July 7, 2022 1:54 pm
(AP) – James Caan, the curly-haired tough guy known to movie fans as the hotheaded Sonny Corleone of “The Godfather” and to television audiences as the dying football player in the classic weeper “Brian’s Song” and the casino boss in “Las Vegas,” has died. He was 82. His manager Matt DelPiano said he died on Wednesday. A tweet from Caan’s official account said, “The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time.” Caan introduced himself to a new generation playing Walter, the workaholic, stone-faced father of Buddy’s Will Ferrell in “Elf.” (Photo: Twitter)
July 7, 2022 10:17 am
MOSCOW (AP) – Russian news agencies say jailed American basketball star Brittney Griner has pleaded guilty to drug possession and smuggling charges during her trial in Moscow. The reports quoted Griner as pleading guilty to the charges at Thursday’s court hearing. They said that speaking through an interpreter, Griner said she had acted unintentionally because she was packing in haste. Griner was detained in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after vape canisters with cannabis oil allegedly were found in her luggage. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of large-scale transportation of drugs. The trial of the Phoenix Mercury star and two-time Olympic gold medalist began last week.
July 7, 2022 9:53 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania lawmakers are hoping to start wrapping up the state budget just as Senate Republican leaders are talking about a potential deadlock. It’s been a week since the annual spending plan was due to be completed when the state’s fiscal year ended last Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward’s spokeswoman says Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s push for greater education spending has become a problem and that discussions “are deteriorating.” Senate Republicans are calling the basic education funding increase that Wolf wants unrealistic, while Wolf’s press secretary says he’s not stuck on a hard number. Legislators had hoped to meet privately Thursday morning to go over details of a budget agreement.
July 7, 2022 4:44 am
LONDON (AP) – Boris Johnson has stepped down as Conservative Party leader. But the scandal-tarnished politician remains Britain’s prime minister for now. Johnson’s resignation Thursday sparks a party contest to replace him as leader. All Conservative lawmakers are eligible to run and party officials could open the nominations within hours. Party lawmakers will vote in a series of elimination rounds until two candidates are left. The winner will then be decided by all members of the Conservative Party nationwide. The winner will become both Conservative leader and prime minister. Johnson says he intends to stay in office until that happens. But many in the party say he must leave sooner because he no longer has the authority to govern.
July 7, 2022 4:19 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A new report on the Uvalde elementary school massacre in Texas says a police officer had a chance to open fire on the gunman but missed it while waiting for permission to shoot. The report also says some of the 21 victims at Robb Elementary School likely “could have been saved” on May 24 had they received medical attention sooner. The report is yet another damning assessment of how police failed to act on opportunities that might have saved lives in what became the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012.
July 7, 2022 4:18 am
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Derek Chauvin to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, telling the former Minneapolis police officer that what he did was “simply wrong” and “offensive.” U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sharply criticized Chauvin for his actions on May 25, 2020, when he pinned Floyd to the pavement outside a Minneapolis corner store for more than 9 minutes as he lay dying. Even so, Magnuson’s sentence was at the low end of the 20 to 25 years called for in a plea agreement in which he will serve the federal sentence at the same time he serves his 22 1/2-year sentence on state charges of murder and manslaughter.
July 7, 2022 4:18 am
KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) – As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds into its fifth month, some residents close to the front lines remain in shattered and nearly abandoned neighborhoods. One such place is Kharkiv’s neighborhood of Saltivka, once home to about half a million people. Only perhaps dozens live there now, in apartment blocks with no running water and little electricity. While some towns and villages around the capital, Kyiv, have begun rebuilding, other places cannot. In Saltivka, shops are closed and apartment blocks gape with broken windows. Tall grass overtakes abandoned playgrounds. Soldiers’ trenches are abandoned. In a few apartments that are now ripped open, laundry still hangs on the line.
July 7, 2022 4:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor, has made a campaign staple out of the allegation that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s policy of readmitting COVID-19 patients from hospitals to nursing homes caused thousands of deaths — a baseless claim for which no investigator or researcher has provided any evidence. In fact, layers of inspections by researchers have pointed to entirely something different — nursing home employees ushering in the virus every day — while investigators found administrators flouting staffing requirements or infection-control procedures. Further, no Pennsylvania nursing home has leveled any such claim like Mastriano’s, and a national nursing home trade association has agreed with the findings of researchers who say the spread of the virus in nursing homes directly correlated to community spread. Mastriano, a state senator and retired U.S. Army colonel who won the Republican nomination while trafficking in conspiracy theories, seemingly came out of nowhere to become a rising force in right-wing politics primarily by leading anti-shutdown rallies in the pandemic’s early days.
July 7, 2022 4:06 am
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture held a meeting to update the county on the progress of the spotted lanternfly infestation in Pennsylvania. Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding spoke to the updates to the quarantine list of counties in the state. Currently 45 counties are quarantined because spotted lanternfly infestation has been identified. Washington County was added to the list in March. In total there are nine states with known infestation. Jay Losiewicz, Management Technician with the PA Dept. of Agriculture. stated that a small infestation has been identified in the northeast corner of Washington County. The insect is native to Asia and was first seen in Berks County in 2015. Redding states that it was first spotted near a stone yard, brought in by boat on a shipment of imported stone. According to Losiewicz, the insect will locate in disturbed areas of woods such as where trees may have been cut back. They like to feed on vines like grapes, hops and hardwood trees. It is also a nuisance because it will excrete a “honeydew” that will cover populated areas and make them unpleasant for relaxation or recreation. Redding states that in the initial discovery of the insect, houses in infested areas had to be pulled from being sold until the insect was brought under control. Pennsylvania is trying to control any growth in population of the insect. Officials ask that if you do see a spotted lanternfly that you squish it and then report it to the Department of Agriculture.
July 7, 2022 4:03 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — (WPXI) – A 25-year-old was arrested on drug charges after a bust in Bethel Park. According to a post by Bethel Park police on Facebook, an investigation began after “numerous neighborhood complaints of suspected drug activity.” A search warrant was conducted at the suspect’s home as a result of the investigation. Dipen Avaiya, from Bethel Park, faces charges of Manufacture of Controlled Substances, Possession with Intent to Deliver, and Possession of Controlled Substances.
