Robert York
Robert “Bob” D. York, 82, of Oroville, CA and formerly of Allentown, died at his home in Catasauqua Sunday February 21, 2021. Born in Carbondale, he was a son of the late George and Marion (Mink) York. He was the husband of the late Arlene “Peach” (Barrios) York and celebrated 41 years together before her passing in April of 2020. Peach was the love of Bob's life and their life together was filled with adventures and traveling. He was so patient with her in all her horses and ponies. Bob honorably served his country in both the Navy and Air Force. Stationed in Langley VA, he also served in Libya among other locations. After the service he attended Lehigh University on the GI bill and graduated with an engineering degree. Bob then went to work for Mack Trucks as an Engineer here in Allentown and in Hayward, CA, retiring after many years of employment. He was deeply involved in his church and was always a faithful member. Bob was a former member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Allentown and current member of Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oroville, CA. Bob was an avid Formula One Racing fan and loved cars in general. He enjoyed attending races all over the world with Peach or his sons, Gary, Billy, and later with his grandson Aidan. He took great pride and joy in knowing he was the best dad ever. No one could sing to musicals or whistle like Bob! Surviving are his children, daughters Janet York, Carol Roach and husband Dennis, and Shannon Klemm; sons Gary York and wife Victoria, and Billy York; sister Gladys Kistler, brother George “Bill” York and wife
Carol Miller; grandchildren Aidan, Mason and Madison York and Micheal Klemm and wife, Renee; and many nieces and nephews. He is also survived by two sisters, Tootie Wood and husband, Brian and Nancy Allred and husband, Garey. Private services will be held at the convenience of the family. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.brubakerfuneralhome.com. Brubaker Funeral Home, Inc. of Catasauqua are honored to handle the arrangements.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a handful of cases related to the 2020 election, including disputes from Pennsylvania that had deeply divided the justices just before the election.
The cases the justices rejected involved election challenges filed by former President Donald Trump and his allies in five states President Joe Biden won: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Other than two Pennsylvania disputes, the justices’ decision not to hear the cases was unsurprising but ends months of legal wrangling. The court had previously taken no action in those cases and in January had turned away pleas that the cases be fast-tracked, again suggesting the justices were not interested in hearing them.
Some of the justices, however, had strong feelings about the court’s decision not to hear two cases from Pennsylvania that had been particularly contentious in the battleground state. The cases involved an appeal of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision requiring election officials to receive and count mailed-in ballots that arrived up to three days after the election. Three of the nine justices said they would have heard the case, which would not have affected the election’s outcome.
Justice Clarence Thomas called the cases an “ideal opportunity” to address an important question whether state lawmakers or state courts get the last word about the manner in which federal elections are carried out. And he called it “befuddling” and “inexplicable” that his colleagues were declining to weigh in.
“We failed to settle this dispute before the election, and thus provide clear rules. Now we again fail to provide clear rules for future elections,” he wrote.
Thomas cited the expansion of mail-in voting as another reason to take the case and said “fraud is more prevalent with mail-in ballots.” Trump had made claims of massive fraud in the vastly expanded use of mailed in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic, but courts found no evidence to substantiate those claims.
Pennsylvania lawmakers, for their part, made changes to the state’s election laws in response to the pandemic but left in place a Nov. 3 deadline to receive absentee ballots. Democrats sued, and Pennsylvania’s highest court cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and U.S. Postal Service delays in extending the deadline for mailed-in ballots to be received.
MINNEAPOLIS — Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit Monday against the founder and CEO of Minnesota-based MyPillow, saying that Mike Lindell falsely accused the company of rigging the 2020 presidential election.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in the District of Columbia alleges that Lindell ignored repeated warnings from Dominion, a voting technology company that has filed lawsuits against Donald Trump lawyers Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell.
Dominion accuses Lindell of repeatedly telling what the lawsuit labels the “Big Lie” that the company used its technology to steal the election from Trump.
“No amount of money can repair the damage that’s been done by these lies, which are easily disproved. Hundreds of documented audits and recounts have proven that Dominion machines accurately counted votes. We look forward to proving these facts in a court of law,” the lawsuit says.
