September 15, 2021 9:14 am
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) – Cabbage Patch Kids touched off the first big holiday toy craze nearly 40 years ago. Now the dolls are among 12 finalists vying for induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame. The finalists were announced Wednesday at The Strong museum in Rochester, which houses the hall. The finalists also include five games: Battleship, Risk, The Settlers of Catan, Mahjong and billiards. Rounding out the list are the pinata, sand, toy fire truck, American Girl Dolls, Masters of the Universe and Fisher-Price Corn Popper. Three will be inducted in November. Fans are invited to weigh in as part of a “Player’s Choice” ballot that closes Sept. 22.
September 15, 2021 9:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden says nearly 3 million consumers took advantage of a special six-month period to sign up for private health insurance coverage made more affordable by his COVID-19 relief law. Biden ordered the HealthCare.gov marketplace to reopen Feb. 15 for six months to give people who lost their jobs and health care benefits due to the pandemic the opportunity to buy coverage for themselves and their families. Otherwise, they would have had to wait until November, the annual sign-up season for the Affordable Care Act. The coverage became more affordable due to enhanced subsidies in Biden’s COVID-19 relief law.
September 15, 2021 9:11 am
NOTTINGHAM TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Bentleyville man was killed in a crash Tuesday afternoon. Reports say the crash happened around 3:00 p.m. on Sugar Run Road in Nottingham Township. Officials say Carl Yates, 85, was on Sichi Hill Road when he reached the intersection with Sugar Run Road and didn’t stop at a stop sign. Police say his vehicle went off the road and hit a tree. Reports say Yates died of injuries he suffered in the crash before he could be taken to an area hospital.
September 15, 2021 3:19 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles into waters off its eastern coast two days after claiming to have tested a newly developed missile in its first such weapons displays in six months. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the ballistic missiles were launched Wednesday afternoon. Japan’s coast guard says they landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Seoul said South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are analyzing more details about the launches. They came as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in Seoul for meetings with South Korean leaders. It’s unusual for North Korea to make provocative launches when China, its last major ally and biggest aid provider, is engaged in major diplomatic events.
September 15, 2021 3:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats have begun the serious work of trying to implement President Joe Biden’s expansive spending plan. But getting there will require remarkable legislative nimbleness, since Biden has said the revenue to pay for it must come only from Americans who earn more than $400,000 a year. Republicans have vowed lockstep opposition to the plan, and they are turning their anger against proposed tax breaks they portray as subsidies for wealthy elites rather than help for the poor and middle class. Electric vehicles became a rallying symbol as class-warfare overtones echoed through a committee session Tuesday.
September 15, 2021 3:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department is asking a federal court in Texas to issue a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction against a new state law that bans most abortions in Texas. The emergency motion filed Tuesday night says a court can issue such an order as a means of preventing harm to parties involved before the court can fully decide the claims in the case. Last week the Justice Department filed a lawsuit asking the court to declare the law invalid. The law prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity. That’s usually around six weeks, before some women know they’re pregnant.
September 15, 2021 3:15 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has defeated an attempt to oust him from office, overcoming Republican criticism of COVID-19 restrictions that shuttered schools and businesses. On Tuesday, Newsom became the second governor in U.S. history to survive a recall election. He framed the race as an epic struggle to protect California’s progressive values on climate change, immigration and abortion and women’s rights from far-right extremists and followers of former President Donald Trump. The outcome was being watched nationally with the 2022 midterm elections on the horizon, when control of Congress again will be at stake.
September 15, 2021 3:04 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority was ordered to pay half a million dollars and was put on three years’ probation after a federal judge found the company violated the Clean Water Act. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, PWSA violated its permit when it “discharged a substance known as clarifier sludge into the Allegheny River.” Officials said that happened “on a number of occasions” from 2010 to 2017. Under the permit, PWSA was not legally allowed to discharge the substance into the popular fishing and boating waterway. Additionally, officials said PWSA violated another permit by lying to ALCOSAN about how much sludge was being shipped to the agency’s waste treatment facility. Meters measuring the flow of sludge to the facility stopped working and PWSA then supplied estimated numbers to ALCOSAN instead of the actual numbers. Those meters were not replaced until five years later, after federal investigators found they weren’t working.
September 15, 2021 3:02 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — A proposal to require people to wear masks at all indoor events and some outdoor events in Allegheny County died at Tuesday evening’s council meeting. Under the new proposal, sponsored by council members Bethany Hallam and Olivia Bennett, people would have been required to wear masks at any outdoor gathering of more than 250 people. There could also have been fines. But social media users were quick to point out that according to co-sponsor Hallam’s Twitter account, she traveled to Buffalo, New York, over the weekend for the Pittsburgh Steelers game. She posted photos of herself at the stadium without a mask on, leading to several comments. Hallam responded Monday, releasing a statement that said, “I was in Buffalo and their rules are to wear a mask everywhere except in your seats! Our cases per capita are much higher in Allegheny County so we need stricter measures to protect those who are unable to receive the vaccine, such as children and immunocompromised folks.”
September 15, 2021 1:16 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — The man accused of killing a City of Washington resident will not face charges. District Attorney Jason Walsh called a press conference Tuesday to announce that nothing more will come in the shooting death of Leonard Wayne Williams on September 1st. Walsh stated that the actor, who was Williams’ landlord, shot in self defense and cited several witness accounts of Williams pursuing the man. Walsh has declined to name the actor.
