September 15, 2021 3:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department is asking a federal court in Texas to issue a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction against a new state law that bans most abortions in Texas. The emergency motion filed Tuesday night says a court can issue such an order as a means of preventing harm to parties involved before the court can fully decide the claims in the case. Last week the Justice Department filed a lawsuit asking the court to declare the law invalid. The law prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity. That’s usually around six weeks, before some women know they’re pregnant.
September 15, 2021 3:15 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has defeated an attempt to oust him from office, overcoming Republican criticism of COVID-19 restrictions that shuttered schools and businesses. On Tuesday, Newsom became the second governor in U.S. history to survive a recall election. He framed the race as an epic struggle to protect California’s progressive values on climate change, immigration and abortion and women’s rights from far-right extremists and followers of former President Donald Trump. The outcome was being watched nationally with the 2022 midterm elections on the horizon, when control of Congress again will be at stake.
September 15, 2021 3:04 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority was ordered to pay half a million dollars and was put on three years’ probation after a federal judge found the company violated the Clean Water Act. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, PWSA violated its permit when it “discharged a substance known as clarifier sludge into the Allegheny River.” Officials said that happened “on a number of occasions” from 2010 to 2017. Under the permit, PWSA was not legally allowed to discharge the substance into the popular fishing and boating waterway. Additionally, officials said PWSA violated another permit by lying to ALCOSAN about how much sludge was being shipped to the agency’s waste treatment facility. Meters measuring the flow of sludge to the facility stopped working and PWSA then supplied estimated numbers to ALCOSAN instead of the actual numbers. Those meters were not replaced until five years later, after federal investigators found they weren’t working.
September 15, 2021 3:02 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — A proposal to require people to wear masks at all indoor events and some outdoor events in Allegheny County died at Tuesday evening’s council meeting. Under the new proposal, sponsored by council members Bethany Hallam and Olivia Bennett, people would have been required to wear masks at any outdoor gathering of more than 250 people. There could also have been fines. But social media users were quick to point out that according to co-sponsor Hallam’s Twitter account, she traveled to Buffalo, New York, over the weekend for the Pittsburgh Steelers game. She posted photos of herself at the stadium without a mask on, leading to several comments. Hallam responded Monday, releasing a statement that said, “I was in Buffalo and their rules are to wear a mask everywhere except in your seats! Our cases per capita are much higher in Allegheny County so we need stricter measures to protect those who are unable to receive the vaccine, such as children and immunocompromised folks.”
September 15, 2021 1:16 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — The man accused of killing a City of Washington resident will not face charges. District Attorney Jason Walsh called a press conference Tuesday to announce that nothing more will come in the shooting death of Leonard Wayne Williams on September 1st. Walsh stated that the actor, who was Williams’ landlord, shot in self defense and cited several witness accounts of Williams pursuing the man. Walsh has declined to name the actor.
September 15, 2021 1:05 am
CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) – More than $104 million in Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls went uncollected last year as the agency fully converted to all-electronic tolling. Turnpike records show the millions of motorists who don’t use E-ZPass have a nearly 1 in 2 chance of riding without paying under the “toll-by-plate” license plate camera system. The turnpike says nearly 11 million out of the total of about 170 million turnpike rides generated no revenue for the agency last year and its bad debt expense has more than quadrupled in the past seven years. About 10,000 Pennsylvania vehicle registrations are currently suspended for overdue toll bills, but that doesn’t apply to out-of-state drivers.
September 14, 2021 2:50 pm
Sequoia National Park has been shut down and its namesake gigantic trees are potentially threatened as forest fires burn in steep and dangerous terrain in California’s Sierra Nevada. Two fires were ignited by lightning last week and their combined sizes cover nearly 5 square miles on Tuesday. Both fires are projected to advance in the direction of Giant Forest, which is home to more than 2,000 giant sequoias. A park spokesman says Giant Forest is not imminently threatened but that there is a potential threat.
September 14, 2021 1:20 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – One of the recurring debates among theater lovers has been what would signify Broadway’s return after the global pandemic shuttered live theater in March 2020. For the producers of three powerhouse shows – “The Lion King,” “Hamilton” and “Wicked” – the answer is Tuesday, when the spiritual anchors of modern Broadway’s success rev their engines again. “The Lion King,” “Hamilton” and “Wicked” all staked out Tuesday to reopen together in early May after then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo picked Sept. 14 for when Broadway could begin welcoming back audiences at full capacity.
September 14, 2021 4:20 am
As hundreds of mostly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients filled Alabama intensive care units, hospital staff in north Alabama contacted 43 hospitals in three states to find a specialty cardiac ICU bed for Ray Martin DeMonia, his family writes in his obituary. The resident of Cullman, Alabama, was finally transferred to Meridian, Mississippi, about 170 miles away. The 73-year-old antiques dealer died there Sept. 1. Now, his family is making a plea. “In honor of Ray, please get vaccinated if you have not, in an effort to free up resources for non-COVID related emergencies,” his obituary reads. After describing the search for an ICU bed for DeMonia, the obituary adds: “He would not want any other family to go through what his did.”
September 14, 2021 4:18 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A federal judge has ordered the state of Iowa to immediately halt enforcement of a law that prevents school boards from ordering masks to be worn to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Judge Robert Pratt said in an order signed Monday that the law passed in May substantially increases the risk of several children with health conditions of contracting COVID-19. Several parents with children that have various medical conditions sued the state. Pratt says he has looked at data on the effectiveness of masks to reduce spread of the virus and agrees with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics on mask wearing in schools. Gov. Kim Reynolds says the state will appeal.
