September 24, 2022 2:56 am
MONONGAHELA, Pa. (AP) — Republican leader Kevin McCarthy headed to Pennsylvania on Friday to directly confront President Joe Biden and the party in power, unveiling a midterm election agenda with sweeping Trump-like promises despite the House GOP’s sometimes spotty record of delivering and governing in Congress. McCarthy, who is poised to seize the speaker’s gavel if Republicans win control of the House in the fall, hopes to replicate the strategy former Speaker Newt Gingrich used to spark voter enthusiasm and sweep House control in a 1994 landslide. The House GOP’s “Commitment to America” gives a nod to that earlier era but updates it for Trump, with economic, border security and social policies to rouse the former president’s deep well of supporters in often-forgotten regions like this rusty landscape outside Pittsburgh. “We have a plan for a new direction for America,” McCarthy told The Associated Press. On Friday, the House Republican leader stood with other lawmakers to roll out the GOP agenda, offering a portrait of party unity despite the uneasy coalition that makes up the House minority – and the Republican Party itself. The GOP has shifted from its focus on small government, low taxes and individual freedoms to a more populist, nationalist and, at times, far-right party, essentially still led by Donald Trump, who remains popular despite the deepening state and federal investigations against him.
September 23, 2022 4:33 am
ATMORE, Ala. (AP) – Alabama officials have called off the lethal injection of a man convicted in a 1999 workplace shooting because of time concerns and trouble accessing the inmate’s veins. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said prison officials called off Thursday’s execution after they determined inmate Arthur Miller’s “veins could not be accessed in accordance with our protocol” before a midnight deadline to commence the execution. Miller has been returned to his cell at the south Alabama prison, Hamm said. The halt came three hours after a divided U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution to begin.
September 23, 2022 4:32 am
SAN SALVADOR, Puerto Rico (AP) – Powerful Hurricane Fiona is pounding Bermuda with heavy rains and winds as it sweeps by the island on a route that is forecast to have approaching northeastern Canada as a still-powerful storm late Friday. Authorities in Bermuda opened shelters and closed schools and offices ahead of Fiona. Premier David Burt urged residents to “take care of yourself and your family.” The Canadian Hurricane Centre issued a hurricane watch over extensive coastal expanses of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Fiona should reach Canada as a “large and powerful post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds.”
September 23, 2022 4:30 am
BUSAN, South Korea (AP) – The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan has arrived in the South Korean port of Busan ahead of the two countries’ joint military exercise that aims to show their strength against growing North Korean threats. The joint drills will be the first involving a U.S. aircraft carrier in the region since 2017. The allies have revived large-scale military drills this year, responding to North Korea’s resumption of major weapons testing and increasing threats of nuclear conflicts with Seoul and Washington. The South Korean navy said the training is meant to boost the allies’ military readiness and show “the firm resolve” of the South Korea-U.S. alliance for the sake of peace on the Korean Peninsula.
September 23, 2022 4:29 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Voting has begun in Moscow-held regions of Ukraine on referendums to become part of Russia. The Kremlin orchestrated the votes and they’re certain to go Russia’s way. But Ukraine and the West have denounced them as shams without any legal force. The votes are being held in the Luhansk, Kherson, partly Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. The expected outcome favoring joining Russia would give it the pretext to claim Ukrainian forces are attacking Russia itself. That would dramatically escalate the seven-month conflict. The referendums follow President Vladimir Putin’s order of a partial mobilization that could add some 300,000 Russian troops to the fight. The voting started Friday and runs through Tuesday.
September 23, 2022 4:17 am
MCKESSPORT, Pa. — (WPXI) – McKeesport police are investigating an incident involving a child with a gun. In an anonymous video sent to WPXI, a home surveillance camera shows a little girl running outside and holding a gun in the air. Other children can be seen running away from the girl and screaming. The incident happened recently in the Crawford Village area. Now, McKeesport Police Chief Adam Alger says the child’s father, Charles Counts, has been arrested. According to police, Counts admitted his child got hold of the unloaded gun in a drawer. Counts is being charged with one count of endangering the welfare of children and reckless endangerment of another person.
September 23, 2022 4:15 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – The victims’ family members have been waiting five years for this moment — to hear that a jury found Martell Smith guilty of second-degree murder, and that he will spend the rest of his life in prison. Prosecutors showed pictures of Sandra Douglas, Shamira Staten, and Shamira’s 4-year-old daughter, Chyenne Manning, to the judge, right before she sentenced Smith to three consecutive life-in-prison sentences. When Smith first heard the guilty verdict, he acted stunned and put his head in his hands, and eventually told the judge his life was over. He poured gasoline throughout a house in Homewood back in 2017, and set it on fire, when the two women and little girl were still inside. They never made it out, and died in the fire.After court, the victims’ family members embraced each other and told our news partners at Channel 11 this is closure.
September 23, 2022 2:57 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Democrats in Pennsylvania who’ve long blamed their party’s legislative minorities on Republican gerrymandering are about to find out whether friendlier district maps will edge them closer to retaking control of the House and Senate. Nearly 400 state legislative candidates will appear on ballots Nov. 8. The new district boundaries, along with dozens of retirements and primary election defeats, will certainly bring change to the Capitol. But even the most ardent Democrats aren’t predicting they’ll swing enough seats to dictate when bills are voted on or if they even get a vote. Republicans currently hold majorities of 29-21 in the Senate and 113-90 in the House.
September 22, 2022 4:25 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump padded his net worth by billions of dollars and habitually misled banks and others about the value of prized assets like golf courses, hotels and his Mar-a-Lago estate, New York’s attorney general said Wednesday in a lawsuit that seeks to permanently disrupt the Republican’s ability to do business in the state. Attorney General Letitia James dubbed it “The art of the steal.” The lawsuit, filed in state court in Manhattan, is the culmination of the Democrat’s three-year civil investigation into Trump and the Trump Organization. Trump’s three eldest children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump, were also named as defendants, along with two longtime company executives. In its 222 pages, the suit struck at the core of what made Trump famous, taking a blacklight to the image of wealth and opulence he’s embraced throughout his career — first as a real estate developer, then as a reality TV host on “The Apprentice” and later as president. t details dozens of instances of alleged fraud, many involving claims made on annual financial statements that Trump would give to banks, business associates and financial magazines as proof of his riches as he sought loans and deals.
September 22, 2022 4:22 am
CAGUAS, Puerto Rico (AP) – Hurricane Fiona left dozens of families stranded across Puerto Rico after smashing roads and bridges, with authorities still struggling to reach people four days after the storm smacked the U.S. territory, causing historic flooding. For now, government officials are working with religious groups, nonprofits and others braving landslides, thick mud and broken asphalt by foot to provide food, water and medicine for people in need, but they are under pressure to clear a path so vehicles can enter isolated areas soon. At least six municipalities have areas cut off by the storm.
