March 1, 2024 5:18 am
STINNETT, Texas (AP) — The largest wildfire in Texas history has killed two people and left behind a desolate landscape of scorched prairie, dead cattle and burned-out homes in the Texas Panhandle. In the hard-hit town of Stinnett, devastating scenes played out as families returned Thursday after evacuating from the Smokehouse Creek fire. Stinnett’s destruction was a reminder that, even as snow fell Thursday and helped firefighters, crews are racing to stamp out the blaze because the coming days are forecast to bring increased temperatures and winds. The blaze grew to nearly 1,700 square miles early Thursday in the rural Panhandle, and has crossed into Oklahoma.
March 1, 2024 5:17 am
Turkey has joined Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan in condemning Israeli forces firing on Palestinians waiting for the delivery of aid, with its foreign ministry calling the event “yet another crime against humanity.” Israel says many of the dead were trampled in a chaotic crush for the food aid, and that its troops only fired when they felt endangered by the crowd. The Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 100 people were killed and at least 700 wounded. That brings the Palestinian death toll to more than 30,000 in the Gaza Strip since Israel’s war on Hamas began nearly five months ago after Hamas stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking some 250 hostage. Israel’s blistering offensive in response has created a humanitarian catastrophe throughout the Gaza Strip.
March 1, 2024 5:16 am
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Three hundred miles apart, on the bank of the same winding Rio Grande, President Joe Biden and GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Thursday surveyed the U.S.-Mexico border. They then tussled from a distance over who was to blame for the nation’s broken immigration system and how to fix it. Immigration has emerged as a central issue in the 2024 presidential campaign, which is widely expected to be a Biden-Trump rematch, and each is seeking to use the border problems to their political advantage.
March 1, 2024 5:13 am
Relatives and supporters of Alexei Navalny are bidding farewell to the opposition leader at a funeral in southeastern Moscow, following a battle with authorities over the release of his body after his still-unexplained death in an Arctic penal colony. Several Moscow churches refused to hold the service before Navalny’s team got permission from one in the capital’s Maryino district. That’s where he once lived in 2020 before his poisoning, treatment in Germany and subsequent arrest on his return to Russia. Authorities lined the road from a nearby subway station to the church with crowd control barriers, and riot police deployed in big numbers early Friday. His team said a hearse set out with Navalny’s body toward the church.
March 1, 2024 5:10 am
SPARTANSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Search warrant filings for the Pennsylvania home where a pregnant Amish woman was killed this week say she appeared to have suffered cutting wounds to her neck and head. The body of 23-year-old Rebekah Byler was found in the living room of her home by her husband and a family friend. Police say the friend called 911 to report that she and Andy Byler found her unresponsive shortly after noon Monday in the house, a few miles outside Spartansburg. A state police spokeswoman says they have an idea what the murder weapon was, but don’t have it in their possession.
March 1, 2024 5:07 am
CHURCHILL, Pa. — A student is facing charges after police say he posted an anonymous bomb threat on social media that forced Woodland Hills Senior High School to evacuate Wednesday. Churchill Police arrested 18-year-old Jason Cummings. The senior has been charged with a felony for making terroristic threats after police said he posted a bomb threat to social media. On Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. the district was alerted to a threat, it listed a time and location inside the building, forcing officials to quickly evacuate and alert the Churchill police. Officials said within 20 minutes students were cleared, and within 40 minutes the building was searched and deemed safe. Police then immediately launched a full investigation, and in less than 24 hours officials knew Cummings had made the post. Cummings was arraigned and released.
March 1, 2024 5:03 am
CHARTIERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A driver was flown to a Pittsburgh-area hospital after a crash in Washington County on Thursday evening. Emergency crews were called to the 300 block of Welsh Road in Chartiers Township at 7:05 p.m. Initial reports indicated the vehicle rolled over and a person was ejected before a fire started. When first responders arrived, the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames. The male driver was the only person in the car. The severity of his injuries is not known at this time.
March 1, 2024 5:00 am
BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. — (WPXI) – A piece flew off the top of an ambulance on an interstate in Allegheny County and several drivers thought it was a boat. “We felt the wind just blowing us side to side like any vehicle that has a higher roof,” said Priority One EMS Nicholas Richardson Richardson was transporting a VA patient who was just discharged. He was driving down I-79, near the Bridgeville exit. Then, he says he felt a big gust of wind. “The next thing I felt was a small gust of wind go inside the cabin,” said Richardson. “Because I got blown to the left, as I was recorrecting, I saw the cap of the vehicle flying off in my left mirror and then down off to the side.” It seems other drivers were extremely confused by what they saw. One driver who hit the cap thought it was a boat. Priority One says it has about five ambulances that are this style. After what happened Wednesday evening, they inspected all of them.
February 29, 2024 5:24 pm
(AP) – Oprah Winfrey and WeightWatchers are parting ways. Winfrey has served on the company’s board since 2015 but will not stand for re-election at its annual meeting in May. WW International says Winfrey’s decision “was not the result of any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices.” In December, Winfrey told People magazine she was using an unspecified weight-loss medication. Winfrey says she will donate her interest in WeightWatchers to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington. (Photo: AP)
February 29, 2024 5:20 pm
(AP) – Cases of norovirus, a highly contagious stomach bug, are climbing in the Northeastern U.S. Nationwide, about 12% of most recent norovirus tests sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were positive. In the Northeast, the proportion was 16%. The germ causes illness that starts suddenly, with vomiting, diarrhea and general feelings of misery. Most people recover after two to three days. But dehydration can be dangerous for young children, older people and those with weakened immune systems. The best way to prevent infection? Wash your hands.
