July 30, 2022 4:22 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) — Pittsburgh Police say a man is dead after a vehicle crashed into a tree in the Strip District. Allegheny County dispatchers said police, fire and EMS were called to Frank Curto Park on Bigelow Blvd. at around 4:17 p.m. Medical examiners identified the victim as 52-year-old Lonnie J. Middleton III of Pittsburgh. A blue SUV appeared to have veered off of the road and into the tree. The tree was knocked down as a result of the accident. The inbound lanes of Bigelow Blvd and Herron Avenue towards Veterans Bridge were closed as crews responded to the scene. They were reopened around 8:00 p.m.
July 30, 2022 1:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. regulators say they are no longer considering authorizing second COVID-19 booster shots for all adults under 50 this summer. Instead the Food and Drug Administration said it will await revamped vaccines targeting the newest viral sub-variants that are expected by September. Some members of the Biden administration had been pressing regulators to open a fourth dose of the Moderna and Pfizer shots to all adults before the fall. They had argued that another round of booster shots now could help head off rising cases and hospitalizations caused by the highly transmissible omicron strains.
July 29, 2022 4:59 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Will Smith has again apologized to Chris Rock for slapping him during the Oscar telecast, saying in an online video that his behavior was “unacceptable.” Smith says he reached out to the comedian about the incident but was told Rock wasn’t ready to talk. Smith, seated and wearing a polo shirt and white ball cap, spoke directly to a camera, answering pre-selected questions about his behavior at the March 27 Academy Awards, where he slapped presenter Rock after the comedian made a comment about the hairstyle of Jada Pinkett Smith, Smith’s wife. Smith also apologized to Rock’s family and especially his mother, Rosalie, and brother, Tony. (Photo: AP)
July 29, 2022 12:25 pm
Rain drops keep falling on their heads and the folks in Waynesburg are loving it! That’s because today is July 29th, or as it is better known in Waynesburg, “Rain Day.” Rain Day 2022 has been deemed a success, and that’s even before the first corn dog was sold. Rain Day Committee members say the first rain drops were officially recorded Friday morning at 4:22, making this the 117th year out of 149, that it has rained on this date. The festivities will be going on all day.
July 29, 2022 6:43 am
ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (AP) – A man accused of shooting a state trooper in Pennsylvania had served time in prison for his role in a 2005 murder-for-hire plot in Ohio. State police say two troopers had observed a disturbance and 41-year-old Damian Bradford shot a trooper in the leg as they struggled Friday inside a store in Aliquippa. The wounded trooper was hospitalized. Store patrons helped the other trooper take Bradford into custody. The Beaver County district attorney’s office says Bradford is the same person who was released from prison last year for his role in a murder-for-hire plot of a doctor in Ohio. The doctor’s wife was sentenced to life in prison for hiring Bradford.
July 29, 2022 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration likes to say Russia is now isolated internationally because of its invasion of Ukraine. Yet its top officials are hardly cloistered in the Kremlin, and now the U.S. wants to talk. President Vladimir Putin has been meeting with world leaders recently, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a NATO member. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is jetting around the world and posing for photos with foreign leaders. This week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he wants to end months of top-level U.S. diplomatic estrangement with Lavrov to discuss the release of American detainees in Russia as well as issues related to Ukraine.
July 29, 2022 4:20 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A $1.1 billion lottery prize will be on the line as numbers are drawn for the Mega Millions game. The giant jackpot is the nation’s third-largest prize and is the result of 29 consecutive drawings without anyone matching all of the game’s six numbers. Before rushing out to spend $2 on a ticket ahead of Friday night’s drawing, keep in mind that the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are a staggering 1 in 302.5 million. The $1.1 billion prize is for players who get their winnings through an annuity, paid annually over 29 years. Nearly all winners take the cash option, which for Friday’s drawing is an estimated $648.2 million.
July 29, 2022 4:19 am
DETROIT (AP) – The surprise deal by Senate Democrats on a pared-down bill to support families, boost infrastructure and fight climate change is likely to jump-start sales of electric vehicles. The measure agreed to by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and holdout Sen. Joe Manchin would give EV buyers a $7,500 tax credit starting next year, through the end of 2032. There’s also a new $4,000 credit for those buying used EVs. The vehicles have to be assembled in North America, and there are limits on annual income for buyers. There also are caps on the sticker prices of new EVs and a $25,000 cap on the price that can be paid for used electric vehicles.
July 29, 2022 4:18 am
JACKSON, Ky. (AP) – Trapped homeowners swam to safety and others were rescued by boat as record flash flooding killed at least 16 people in eastern Kentucky. The deluge swamped entire Appalachian towns and prompted a frenzied search for survivors through some of the poorest communities in America. Heavy rain continued Friday and authorities warned the death toll would likely grow sharply. Entire towns that hug creeks and streams in narrow valleys were swallowed up. It’s the latest in a string of catastrophic deluges that have hammered parts of the U.S. this summer, including St. Louis this week. Scientists warn that climate change is making weather disasters more common. (ABC News)
July 29, 2022 4:16 am
BEIJING (AP) – President Xi JInping warned against meddling in China’s dealings with Taiwan during a phone call with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, that gave no indication of progress on trade, technology or other irritants. Those include Beijing’s opposition to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s possible visit to the island the mainland claims as its own. There was no indication Xi mentioned Pelosi’s possible visit to Taiwan, which the ruling Communist Party says has no right to conduct foreign relations. But Xi rejected “interference by external forces” that might encourage Taiwan to try to make its decades-old de facto independence permanent.
