August 5, 2022 4:12 am
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that China’s military exercises aimed at Taiwan including missiles fired into Japan’s exclusive economic zone represent a “significant escalation” and that he has urged Beijing to back down. China launched the drills following a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan that infuriated Beijing, which claims the self-governed island as its own territory. Blinken told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia that Pelosi’s visit was peaceful and did not represent a change in American policy toward Taiwan, accusing China of using it as a “pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.”
August 5, 2022 4:10 am
PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Neighbors say they’re on high alert after police say two windows were shattered in Peters Township. Police have ramped up patrols. “We don’t know what the real intent was,” police Chief Douglas Grimes said. “Was it just to cause damage to the property? Or was it to gain entry to the property?” Police are saying the suspects shattered a window on Bethany Drive and then drove off and ended up on Trotwood Drive more than three miles away, where they shattered another window. Neighbors on Bethany Drive tell our news partners at Channel-11 this happened while it was still daylight. Officers said at least one of the suspects was masked. While our officers were there investigating that, we got a second call,” Grimes said. Police say the family was also home at the other house when their window was shattered. Police believe these cases are linked and are looking for a Honda Pilot. Police are reminding neighbors to be on the lookout. “If you see something in your neighborhood that looks out of place, call 911, by all means call 911, report it,” Grimes said. “Let’s get an officer over there and let us check it out.” At this time police are saying these suspects could face criminal mischief charges.
August 5, 2022 2:48 am
Washington County Clerk of Courts, Brenda Davis, will serve 15 days to six months in the Washington County Jail and pay a $5,000 fine after being found guilty of criminal contempt of court. Judge John DiSalle found Davis guilty Thursday after her refusal to turn over juvenile court records and appear in his courtroom back in November. DiSalle also called her actions that day, “the most undignified display of behavior he ever witnessed.” Davis’ attorney, Charles Gallo, said Davis has been complying with DiSalle’s orders but was not surprised by the ruling. Davis is lodged in the Washington County Jail and will follow all rules of probation following her prison time. Gallo plans to file an appeal.
August 5, 2022 2:38 am
Canonsburg Town Park has added new fitness equipment to an already long list of activities to do in the area with the help of brothers and Canon-McMillan graduates Bill and Bob Schmidt. Bill, who was a bronze medalist javelin thrower in the 1972 Olympics for Team USA, was contacted by the Canonsburg Borough and Friends of the Park to help contribute a fitness cluster near the Yoney Pavilion. He along with his twin brother Bob were happy to help their hometown with the donation. Both of the brothers live out of state now, but visit the area frequently to see friends and family. After the dedication, members of the Canon-McMillan Track and Field Team took part in breaking in the new equipment. This is not the first donation from the Schmidt Family to Town Park, as Bill was a donor for the recently constructed pickle ball courts near the new fitness cluster.
August 4, 2022 5:54 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. has declared a public health emergency to bolster the federal response to the outbreak of monkeypox that already has infected more than 6,600 Americans. The announcement Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services frees up federal funding and resources to fight the virus, which may cause fever, body aches, chills, fatigue and pimple-like bumps on many parts of the body. Xavier Becerra is the head of HHS. He says the agency is ready to take the U.S. response “to the next level.”
August 4, 2022 11:44 am
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – The U.S. Justice Department has charged four Louisville police officers involved in the deadly Breonna Taylor raid with civil rights violations. Federal charges against former officers Joshua Jaynes, Brett Hankison and Kelly Goodlett, along with Louisville police Sgt. Kyle Meany were announced by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday. Garland says federal officials “share but cannot fully imagine the grief” felt by Taylor’s family. He said “Breonna Taylor should be alive today.” Taylor, a 26-year-old Black medical worker, was shot to death by Louisville officers who had knocked down her door while executing the search warrant.
August 4, 2022 9:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – More Americans applied for jobless benefits last week as the number of unemployed continues to rise modestly, though the labor market remains one of the strongest parts of the U.S. economy. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 30 rose by 6,000 to 260,000 from the previous week’s 254,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications generally reflect layoffs. The four-week average for claims, which evens out the weekly ups and downs, also rose from the previous week, to 254,750. The Labor Department’s jobs report for July, due out Friday, is expected to show that employers added 250,000 jobs last month.
August 4, 2022 4:22 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A Texas jury has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay more than $4 million in compensatory damages to the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre over the conspiracy theorist’s repeated public claims that the attack was a hoax. The jury’s decision Thursday marks the first time the Infowars host has been held financially liable for falsely claiming that the attack that killed 20 children and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, was staged. It might not be the last such judgment against him, as a judge in Connecticut has already ruled against him in a similar lawsuit. The Texas jury must still decide how much to award in punitive damages.
August 4, 2022 4:20 am
KHIMKI, Russia (AP) – A judge in Russia has convicted and sentenced American basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling. Judge Anna áSotnikova said the time Griner has served in custody since her arrest in February would count toward the sentence. Griner reacted to the sentence with little emotion. Under Russian law, the 31-year-old Griner faced up to 10 years in prison, but judges have considerable latitude on sentencing. Attention now turns to the possibility of the U.S. and Russian agreeing to a high-stakes prisoner swap that would free the two-time Olympic gold medalist. (Photo: ABC News)
August 4, 2022 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. officials believe Russia is working to fabricate evidence concerning last week’s deadly strike on a facility housing prisoners of war in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine. U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia is looking to plant false evidence to make it appear that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the July 29 attack on Olenivka Prison that left 53 dead and wounded dozens more, a U.S. official familiar with the intelligence finding told The Associated Press. Russia has claimed that Ukraine’s military used U.S.-supplied rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk People’s Republic. The Ukrainian military denied making any rocket or artillery strikes in Olenivka.
