March 7, 2024 2:51 am
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh announced on Wednesday that 53-year-old Wayne Fedrick of Monongahela plead guilty to criminal attempt homicide and aggravated assault charges in connection with an incident that occurred on September 2, 2023. Walsh says the Carroll Township Police Department responded to 83 Grant Road after a call to 911 stating that a woman was standing outside of the home yelling for someone to call 911. Police say that upon arrival they found a female covered in blood and subsequently learned that Fedrick had assaulted her (his girlfriend) and his seventy-eight-year-old mother. Authorities say his mother suffered significant injuries from being kicked and hit repeatedly by her son. They say she suffered acute blood loss, a brain hemorrhage and femur and facial fractures. Fedrick’s girlfriend suffered multiple head-related injuries, including concussion induced vertigo. Washington County Judge Brandon Neuman sentenced Fedrick to ten to twenty-years in a state prison.
March 7, 2024 4:45 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say eight teenagers in northeast Philadelphia have been injured in another shooting involving a city bus. Wednesday’s shooting is the fourth shooting on the transit system in as many days. Philadelphia’s police commissioner Kevin Bethel says students from Northeast High School were waiting for a bus when three people emerged from a car and fired more than 30 shots. Bethel says one student was critically wounded: a 16-year-old who was hit nine times. The others are in stable condition. Transit spokesperson John Golden says the injured were taken to two hospitals. Two buses were hit by gunfire, but there were no reports of passengers or the driver being hurt.
March 7, 2024 4:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to use his State of the Union address to promote his vision for a second term to a dispirited electorate who questions whether he’s up to the job and to warn that GOP front-runner Donald Trump would be a dangerous alternative. Biden’s third such address from the House rostrum on Thursday will be something of an on-the-job interview, as the nation’s oldest president tries to quell voter concerns about his age and job performance. The president hopes to showcase his accomplishments on infrastructure and manufacturing, and push for action on aid to Ukraine, tougher migration rules, restoring access to abortion, and lowering drug prices, among other issues.
March 7, 2024 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a $460 billion package of spending bills that would keep money flowing to key federal agencies through the remainder of the budget year. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation before a midnight Friday shutdown deadline. And lawmakers are negotiating a second package of six bills, including defense. A significant number of House Republicans opposed the first measure, forcing House Speaker Mike Johnson to use an expedited process to bring the bill up for a vote. Johnson says the bill gives Republicans some wins on spending and says Republicans “have to be realistic” about what they can achieve in such a closely divided government.
March 7, 2024 4:53 am
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama has a new law protecting in vitro fertilization providers from legal liability. Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation Wednesday that shields IVF providers from possible lawsuits and criminal prosecutions stemming from a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children. Three major IVF providers paused services after the state Supreme Court ruled last month that three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits. The ruling raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics and prompted an outcry from patients and other groups.
March 6, 2024 2:13 am
(WPXI) – NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy testified to Congress Wednesday that a controlled burn and explosion weren’t necessary after a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio in February 2023. Homendy was questioned by Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) in front of a senate committee. Vance asked Homendy if the Norfolk Southern contractors at the scene lacked a scientific basis when a decision was made on the controlled explosion. “Yes. In fact, they were informed by Oxy Vinyls of the information that should have been taken by the contractors in their decision-making,” Homendy said. “But yes, they did not have that. They lacked the scientific background to address that.” Homendy confirmed that ground crews were told to decide in 13 minutes on the controlled explosion, and no other opinions were offered. Homendy also testified that there was an option to let the chemicals cool down. “This town very well may have been poisoned to facilitate the rapid movement of freight, or at the very least, it was poisoned for reasons that we can’t identify,” Vance said. “That should really concern every single person on this committee.”
March 7, 2024 5:27 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sweden has formally joined NATO as the 32nd member of the transatlantic military alliance, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality and centuries of broader non-alignment. Sweden’s membership comes as concerns about Russian aggression in Europe have spiked following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided at a Washington ceremony Thursday when the “instrument of accession” for Sweden to join NATO was deposited at the State Department. Sweden and Finland both abandoned long-standing neutrality that had been a hallmark of the Nordic states’ Cold War foreign policy after Russia invaded Ukraine. Finland joined NATO last year.
March 7, 2024 4:50 am
Egyptian officials said Thursday that negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza are at an impasse as Hamas insists on a process to end to the war. After nearly five months of war, much of Gaza is in ruins, and international pressure is growing for Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would halt the fighting and release the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been trying to broker an agreement that would stop the fighting for six weeks, and include the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
March 7, 2024 5:25 pm
(AP) – Officials in Texas say power lines ignited deadly wildfires across the state’s Panhandle region that destroyed homes and livestock and left a charred landscape last week. Texas A&M Forest Service said Thursday that investigators concluded power lines ignited the Smokehouse Creek and Windy Deuce fires. Xcel Energy also said Thursday in a news release that its equipment appeared to have played a role in the starting of the Smokehouse Creek fire. That blaze has burned nearly 1,700 square miles and spilled into neighboring Oklahoma. It was 74% contained as of Thursday. Xcel Energy disputes claims of negligence in maintaining and operating infrastructure.
March 7, 2024 4:55 am
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The trial against an armorer in a fatal shooting on the set of the Western movie “Rust” has given Alec Baldwin’s team a window into how his own trial could unfold. A New Mexico jury convicted Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter in cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ death in October 2021. Alec Baldwin had pointed a gun at Hutchins, and it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin factored prominently into 10 days days of testimony in Gutierrez-Reed’s trial. He has pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge. His trial is scheduled to begin in July.
