based on State Farm data and estimates.”
He explained the odds are based on the number of licensed drivers and deer collisions.
He said drivers can reduce the risk of hitting a deer by being aware and slowing down.
“The main thing always is if an area is clearly marked deer crossing, you need to be cognizant of that,” Phillips said. “The faster you’re going, the more damage you’re going to do to your car.”
He said that sometimes it’s better to hit the deer head-on rather than to swerve and risk tipping the car or going into oncoming traffic.
“Just slow down,” Phillips said.
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Online:
https://bit.ly/2QTopq5
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https://www.dailyitem.com/
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Information from: The Daily Item, http://www.dailyitem.com

BLACK FRIDAY TRAFFIC IN BEAVER COUNTY HAS BEEN VERY LIGHT SO FAR, AS WE HEAR IN THIS REPORT FROM BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

Kennywood Park’s annual Holiday Lights event has returned and is full swing. This is the first season Holiday Lights will mix in with the new Thomas Town attractions. This is Kennywood spokesperson Nick Paradise…

Paradise says the Thomas Town train ride is still open to all ages…

The season begins tonight and continues every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night through December 23rd. The park will then be open every night between December 26th and the 30th.

Authorities say an Ellwood City man strangled a newborn child delivered by a teenage girl he had sexually assaulted on numerous occasions and hid the baby’s body in a safe. Lawrence County authorities say 38-year-old Christopher Kennedy, who has no known address, faces numerous counts. Authorities say the girl was 15 when she gave birth in October 2017. After he allegedly killed the child, authorities say Kennedy put the baby in a plastic bag and then sealed it with concrete inside the safe. The body was found several weeks later after the teen was admitted to the hospital for serious complications related to the birth. Authorities say she initially claimed to have killed the baby, but later told them Kennedy had done it.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR BLACK FRIDAY, NOV. 23RD, 2018

TODAY – MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH – 44.

TONIGHT – CLOUDY WITH OCCASIONAL RAIN OVERNIGHT.
LOW – 33.

SATURDAY – RAIN SHOWERS THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
HIGH – 47.

SUNDAY – OVERCAST. HIGH NEAR 50.