TCC and A Wireless team up to donate backpacks full of school supplies to children across the US

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Showers, thunderstorms possible in the Wyoming Valley as the weekend approaches

<p>PHILADELPHIA (AP) &#8212; It&#8217;s her party now.</p><p>Democrats&#8217; historic handoff to Hillary Clinton has arrived with affection from one ex-president and an endorsement from an outgoing one. But it&#8217;s also come with a warning: That last glass ceiling isn&#8217;t shattered yet and Republican Donald Trump is a formidable foe.</p><p>Clinton formally captured the Democratic nomination Tuesday night and declared the barrier keeping women from the presidency nearly broken. Her husband, Bill Clinton, closed the historic night with an expansive and passionate testimonial, offering a deeply personal &#8212; though scandal-free &#8212; account of their relationship.</p><p>It also was a policy-driven ode to the &#8220;best darn change-maker I have ever met.&#8221;</p><p>On Wednesday night, President Barack Obama will make his case for electing the former first lady, senator and secretary of state as the first woman to occupy the Oval Office. But he will also tell Democrats to get serious.</p><p>&#8220;Anything is possible,&#8221; Obama said, of potential for America electing GOP nominee Trump, in an interview aired Wednesday on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Today&#8221; show.&#8221; Democrats shouldn&#8217;t take anything for granted, he said.</p><p>&#8220;Anybody who goes into campaigns not running scared can end up losing.&#8221;</p><p>In a nod to the past and possible future, Vice President Joe Biden, who seriously considered another run for president challenging Clinton, will deliver his prime-time valedictory. Clinton&#8217;s running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, gets his turn in the spotlight.</p><p>Hillary Clinton was affirmed as the party&#8217;s nominee Tuesday night at a convention that appeared to be finding its stride after a disruptive opening at the hands of distraught Bernie Sanders supporters.</p><p>The ritualistic roll call of the states that sealed her nomination proceeded without trouble inside the hall and Sanders himself stepped up in the name of unity to ask that her nomination be approved by acclamation.</p><p>The unhappiest among his followers filed out, occupied a media tent and staged a sit-in, some with tape on their mouths to signify their silencing by the party. &#8220;This was a four-day Hillary party, and we weren&#8217;t welcome,&#8221; said Liz Maratea, 31, of New Jersey. &#8220;We were treated like lepers.&#8221;</p><p>Clinton&#8217;s landmark achievement saturated the roll call with emotion and symbols of women&#8217;s long struggle to break through political barriers. Holding a sign saying &#8220;Centenarian for Hillary,&#8221; 102-year-old Jerry Emmett of Prescott, Arizona, cast her state delegation&#8217;s vote. She was born before women won the right to vote in 1920, and remembered her mother casting a ballot for the first time.</p><p>Bear Atwood, 56, a Terry, Mississippi, civil rights attorney and at-large delegate, was moved to tears when Clinton became the nominee. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been working in women&#8217;s rights for my whole adult life,&#8221; she said. &#8220;This is the culmination of a career and a personal life.&#8221;</p><p>Said Clinton, in a surprise appearance on video at night&#8217;s end: &#8220;We just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet.&#8221; The crowd roared.</p><p>Eight years after the bitter primary battle that Obama won, the president and his ex-rival are engaged in a baton-passing partnership: Clinton presenting herself as the protector of his legacy; Obama seeing the election in November as an affirmation of his course as president, if she wins.</p><p>As polished an orator as he is, he&#8217;s got a tough act to follow, after a memorable speech from his wife, Michelle. Her passionate pitch for Clinton on opening night won praise even from Donald Trump, who turned the other cheek for once and ignored her digs. &#8220;Excellent,&#8221; he said of her delivery. &#8220;I thought she did a very good job.&#8221;</p><p>Although the convention made clear progress in sublimating its divisions, Clinton remains a divisive and largely unpopular figure for the country, as is Trump. Polling has consistently found a lack of trust in Clinton, exacerbated by remaining questions about her emails as secretary of state and no doubt by the years of intrigue surrounding the ex-president and herself.</p><p>The convention&#8217;s second night was devoted to reintroducing Clinton to voters, as speakers highlighted issues she has championed for years, like health care and advocacy for children and families.</p><p>The portrait was missing some strokes. &#8220;Hunger Games&#8221; actress Elizabeth Banks and other speakers praised Clinton for focusing her early law career on children&#8217;s causes; left unsaid was that she also joined the Rose law firm in Arkansas, which worked for Tyson Foods, Wal-Mart and several brokerage houses and had a part in the Whitewater real-estate scandal that dogged the Clintons for years.</p><p>Bill Clinton traced the couple&#8217;s love story chapter and verse, starting from their meeting in a library and proceeding through his head-strong courtship and on through the years. Unsavory episodes, like his numerous dalliances with women in Arkansas and the nearly career-ending liaison with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, were omitted.</p><p>&#8220;Hillary will make us stronger together,&#8221; he said, pushing back on the Republicans&#8217; &#8220;cartoon&#8221; version of his wife. In a subtle dig at Trump, he said the U.S., with his wife as president, would be welcoming to Muslims who love America. And, touching on the shootings of black men by police and by the killings of police officers, he envisioned a future &#8220;where nobody&#8217;s afraid to walk outside.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton appears on a large monitor to thank delegates during the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_111588846-c6ab47008fe44673885d226e92370a83.jpg</photo0><caption0>Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton appears on a large monitor to thank delegates during the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_111588846-1580072e5262461a8f5247844a3f4550.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Former President Bill Clinton speaks during the second day session of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_111588846-1580072e5262461a8f5247844a3f4550.jpg</photo1><caption1>Former President Bill Clinton speaks during the second day session of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_111588846-bfb2564183564f41968bacc7dc00ec89.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">FILE - In this Friday, July 22, 2016 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally in Entertainment Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. President Obama is joining Clinton&#x2019;s lineup of high-powered validators from the stage Wednesday night, July 27, 2016, to make the case for electing her in November. Bill Clinton offered a passionate testimonial to his wife on the Democratic convention&#x2019;s second night. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_111588846-bfb2564183564f41968bacc7dc00ec89.jpg</photo2><caption2>FILE - In this Friday, July 22, 2016 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally in Entertainment Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. President Obama is joining Clinton&#x2019;s lineup of high-powered validators from the stage Wednesday night, July 27, 2016, to make the case for electing her in November. Bill Clinton offered a passionate testimonial to his wife on the Democratic convention&#x2019;s second night. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY and CALVIN WOODWARD</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

It’s her party now: Ex-presidents handoff to Hillary Clinton