February 11, 2023 1:41 am
A Laurel Highlands School District teacher was arrested after an investigation into an alleged months-long inappropriate relationship with a student. Fayette County District Attorney Richard Bower announced the arrest of Ashley Thurby Kolesar at a news conference Friday. Kolesar is facing three felony charges following a state police investigation into her alleged relationship with a 17-year-old boy in which they exchanged more than 6,500 text messages from September of last year through January of this year. At the center of the investigation is a conversation that Kolesar had with another student. Bower said Kolesar recorded a conversation without the student’s knowledge and sent it to the 17-year-old, violating wiretapping laws. She is facing charges of intercept communications, disclose intercepted communications and criminal use of a communication facility.
February 10, 2023 3:44 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – A U.S. military fighter jet has shot down an unknown object flying off the coast of Alaska. That’s according to White House officials Friday. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the object was flying at about 40,000 feet and posed a “reasonable threat” to the safety of civilian flights. Kirby says President Joe Biden ordered the military to down the object, which the spokesman described as roughly the size of a small car. The development comes after the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on Saturday.
February 10, 2023 3:46 am
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Ukrainian relatives of a slain cinematographer are seeking damages in her death from actor Alec Baldwin in connection with a fatal shooting on the set of a Western movie. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during a rehearsal for the movie “Rust” in October 2021 in New Mexico. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when it discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. The new lawsuit seeks unspecified damages based on support that Hutchins previously provided to a younger sister and parents. An attorney for Baldwin had no immediate comment.
February 10, 2023 3:45 am
Former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed by the special counsel overseeing investigations into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election. That’s according to a person with direct knowledge of the subpoena who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday to discuss a sensitive issue. The subpoena to Pence as part of the investigation by special counsel Jack Smith was served in recent days. The extraordinary scenario of a former vice president potentially testifying against his former boss in a criminal investigation comes as Pence considers launching a 2024 Republican presidential bid against Trump.
February 10, 2023 3:44 am
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — One of three Memphis Police officers who initially detained Tyre Nichols last month approached Nichols’ car while brandishing his gun. According to documents released by the city on Thursday, Preston Hemphill later admitted that he did not witness the reckless driving that was the justification for detaining Nichols. That traffic stop quickly escalated into a beating involving other police officers and Nichols died three days later. Hemphill was fired last week. The new information about Hemphill’s actions is contained in a request from the Memphis police chief to prevent Hemphill from working in law enforcement again.
February 10, 2023 3:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some voters in last year’s midterm elections were open to supporting Democrats even if they weren’t fond of President Joe Biden. Roughly 1 in 6 voters for Democratic House candidates said they disapproved of Biden’s job performance, but most said Biden wasn’t a factor in their midterm decision. The findings from AP VoteCast are a warning sign for both parties at the outset of the 2024 presidential campaign. For Republicans, a stream of attacks on Biden may have little effect on voters concerned about GOP contenders who are too extreme. But for Biden, the surprisingly strong Democratic performance last year might not translate into energy around his reelection.
February 10, 2023 3:41 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces struck critical infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and launched multiple strikes on energy infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia early Friday as Moscow stepped up its attacks in Ukraine’s south and east and air raid sirens went off across much of Ukraine. Zaporizhzhia City Council Secretary Anatolii Kurtiev said the city had been hit 17 times in one hour, which he said made it the most intense period of attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
February 10, 2023 3:40 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The lead up to New Orleans’ annual Mardi Gras celebration intensifies Friday with events big and small. Three parades are set for Friday night along historic St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. They are the first of more than two dozen such processions set in the city and suburbs between now and Mardi Gras, which falls this year on Feb. 21. A smaller scale celebration is set for Friday morning at Galatoire’s Restaurant in the French Quarter, where animal lovers gather to pay tribute the canine king and queen of the Mystic Krewe of Barkus.
February 10, 2023 3:39 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — When a giant Chinese balloon made an uninvited visit to the United States, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin turned to a hotline system set up with Beijing to defuse the situation. Austin ran into one problem with U.S.-China crisis communications in his Feb. 4 call, however. Often, as happened with Austin last week, top Chinese military officials refuse to get on the line. Sometimes, Chinese officials don’t even pick up. Former U.S. defense officials and other China experts cite fundamental differences in the way U.S. and Chinese leaders view the value of crisis hotlines.
February 10, 2023 3:38 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — A Washington-area mother and special education teacher has announced her candidacy for Register of Wills in May’s Republican Primary. South Strabane resident Christi Wiles Thomas made the announcement official Thursday. Wiles Thomas is a former county real estate broker and graduate of W&J College and Chatham University. She has served as a special education teacher with Agora Cyber Charter School for 10 years. Wiles Thomas says she chose to run at this time to do what she enjoys most — being around the people of the county and to be the conservator of such unique times of peoples’ lives. The candidate says she intends to honor what is going well with honest communication, as well as tweak what needs to be tweaked for the benefit of the residents.
