August 15, 2021 8:05 am
QUINCY, Calif. (AP) — The danger of new fires erupting across the West because of unstable weather conditions added to the burden already faced by overstretched crews battling blazes across the region. Thunderstorms pushed flames in Northern California on Saturday closer to two towns not far from where the Dixie Fire last week destroyed much of the small town of Greenville, a gold rush-era community. The thunderstorms, which began Friday, didn’t produce much rain but whipped up wind and created lightning strikes, forcing crews to focus on using bulldozers to build lines and keep the blaze from reaching Westwood, a town of about 1,700 people. Westwood was placed under evacuation orders Aug. 5.
August 15, 2021 8:03 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Forecasters expected the remnants of Fred to return to tropical storm status in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday as parts of the Caribbean were gearing up for impacts from Tropical Storm Grace. Fred was forecast to move across the Gulf before reaching the coast Monday night or Tuesday morning, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Forecasters said people from Alabama to the central Florida Panhandle should monitor the system’s progress. A tropical storm watch was issued from the Alabama/Florida border to Ochlockonee, Florida. The system’s maximum sustained winds increased to 40 mph Sunday morning.
August 15, 2021 8:01 am
LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — A powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake added to the misery in Haiti, killing at least 304 people, injuring a minimum of 1,800 others and destroying hundreds of homes. People in the Caribbean island nation rushed into the streets to seek safety and to help help rescue those trapped in the rubble of collapsed homes, hotels and other structures. Saturday’s earthquake struck the southwestern part of the hemisphere’s poorest nation, almost razing some towns and triggering landslides that hampered rescue efforts in two of the hardest-hit communities. The disaster also added to the plight of Haitians, who were already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, a presidential assassination and deepening poverty. The epicenter of the quake was about 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The widespread damage could worsen by early next week, with Tropical Storm Grace predicted to reach Haiti late Monday or early Tuesday.
August 15, 2021 8:00 am
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban fighters entered Kabul on Sunday and sought the unconditional surrender of the central government, officials said, as Afghans and foreigners alike raced for the exit, signaling the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan. The beleaguered central government, meanwhile, hoped for an interim administration, but increasingly had few cards to play. Civilians fearing that the Taliban could reimpose the kind of brutal rule that all but eliminated women’s rights rushed to leave the country, lining up at cash machines to withdraw their life savings. Helicopters buzzed overhead as part of an evacuation of personnel from the U.S. Embassy. Several other Western missions were also preparing to get staff out. In a stunning rout, the Taliban seized nearly all of Afghanistan in just over a week, despite the hundreds of billions of dollars spent by the U.S. and NATO over nearly two decades to build up Afghan security forces. Just days earlier, an American military assessment estimated it would be a month before the capital would come under insurgent pressure.
August 15, 2021 3:48 am
The state Department of Health on Friday reported over 2,000 new COVID-19 cases statewide, and 935 patients hospitalized. The statewide total cases is over 1.2 million. Sixteen new deaths were reported Thursday, bringing the statewide death total from COVID-19 to almost 28,000. In Washington County, 23 new cases (but no additional deaths) were added Thursday, and the state reports a total of 18,470 positive cases and 313 total deaths; in Allegheny County, they added 400 new cases Thursday and two new COVID deaths, bringing their total to 2,017 dead from the disease. However, some positive news as the state also reports that over 11.8 million people have received at least one vaccine dose–and 64% of the state population has been fully vaccinated.
August 14, 2021 4:14 am
(AP) – Americans at high risk from COVID-19 because of severely weakened immune systems are now allowed to get a third vaccination in hopes of better protection. Government advisers on Friday grappled with exactly who qualifies. The Food and Drug Administration has ruled that transplant recipients and other similarly immunocompromised patients can get a third dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. But the decision offers an extra dose only to those high-risk groups – not the general public. These patients have been clamoring for months for better protection, some of them traveling across state lines or lying to get another dose.
August 14, 2021 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Midnight on Sunday is the deadline for consumers to take advantage of a special “Obamacare” sign up period, courtesy of President Joe Biden. Not only did Biden reopen the HealthCare.gov marketplace because of the pandemic, but his COVID relief law is providing bigger subsidies that can significantly reduce the cost of coverage. The government says more than 2.5 million people have signed up so far. Officials are hoping for a strong close this weekend. That could help validate Biden’s strategy of moving the U.S. to coverage for all by building on existing programs. And it would help his pitch to Congress to permanently extend the increased financial help.
August 14, 2021 4:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The first forces of a Marine battalion have arrived in Kabul to stand guard as the U.S. speeds up evacuation flights for some American diplomats and thousands of Afghans, spurred by a lightning Taliban offensive that increasingly is isolating Afghanistan’s capital. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says “elements” of a battalion are now in Kabul. They are the vanguard of three Marine and Army battalions that the U.S. is sending to the city by the end of the weekend for temporary deployment. The Taliban, emboldened by the imminent end of the U.S. combat mission in the country, took four more provincial capitals Friday, heightening fears they would move soon on the capital, which is home to millions of Afghans.
August 14, 2021 4:01 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A Philadelphia grand jury has recommended criminal charges against three former homicide detectives including perjury in the 2016 retrial of Anthony Wright, who was exonerated by DNA evidence in the rape and murder of an older woman. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced Friday that former detectives Manuel Santiago, Martin Devlin and Frank Jastrzembski were in the process of turning themselves in. They face various charges including perjury and swearing false statements during the retrial of Wright who was wrongly convicted of the rape and murder of a 77-year-old woman in 1993. Krasner said the detectives allegedly coerced a false confession from Wright and planted evidence during the investigation.
August 14, 2021 3:59 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — A man was stabbed Friday evening in downtown Pittsburgh. Around 8:15 p.m., Port Authority Police alerted city police to a stabbing victim at the intersection of 4th Avenue and Wood Street. Zone 2 officers arrived on scene and found the victim with a stab wound to the kidney area. He was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition. Pittsburgh Police located a female suspect not far from the crime scene and recovered a weapon. The female was questioned and arrested. She is currently being held in Allegheny County Jail. This follows a daylight shooting downtown on Thursday that left one man dead. In that incident, Taylor Wible, 21, of Pittsburgh is charged with Criminal Homicide and Carrying a Firearm Without a License. Ela Aydin, 18, of Oakdale is charged with Hindering Apprehension. Both were taken to the Allegheny County Jail.
