July 19, 2021 3:41 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas Democrats are starting a second week of holing up in Washington to block new voting laws back home. More than 50 Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives had plans Monday to continue a media blitz in the nation’s capital and pressure Congress to act on federal voting rights. But there are few signs that legislation stalled in the Senate has budged since Texas Democrats’ whirlwind arrival in Washington last week. Democrats say they are committed to stay out of Texas until the special legislative session ends in early August.
July 19, 2021 3:40 am
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Police in Arizona say a series of attacks Sunday afternoon have ended with five people shot, including one fatality, and two or three children missing. Tucson police Chief Chris Magnus told news outlets that a 35-year-old man is accused of opening fire on an ambulance crew, shooting two paramedics. Then, the suspect is accused of driving up to the scene of a house fire and shooting firefighters and neighbors trying to douse the flames. One neighbor was shot and killed. A firefighter and another neighbor were also shot. A body was found in the burned home and two or three children who lived there are missing. A police officer encountered the suspect and shot him. The suspect is in critical condition.
July 19, 2021 3:39 am
UNDATED (AP) – A Florida man who breached the U.S. Senate chamber carrying a Trump campaign flag has received an eight-month prison term, the first resolution for a felony case in the Capitol insurrection. Prosecutors wanted Paul Allard Hodgkins to serve 18 months behind bars, saying he and other Jan. 6 rioters “contributed to the collective threat to democracy.” A lawyer for Hodgkins asked the judge at his Monday sentencing in Washington, D.C., not to impose a prison sentence. Hodgkins was never accused of assaulting anyone or damaging property. Hodgkins pleaded guilty last month to one count of obstructing an official proceeding and apologized Monday, saying he made a “foolish decision.”
July 19, 2021 3:32 am
BULLSKIN TWP., Pa. — Two people were killed in a murder-suicide incident in Fayette County on Saturday. Pennsylvania State Police Uniontown said the incident occurred around 11:45 a.m. in the 200 block of East End Road, Bullskin Township Troopers responded to a reported shooting and found Chad William Lowry, 34, of Connellsville, dead at the home. Police said Jeremy Alan Lowry, 35, of Connellsville, had driven off. It was later found that Jeremy Lowry had then shot himself in the 100 block of Wiltrout Hollow Road.
July 19, 2021 3:30 am
MCKEESPORT, Pa. — The Do Not Use water advisory “will last at least a week,” according to the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. Residents in part of McKeesport have been advised not to use water after firefighting efforts possibly contaminated the drinking water system. The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County issued the Do Not Use advisory early Saturday morning for about 500 customers in the Lower 10th Ward, as well as the streets between 5th Avenue and the Monongahela River, among other places. On Sunday, the authority issued a notice that it would be at least a week until test results will be able to certify that the water is safe. PFAS and glycol in drinking water may be a serious health concern. Officials also say those chemicals can’t be removed by boiling, freezing or letting the water stand, so they say to use bottled water or alternative sources for drinking, bathing, hand washing, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, cooking, or food preparation until further notice. This possibly happened during efforts to put out a fire at McKeesport Auto Body on Rebecca Avenue on Friday. As MAWC awaits test results, a flushing program was started to purge the system Saturday morning as a precaution.
July 19, 2021 3:28 am
WASHINGTON, Pa — Nobody was injured during a large structure fire reported in the City of Washington late Sunday night. Multiple crews including the City of Washington, Canton Township, North Strabane and South Strabane Township responded to the two-alarm call around 11:00 p.m. at 1050 Jefferson Avenue. The two conjoined homes involved were reportedly abandoned and the Pennsylvania State Police are investigating this incident as an arson. (Photo: Facebook)
July 19, 2021 3:17 am
ROSTRAVER TWP., Pa. — Three people were injured in a crash on Interstate 70 Sunday. According to the Rostraver Fire Department, the incident occurred on I-70 eastbound at the bridge over the Youghiogheny River. Two vehicles were involved, one of which went over the side of the bridge. One person was also ejected and one person was entrapped, according to the fire department. Crews used the Jaws of Life to extricate one person and a rope system to remove the driver of the vehicle that went over the bridge. All three people were flown to local hospitals and there is no word on their injuries. I-70 was closed between exits 46 and 49 was closed for multiple hours Sunday afternoon while the investigation was completed.
July 18, 2021 7:55 am
TOKYO (AP) — Two athletes living in the Olympic Village have tested positive for COVID-19, the first to do so with the Tokyo Games opening on Friday. Organizers confirmed the positive tests on Sunday and both were listed as non-Japanese. No names or other details were provided. Organizers on Sunday also said another athlete had tested positive but this person was not residing in the Olympic Village. This athlete was also identified as “non-Japanese.” Also on Sunday, the first International Olympic Committee member was reported as positive. He recorded a positive test on Saturday upon entering a Tokyo airport. The International Olympic Committee confirmed the test and identified him as Ryu Seung-min of South Korea. He won an Olympic gold medal in table tennis in the 2004 Olympics. He was reportedly being held in isolation. Reports said he was asymptomatic. IOC President Thomas Bach said last week there was “zero” risk of athletes in the village passing on the virus to Japanese or other residents of the village.
July 18, 2021 7:50 am
BERLIN (AP) — The death toll from flooding in Western Europe climbed above 180 on Sunday after rescue workers dug deeper into debris left by receding waters. Heavy rain fueled new floods in southeastern Germany and Austria, though not on the scale of last week’s devastating onslaught. Police put the toll from the hard-hit Ahrweiler area of western Germany’s Rhineland-Palatinate state at more than 110 and said they feared the number may still rise. In neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia state, Germany’s most populous, 46 people were confirmed dead, including four firefighters. And Belgium has confirmed 27 casualties. Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived Sunday in Schuld, a village located on a curve of the Ahr river that was devastated by the flooding, to see the damage for herself. Her visit comes after Germany’s president went to the area on Saturday and made clear that it will need long-term support. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said he will propose a package of immediate aid at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, telling the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that more than 300 million euros ($354 million) will be needed. And he said that officials must start setting up a rebuilding program which, from experience with previous flooding, will be in the billions of euros.
July 18, 2021 7:49 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A rapidly growing wildfire south of Lake Tahoe jumped a highway, prompting more evacuation orders and the cancellation of an extreme bike ride through the Sierra Nevada on Saturday as critically dangerous wildfire weather loomed in the coming days. The Tamarack Fire, which was sparked by lightning on July 4, exploded overnight and was over 32 square miles (82 square kilometers) as of Saturday evening, according to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The blaze was threatening Markleeville, a small town close to the California-Nevada state line. It has destroyed at least three structures, authorities said, and was burning toward the Alpine County Airport after jumping a highway. A notice posted on the 103-mile (165-kilometer) Death Ride’s website said several communities in the area had been evacuated and ordered all riders to clear the area. The fire left thousands of bikers and spectators stranded in the small town and racing to get out.
