February 8, 2022 12:19 pm
Washington County Clerk of Courts Brenda Davis will likely be facing a contempt of court hearing in the near future, after Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court rejected her appeals to block various court orders issued by Washington County President Judge John DiSalle. Davis also sought an emergency stay of a contempt hearing on the heels of an incident in November in which she attempted to try and stop sheriff’s deputies from transferring juvenile court files from her office to another office. Judge DiSalle says he plans to reschedule Davis’s contempt hearing. Davis, since her election to the office, has been at odds with county commmissioners and Judge DiSalle over several issues, including staffing changes in her office.
February 8, 2022 10:30 am
DETROIT (AP) – Hyundai and Kia are telling the owners of nearly 485,000 vehicles in the U.S. to park them outdoors because they can catch fire even if the engines are off. The recalls from the two Korean automakers are another in a long string of fire and engine problems that have dogged the companies for the past six years. This time the problem is contamination in the antilock brake control module that can cause an electrical short. Affected are certain Kia Sportage SUVs from 2014 through 2016, and the 2016 through 2018 K900 sedan. Recalled Hyundais include certain 2016 through 2018 Santa Fe SUVs, 2017 and 2018 Santa Fe Sports, the 2019 Santa Fe XL and 2014 and 2015 Tucson SUVs. Dealers will replace a fuse. In addition, Hyundai dealers will inspect the control modules and replace them if needed.
February 8, 2022 10:22 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Jane Campion’s gothic western “The Power of the Dog” led nominations to the 94th Academy Awards, where streaming services more than ever before swept over Hollywood’s top honors. In nominations announced Tuesday, Campion’s film landed a leading 12 nominations, including nods for best picture, best director and all of its top actors: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee. “Dune” followed closely behind with 10. The other nominees for best picture are: “Belfast”; “CODA”; “Don’t Look Up”; “Drive My Car”; “Dune”; “King Richard”; “Licorice Pizza”; “Nightmare Alley” “West Side Story.” The Oscars will be held March 27.
February 8, 2022 4:47 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Diplomatic efforts to defuse the tensions around Ukraine continued on Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron expected in Kyiv. On Monday, Macron met with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The two talked for over five hours, but no apparent breakthroughs were announced. Also on Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington. The high-level diplomacy comes as fears of a Russian invasion mount. Moscow has massed over 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders and demanded guarantees from the West that NATO will not accept Ukraine and other former Soviet nations as members, halt weapon deployments there and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe. The U.S. and NATO reject the demands.
February 8, 2022 4:21 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Nearly $725 million in federal funding is available this fiscal year to 22 states and the Navajo Nation for the reclamation of abandoned coal mines and cleanup of acid mine drainage. The U.S. Department of the Interior announced the funding Monday. It’s included in President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure package and is part of an overall plan to spend $11.3 billion in the U.S. abandoned mine lands program over 15 years. Reclamation of shuttered coal mine sites is considered crucial to preventing environmental pollution and returning land to its natural setting. The funding is considered key to removing toxic metals and returning fish and wildlife to waterways.
February 8, 2022 4:20 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A Los Angeles nun who stole more than $800,000 to pay for a gambling habit has been sentenced to a year in federal prison. Eighty-year-old Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted stealing the money from 2008 to 2018 while she was principal at St. James Catholic School in the LA suburb of Torrance. She pleaded guilty last July to wire fraud and money laundering. “I have sinned, I’ve broken the law and I have no excuses,” Kreuper told the court via teleconference. In her plea agreement, Kreuper acknowledged diverting money to pay for personal expenses including gambling expenses incurred at casinos.
February 8, 2022 4:18 am
CHICAGO (AP) – A federal indictment accuses a Chinese telecommunications company of stealing mobile radio technology from Illinois-based Motorola Solutions Inc. The indictment unsealed in Chicago Monday highlights longstanding fears about China pilfering of vital U.S. business secrets to bolster its own economy. It charges Hytera Communications with conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets, saying it recruited several Motorola employees as part of the scheme. They allegedly accessed Motorola’s internal database, then later described their plans to use the stolen material at Hytera. If ever convicted, Hytera would face a large criminal fine.
February 8, 2022 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s top science adviser Eric Lander has resigned after the White House confirmed that an internal investigation found credible evidence that he mistreated his staff. It marks the first Cabinet-level departure of the Biden administration. Press secretary Jen Psaki says Biden accepted Lander’s resignation Monday with “gratitude for his work … on the pandemic, the Cancer Moonshot, climate change, and other key priorities.” The White House rebuked Lander over his treatment of his staff, but initially signaled he would be allowed to remain on the job, despite Biden’s Inauguration Day assertion that would fire anyone who shows disrespect to others “on the spot.”
February 8, 2022 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has put on hold a lower court ruling that Alabama must draw new congressional districts before the 2022 elections, boosting Republican chances to hold six of the state’s seven seats in the House of Representatives. The court’s action Monday, by a 5-4 vote, means the upcoming elections will be conducted under a map drawn by Alabama’s Republican-controlled legislature that contains one majority-Black district, represented by a Black Democrat, in a state in which more than a quarter of the population is Black.
February 8, 2022 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A bipartisan report from a congressional commission says the U.S. needs Cabinet-level leadership and a new multipronged strategy to counter its festering overdose epidemic. With powerful synthetic drugs like fentanyl driving record overdose deaths, the scourge of opioids awaits after the COVID-19 pandemic finally recedes. The report from the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking calls opioids one of the most pressing challenges in national security, law enforcement and public health. A co-chair of the commission, Maryland congressman David Trone, says he’s spoken to President Joe Biden and believes Biden fully understands the problem and is committed to taking it on.
