February 7, 2022 6:46 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Syl Johnson, a Chicago soul singer and blues artist whose work was sampled by top hip-hop artists, has died at age 85. A statement Sunday from his family calls him a “fiery, fierce fighter” and says his musical work is a “historical blueprint to all who experience it.” Family members did not say when he died or give a cause of death. His death comes days after his brother, fellow blues artist Jimmy Johnson, passed. Syl Johnson was known for his hits in the 1960s including “Come On Sock It To Me.” But it was his 1967 song “Different Strokes” that was sampled in the following decades by artists including Jay-Z, Kanye West, Tupac Shakur and Public Enemy.
February 7, 2022 4:24 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – UN experts say North Korea is continuing to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from financial institutions and cryptocurrency firms and exchanges, illicit money that has become an important source of revenue for the government and its nuclear and missile programs. The experts quoted an unnamed country in a new report saying North Korean “cyber-actors stole more than $50 million between 2020 and mid-2021 from at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia. And the experts said a cybersecurity firm reported recently that in 2021 the North’s “cyber-actors stole a total of $400 million worth of cryptocurrency.”
February 7, 2022 4:23 am
MOSCOW (AP) – In a flurry of diplomacy across two continents, President Joe Biden emerged from a meeting with Germany’s new leader to vow the crucial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Europe would be blocked if Russia further invades Ukraine as French President Emmanuel Macron spent hours with Vladimir Putin trying to resolve the simmering crisis. Putin said after hours of talks with áMacron that Russia’s foes are the only ones talking about invasion. Biden made his comments during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House, shortly after the two leaders met for talks about the simmering crisis. The White House has expressed increasing alarm about the prospects of a military conflict.
February 7, 2022 4:22 am
Spotify’s CEO says in a note to employees Sunday that while he condemned podcaster Joe Rogan’s use of racist language, he does not believe that cutting ties with the popular personality was the answer. Daniel Ek writes in the letter that he does not “believe that silencing Joe is the answer.” Ek’s message comes a day after Rogan apologized for using racist slurs on his podcast and removing some older episodes. Spotify reportedly paid $100 million to license Rogan’s podcast, but has faced intense criticism for hosting his show, which has also been criticized for promoting COVID-19 vaccine skepticism.
February 7, 2022 4:20 am
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Australia will open its borders to all vaccinated tourists and business travelers from Feb. 21. The country had imposed some of the world’s toughest travel restrictions on its citizens and permanent residents in March 2020 to prevent them from bringing COVID-19 home. When the border restrictions were relaxed in November, international students and skilled migrants were prioritized over tourists in being welcomed back to Australia. Tourist operators have been lobbying the government to bring tourists back sooner. The southern hemisphere summer is in its final month.
February 7, 2022 4:17 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Transit authorities in Pittsburgh have closed a busway bridge after finding that a portion of the span had shifted, an action that comes a week after the collapse of a bridge in a city park. The Port Authority of Allegheny County said the 1,052-foot bridge on the South Busway in the city’s Mount Washington neighborhood is used only by Port Authority buses and light rail vehicles. Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph said engineers and a bridge consultant said the span was “stable” but shouldn’t be used until repairs are made. Officials said the bridge, built in 1977, was deemed satisfactory after an October 2020 inspection.
February 7, 2022 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf is preparing to pitch his eighth and last budget proposal to lawmakers, as the Democrat pushes Republicans to spend more federal pandemic aid now and Wolf looks to secure one more big boost in state funding for public schools. The details of Wolf’s budget plan for the 2022-23 fiscal year starting July 1 will be released Tuesday. State accounts are brimming with cash, thanks to federal aid and a booming economy, and Democrats floating bullish spending plans. Republican majorities in the House and Senate have remained steadfast that federal pandemic aid and state reserves be used conservatively to ward off deficits.
February 7, 2022 4:13 am
Work continues to restore power across Washington County. West Penn Power says there are now only a little under 500 customers without power as of Monday afternoon. The outages are scattered throughout the county. Many customers have been without power since Thursday night. Crews have been working around the clock to try and restore power following a massive ice, sleet and snow storm. At one point, there were more than 21-thousand West Penn Power customers without service. The result of heavy ice bringing down trees and power lines. According to their website, the company hopes to have the majority of customers back on line by 10 or 11 p.m Tuesday night. Several area schools are still being impacted by the storm. The McGuffey School District is closed. The Fort Cherry School District had remote learning because of secondary road conditions and the Avella School District posted on their social media accounts that they switched from a two-hour delay to a flexible instruction day Monday because of water and heat issues at district building and the condition of some roads. Meanwhile, downed utilities are causing a couple of road closures in the county. PennDOT says West Finley Road (Route 3037) in West Finley Township between Beham Ridge Road and Majorsville Road is closed, as is Zion Road (Route 3022) between South Bridge Road in Morris Township and Craft Creek Road in East Finley Township.
February 7, 2022 4:12 am
Five days after a massive winter storm rolled through and knocked out power to more than 21-thousand West Penn Power customers in Washington County, the utility company now has under 50 customers without service. According to their outage website, West Penn expects most of those customers to have their service restored by this afternoon. Hundreds of utility workers have been working around the clock to restore service after heavy ice, sleet and snow brought down countless trees and power lines. There are no reports of any school delays or schedule changes for Tuesday morning.
February 6, 2022 8:13 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Any person convicted of a disruption on board a flight should be added to the national “no fly” list, Delta Air Lines told the U.S. Department of Justice. In a letter to the Justice Department Attorney General Merrick Garland dated Thursday, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said there should be “zero tolerance” for any behavior that affects flight safety. Bastian noted that while such incidents of bad behavior represent a small fraction of overall flights on Delta, the rate of incidents on the airline has increased nearly 100% since 2019. “This action will help prevent future incidents and serve as a strong symbol of the consequences of not complying with crew member instructions on commercial aircraft,” Bastian wrote in the letter furnished to The Associated Press by Delta Air Lines.
