August 31, 2022 12:48 pm
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia University has suspended a fraternity over reported hazing incidents. The school says Tuesday’s interim suspension of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity prevents it from all recruitment activities along with participating or attending social functions. The suspension will remain in place while an investigation and review process continue. WVU did not provide details of the alleged hazing incidents in the statement. Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities Director Jill Gibson says the school takes every report of possible misconduct seriously. áShe says many times investigations provide a chance to help students make better choices in the future.
August 31, 2022 4:18 am
Bed Bath & Beyond announced Wednesday that it plans to close more than 100 stores and lay off staff. The company made the announcement in a news release, saying it has already identified and begun closing 150 “lower-producing” stores, and said that it “continues to evaluate its portfolio and leases, in addition to staffing.” The company says it will be laying off 20% of its staff as well. A full list of the stores that would be closing was not released. (Photo: AP)
August 31, 2022 4:17 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A survey of people ages 16 to 40 finds that millennials and Generation Z follow the news, but they aren’t that happy with what they’re seeing. The study conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the American Press Institute says 79% of people in that age group follow news daily, contrary to perceptions that many are tuned out. But only 32% say they enjoy following the news, down sharply from 53% in a similar study seven years ago. The study also shows many young people blame news organizations for spreading misinformation, and suggests they have had it with “food-fight journalism” that depicts debates between people with extreme views.
August 31, 2022 4:16 am
KYIV (AP) – A convoy of jeeps currying U.N. nuclear inspectors is crossing Ukraine toward the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia power plant. It holds hope that it could help secure the safety of the facility in the middle of a war zone and avoid any nuclear catastrophe. Yet, the Russia-backed local authorities in Zaporizhzhia claimed that Ukrainian forces shelled the territory of the plant and the nearby town of Enerhodar overnight. Both sides have accused each other of bombing the wider area for weeks now, increasing fears that an áaccident or radiation leak could happen any day.
August 31, 2022 4:15 am
MOSCOW (AP) – Before Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union seemed an immovable superpower in perpetual antagonism to the United States. But with a breathtaking series of reforms, Gorbachev changed all that – and redirected the course of the 20th century. He died Tuesday at a Moscow hospital at age 91. Alongside Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, he was a key protagonist in a global drama. Under Gorbachev, the Berlin Wall crumbled, thousands of political prisoners were released and millions of people who had known only communism got their first real taste of freedom. But Gorbachev was unable to control the forces he unleashed. He ultimately waged a losing battle to salvage a crumbling empire.
August 31, 2022 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Obstruction of justice is emerging as a key focus in the Justice Department’s investigation of classified government documents the FBI seized at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate. The department says classified documents had been “likely concealed and removed” from Mar-a-Lago as part of an effort to obstruct the federal investigation. A court filing made Tuesday night shows the FBI also seized 33 boxes containing more than 100 classified records during its Aug. 8 search and found classified documents stashed in Trump’s office. The filing lays out the most detailed chronology to date of months of strained interactions between Justice Department officials and Trump representatives over the discovery of government secrets.
August 31, 2022 4:10 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — As attorney general, Josh Shapiro went to court repeatedly to defend Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration against legal challenges to his pandemic-era mandates and shutdowns. Now, as he’s running to succeed Wolf as governor, Shapiro says he is against some of the same COVID-19 containment measures that his fellow Democrat used to help manage the nation’s worst pandemic in over a century. On the campaign trail in the presidential battleground state, Shapiro’s Republican opponent, Doug Mastriano, makes Wolf’s COVID-19 policies — and Shapiro’s defense of them in court — a source of derision. But disavowing Wolf’s COVID-19 policies while facing headwinds for his party may be a politically painless way for Shapiro to tack to the middle against Mastriano, who even some top Republicans say is too far to the right to win the November general election. “This is an area where I think folks got it wrong,” Shapiro said of school and business shutdowns. On mask and vaccine mandates, Shapiro said he opposed them and instead talked about a need to “educate and empower” the public, business owners, school leaders and others to protect themselves and others. “And to me, that’s the approach we need to take more broadly as a public, which is to educate, empower and respect people’s personal decisions and respect their personal freedom to make those choices,” Shapiro told The Associated Press in an interview.
August 31, 2022 2:37 am
A Washington County man charged with homicide in his baby’s death, could face the death penalty. Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh announced today that he is seeking the death penalty against 36-year-old Jordan Clarke. On May 23, Peters Township police responded to 148 Pleasantview Drive for a report of an infant not breathing. The baby was unresponsive, lying on the floor and his skin had a bluish hue. Clarke, the baby’s father, told officers that he fell on top of him while he was getting the child’s bottle. The baby was eventually flown to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, where he died the next day. Officials at the hospital told police that the baby’s injuries were “gravely concerning for physical abuse.” The doctor who wrote the report said the baby had subdural hematomas over both sides of the brain, multiple layers of retinal hemorrhages in both eyes and in all four quadrants and possible fractures to both tibias. Clarke is set to be arraigned on October 3rd, on charges of homicide, aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
August 30, 2022 4:59 pm
MOSCOW (AP) – Russian news agencies are reporting that former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has died at 91. Gorbachev, as the last leader of the Soviet Union, waged a losing battle to salvage a crumbling empire but produced extraordinary reforms that ended the Cold War.
August 30, 2022 3:52 pm
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) – President Joe Biden is forcefully defending the FBI as the agency and its employees have come under criticism and threats of violence since executing a search warrant at Donald Trump’s Florida residence earlier this month. Biden told a crowd of more than 500 at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania on Tuesday that “It’s sickening to see the new attacks on the FBI.” Biden was also promoting his administration’s crime-prevention efforts and continuing to pressure Congress to revive a long-expired federal ban on assault-style weapons. Hailing firearm restrictions recently approved by Congress, Biden said, “We’re not stopping here.”
