March 12, 2022 4:16 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A judge says former President Donald Trump’s moves aimed at delaying a rape accuser’s defamation claims from reaching trial are in bad faith and so far succeeding. The federal judge in New York denied an effort by Trump’s lawyers to countersue advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. She wrote in a 2019 book that Trump raped her in the 1990s in a Manhattan store. Trump denied it and questioned Carroll’s motivations. The judge noted in a ruling released Friday that Carroll is in her late 70s and that her claims could have been decided long ago. A lawyer for Carroll says she “could not agree more.”
March 12, 2022 4:14 am
HOUSTON (AP) – A grand jury has declined to indict Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson following a police investigation sparked by lawsuits from 22 women who have accused him of harassment and sexual assault. The grand jury’s decision Friday came about a year after the women first filed their suits. They say they were harassed and assaulted during massage appointments. Watson has denied the accusations. Watson said Friday he was grateful for the grand jury’s decision. Houston police began investigating in April 2021 after a criminal complaint was filed. Prosecutors say they presented evidence to the grand jury for over six hours Friday related to nine criminal complaints. They declined to say what possible charges were presented.
March 12, 2022 4:13 am
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio prosecutors have announced that a grand jury declined to charge the police officer who fatally shot 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant last year. Bryant was killed in April by Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon as she swung a knife at another young woman. Bryant was Black and Reardon is white. Police were responding to a 911 call made from Bryant’s foster home about a group of girls threatening to stab members of the household. Bryant was shot four times and died from those injuries. Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer were the special prosecutors on the case. They said Friday no charges were brought after a full review.
March 12, 2022 4:12 am
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor of a city, calling the abduction “a new stage of terror.” Russian forces expanded their offensive into western Ukraine, hitting two towns. New satellite images appear to show Russian artillery firing on residential areas between Russian forces and the capital. Meanwhile, Russia’s baseless claims that the U.S. is conducting “biological activities” in Ukraine persist. At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. said Russia was lying and spreading disinformation. The war has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee Ukraine as others seek refuge in basements, subway stations and underground shelters.
March 12, 2022 4:11 am
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) – U.S. soldiers are continuing to deploy to Europe, joining thousands already sent overseas to support NATO allies amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Troops from the 87th Division Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Division Sustainment Brigade gathered Friday at Hunter Airfield in Savannah, Georgia and departed on a chartered flight. The soldiers are in addition to the estimated 3,800 soldiers from the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division who deployed recently from nearby Fort Stewart. A division commander said that soldiers are being told to prepare for about six months overseas. The Pentagon has ordered roughly 12,000 total service members from various U.S. bases to Europe.
March 12, 2022 1:42 am
Rain, sleet or snow, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Pittsburgh will go on. Despite a decent amount of snow in the forecast for Saturday, Pittsburgh Public Safety officials say they are expecting a robust turnout for the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade – after two years of cancelled or subdued celebrations. THE parade is also anticipated to generate post-parade festivities in the city’s South Side, downtown and North Shore. Police say they will be out in full force, monitoring the crowds for underage drinking, public intoxication, and drinking and driving. People are also being reminded that alcohol consumption is illegal in unlicensed public spaces, and open container laws will be strictly enforced. (Photo: WPXI)
March 12, 2022 1:13 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The United States has accused Russia of using a U.N. Security Council meeting for “spreading disinformation” as part of a potential false-flag operation by Moscow for the use of chemical or biological agents in Ukraine. Russia accused the U.S. of “biological activities” in Ukraine – a charge made without any evidence and denied by both Washington and Kyiv. Olivia Dalton, spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said: “This is exactly the kind of false flag effort we have warned Russia might initiate to justify a biological or chemical weapons attack.” The Russian request for the Security Council meeting followed a U.S. rejection of Russian accusations that Ukraine is operating chemical and biological labs with U.S. support.
March 12, 2022 1:08 am
An Eighty Four man who was driving the wrong way on Interstate 70 will face trial for his accident that killed a woman back in February. Leandre Woods, 48 will face homicide by vehicle and homicide by vehicle while DUI among other charges. In his preliminary hearing Friday, all 10 charges against him were held for court without testimony. Witnesses told police Woods was driving west in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 when he collided head on with a vehicle driven by 32 year old Joscelyn Vith of Eighty Four. The accident occurred between the Jefferson Avenue and Interstate 79 exit ramps. Vith died at a Pittsburgh hospital a short time after the accident. Woods fled on foot but later turned himself in to Pennsylvania State Police. Court records reveal that Woods had several DUI convictions and was driving on a suspended license. Woods remains in the Washington County Jail without bond.
March 11, 2022 5:41 pm
(AP) – Emilio Delgado, the actor and singer who for 45 years played fix-it shop owner Luis on “Sesame Street,” has died. His wife, Carol Delgado, tells The Associated Press that Emilio Delgado died from the blood cancer multiple myeloma on Thursday at their home in New York. He was 81. As Luis, Delgado, a Mexican-American, he got to play a rare non-stereotypical Latino character at a time when such representation was rare. The producers of the show encouraged him to use Spanish as he interacted with Big Bird, Oscar and Elmo. Delgado began on the show in 1971, and remained until 2016. (Photo: ABC News)
March 11, 2022 4:14 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to 150 days in jail for lying to police in a racist and homophobic attack that he staged himself. Cook County Judge James Linn sentenced Smollett to 30 months of felony probation, with five months served in the county jail. Linn denied a request to suspend Smollett’s sentence and ordered he be placed in custody immediately. Smollett proclaimed his innocence after Linn’s decision. Sentencing for Smollett began shortly after Linn upheld the jury’s verdict from December that found Smollett, who is Black and gay, guilty of five felony counts of disorderly conduct. Supporters of Smollett urged Linn not to send Smollett to prison.
