December 30, 2021 4:03 am
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) – A county coroner says autopsy results in the death of three siblings at a home near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, indicate they all died from COVID-19. Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees said Wednesday the two men and a woman found in different locations on the property had died about five days before they were found in late October. They are 68-year-old Ruth Kinsey, 70-year-old Richard Kinsey and 72-year-old Donald Kinsey. They were found in the kitchen, the living room and in a camper on the property. Lees says he concluded they died of COVID-19 after toxicology and other test results.
December 29, 2021 3:33 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Hundreds of flights are being cancelled as the omicron variant creates havoc both for travelers and for airlines who are having to cobble together flight crews as infections rise among pilots and flight attendants. According to data from the flight-tracking website FlightAware, 832 flights were cancelled by midday Wednesday and that number has ticked higher throughout the day. There were nearly 1,300 cancellations for flights entering, leaving or inside the U.S. on Tuesday, and about 1,500 Monday. Cancellations began to spike the day before Christmas during what is typically an already buzzing pace for airlines.
December 29, 2021 3:33 pm
MIAMI (AP) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating more cruise ships due to new COVID-19 cases aboard. The agency says 88 vessels are now either under investigation or observation, but it does not specify how many cases have been reported. None of the ships appear to have so many cases they would overwhelm medical resources on board and require a return to port. But some have been denied entry at some foreign ports. Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal is calling for the CDC and cruise lines to again halt cruise travel, six months after the industry mounted its comeback.
December 29, 2021 12:53 pm
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) – Virginia’s attorney general says a retired priest who once oversaw children’s safety in a Catholic diocese in the Washington suburbs has been charged with sexually assaulting a child. The Washington Post reports that a Fairfax County grand jury indicted 68-year-old Terry Specht of Donegal, Pennsylvania, on two felony counts related to sexual abuse of a child under 13. According to the indictment, the assault took place in 2000, when Specht was chaplain and assistant principal at St. Paul VI Catholic High School. Public defender Dawn Butorac says Specht “maintains his innocence.” A diocese spokesperson says Specht was responsible for policy and instruction for the Arlington Diocese Office of Child Protection and Safety, but didn’t oversee abuse investigations.
December 29, 2021 7:48 am
(WPXI) – Three people were killed in a house fire early Wednesday morning in Lawrence County. One adult and two minors were found dead inside a home on West Clayton Street in New Castle after the home caught fire around 5:30 a.m., according to firefighters. When firefighters arrived there was fire on the right side of the house advancing to the second floor. The fire was put out rapidly, according to New Castle Fire Department Chief Michael Kobbe, but that is when the three victims were found. The Lawrence County Coroner’s Office has identified the victims as 41-year-old Courtney Payne, 17-year-old Terianna Payne-Hicks and 18-year-old Xzavia Booker. Courtney and Terianna are mother and daughter. Xzavia was a friend of Terianna. Kobbe said the fire appears to have started in the area of the kitchen, and one high-school aged victim was found on the first floor, another victim on the staircase and an adult victim was found in an upstairs bedroom. The adult victim upstairs called 911. Pennsylvania State Police are investigating, but the fire chief does not believe the fire was suspicious.
December 29, 2021 4:12 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader and Nevada’s longest-serving member of Congress, has died at home in Henderson, Nevada. He was 82. Landra Reid says her husband died peacefully Tuesday after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. The combative former boxer-turned-lawyer was widely-acknowledged as one of toughest dealmakers in Congress. Over a 34-year career in Washington, Reid thrived on behind-the-scenes wrangling and kept the Senate controlled by his party through two presidents, a crippling recession and the Republican takeover of the House after the 2010 elections. He retired in 2016. President Joe Biden said in a statement after the death of his longtime Senate colleague: “If Harry said he would do something, he did it.”
December 29, 2021 4:10 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A surge of coronavirus cases in New York has forced the postponement of another signature event, the Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show. The show announced Wednesday it has postponed its 146th annual event to have been contested in late January. The announcement didn’t give a new date for the show but said it would be later in 2022. The dog show normally is held in February at Madison Square Garden but was moved to June last year and held at the Lyndhurst estate in suburban Tarrytown. Spectators weren’t allowed, and human participants had to be vaccinated or newly tested. (Photo: ABC)
December 29, 2021 4:08 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – A judge has postponed the penalty trial for Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz to Feb. 21. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer said both parties requested more time to prepare experts for trial, which had been scheduled to start on Jan. 4. Cruz pleaded guilty in October to the February 2018 killings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Jurors will now decide in February whether he is sentenced to death or to life without parole. The trial has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and arguments over what evidence and testimony will be permitted. (Photo: AP)
December 29, 2021 4:02 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Pittsburgh police will be changing the way they have always done their jobs. They will no longer be allowed to make traffic stops for minor and secondary violations. Some of those violations include having a tail light out, registration in the wrong place, or overdue registration. Reverend Ricky Burgess introduced the legislation. “I’m proud of council for being supportive of his legislations that we believe is common sense. It will help to increase police-community relationships, and give the community more confidence in the police,” Reverend Burgess told our news partners at Channel 11. Mayor Bill Peduto, who only has a few days left in office, agreed with the vote. “Large number of traffic stops that are taking place are happening in predominately Black neighborhoods. And, they tend to lead into more serious incidents than a tail light that’s out, or somebody that runs a stop sign,” Mayor Peduto said. However, during Tuesday’s city council meeting, community members pleaded for a public hearing to further discuss the legislation. Councilman Anthony Coghill echoed their concerns, and was the only council member who voted against the bill.
December 29, 2021 3:06 am
State Police have charged an Avella man with 77 counts of animal cruelty and neglect. Troopers say they rescued 16 cats and 13 cockatiels from the Browntown Road home of 46-year-old James Lane. Authorities say the animals were living in deplorable conditions and were found among piles of feces and garbage spread throughout the house. Police say Lane agreed to surrender the animals, some of which were infested with fleas. Troopers say at least one cat had an infection and possibly a tumor on its body. Officials say the birds are sheltering in safe places while the cats have been put in reputable shelters.
