February 6, 2022 8:12 am
HONOLULU (AP) — A giant U.S. government fuel storage installation hidden inside a mountain ridge overlooking Pearl Harbor has provided fuel to military ships and planes crisscrossing the Pacific Ocean since World War II. Its very existence was a secret for years. Even after it was declassified, few people paid attention — until late last year, when jet fuel leaked into a drinking water well, showed up in tap water and sickened thousands in military housing. Now the Navy is scrambling to contain what one U.S. lawmaker calls a “crisis of astronomical proportions.” Native Hawaiians, veterans, liberals and conservatives across Hawaii are all pushing to shut down the tanks even though the Navy says they’re vital to national security. Military medical teams have examined more than 5,900 people complaining of symptoms including nausea, headaches and rashes. The military has moved about 4,000 mostly military families into hotels and has flown in water treatment systems from the U.S. mainland. In the first six weeks since the water crisis emerged, the Navy spent more than $250 million addressing the public health emergency.
February 6, 2022 8:10 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs including its capability to produce nuclear device components in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, U.N. experts said in a new report. The panel of experts said in the executive summary of the report obtained Saturday night by The Associated Press that there was “a marked acceleration” of Pyongyang’s testing and demonstration of new short-range and possibly medium-range missiles through January, “incorporating both ballistic and guidance technologies and using both solid and liquid propellants.” “New technologies tested included a possible hypersonic guiding warhead and a maneuverable re-entry vehicle,” the panel said. North Korea also demonstrated “increased capabilities for rapid deployment, wide mobility (including at sea), and improved resilience of its missile forces.” The experts said North Korea “continued to seek material, technology and know-how for these programs overseas, including through cyber means and joint scientific research.”
February 6, 2022 8:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia has assembled at least 70 percent of the military firepower it likely intends to have in place by mid-month to give President Vladimir Putin the option of launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials say. The officials, who discussed internal assessments of the Russian buildup on condition they not be identified, sketched out a series of indicators suggesting Putin intends an invasion in coming weeks, although the size and scale are unclear. They stressed that a diplomatic solution appears to remain possible. Among those military indicators: an exercise of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces that usually is held each fall was rescheduled for mid-February to March. That coincides with what U.S. officials see as the most likely window for invasion. The officials made no suggestion that a prospective conflict would involve the use of nuclear weapons, but the Russian exercise — likely involving the test-launching of unarmed long-range missiles on Russian territory — could be used as a message aimed at deterring the West from intervening in Ukraine.
February 6, 2022 8:05 am
MCKEES ROCKS (WPXI) — Allegheny County police are investigating a shooting that took place in McKees Rocks around 10:21 a.m. Saturday morning. According to police, the shooting took place in the 400 block of Broadway Avenue. Police said first responders found an adult man with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to an area hospital. Allegheny County Police Department detectives are initiating the investigation. There’s no word on the victim’s condition or if anyone is in custody. Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the County Police Tip Line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
February 6, 2022 8:01 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI)– PennDOT officials worked to calm any fears about bridges with poor ratings. A week after the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed into a ravine in Frick Park in Pittsburgh, officials stressed the importance of maximum weight limits. The agency oversees more than 30,000 state and locally owned bridges across Pennsylvania. During a virtual news conference, officials said they are inspected every two years and ones with poorer ratings are checked more often. Officials would not take any questions about the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge but they said five others similarly designed have been checked again. Because of the poor rating, the Fern Hollow Bridge had a posted weight limit of 26 tons since 2014. That 60 foot Port Authority bus that was on the bridge only had a few passengers, but fully loaded it likely would have exceeded the posted weight limit. Pittsburgh Police appear to be responsible for enforcing weight limits on city-owned bridges. It’s not clear if they’ve ever cited any vehicles.
February 6, 2022 7:59 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf will pitch his eighth and last budget proposal to lawmakers Tuesday, as the Democrat pushes Republicans to spend more federal pandemic relief aid now and Wolf looks to cement his public school legacy by securing a big boost in state aid. The state’s bank accounts are brimming with cash, and Wolf, who is constitutionally required to leave office next January when his second term ends, is touting himself as the only governor since Dick Thornburgh in 1987 to leave a cash surplus to his successor. However, bullish plans on spending by Wolf and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature are getting pushback from Republican lawmakers. Wolf otherwise has seen huge parts of his agenda thwarted year after year by the large Republican legislative majorities, including billions of dollars in tax increases that Wolf had pitched as necessary to prop up the state’s finances and restructure a school-funding system that disadvantages the poorest public schools.
February 6, 2022 4:20 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The five-member commission redrawing the boundaries of Pennsylvania’s state legislative districts voted to approve new maps for the next decade. They focus on the state’s fast-growing Latino population that could change the face of the predominantly white House and Senate. The Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted 4-1 on Friday. The vote came after nearly a year of meetings, hearings and closed-door discussions to carry out the constitutionally required, once-a-decade map-drawing to account for demographic shifts identified by the census. The lone dissenter was Republican House Leader Kerry Benninghoff. Benninghoff slammed it as an unconstitutional gerrymander and vowed to challenge it in court.
February 5, 2022 10:31 am
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) – Snowboarder Shaun White says the Beijing Games will be his last competition. The three-time gold medalist held a sometimes emotional news conference not far from the halfpipe where he’ll take his last competitive ride. The 35-year-old says it’s a decision that’s been building since a rough-and-tumble training stop in Austria in November. This has been a tough season for him – including an ankle injury, a bout with COVID-19 and a late unscheduled trip to Switzerland to secure his Olympic spot.
February 5, 2022 10:27 am
Thomas Bach, the head of the International Olympic Committee, says the Olympic ideals show that even in a world full of conflict, people can build bridges and live in peace. Critics of Bach and the IOC say those ideals are nonsense, and talk of respect and bridge-building is overshadowed by Olympic officials cozying up to some of the world’s most powerful authoritarian rulers, and holding this year’s Games in a country accused of widespread human rights violations. Bach and the IOC have long steered clear of controversy, and Olympic organizers have a long history with authoritarian rulers.
February 5, 2022 10:26 am
The uproar over Whoopi Goldberg’s remarks about the Holocaust has catalyzed somber reflections by many American Jews, and not just about the Holocaust’s legacy. They also have recalled anti-Jewish discrimination in the United States and pondered the Jewish community’s sense of collective identity. Goldberg said this week on ABC’s “The View” that the Nazis’ genocide wasn’t about race. She soon apologized for failing to acknowledge that the Nazis considered Jews an inferior race. Jewish leaders are noting the complexity of describing how race fits into the concept of Jewish identity. They say it entails a mix of religion, nationality, ethnicity, culture and history.
