August 29, 2022 4:25 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – A fuel leak and then an engine problem has forced NASA to scrub the launch of its new moon rocket on a no-crew test flight. The next launch attempt will not take place until Friday at the earliest. The 322-foot Space Launch System rocket was set to lift off Monday morning with three test dummies aboard on its first flight, a mission to propel a capsule into orbit around the moon. The shakedown flight, when it happens, will be a big step forward in America’s quest to put astronauts back on the moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program 50 years ago. NASA hopes to send four astronauts around the moon in 2024 and land humans there as early as 2025.
August 29, 2022 4:24 am
KYIV (AP) – The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says that the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s long-awaited expert mission to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine “is now on its way.” IAEA director general Rafael Grossi has for months sought access to the Zaporizhzhia plant – Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest – which Russian forces have controlled since soon after the war began. Grossi wrote on Twitter that “the day has come.” He said the mission will arrive later this week. Russia and Ukraine have traded claims of strikes at or near the plant in recent days, intensifying fears that the fighting could cause a massive radiation leak.
August 29, 2022 4:22 am
FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) — A 17-year-old soldier in the Pennsylvania National Guard has died several days after she collapsed during training in South Carolina. Pvt. Alyssa Cahoon died Thursday with her family around her, the 1st Battalion, 34th Regiment — a basic combat training battalion at Fort Jackson — said on its Facebook page Friday. Officials at the base in South Carolina said she had collapsed during physical training on Aug. 20, news agencies report. She had been training there with her twin sister, Brianna Cahoon, news outlets reported. Volleyball and basketball team rosters indicate Cahoon was a rising high school senior in Forest City, a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania near Scranton, The Post and Courier reported. “We extend our deepest sympathies to the family members and teammates of the deceased soldier,” said Fort Jackson Commander Brig. Gen. Patrick R. Michaelis. A battalion post on Saturday said Cahoon’s family is asking people to collect pull tabs and give them to local Ronald McDonald houses as a fundraiser in her memory. Cahoon’s death is being investigated, according to a statement released by Fort Jackson.
August 29, 2022 2:34 am
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development visited the Mon Valley to check out what has transpired after several local companies took advantage of the Neighborhood Assistance Program Tax Credit. Acting Secretary of the DCED Neil Weaver toured two Donora companies early Monday morning before heading to several other sites in the afternoon. Weaver was impressed with the way local companies used their tax credits for plant expansions and workforce development. Retal Pennsylvania, LLC is a multi- national plastics packaging manufacturer. CEO and President Darius Janulionis indicated their tax credit was used to expand plant operations to grow their footprint in the United States and is confident in the expansion because the state is standing behind them. Chris Leonard, VP Finance of Barchemy, a specialty chocolate manufacturer stated that their tax credits have also been used for expansion of their plant, but for upgrades to employee facilities also. Secretary Weaver was especially impressed with the way both companies dedicated their efforts to staying in the Mon Valley and hiring local workers.
August 28, 2022 8:10 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia University has officially opened a new building to house its business school. The university says the grand opening and ribbon cutting for Reynolds Hall took place Friday at the Morgantown campus. The 186,000-square-foot facility will offer amenities that include a 300-seat auditorium, an atrium, a social stairwell modeled after Google’s headquarters, a cafe and dining area and a fitness center. The facility is named after Bob and Laura Reynolds, who attended the opening. Bob Reynolds is the president and CEO of Putnam Investments and a 1974 finance graduate of the university. More than five years ago, the two donated $10 million to begin construction. Several others donated $1 million or more to the project as well.
August 28, 2022 8:08 am
WILKINSBURG, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say a vehicle fleeing police struck and killed a motor bike operator in western Pennsylvania, and the suspected driver was shot and wounded by police before he was captured. Allegheny County police say a Monroeville officer tried to stop a driver on felony arrest warrants, but the vehicle fled and hit a mini motor bike operator in Wilkinsburg, killing 39-year-old Luis Hernandez. County detectives found the vehicle but say the driver tried to strike a detective, who fired. Forty-eight-year-old Jack Sherwood was later arrested and faces charges including attempted homicide and assault; court documents don’t list an attorney.
August 28, 2022 2:29 am
A Canonsburg man pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of conspiracy fraud, conspiracy money laundering and tax fraud on August 23. Jonathan Weston, and his personal secretary identified as VP, embezzled $6.8 million from Hillandale Farms from October of 2005 through January of 2019. They then went on to launder money from businesses that they set up using the embezzled funds. Weston owned several car washes and Katie’s Kandy stores. They used that money to purchase cars, boats and a condominium. Weston also failed to file or filed false income tax returns from 2013 through 2018 owing the IRS $1.2 million in taxes. Weston will be sentenced in January. He could face 58 years in prison and more than $2.5 million in fines. Weston’s personal secretary VP died in 2019.
August 27, 2022 9:40 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Fourteen of the 15 boxes recovered from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate early this year contained classified documents, many of them top secret, mixed in with miscellaneous newspapers, magazines and personal correspondence. That’s according to an FBI affidavit released Friday explaining the justification for this month’s search of the property. The affidavit, even in its redacted form, offers the most detailed description to date of the government records being stored at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property long after he left the White House. It also reveals the gravity of the government’s concerns that the documents were there illegally.
August 27, 2022 9:32 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian officials say Russian rocket and artillery strikes have hit areas across the Dnieper River from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, as fears persist that fighting in the vicinity could damage the plant and cause a radiation leak. Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant soon after the war began and hold adjacent territory along the left bank of the wide river. Ukraine controls the right bank, including the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, each of them about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the plant. Heavy firing during the night left parts of Nikopol without electricity, the governor said. Rocket strikes damaged about a dozen residences in Marhanets.
August 27, 2022 9:28 am
ATLANTA (AP) – The prosecutor investigating whether former President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to interfere in the 2020 election in Georgia is seeking information about a breach of voting equipment in a county roughly 200 miles south of her Atlanta office. The widening of the probe highlights the latest case in which unauthorized people appear to have gained access to voting equipment since the 2020 election, primarily in battleground states lost by Trump. Election experts have raised concerns that sensitive information shared online about the equipment may have exposed vulnerabilities that could be exploited by people intent on disrupting future elections.
