December 12, 2021 8:18 am
MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Rescuers combed through fields of wreckage after a tornado outbreak roared across the middle of the U.S., leaving dozens dead and communities in despair. A twister carved a track that could rival the longest on record as the stormfront smashed apart a candle factory, crushed a nursing home and flattened an Amazon distribution center. “I pray that there will be another rescue. I pray that there will be another one or two,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said, as crews sifted through the wreckage of the candle factory in Mayfield, where 110 people were working overnight Friday when the storm hit. Forty of them were rescued. In Kentucky alone, 22 were confirmed dead by late Saturday, including 11 in and around Bowling Green. But Beshear said upwards of 70 may have been killed when a twister touched down for more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) in his state and that the number of deaths could eventually exceed 100 across 10 or more counties. The death toll of 36 across five states includes six people in Illinois, where an Amazon facility was hit; four in Tennessee; two in Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed; and two in Missouri. (Photo: AP)
December 12, 2021 4:18 am
WEST MIFFLIN. Pa. (WPXI) — Allegheny County Police arrested the man they say is responsible in the death of a 52-year-old woman reported missing then found dead in West Mifflin. The County Police Homicide Unit and West Mifflin police say 21-year-old Jonathan Nulty is responsible for killing his mother and wrapping her in plastic garbage bags in the home’s backyard. Police were at a home on Eastman Street around 12:45 p.m. Friday conducting a missing person search when they found a 52-year-old woman dead. Her father reported her missing on Dec. 9 after having no contact with her for five days. When police got to the home they spoke with Nulty. An officer then discovered her body. Investigators are working with the County Medical Examiner’s Office for an official medical determination of the cause and manner of death. Nulty will be charged with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Nulty will be lodged in the Allegheny County Jail awaiting arraignment.
December 12, 2021 1:16 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s highest court is throwing out a statewide mask mandate for school children, raising the prospect that at least some students in the state may soon be allowed to attend classes without a face covering. The state Supreme Court announced its decision on Friday but the court didn’t issue a full opinion that explains their reasoning. They upheld a lower court decision that the masking mandate, which also applies to child care facilities, is not valid because it was imposed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s acting health secretary without legal authorization. The practical impact of the decision will depend on which schools and school districts impose their own masking requirements. (Photo: AP)
December 11, 2021 8:49 am
NORTH STRABANE, Pa. — Pennsylvania American Water crews responded to multiple water main breaks in North Strabane Township Saturday morning. First, crews were called to an emergency repair on Greenwood Drive at around 8:00 a.m. Officials say it will take roughly 8 hours to complete repairs in that area. Meanwhile a pipe burst in two spots in the 500 block of McClelland Road in the same hour. That break is close to Village Drive and Route 19. Drivers are urged to use caution when driving in those areas Saturday.
December 11, 2021 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Pentagon says there are “active discussions” within the department about making COVID-19 vaccine booster shots mandatory for service members, even as thousands refuse or seek exemptions from the initial shot mandate. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says there have been no final decisions on the matter. He says Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin “absolutely encourages people, if they can and if they qualify, to get the booster. But right now there is no requirement for it.” The department in August announced that it would begin requiring all members of the military – including National Guard and Reserves – to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
December 11, 2021 4:26 am
BOSTON (AP) – Computer security experts around the world are racing to patch one of the worst software vulnerabilities discovered in years. The critical flaw is in an open-source utility widely used by government and industry. Experts say it is already being exploited and the fallout won’t be known for several days. Untold millions of servers have the Java-language code installed. It is used by Apache servers to log user activity. Cybersecurity experts say users of the online game Minecraft have already exploited it to breach other users by pasting a short message into in a chat box.
December 11, 2021 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden will award the Medal of Honor next week to three U.S. soldiers who fought in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The soldiers are Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Celiz, an Army Ranger who died after stepping between Taliban fighters and a U.S. helicopter evacuating wounded in 2018; Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee, a Special Forces soldier who fought off insurgents in Afghanistan in 2013; and Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, 35, who suffered fatal injuries in Iraq while rescuing fellow soldiers from a burning vehicle in 2005. The three will be recognized at a White House ceremony on Dec. 16.
December 11, 2021 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A new government report showing inflation rising at the fastest rate in nearly four decades is raising fresh questions about the fate of President Joe Biden’s social and environment legislation. Both sides are seeking clues on how the numbers may influence pivotal Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. The West Virginia moderate has spent months forcing Democrats to trim the 10-year, $2 trillion package. He’s pointedly noted rising inflation as a reason to go slow. The government said Friday that consumer prices grew last month at an annual rate of 6.8%, the highest in 39 years. Both sides are looking at Manchin because his vote is crucial in the evenly divided Senate.
December 11, 2021 4:22 am
TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico (AP) – Simply counting up the human cost of the horrifying truck crash that killed 55 migrants and injured over 100 is chilling, even for those who survived the disaster on a highway in southern Mexico. About 40 of the survivors are listed with “multiple contusions” at local hospitals, and they are the least injured. Nearly 20 others have fractured bones, often their arms and wrists, suggesting they tried to break the force of the impact when the semi-trailer packed with smuggled migrants tipped over and smashed into a pedestrian bridge. The worst are those with brain injuries or severe internal damage, often crushed chests, abdomens or pelvises. The force of the crash slammed migrants against each other, bashed them into the steel sides of the trailer and threw some onto the roadway.
December 11, 2021 4:21 am
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) – Two people died in severe weather in Tennessee, one person was killed when an apparent tornado ripped through an Arkansas nursing home, and emergency crews in southern Illinois are responding to reports of injuries at an Amazon warehouse after a roof collapsed. At least one fatality was reported in Missouri as severe storms, some believed to be tornadoes, swept across the Midwest and parts of the South. An official says the two deaths in Tennessee occurred in a county in the northwestern part of the state. At least five people were also injured at the Arkansas nursing home. There was also inclement weather in Edwardsville, Illinois, where crews were responding to the Amazon warehouse there amid reports of people injured or trapped. (Photo: AP)
