March 2, 2022 4:10 am
(AP) – A Russian official says troops have taken the Ukrainian port city of Kherson. But the Ukrainian military has denied that claim and a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday that “Kherson is very much a contested city at this point.” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov says the city is under Russian soldiers’ “complete control.” He says the city’s civilian infrastructure, essential facilities and transport are operating as usual and that there are no food shortages. He says talks between the Russian commanders and local authorities over how to maintain order in the city have been underway. The claims could not be immediately verified.
March 2, 2022 4:08 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, delivering the Republican rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday, painted the picture of a country in the grip of several crises. Reynolds depicted Biden’s year in office as having “sent us back in time to the late ’70s and early ’80s, when runaway inflation was hammering families, a violent crime wave was crashing on our cities, and the Soviet army was trying to redraw the world map.” Reynolds’ critique of Biden for the Russian invasion of Ukraine signaled the party’s commitment to casting Biden and Democrats as weak world leaders.
March 2, 2022 4:06 am
BERLIN (AP) – The organization that handles claims on behalf of Jews who suffered under the Nazis says that Germany has agreed to extend funding by another $720 million that will be distributed to more than 300 social welfare organizations globally to provide help for Holocaust survivors. The Claims Conference said in a statement Wednesday the new funds constitute the largest amount ever allocated for the organization for welfare services in a single year. They estimate that approximately 120,000 impoverished survivors will profit from services paid for by these funds. The new allocations are distributed to social welfare organizations in regions where significant numbers of survivors live.
March 2, 2022 2:53 am
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten Season on the Christian Calendar. One of the most solemn seasons, but, as Father John Lynam tells, also one of the most joyful. Father Lynam, Pastor of Saint James Parish in Washington County, which is made up of Immaculate Conception and St. Hilary Churches in Washington and Sacred Heart Church in Claysville, says the word “Lent” is from an Old English term meaning springtime, and by the second century the term was being used to describe the period of individual fasting, almsgiving and prayer in preparation for Easter. Catholics around the world will be going to church to receive ashes in the sign of the cross on their foreheads. Father Lynam says the use of ashes is a sign of penance, in readiness for Easter and the ashes used in his parish are from palm fronds from last Palm Sunday, that were burned down to ashes. In addition to all of the religious activities that will be taking place during Lent, Father Lynam said there will also be the traditional fish fry at Immaculate Conception and Sacred Heart Churches, which this year, will be back to normal. They will be open for dine-in or take-out. Because of COVID, last year’s fish fry was take-out only. (Photo: ABC News)
March 2, 2022 2:29 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia Republicans have forged ahead with an overhaul of mine safety regulation that strips the state of its ability to cite coal companies for unsafe working conditions. They blocked an effort Tuesday by Democrats to derail the measure. That came after dozens of miners and former miners gathered at the Capitol to testify against the bill. It would essentially strip the state office of miners’ health, safety and training’s ability to enforce laws – in fact, it eliminates all enforcement language from state code. The bill is scheduled for a final reading Wednesday in the House and still must be considered in the Senate.
March 2, 2022 2:09 am
A Canonsburg man asked for a jury trial for felony drug and firearm possession charges that he is facing. John Lazear, 38 is facing possession with intent to deliver and illegal possession of firearms and is accused of supplying heroin to a woman that was picked up by North Strabane Township Police. She was found to be intoxicated and had a large amount of heroin in her car. During her interview with police she gave a great deal of information about Lazear, prompting a warranted search of his home by a SWAT team and police. Lazear is scheduled for trial in May.
In a second case, Jevonne Crawford, 23, of Donora had his case continued. He is accused of shooting and killing Dakota Johnson and shooting his girlfriend Tionya Gaston in their Donora home. His case is being delayed by an ongoing mental health evaluation. A trial date for Crawford is pending the results of that evaluation.
March 1, 2022 5:48 pm
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) – Major League Baseball has canceled opening day, with Commissioner Rob Manfred announcing Tuesday the sport will lose regular-season games over a labor dispute for the first time in 27 years after acrimonious lockout talks collapsed in the hours before management’s deadline. Manfred said he is canceling the first two series of the season that was set to begin March 31, dropping the schedule from 162 games to likely 156 games at most. Manfred said the league and union have not made plans for future negotiations. After the sides made progress during 13 negotiating sessions over 16 1/2 hours Monday, the league send the players’ association a “best and final offer” Tuesday on the ninth straight day of negotiations. (Photo: AP)
March 1, 2022 4:33 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – People are out to party as New Orleans’ first full-dress Mardi Gras since 2020 dawns Tuesday, with a day of back-to-back parades through the city. Masks against COVID-19 are required only in indoor public spaces. Parades were canceled last year because officials realized that tightly packed crowds in 2020 had created a superspreader event. As it has for years, the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club will open the day with a parade that started as a mockery of white festivities, with Black riders wearing blackface and grass skirts. Next come the elaborate floats of Rex, the self-styled king of Carnival, followed by lots of homemade floats on long flatbed trailers.
March 1, 2022 4:32 am
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Tens of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate their homes and many more have been told to prepare to flee as parts of Australia’s southeast coast are inundated by the worst flooding in decades. The flooding has claimed at least nine lives. Scores of residents spent hours trapped on their roofs in recent days by a fast-rising river in the town of Lismore in northern New South Wales state. The body of a woman in her 80s was found by a neighbor in her Lismore home on Tuesday. There were no details of how she died. The New South Wales government says 40,000 people have been ordered to evacuate.
March 1, 2022 4:32 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – A 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles is threatening Ukraine’s capital as an intense shelling attack targeted the country’s second-largest city. Meanwhile, both sides look to resume talks in the coming days aimed at stopping the fighting. Ukraine’s embattled president said he believed the stepped-up shelling was aimed at forcing him into concessions. The developments came as Russia finds itself increasingly isolated as a result of international condemnation and potentially backbreaking economic sanctions. Six days into the invasion, the Russian military’s movements have been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to dominate the airspace.
