December 10, 2021 4:17 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Ralph Tavares, the eldest of the five brothers in the Grammy-winning R&B singing group Tavares, has died. The group’s hits included 1975’s “It Only Takes a Minute” and 1976’s “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel.” Tavares manager David Oriola says Ralph Tavares died Wednesday at his home in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He was 79. His group’s version of the Bee Gees’ “More Than a Woman” appeared on the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack along with the original. The soundtrack won a Grammy for album of the year and was a massive hit, giving the brothers wider fame.
December 10, 2021 4:15 am
TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico (AP) – Mexican rescue workers rushing to a highway accident found a horrific scene of death and injury after a freight truck jammed with as many as 200 migrants tipped over and crashed into the base of a steel pedestrian bridge Mexico. The migrants inside the cargo trailer were flipped, tossed and crushed into a pile that mingled the living and the dead. By late Thursday, the death toll stood at 53, and authorities said at least 54 people had been injured in the crash in southern Mexico. It was one of the worst single-day death tolls for migrants in Mexico since the 2010 massacre of 72 migrants by the Zetas drug cartel in the northern state of Tamaulipas.
December 10, 2021 4:13 am
HELENA, Mont. (AP) – This winter, more motorists may find themselves stuck on snowy highways or have their travel delayed due to a shortage of snowplow drivers. States from Washington to Pennsylvania and some in the Rocky Mountains are having trouble finding enough people willing to take the comparatively low-paying jobs that require a Commercial Driver’s License and often entail working at odd hours in dangerous conditions. States are warning that it could take longer for the plows to clear highways during winter storms. State transportation departments are competing for drivers with trucking companies with the ability to increase pay and offer signing bonuses. And trucking companies are short on drivers, too.
December 10, 2021 4:06 am
It was not business as usual for Washington City Council on Thursday night. The voting meeting of council was held virtually once again because of the Covid-19 pandemic. City Hall has been closed for more than a week because of a recent outbreak of Covid-19 that followed the outbreak at the police department. None the less, council did approve a $15,032,714 balanced budget. That budget will not include any tax increase to city residents. Mayor Scott Putnam credited belt tightening throughout all city departments in being able to deliver this spending plan. As far as reopening City Hall, Putnam is looking at the end of next week as a possible reopening date. In other council business, parking has been eliminated on South College Street from Railroad Street to South Street. Putnam says that parked cars made turning difficult at that intersection and removing parked cars would eliminate that problem. City Hall will be closed on December 24 for Christmas and December 31 for New Years. Council will reorganize on January 3 at noon in Council Chambers.
December 10, 2021 2:29 am
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – The number of antlered white-tailed deer killed in West Virginia during the two-week firearms season went up 10% compared with a year ago. Preliminary data from the Division of Natural Resources shows hunters killed nearly 42,700 deer from Nov. 22 through Dec. 5. During the 2020 period there were nearly 38,800 deer killed. The most deer were killed in Greenbrier, Hampshire, Randolph and Jackson counties. Wildlife resources chief Paul Johansen says deer kills increased 31% in the southeastern corner of the state and 20% in the southwest. The archery and crossbow deer hunting seasons continue through Dec. 31, while muzzleloader deer season runs from Dec. 13 to 19.
December 9, 2021 5:51 pm
The NHL’s Board of Governors has approved the sale of the Penguins to Fenway Sports Group. It was announced earlier this month that FSG has entered into an agreement to acquire controlling interest in the Penguins. Now that the NHL Board of Governors has given its okay, the deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Under the deal, both Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle will remain part of the team’s ownership group. “As the Penguins enter a new chapter, I will continue to be as active and engaged with the team as I always have been and look forward to continuing to build on our success with our incoming partners at FSG,” Lemieux said in a statement. “They have an organizational philosophy that mirrors the approach that worked so well for Ron and me over the past 22 years.” In a news release, the Penguins said Lemieux will “continue his role guiding hockey operations for the organization. In addition, continuity of leadership will be maintained among the club’s senior management team of CEO David Morehouse, COO Kevin Acklin, President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke, General Manager Ron Hextall, and Head Coach Mike Sullivan.” Lemieux and Burkle purchased the team in 1999.
December 9, 2021 12:35 pm
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) – A federal jury in Arkansas has convicted former reality TV star Josh Duggar of downloading and possessing child pornography. Jurors on Thursday found Duggar guilty of the charges, and Duggar was immediately taken into custody. He faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 for each of the two counts when he’s sentenced at a later date. A federal agent testified in May that images depicting the sexual abuse of children, including toddlers, were downloaded in 2019 onto a computer at a car dealership Duggar owned. Duggar and his large family starred on TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” until the network canceled the show in 2015 following revelations that he had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter. (Photo: AP)
December 9, 2021 9:47 am
UNDATED (AP) – Two lawsuits seeking $100 million each have been filed against a Michigan school district, its superintendent and others after four students were fatally shot and others wounded at Oxford High School. Attorney Geoffrey Fieger says the lawsuits were filed in Detroit federal by Jeffrey and Brandi Franz on behalf of their daughters, Riley, a 17-year-old senior who was shot in the neck Nov. 30, and her sister Bella, a 14-year-old ninth grader who was next to her. Named in the suits are the Oxford Community School District, Superintendent Timothy Throne, Oxford High’s principal and others. The Associated Press sent an email seeking comment from the district. Ethan Crumbley, a 15-year-old sophomore, was arrested and is charged as an adult with murder, terrorism and other crimes.
December 9, 2021 4:17 am
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) – A U.S. Coast Guard diver was lowered from a hovering helicopter to pull a body from a partly submerged vehicle stuck in the frigid rapids above Niagara Falls. Petty Officer 2nd Class Derrian Duryea, a Detroit-based rescue swimmer, spent about two minutes recovering the body from the car, as water surged past, then over the falls about 50 yards downstream. Authorities said Wednesday the lone occupant was a woman in her 60s who lived in the area. It was unclear how the car got into the river. New York’s State Park Police said rescuers have never been called to a vehicle so close to the edge.
December 9, 2021 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal appeals court has ruled against an effort by former President Donald Trump to shield documents from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. The three-judge panel said Thursday there was a “unique legislative need” for documents that the committee has requested but whose release Trump has sought to block through executive privilege. The appeals court ruled that the injunction that has prevented the National Archives from turning over the documents will expire in two weeks, or when the Supreme Court rules on an expected appeal from Trump, whichever is later.
