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By Stephen Caruso, Pennsylvania Capital-Star

While the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania House is preparing for a wide ranging review of the 2020 election, the review appears unlikely to impact President Donald Trump’s loss in the Keystone State.

That’s despite days of rallies, one big, most small, by ardent Trump loyalists from across the country outside the state Capitol calling for the Legislature to overturn the election results on baseless assertion of election fraud.

That reality became clear Tuesday, as House Speaker Bryan Cutler tapped Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, to assess state election law and the administration of the recent presidential contest at least until the end of November. Cutler appointed Grove the acting chairman of House State Government Committee. He’ll replace retiring Rep. Garth Everett, R-Lycoming.

“We’re concerned with the administration of the election, and that will be the focus of the committee,” Cutler said at a press conference Tuesday.

Cutler added that “mismanagement” by counties, including differing interpretations of state law, had led voters to not trust the results of the election. 

On such issues as providing voters a chance to to fix a mail-in ballot mistake to when to start processing ballots to rules for poll watching, different counties followed different standards.

Such discrepancies sparked a number of lawsuits, mostly unsuccessful, from Trump’s re-election  campaign, as he attempts to sow uncertainty around his projected loss in the 2020 election.

While Cutler did call for preliminary results by the end of the month, he did not say that certification of the final results should wait for the completion of the legislative report.

But a delay on final results pending a House investigation was what about two dozen arch-conservative Republicans called for early Tuesday morning, echoing Trump’s base.

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At the press conference, the lawmakers, led by Rep. Dawn Keefer, R-York, said that the Wolf administration should not certify election results until after the Legislature completed its own review of the election.

The lawmakers described getting a wave of phone calls from constituents reporting what they think is voter fraud.

When pressed for specifics, Keefer said that she and others “just got a lot of allegations” and said they are “too in the weeds” to comment about them.

Even if these results were delayed, it is highly unlikely that it would change the outcome of the presidential race.

There is no deadline to certify election results in Pennsylvania under state law, but Congress must certify electoral college results by Dec. 8.

But there is not a legal pathway for the General Assembly to influence this outcome. 

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By Caroline Mimbs Nyce, Senior associate editor, The Atlantic

1. This country remains deeply divided.
“The clearest message of this week’s complicated election results is that the trench is deepening between red and blue America,” Ronald Brownstein writes. Meanwhile, George Packer argues that it’s time to face a bitter truth: “We are two countries.”

2. The South has already changed.
Jaime Harrison lost to Lindsey Graham. “But his campaign allowed Democrats to imagine what was possible in his home state; it reminded national leaders why they should not write off the region,” Adam Harris writes.

3. Polling is in crisis.
“After two huge presidential flops, pollsters have lost the confidence of the press and public,” David A. Graham writes.

When Will We Know?

The race is still close, but Joe Biden’s path to victory looks a little clearer.

When should you expect results from the remaining states? Our staff writer Derek Thompson offers a useful breakdown.

Arizona: Expect two batches of results: one around 9 p.m. ET tonight and another just after midnight.

Biden currently leads by about 90,000 votes, but networks are torn on whether to call the state, given uncertainty about the partisan lean of the outstanding ballots.

Georgia: We could get a complete answer tonight.

Key counties say they aim to wrap up their counts around 9 p.m. ET. Trump leads here by about 80,000 votes, but the remaining ballots are mostly in heavily Democratic areas, giving Biden narrow odds to flip the state.

Nevada: Check back tomorrow.

We should get a big update. Biden currently leads by only 7,000 votes, but the remaining ballots are expected to lean Democratic.

Pennsylvania: Check back tomorrow.

The secretary of the commonwealth said today that she expects full results “significantly sooner” than Friday. Well, today’s Wednesday, and we don’t seem to be particularly close to a full count in the state. Temporally speaking, that leaves Thursday as the only day sooner than Friday. Trump’s big lead in the state could be endangered as hundreds of thousands of outstanding mail ballots from cities such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are likely to go overwhelmingly to Biden.

North Carolina: Check back next week.

Mail-in ballots in North Carolina have until November 12 to arrive, and we might not know the winner of this state until mid-November.

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From the New York Times

Researchers exploring the Great Barrier Reef this week made two never-before-seen discoveries thanks to a remotely operated vehicle named SuBastian.

Scientists captured on film a ram’s horn squid in its natural environment for the first time. The squid is the only living squid that has an internal coiled shell; it also has a single, searching eye and can emit lime-green light. The same explorers also discovered a coral reef taller than the Empire State Building, teeming with life.

In other underwater news, scientists have known for years that octopuses can taste what their arms touch. Now we know why: The cells of their suckers are covered with tiny detector proteins that respond to chemical cues to help them determine whether an object is useless, dangerous or would make a good snack. We’re always looking for stories that might interest our readers. If you come across something so interesting that it cries out to be shared, please send it to editor@enviropolitics.com  If we agree, you’ll see it here soon.

DAVID CRUZ OCT. 31, 2020 11:56 A.M. • 26 COMMENTS

The New York City Sheriff’s Office busted up an illegal Halloween party at a warehouse in Brooklyn packed with nearly 400 revelers and three walk up bars, and issuing a slew of summonses to eight organizers linked to the party. The latest roundup adds to the string of parties that have been deemed illegal because of the pandemic.

Some of the partygoers were dressed in costumes when deputies stormed 23 Meadow Street in Williamsburg at around 1 a.m. on Saturday. Sheriff Joseph Fucito said his office received of a “potential nonessential gathering” at the location, with deputies soon conducting surveillance. Fucito said deputies heard loud music coming from the warehouse and spotted security guards controlling crowds outside the warehouse. Roughly 150 of those guests were seen wearing costumes, according to Fucito.

After raiding the warehouse adorned in Halloween-themed decorations, they found 387 people inside dancing to the tune of a live DJ, not social distancing, and wearing no masks that protect them from contracting COVID-19

Read the full story by clicking link below

https://gothamist.com/news/sheriffs-break-illicit-halloween-party-brooklyn-warehouse-nearly-400-revelers-inside