November 4, 2021 12:40 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – For decades, it’s been one of Hollywood’s darkest rumors: A teen-age Natalie Wood was sexually assaulted by a top movie star more than twice her age when she agreed to meet with him at a hotel in Los Angeles. In a memoir coming out next week, Wood’s younger sister identifies the long-suspected assailant: Kirk Douglas. According to Lana Wood, Natalie Wood did not discuss with her what happened until both were adults and Natalie, after describing being brought into Douglas’ suite, told her sister, “And, uh … he hurt me Lana.” Douglas died in 2020 at age 103. (Photo: Twitter)
November 4, 2021 8:50 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to a fresh pandemic low last week, another sign the job market is healing after last year’s coronavirus recession. Jobless claims dropped by 14,000 to 269,000 last week. Since topping 900,000 in early January, the weekly applications have fallen more or less steadily ever since and are gradually moving toward pre-pandemic levels of around 220,000 a week. Overall, 2.1 million Americans were collecting unemployment checks the week of Oct. 23 – down from 7.1 million a year earlier when the economy was still reeling from the coronavirus outbreak.
November 4, 2021 4:30 am
The election may be over but some tight, local races may not be determined until later this week. The reason? Overvotes. Washington County Elections Director Melanie Ostrander says they are dealing with an “unprecedented” number of overvotes for the government study commission selections. Ostrander says many people erroneously chose more than the 11 allowed candidates on their mail-in ballot. As a result, those ballots cannot be counted until they are reviewed by the County Elections Canvass board Friday morning. They will also be individually reviewing some ballots that had unclear markings that the scanner could not count.
November 4, 2021 4:11 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Prosecutors in Las Vegas say former Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was speeding at 156 mph with a blood-alcohol content twice Nevada’s legal limit before his sports car slammed into another vehicle, killing a 23-year-old woman. Ruggs made his initial court appearance Wednesday and posted $150,000 bond on felony driving under the influence resulting in death and reckless driving charges. The team released Ruggs just hours after the fiery crash. Police said a loaded gun also was found in Ruggs’ wrecked Corvette. A judge set strict conditions for his release, including home confinement, pending another court appearance next week. Ruggs’ attorney says Ruggs was released from jail Wednesday evening.
November 4, 2021 4:08 am
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – Kyle Rittenhouse shouted “Friendly! Friendly! Friendly!” as he was being chased by a man he eventually shot to death during street protests against racial injustice. That’s according to a police detective who testified at his murder trial Wednesday in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Video took center stage Wednesday in the Illinois man’s trial in the shootings of three men – two fatally – after Rittenhouse traveled to Kenosha in August 2020 with a medical kit and a rifle in what he says was an effort to safeguard property from damaging riots. One of the videos came from an FBI surveillance plane some 9,000 feet above. Rittenhouse’s defense attorney argued that the video showed the first man Rittenhouse shot confronted him in “the classic ambush.”
November 4, 2021 4:06 am
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey narrowly won reelection in his reliably blue state while a Republican political newcomer delivered a stunning upset in the Virginia governor’s race. That’s sending a warning to Democrats that their grip on power in Washington may be in peril. In Virginia, Glenn Youngkin became the first Republican to win statewide office in a dozen years, uniting former President Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters with enough suburban voters to notch a victory. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Murphy won after Jack Ciattarelli mounted a surprisingly strong campaign on issues including taxes and opposition to pandemic mask and vaccination mandates.
November 4, 2021 4:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House is preparing to debate and vote on a revised draft of President Joe Biden’s now-$1.85 trillion domestic policy package as well as a companion $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says House votes are possible Thursday. The Democrats have bolstered the package by adding a new paid family leave program, work permits for immigrants and a state and local tax break. Eager to show voters they can deliver after dismal election results, they finished up the overall package Wednesday. Debate is expected to open Thursday but voting could slip into Friday.
November 4, 2021 4:01 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – With Republicans on the cusp of sweeping Pennsylvania’s statewide judicial races, the GOP is finding more reasons to smile a year away from a high-stakes election in which voters will pick a new governor and a new U.S. senator. Republicans could be considered favored in both contests next year: the party of the president almost always loses seats in Congress in midterm elections, and a Republican has always replaced an outgoing Democratic governor in Pennsylvania’s current political era. Republican campaign strategist, Christopher Nicholas, pointed to a slate of countywide victories in Bucks County, a political bellwether north of Philadelphia. He says that also bodes well for Republicans next year.
November 4, 2021 2:46 am
(WPXI) – A man accused of killing a postal worker, who was his former neighbor, in Collier Township could face the death penalty. Eric Kortz, 53, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of murdering an employee of the United States and using a firearm to do so, Acting United States Attorney Stephen Kaufman announced Thursday. According to investigators, Kortz, of Sheraden, confessed to shooting and killing 58-year-old Louis Vignone while he was in his mail truck on his route on Oct. 7. They said Kortz told them he believed Vignone poisoned his family when they were neighbors. If convicted, Kortz faces a maximum sentence of death. He could also receive a term of life imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both.
November 3, 2021 4:12 am
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – A friend of Kyle Rittenhouse testified that the Illinois teen was “freaking out” and “really scared” in the moments after he shot three people during street protests against racial justice, and that Rittenhouse told him he had to do it because “people were trying to hurt him.” Dominick Black said Tuesday he was stunned when Rittenhouse called him seconds after the first shooting to say he had just shot someone. He was the first witness after opening statements at Rittenhouse’s murder trial cast him in sharply different lights. Testimony is expected to continue on Wednesday.
