March 3, 2022 10:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week reflecting a low level of layoffs across the economy. Jobless claims fell by 18,000 to 215,000 for the week ending February 26, from 233,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell by 6,000 to 230,500. In total, 1,476,000 Americans were collecting jobless aid the week that ended Feb. 12, a small uptick of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised number. First-time applications for jobless aid generally track the pace of layoffs, which are back down to fairly healthy pre-pandemic levels.
March 3, 2022 4:05 am
An Alabama man affiliated with the far-right Oath Keepers militia group has pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy for his actions leading up to and through the Jan. 6 riot. The conviction Wednesday of Joshua James marks the first person involved in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol to be convicted of the rarely used charge. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and nine others have pleaded not guilty to seditious conspiracy and other charges. The sentencing guideline range for James was estimated to be 7 1/4 to 9 years in prison. As part of the guilty pleas, he agreed to cooperate with authorities investigating the riot.
March 3, 2022 4:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol says for the first time that its evidence suggests crimes may have been committed by former President Donald Trump and his associates. The panel points to their failed effort to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. In a filing in federal court Wednesday, the House committee says Trump and his associates engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. The lawmakers also say Trump and those working with him spread false information and pressured state officials to overturn the results, potentially violating multiple federal laws.
March 3, 2022 4:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson has begun courting senators on Capitol Hill, making her case for confirmation in private meetings as Democrats worked to move her nomination through the Senate within weeks. Senate Democrats concerned about their narrow 50-50 majority announced Wednesday that Jackson’s hearings will begin March 21, just three weeks after President Joe Biden nominated her to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. With a goal of an April confirmation, they are using Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s quick confirmation in 2020 as a model for Jackson. She would be the first Black woman to serve as a justice in the court’s 200-plus year history.
March 3, 2022 3:59 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian forces have seized a strategic Ukrainian port and besieged another in a bid to cut the country off from the sea. The moves came as the two sides headed for another round of talks Thursday aimed at ending the fighting that has sent more than 1 million people fleeing over Ukraine’s borders. Moscow’s attempt to quickly take over the Ukrainian capital has stalled. But the military has made significant gains in the south as part of efforts to sever the country’s connection to Black and Azov seas. The Russian military said it had control of Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed that forces have taken over local government headquarters in the Black Sea port of 280,000. That makes it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.
March 3, 2022 3:56 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – The U.N. refugee agency says 1 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded the country a week ago, setting off the swiftest exodus of refugees this century. The count reported Thursday came as Russian forces besieged two strategic Ukrainian seaports and pressed their bombardment of the country’s second-biggest city. Moscow’s isolation is deepening, meanwhile. Most of the world lined up against Russia at the United Nations to demand it withdraw from Ukraine. A second round of talks aimed at ending the fighting is expected Thursday between Ukraine and Russia.
March 3, 2022 3:54 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Philadelphia health officials announced Wednesday that the city was lifting its indoor mask mandate, and officials expect to lift the school masking rules on March 9. The change comes as city health officials moved the city into the “all clear” category of its COVID-19 pandemic response metric. If infections, hospitalizations and the positive test rates continue to drop, Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said the city plans to drop the masking rules for schools on March 9, with the caveat that masks will be mandatory for the week after students return from Spring Break.
March 3, 2022 3:02 am
A Centerville man who pleaded guilty to rape of a child received his sentence on Wednesday. Sean Houston, 49 was sentenced to 20-40 years in state prison. Houston was convicted of performing sex acts on a minor for a period of approximately 5 years. Houston was also sentenced earlier in federal court to 28 years in prison for pleading guilty to two counts of being responsible for the production and possession of visual material depicting the sexual exploitation of a child between May 2016 and October 2018. Those sentences will be served consecutively, with the state sentence being served first. A victim impact statement from the minor aged victim spoke of the damage Houston’s assault on her has done. The victim and her family have asked that Houston be sentenced somewhere other than SCI Fayette or Greene so that they do not have to be reminded of his existence on a regular basis.
March 3, 2022 2:24 am
A Pennsylvania State Police Corporal is lodged in the Westmoreland County Jail, unable to make bond, after being arrested on 34 separate counts of child pornography. Authorities say Sean McKenzie, assigned to Troop T in New Stanton, was suspended without pay pending the resolution of the criminal charges. McKenzie has been with the State Police since 2008. The laundry list of charges against McKenzie include child pornography, photographing or videotaping sexual acts and dissemination of photographs, videotapes and films. Investigators said when he was picked up, he had a USB drive in his pocket containing child pornography and images on his phone. McKenzie was arraigned and his bail was set at five-hundred-thousand-dollars.
March 3, 2022 2:04 am
(WPXI) – A man was shot and killed by Connellsville police after a woman’s body was found inside a home Tuesday afternoon in Fayette County. State Police say Connellsville police had been called shortly after 4:30 p.m. to check on the welfare of a 45-year-old woman, now identified as Angela Faidley, at a home on Second Street in South Connellsville. Once officers got to the home, a 33-year-old man, now identified as Luke Stash, allowed them inside. That’s when, according to police, they found Faidley’s body in the basement. Officers say they tried to detain Stash but he fought them and started shooting at them with a pistol. Connellsville police officers returned fire, hitting him and killing him. State police say Stash died outside of the home. No officers were hurt. The investigation is ongoing.
