July 7, 2022 4:18 am
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Derek Chauvin to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, telling the former Minneapolis police officer that what he did was “simply wrong” and “offensive.” U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sharply criticized Chauvin for his actions on May 25, 2020, when he pinned Floyd to the pavement outside a Minneapolis corner store for more than 9 minutes as he lay dying. Even so, Magnuson’s sentence was at the low end of the 20 to 25 years called for in a plea agreement in which he will serve the federal sentence at the same time he serves his 22 1/2-year sentence on state charges of murder and manslaughter.
July 7, 2022 4:18 am
KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) – As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds into its fifth month, some residents close to the front lines remain in shattered and nearly abandoned neighborhoods. One such place is Kharkiv’s neighborhood of Saltivka, once home to about half a million people. Only perhaps dozens live there now, in apartment blocks with no running water and little electricity. While some towns and villages around the capital, Kyiv, have begun rebuilding, other places cannot. In Saltivka, shops are closed and apartment blocks gape with broken windows. Tall grass overtakes abandoned playgrounds. Soldiers’ trenches are abandoned. In a few apartments that are now ripped open, laundry still hangs on the line.
July 7, 2022 4:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor, has made a campaign staple out of the allegation that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s policy of readmitting COVID-19 patients from hospitals to nursing homes caused thousands of deaths — a baseless claim for which no investigator or researcher has provided any evidence. In fact, layers of inspections by researchers have pointed to entirely something different — nursing home employees ushering in the virus every day — while investigators found administrators flouting staffing requirements or infection-control procedures. Further, no Pennsylvania nursing home has leveled any such claim like Mastriano’s, and a national nursing home trade association has agreed with the findings of researchers who say the spread of the virus in nursing homes directly correlated to community spread. Mastriano, a state senator and retired U.S. Army colonel who won the Republican nomination while trafficking in conspiracy theories, seemingly came out of nowhere to become a rising force in right-wing politics primarily by leading anti-shutdown rallies in the pandemic’s early days.
July 7, 2022 4:06 am
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture held a meeting to update the county on the progress of the spotted lanternfly infestation in Pennsylvania. Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding spoke to the updates to the quarantine list of counties in the state. Currently 45 counties are quarantined because spotted lanternfly infestation has been identified. Washington County was added to the list in March. In total there are nine states with known infestation. Jay Losiewicz, Management Technician with the PA Dept. of Agriculture. stated that a small infestation has been identified in the northeast corner of Washington County. The insect is native to Asia and was first seen in Berks County in 2015. Redding states that it was first spotted near a stone yard, brought in by boat on a shipment of imported stone. According to Losiewicz, the insect will locate in disturbed areas of woods such as where trees may have been cut back. They like to feed on vines like grapes, hops and hardwood trees. It is also a nuisance because it will excrete a “honeydew” that will cover populated areas and make them unpleasant for relaxation or recreation. Redding states that in the initial discovery of the insect, houses in infested areas had to be pulled from being sold until the insect was brought under control. Pennsylvania is trying to control any growth in population of the insect. Officials ask that if you do see a spotted lanternfly that you squish it and then report it to the Department of Agriculture.
July 7, 2022 4:03 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — (WPXI) – A 25-year-old was arrested on drug charges after a bust in Bethel Park. According to a post by Bethel Park police on Facebook, an investigation began after “numerous neighborhood complaints of suspected drug activity.” A search warrant was conducted at the suspect’s home as a result of the investigation. Dipen Avaiya, from Bethel Park, faces charges of Manufacture of Controlled Substances, Possession with Intent to Deliver, and Possession of Controlled Substances.
July 7, 2022 3:16 am
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) – The man charged with killing seven people at an Independence Day parade confessed to police that he unleashed a hail of bullets from a rooftop in suburban Chicago and then fled to the Madison, Wisconsin, area, where he contemplated shooting up an event there. That’s according to authorities who spoke Wednesday. Robert Crimo III turned back to Illinois, where he was later arrested after deciding he was not prepared to pull off a shooting in Wisconsin. An Illinois judge ordered Crimo to be held without bail. A prosecutor said police found the shells of 83 bullets and three ammunition magazines on the rooftop that he fired from.
July 7, 2022 3:14 am
(WPXI) – Two new monkeypox cases have been reported in Allegheny County. According to the Allegheny County Health Department, these two cases bring the total number of cases in the county to 5. There have been no hospitalizations at this time. All confirmed cases were given isolation and vaccination guidance. At last update, there are 17 cases of monkeypox in the state of Pennsylvania.
July 6, 2022 5:28 pm
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A new report on the Uvalde elementary school massacre in Texas says a police officer had a chance to open fire on the gunman but missed it while waiting for permission to shoot. The report also says some of the 21 victims at Robb Elementary School likely “could have been saved” on May 24 had they received medical attention sooner. The report is yet another damning assessment of how police failed to act on opportunities that might have saved lives in what became the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012.
July 6, 2022 4:47 pm
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Police say bullets that grazed two police officers during a Fourth of July fireworks show in Philadelphia and prompted an evacuation of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway likely were fired from far away. Chief Inspector Frank Vanore of the Philadelphia Police Department told reporters Wednesday that one .40 caliber round “probably coming in a downward direction” hit the top of an officer’s hat. At about the same time Monday night, an officer about 20 feet away was cut on the shoulder by a round from the same gun. Vanore said they could have been fired from a mile or more away. No arrests have been announced.
July 6, 2022 8:48 am
DETROIT (AP) – Guitar icon Carlos Santana collapsed on stage during a show in Michigan and was rushed to a hospital, later blaming the episode on forgetting to eat or drink water. Santana, 74, was “doing well” Wednesday after being taken from his show at Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, some 40 miles northwest of Detroit, to the emergency department at McLaren Clarkston for observation Tuesday night, manager Michael Vrionis in a statement. “Just taking it easy,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer posted to Facebook just after midnight. “Forgot to eat and drink water so I dehydrated and passed out. Blessings and miracles to you all.” Santana is currently touring with Earth, Wind & Fire and was scheduled to perform tonight at The Pavilion at Starlake. That show has been postponed but there is no word on when it might be rescheduled.
