November 22, 2021 4:20 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Kyle Rittenhouse says in a new interview that he’s “not a racist person” and supports the Black Lives Matter movement. Rittenhouse was acquitted Friday on charges stemming from killing two men and wounding another during the unrest that followed the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year. The 18-year-old tells Fox News host Tucker Carlson in an interview set to air Monday night that the “case has nothing to do with race. It never had anything to do with race. It had to do with the right to self-defense.” Rittenhouse is white, as were the men he shot.
November 22, 2021 4:18 am
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) – Police say the suspect in a deadly Christmas parade crash in suburban Milwaukee was in a domestic disturbance just minutes before he killed five people and injured 48. Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said Monday there is no evidence of terrorism in the event. He says police were preparing five charges of intentional homicide against Darrell Brooks, 39, of Milwaukee. Thompson identified those killed as four women ages 71, 52, 52 and 79, and an 81-year-old man. Members of the “Dancing Grannies” club were among those killed, as was an employee of Citizens Bank.
November 21, 2021 8:07 am
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Months before Ahmaud Arbery was killed, shooter Travis McMichael wrote a simple, chilling response to a Facebook post about a suspected car burglary in his Georgia neighborhood: “Arm up.” The item he commented on was sandwiched between chats about lost dogs and water service interruption, like in many online communities in the U.S. based around physical neighborhoods. But in the year before Arbery’s death, the posts in the Facebook group for the subdivision where McMichael lived portray a neighborhood increasingly on edge over low-level incidents, with residents swapping suspicions, keeping children inside and becoming willing to take matters into their own hands. At a time of broad re-examination of race, criminal justice and the role of technology, such online neighborhood forums in the U.S. have a troubling tendency to veer from wholesome community chitchat to anxious hypervigilance when suspicion is the discussion topic.
November 21, 2021 8:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Workers and families with private health insurance would reap savings on prescription drugs from a little-noticed provision in President Joe Biden’s sweeping social agenda bill. It’s meant to break the cycle of annual price increases for widely used medicines. That provision would require drug companies to pay rebates to Medicare if they increase prices above the rate of inflation. Drugs sold to private plans would count in calculating the penalty, like a tax on price increases. The issue is dividing business groups in a fierce lobbying battle. Corporate groups focused on affordable employee benefits want to keep the language as is so it would provide price-increase protection for companies and their workers and not just Medicare enrollees. Other groups such as the influential U.S. Chamber of Commerce are backing the pharmaceutical industry’s drive to block restraints on pricing, including inflation caps, saying they would stifle innovation. House Democrats passed the roughly $2 trillion social agenda legislation on Friday and sent it to the Senate. The bill resets national priorities on issues from climate to family life and faces more scrutiny in that evenly divided chamber. Prescription drugs are but one component, and most of the attention has focused on Medicare provisions to slash out-of-pocket costs for seniors and allow the program to negotiate prices for a limited number of medicines.
November 21, 2021 7:59 am
VIENNA (AP) — Austrians were enjoying a last day out in coffeehouses and at Christmas markets Sunday before the government imposes a nationwide lockdown to combat a growing fourth wave of coronavirus infections. The measures, which take effect Monday and are expected to last for a maximum of 20 days but will be reevaluated after 10, require people to stay home apart from basic reasons like getting groceries, going to the doctor and exercising. Restaurants and most shops will close, and larger events will be canceled. Schools and nurseries will remain open, but parents are encouraged to keep their children at home. Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg also announced Friday that Austria will introduce a vaccine mandate as of Feb. 1. The details of how the mandate will work aren’t yet clear. In an interview published Sunday in the newspaper Kurier, Schallenberg said it’s “sad” the government had to resort to a mandate in order to ensure that enough people get vaccinated. Just under 66% of Austria’s 8.9 million population are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe.
November 21, 2021 7:58 am
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A difficult political atmosphere for President Joe Biden may have become even more treacherous with the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse. Biden was already facing sliding poll numbers with an electorate worn down by the coronavirus pandemic and increasing inflation. Now, the president finds himself caught between outraged Democrats — some of whom were already stewing over Biden’s inability to land police reform and voting rights legislation — and Republicans looking to use the Rittenhouse case to exploit the national divide over matters of grievance and race. The acquittal of Rittenhouse has touched off new conversations about racial justice, vigilantism and policing in America. The Illinois teen armed himself with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle during an August 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, days after the shooting of a Black man by a white police officer. He said he came to the small city to help protect a car lot from vandals and provide medical aid.
November 21, 2021 7:54 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — The Christmas trees are lit in downtown Pittsburgh to kick off the holiday season. Thousands of people showed up for Light Up Night. The festivities kicked off on a Saturday for the first time. This is the 60th year for the annual event that was canceled last year due to COVID-19. It’s the quintessential start of the holiday season in Pittsburgh. For vendors like Dave Keibler, who owns Blue Ribbon Kettle Corn, just being able to be present this year is very much welcomed. Perhaps the most magical moment of the night, especially for the kids, is getting to see Santa, who always seems to capture the magic of the holidays.
November 21, 2021 3:56 am
After a week of scrutiny, Fayette County District Attorney Richard Bower on Friday sent a letter to the state Attorney General asking for that office to take over the prosecution of his son in a DUI crash from August, according to our news partners at WPXI. Earlier this week, a special prosecutor appointed by Bower to handle the case withdrew the DUI offenses and substituted Recklessly Endangering Another Person charges at the preliminary hearing for Richard Bower, Jr. The special prosecutor, Uniontown attorney Samuel Davis, also recommended ARD–a probationary diversion program for first-time offenders–for Bower on the endangering charge, which will not carry a license suspension. Since that time, Bower has faced mounting criticism for not turning the case involving his son over to the state Attorney General’s office because of a conflict. According to a letter obtained by WPXI Friday, Bower asked the AG’s office to take over the prosecution of his son, saying he misread the statute relating to conflicts and referrals to the AG’s office. (photo courtesy of WPXI)
November 21, 2021 1:51 am
Pennsylvania State Police in Washington are seeking the public’s help in finding a missing and possibly endangered person. 65-year old George Girdish was last seen at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, November 16. Girdish is 5’10” and weighs between 150 and 170 pounds. He is described as balding with graying brown hair. He was last seen wearing a camo jacket and grey pants and may have traveled out of the area. If you have any information or have seen Girdish, you are asked to call the State Police at 724-223-5200. (photo provided by PA State Police)
November 20, 2021 4:05 am
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – A 19-year-old Penn State student who had been reported missing probably died after falling 11 stories down a trash chute in her campus apartment building. Justine Gross was reported missing Nov. 11 after not returning to her room the night before. Police say a municipal trash hauler had emptied a dumpster at the base of the chute early Nov. 11 and took the trash to a dump. Officers found her body early Nov. 12. Police believe her death was an accident. Surveillance recordings show the sophomore from New Jersey was alone when she entered a trash room on the 11th floor.
