October 18, 2021 8:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Colin Powell, former Joint Chiefs chairman and secretary of state, has died from COVID-19 complications, his family said Monday. In an announcement on social media, the family said Powell had been fully vaccinated. Powell was the first African American to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state. But his reputation also suffered a painful setback when, in 2003, Powell went before the U.N. Security Council and made the case for U.S. war against Iraq. He cited faulty information claiming Saddam Hussein had secretly stashed away weapons of mass destruction. Iraq’s claims that it had not represented “a web of lies,” he told the world body.
October 18, 2021 4:25 am
MOUNT AIRY, N.C. (AP) – Betty Lynn, who was best known as Barney Fife’s sweetheart Thelma Lou on “The Andy Griffith Show,” has died at the age of 95. The Andy Griffith Museum said in a statement that she died Saturday after a brief illness. Lynn appeared on the show from 1961 until 1966. Later, she was a mainstay at the annual Mayberry Days festival in Mount Airy, North Carolina, where she resided in her latter years. Lynn provided entertainment as a part of the USO during World War II. She moved to New York in the late 1940s and began an acting career in film and television. She is survived by several cousins.
October 18, 2021 4:24 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Former President Donald Trump has been questioned in a deposition for a lawsuit brought against him by protesters. They say Trump’s security team roughed them up in 2015 during the early days of his presidential campaign. A lawyer for the plaintiffs said Trump testified Monday under oath behind closed doors at Trump Tower in New York City for several hours. Video of the deposition will be played for a jury if the case goes to trial. The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Benjamin Dictor, said Trump was questioned on a variety of topics, including comments he’s made at campaign rallies in which he appeared to encourage security personnel to treat protesters harshly. A message seeking comment was left with a lawyer representing Trump in the lawsuit.
October 18, 2021 4:22 am
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) – Officials say fire crews made significant progress overnight against a wildfire burning for nearly a week in Southern California coastal mountains. More than 1,600 firefighters battling the blaze in the Santa Ynez Mountains west of Santa Barbara on land and by air were able to stop its forward growth. Federal officials said Sunday the blaze was 78% contained. The Alisal Fire started last Monday and has scorched nearly 27 square miles. It is threatening about 400 structures. On Sunday, few hot spots remained, and officials say fire crews were focused on increasing containment.
October 18, 2021 4:21 am
Investigators believe a massive cargo ship dragging anchor in rough seas caught an underwater oil pipeline and pulled it across the seafloor, months before a leak from the line fouled the Southern California coastline. A team of federal investigators trying to chase down the cause of the spill boarded the Panama-registered MSC DANIT just hours after it arrived this weekend off the Port of Long Beach. That’s the same area where the leak was discovered in early October. During a prior visit by the ship during a heavy storm in January, investigators believe its anchor dragged for an unknown distance before striking the 16-inch steel pipe.
October 18, 2021 4:20 am
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – U.S. officials are working with Haitian authorities to try to secure the release of 12 adults and five children with a U.S.-based missionary group who were abducted by a gang notorious for killings, kidnappings and extortion. Police say the group was snatched by the 400 Mawozo gang on Saturday. As authorities seek the release of the group, local unions and other organizations expect to launch a strike Monday to protest Haiti’s worsening lack of security. The Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation is again struggling with a spike in gang-related kidnappings and other crimes. The kidnapping of the missionaries came just days after high-level U.S. officials visited Haiti and promised more resources for Haiti’s National Police to help reduce gang violences.
October 18, 2021 4:15 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Forecasters say a pair of tornadoes have been confirmed in western Pennsylvania over the weekend. The National Weather Service says an EF-0 tornado with estimated winds up to 85 mph touched down in the town of Shippingport before dawn Saturday. The storm uprooted trees and ripped the roof off a pavilion behind the municipal building. Another EF-1 tornado touched down in Monaca shortly before 6:30 a.m. Saturday and traveled two miles with estimated maximum winds up to 95 mph. It uprooted trees, sending one onto the windshield of a car, and ripped the roof off a mobile home before crossing the Ohio River into Freedom and causing more damage.
October 18, 2021 4:12 am
LANCASTER, Pa. — (WPXI)- At least six people suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a shooting at a Pennsylvania mall Sunday afternoon, authorities said. According to police, several men were arguing inside the Park City Center mall when multiple shots rang out, WPVI-TV reported. Police confirmed to the TV station that a woman and three men were shot during the incident and that two other women suffered minor injuries while trying to flee the shooting scene. According to Lancaster County 911, dispatchers received a call at 2:26 p.m. EDT about an active shooter at Park City Center in Lancaster, WMPT reported. Lancaster Online reported that multiple ambulances were sent to the mall for gunshot wounds and trampling injuries, according to a dispatch report. (PHOTO; Lancaster Online)
October 18, 2021 4:07 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Police are investigating after a man died as a result of being dragged by a car on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. According to investigators, officers and EMS responded to the intersection of Allegheny Avenue and Casino Drive following reports of a pedestrian hit by a vehicle at around 10:40 p.m. Saturday. First responders found a man pinned under the back of the vehicle. Rescue crews immediately started filling airbags to lift the car, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators said the man appeared to have been dragged about 150 feet. The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene to be interviewed by police. The victim’s identity has not yet been released.
October 17, 2021 8:01 am
NEW DELHI (AP) — At least eight people have died and a dozen are feared missing after a day of torrential rains in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Rescue operations were underway on Sunday after heavy rains lashed the state the day before, triggering flash floods and landslides, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported. The National Disaster Response Force and the Indian Army deployed teams to help with rescue efforts in two of the worst-hit districts, Kottayam and Idukki, where a dozen people are still feared missing. On Saturday, when the heavy rains began, television reports showed people wading through chest-deep waters to rescue passengers from a bus that was nearly submerged by the torrents flooding the roads. Officials said the intense rainfall has subsided, but they fear the death toll could rise as relief and rescue operations continue.
