January 12, 2022 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former Sen. Harry Reid will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol as colleagues and friends pay tribute to a hardscrabble Democrat who served five terms in the Senate. Reid will be honored Wednesday in the Capitol Rotunda during a ceremony closed to the public under COVID-19 protocols. Reid rose from poverty in a dusty Nevada mining town to the most powerful position in the U.S. Senate. He died last month at 82 after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Including two terms in the House, Reid was the longest-serving Nevadan in Congress.
January 12, 2022 4:12 am
ATLANTA (AP) – President Joe Biden is challenging senators to “stand against voter suppression,” urging them to change Senate rules in order to pass voting rights legislation that Republicans are blocking from debate and votes. Biden, who has been criticized by some in his own party for the Senate’s inaction, declared in a speech in Atlanta that “I’m tired of being quiet” – pounding his hand for emphasis. Two voting-rights bills are currently stalled, and Biden hopes a change in Senate rules could at least free them for votes. Republicans say the bills aren’t aimed at fairness, but at giving Democrats election advantages.
January 12, 2022 4:09 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a successful flight test of a hypersonic missile he claimed would remarkably increase the country’s “war deterrent.” The report by North Korean state media on Wednesday came a day after the militaries of South Korea and Japan said they detected North Korea firing a suspected ballistic missile into its eastern sea. The launch was North Korea’s second test of its purported hypersonic missile in a week as Kim continues a defiant push to expand his nuclear weapons capabilities in the face of international opposition and pandemic-related difficulties.
January 12, 2022 4:08 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Will Smith, Lady Gaga and Ben Affleck have landed individual nominations for the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards, while the casts of “Belfast” and “CODA” are among those nominated for the guild’s top award, best ensemble. The nominees were announced today by actors Vanessa Hudgens and Rosario Dawson on Instagram Live. While the nominations were conducted virtually due to the surge in COVID-19 cases, the streamed announcement still represented one of the most meaningful mornings in an awards season largely snuffed out by the pandemic. Joining “Belfast” and “CODA” for best ensemble were the casts for “House of Gucci,” “Don’t Look Up” and “King Richard.”
January 12, 2022 4:04 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. The Republican governor’s office says Justice had a sudden onset of symptoms, then was administered a PCR test that was positive for the coronavirus. A test by a state laboratory confirmed the initial result and an additional test was being administered Tuesday night. Justice is experiencing a high fever and other symptoms and is isolating at home. Justice is fully vaccinated and received a booster shot. He was supposed to give the State of the State address to the Legislature on Wednesday night. Instead, the address will be delivered by written message to lawmakers to fulfill constitutional requirements.
January 12, 2022 3:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Wolf administration says it has no plans to pursue another COVID-19 emergency declaration, or attempt new statewide mitigation measures or vaccine mandates in response to the omicron variant. The highly contagious strain of the coronavirus is spreading quickly and overloading Pennsylvania hospitals. Acting Secretary of Health Keara Klinepeter says the state is “not considering further mitigation at this time,” but is moving to support hospitals hit by staffing shortages and a wave of COVID-19 patients. Gov. Tom Wolf told KDKA-AM radio in Pittsburgh vaccines are his administration’s primary strategy for fighting COVID-19.
January 12, 2022 2:50 am
(WPXI) – A former Greensburg-based dentist is accused of killing his wife with a shotgun while on an African safari in Zambia five years ago and collecting millions in life insurance. Federal authorities charged Lawrence Rudolph, 67, on Dec. 22nd. He was in custody a day later while on a trip to Mexico. Authorities say Rudolph and his wife, Bianca, frequently went on hunting trips to Africa. In 2016, the criminal complaint said Rudolph’s wife wanted to kill a leopard and they had a Remington .375 and Browning 12-gauge with them. Documents said the couple was unsuccessful in their hunt and were packing up to leave their hunting camp in the Kafue National Park when Bianca Rudolph was shot in the chest with the shotgun. Lawrence Rudolph told Zambian investigators he was in the bathroom, heard the blast and found his wife bleeding on the floor. He suspected the gun had been left loaded from the hunt and went off as his wife was loading it in a case. A friend of Bianca Rudolph contacted an FBI office in South Africa about two weeks later asking for her death to be investigated further. The friend said Lawrence Rudolph had affairs in the past and was having one at the time of his wife’s death. FBI agents said Rudolph collected on nine insurance policies, totaling $4.8 million. A jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 28th. Rudolph’s attorney says his client is looking forward to demonstrating his innocence.
January 12, 2022 2:38 am
(WPXI) – Gasoline at a Sunoco in Canonsburg that led to complaints about cars breaking down had “high water content,” the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture confirmed Tuesday. Inspectors took samples from the pumps at the Sunoco on West Pike Street on Dec. 22nd. Drivers reported that their vehicles broke down or experienced issues after the gas was put in their tanks. They said mechanics told them there might have been water in the gas, which was confirmed by the Department of Agriculture’s testing. “The pumps are closed until the business corrects the issue. The process generally involves flushing fuel lines and changing filters in the affected pumps, then replacing the fuel,” the Department of Agriculture’s press secretary said in a statement. Once that process is complete, samples will again be taken and officials say the affected pumps will only be allowed to reopen if the fuel samples pass.
January 11, 2022 4:18 pm
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – New Orleans is bringing back an indoor mask mandate to fight the spread of COVID-19 while preparing for an influx of visitors for the Mardi Gras season. The city health director, Dr. Jennifer Avegno, announced the plan Tuesday. The mandate takes effect Wednesday at 6 a.m. Avegno said growing COVID cases have put a strain on hospital emergency rooms, which also routinely see an influx of patients during the city’s raucous season of parades and street parties. Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, falls on March 1 this year and major parades will roll in the last two weeks of February. (Photo: AP)
January 11, 2022 3:40 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Environmental Protection Agency is taking its first major action to address toxic wastewater from coal-burning power plants. It’s ordering utilities to stop dumping waste into unlined storage ponds and speed up plans to close leaking or otherwise dangerous coal ash sites. The EPA says plants in four states will have to close the coal ash ponds months or years ahead of schedule. Coal ash is the substance that remains when coal is burned to generate electricity. It can pollute waterways, poison wildlife and cause respiratory illness among those living near massive ponds where the waste is stored. The action marks the first time the EPA has enforced a 2015 rule aimed at reducing groundwater pollution from coal-fired power plants.
