Free Republic

Election officials have confirmed widespread problems with voting machines and software on Election Day in two heavily Republican counties in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania. Officials have confirmed issues with scanning ballots in Cambria and Bedford counties, which former President Donald Trump won four years ago with 68% and 83% of the vote. “The Cambria County Board of Election learned early this morning that a software malfunction in the County’s Electronic Voting System has prevented voters from scanning their ballots,” Cambria County Solicitor Ron Repak said in a statement. “This should not discourage voters from voting at their voting...

Pennsylvania’s Cambria County has been forced to make an election day switch to paper ballots following widespread issues with voting machines in the heavily Republican locality. The technology issue predominately impacts ballot scanners, meaning the printed electronic votes must be hand-counted for tabulation. “The Cambria County Board of Election learned early this morning that a software malfunction in the County’s Electronic Voting System has prevented voters from scanning their ballots. This should not discourage voters from voting at their voting precincts,” Cambria County solicitor Ron Repak said in a statement early Tuesday morning. He added: “The Board has filed a...

A catastrophic leak from a natural gas storage field in Cambria County likely released over one billion cubic feet of the potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. The incident demonstrates the importance of tracking — and punishing — methane emissions, a priority recently moved forward by both Congress and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. It also shows the urgency of implementing state-level regulations to control methane emissions from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry. Methane is the primary component of natural gas, and is fifty times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. While CO2 grabs the headlines, CH4...

A man has been charged after police allegedly found explosives at his residence, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Police are also accusing him of detonating two explosive devices on Thursday on Maple Street bridge in South Fork Borough. No injuries were reported as a result of these incidents. “Troopers believe that… [he] detonated these devices as a matter of personal enjoyment and did not have any specific intent to cause injury to any persons or damage to any property; however, damage was observed on the Maple Street bridge,” state police said. Police say 57-year-old Mark Stephen Yatsky is facing charges...

NICKTOWN — When she wakes from restless sleep in the middle of the night, Susan Miller thinks about the man who put her family out of their rural Blacklick Township farm. The Amish mother would like to talk to Cambria County Judge Norman Krumenacker, who ordered the house, barns and outbuildings padlocked because she and her husband John violated building codes and sewage regulations at their 49.5-acre homestead. "I sat up in bed the other night, and I was thinking that I feel bad he has to do this to us. I wanted to write him a letter to tell...