October 27, 2022 5:26 pm
MOSCOW (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied having any intentions of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine but described the conflict there as part of alleged efforts by the West to secure its global domination. Speaking to international policy experts on Thursday, Putin accused the U.S. and its allies of trying to dictate terms to other nations in a “dangerous and bloody” domination game. Putin, who sent his troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, claimed that “humankind now faces a choice: accumulate a load of problems that will inevitably crush us all or try to find solutions that may not be ideal.”
October 27, 2022 12:51 pm
(WPXI) – Homicide charges have been filed four years after the disappearance of Cassandra Gross. Thomas Stanko, who was Gross’ estranged boyfriend, is facing several charges including criminal homicide, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. Stanko was a person of interest in the case but was never criminally linked to her disappearance until now. Gross went missing on April 7, 2018 and was never found. A judge declared her legally dead from a homicide about nine months later. In July this year, Stanko was sentenced to seven years in prison for illegally possessing guns. He is a convicted felon, meaning he isn’t allowed to own or carry any guns. Investigators found 17 guns inside his properties in Unity Township when they were searching for evidence in the disappearance of Gross. Three of the guns were stolen property.
October 27, 2022 8:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Slightly more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the labor market remains one of the healthiest parts of an uneven U.S. economy. Jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 22 inched up by 3,000 to 217,000 from 214,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week moving average rose to 219,000 from 212,250 the previous week. Applications for jobless claims, considered a proxy for layoffs, remain historically low. The total number of Americans collecting unemployment aid rose by 55,000 to 1.44 million for the week ending Oct. 15, its highest level in seven months.
October 27, 2022 5:52 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – No one won an estimated $700 million Powerball jackpot Wednesday night, meaning the big prize will grow to an estimated $800 million for the next drawing. The numbers drawn were: á19-36-37-46-56-24. No one has matched all six numbers and won the Powerball jackpot since Aug. 3, allowing the prize to grow to the fifth-largest in U.S. history. That amounts to 36 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner. The next drawing is Saturday. The new $800 jackpot amount is for winners who take their winnings through an annuity, paid annually over 29 years. Nearly all winners actually choose the cash option, however, which would be $383.7 million after taxes.
October 27, 2022 4:19 am
(AP) – Elon Musk is telling Twitter advertisers he is buying the platform to “help humanity” and doesn’t want it to become a “free-for-all hellscape” where anything can be said with no consequences. The message to advertisers posted Thursday on Twitter came a day before Musk’s deadline for closing his $44 billion deal to buy the social-media company and take it private. He said in the post that he’s buying the company because “it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square.”
October 27, 2022 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The problems have hardly gone away. Inflation, still near a 40-year high, is punishing households. Rising interest rates have derailed the housing market and threaten to inflict broader damage. And the outlook for the world economy grows bleaker the longer that Russia’s war against Ukraine drags on. But for now anyway, the U.S. economy has likely returned to growth after having shrunk in each of the first two quarters of 2022. At least that’s what economists expect to see Thursday when the Commerce Department issues its first of three estimates of gross domestic product – the broadest measure of economic output – for the July-September period.
October 27, 2022 4:16 am
CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) – Europe’s energy crisis is forcing some people to turn to cheaper sources to stay warm as the weather gets colder. After Russia slashed natural gas flows to Europe amid its war against Ukraine, demand for wood is surging in poorer nations like Moldova and Kosovo as well as in the richer nations of Western and central Europe. It’s led to higher prices, growing concerns about theft and even scams. Some German foresters are putting GPS devices into logs to track the valuable stocks and deter theft. There are also environmental risks to burning firewood, from the particles that people breathe to increased felling of trees.
October 27, 2022 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Election Day is 12 days away. But in courtrooms across the country, efforts to sow doubt over the outcome have already begun. Since the start of this year, more than 100 lawsuits have been filed largely by Republicans around the upcoming midterm election. The call into question mail-in voting rules, voter access, voting machines, voting registration, the counting of mismarked absentee ballots and access for partisan poll watchers. It’s the most litigation ever before an election – and it’s a strategy shift born of the failures of allies of former President Donald Trump in 2020 to challenge the results of the presidential election.
October 27, 2022 4:08 am
WHITEHALL, Pa. — Police in Whitehall are warning people to be aware of a bizarre new scheme in which fraudsters send letters purporting to be from Walmart. According to a social media post from the borough’s police department, a resident recently received a package containing a check for $3,800 and a note with a Walmart letterhead. That letter reads “congratulations on your achievement” and claims that the recipient has been chosen to complete a paid customer service assignment. It states “there has been complains [sic] in our money order section which is why you are to survey any Walmart or CVS store close to you.” It instructs the recipient to purchase three $1,000 money orders from one of the stores and then call or text a number to retrieve information on where to send the payments. According to police, the letter and packaging appear to be real but “this is a scam attempting to get money from you.” The department’s police chief told Channel 11 that he did not believe the victim actually fell for the scam and suffered a loss. It’s unclear what occurs if a recipient attempts to cash the $3,800 check, which the letter claims is meant to “cover the expenses” of the assignment. A spokesman for Walmart told out news partners at WPXI, “Walmart has been very direct in dealing with fraud,” as outlined here: https://corporate.walmart.com/privacy-security/fraud-alerts/
October 27, 2022 4:04 am
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — A woman died in a single-vehicle crash in Westmoreland County Wednesday afternoon. According to a release from the Westmoreland County coroner’s office, the crash happened at 2:35 p.m. on Garvers Ferry Road in Allegheny Township. The coroner’s office said the driver was traveling north and the vehicle went across the road while she was trying to make a right turn. The car struck a tree, and the driver was pronounced deceased at the scene. She was not wearing a seatbelt. Officials said weather conditions and speed may have been a factor in the crash. The victim has been identified as 45-year-old Sarah Bowser of Allegheny Township.