Lindell, known as the “MyPillow Guy” from his TV commercials, said he welcomed the lawsuit and said that the discovery process will prove him right.
“It’s a very good day. I’ve been looking forward to them finally suing,” said Lindell, who went to the White House to promote his theories in the final days of the Trump administration.
There was no widespread fraud in the election, which a range of election officials across the country, including Trump’s former attorney general, William Barr, have confirmed. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, key battleground states crucial to President Joe Biden’s victory, also vouched for the integrity of the elections in their states. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies were dismissed by judges, including two tossed by the Supreme Court, which includes three Trump-nominated justices.
Lindell took umbrage at being repeatedly accused in the lawsuit of telling “the Big Lie” — noting that the expression was coined by Adolf Hitler — “The Big Lie here is the big lie. They’re the big lie.”
Lindell stood by a long video amplifying his claims that he released Feb. 5 and said he recently posted a 20-minute version.
This is the third defamation lawsuit that Dominion has filed against its accusers, following the cases against Powell and Giuliani. At a news conference Monday, John Poulos, CEO of Dominion, said “it is by no means the last.”
Poulos and Dominion lawyer Megan
Meier alleged that Lindell didn’t really believe that the election was stolen from Trump. “He knew that lying about Trump’s loss would be good for My Pillow’s bottom line,” Meier said.
They disputed Lindell’s claims that he has lost money due to his claims, and said they looked forward to examining MyPillow’s finances as part of the proceedings.
“MyPillow’s defamatory marketing campaign—with promo codes like ‘FightforTrump,’ ‘45,’ ‘Proof ’ and ‘QAnon’— has increased MyPillow sales by 30-40% and continues duping peopleintoredirectingtheirelection-lie outrage into pillow purchases,” the lawsuit alleges.
Lindell said MyPillow did get a brief surge in sales. But he said more than 20 retailers have dropped his products, including Bed Bath and Beyond and Kohl’s, and noted that Twitter permanently banned him and MyPillow.
NEW YORK — As airlines slashed flights and furloughs appeared inevitable in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Mike Catania sensed there would be little need for a service that helped airline crews find shortterm housing.
So, Catania and his fellow owners shut down Padloop in early March, even though the nearly year-old company had just broken even.
Catania started looking at how life was changing amid the pandemic and came up with the idea for his next business: Locaris, a website to help apartment renters connect with prospective neighbors to get the scoop on buildings and landlords. Because the pandemic limited people’s ability to meet in person, Locaris enabled renters to get the lowdown on a building safely.
“I tried to focus on, what is COVID a catalyst for? What trends is it bringing to market a couple of years ahead of schedule?” says Catania, who lives in Henderson, Nevada. Locaris launched in June and quickly found success.
As owners are forced to shut businesses, they’ve had to figure out what to do next. For entrepreneurs like Catania, the answer has been anticipating the next trend and creating a company to take advantage of it. Some owners have started businesses similar to those they lost, or companies that fill a different role in the same industry. Others have gone to work for someone else, while perhaps holding onto hopes of eventually reviving the businesses they shuttered.
It’s not known how many small businesses have failed in the pandemic, but different estimates all show devastation. Based on a projection last spring by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the number is likely well into the hundreds of thousands. Data from the work scheduling software company UKG shows that about one in six small businesses have closed their doors since the pandemic began.
Alex Willen of San Diego was preparing to open a dog boarding business when the pandemic hit; he was about to sign papers for a Small Business Administration loan to cover construction costs when his bank said it was putting new business loans on hold. Willen sensed the outbreak wouldn’t end quickly, which meant dog owners wouldn’t be traveling and many would keep working from home.
By May, the loan money was available, but Willen decided to give up rather than open the business and not have revenue for months, maybe longer.
“It was looking like COVID was not going away by November or December, and those are huge months for dog boarding,” says Willen.
Willen soon decided to restart a business he’d shelved in favor of boarding: dog treats. Willen didn’t have to start at square one because he had already done some preliminary marketing and package design for the business.
Willen bakes for his two dogs, Cooper and Maple — which gave him the idea for Cooper’s Treats. He sells the treats on his website and Amazon.
“It’s looking like a real business,” he says.