August 29, 2021 7:58 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A SpaceX shipment of ants, avocados and a human-sized robotic arm rocketed toward the International Space Station on Sunday. The delivery — due to arrive Monday — is the company’s 23rd for NASA in just under a decade. A recycled Falcon rocket blasted into the predawn sky from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. After hoisting the Dragon capsule, the first-stage booster landed upright on SpaceX’s newest ocean platform, named “A Shortfall of Gravitas.” SpaceX founder Elon Musk continued his tradition of naming the booster-recovery vessels in tribute to the late science fiction writer Iain Banks and his Culture series.
August 29, 2021 7:57 am
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters faced a critical day in efforts to prevent a massive California wildfire from reaching the Lake Tahoe resort region Saturday, hoping to take advantage of calmer winds before hot, heavy gusts return. The Caldor Fire churned through mountains just southwest of the Tahoe Basin, cloaking much of the area in toxic smoke and sending tourists packing at a time when summer vacations would be in full swing ahead of the Labor Day weekend. A favorable turn in the weather Saturday afternoon allowed firefighters to make progress and increase containment of the Caldor Fire to 19%, up from 12% the day before, said Capt. Stephen Horner, a Cal Fire spokesman for the Caldor Fire. The fire so far has burned about 149,000 acres, or 233 square miles (603 square kilometers). The fire’s eastern edge was about 7 or 8 miles (11 or 13 kilometers) from the city of South Lake Tahoe and did not advance much overnight thanks to operations known as “backfiring,” where firefighters get ahead of the blaze and burn up fuel so the fire has nothing to ignite.
August 29, 2021 7:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has vowed to keep up airstrikes against the Islamic extremist group whose suicide bombing at the Kabul airport killed scores of Afghans and 13 American service members. He warned another attack was “highly likely” and the State Department called the threat “specific” and “credible.” The Pentagon said the remaining contingent of U.S. forces at the airport, now numbering fewer than 4,000, had begun their final withdrawal ahead of Biden’s deadline for ending the evacuation on Tuesday. After getting briefed on a U.S. drone mission in eastern Afghanistan that the Pentagon said killed two members of the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate early Saturday, Biden said Saturday the extremists can expect more.
August 29, 2021 7:54 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hurricane Ida rapidly grew in strength early Sunday, becoming a dangerous Category 4 hurricane just hours before hitting the Louisiana coast while emergency officials in the region grappled with opening shelters for displaced evacuees despite the risks of spreading the coronavirus. As Ida moved through some of the warmest ocean water in the world in the northern Gulf of Mexico, its top winds grew by 45 mph (72 kph) to 150 mph (230 kph) in five hours. The system was expected to make landfall Sunday afternoon, set to arrive on the exact date Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi 16 years earlier. Ida was centered about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and 75 miles (120 kilometers) south-southeast of costal Grand Isle, Louisiana. It was traveling northwest at 15 mph (24 kph).
August 29, 2021 7:51 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Servicemembers from the Pittsburgh-based 911th Airlift Wing are in Afghanistan helping with the evacuation effort at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Our newspartners at Channel 11 spoke with the Commander of the 911th Col. John Robinson, who choked up at one point talking about seeing his planes and his people working to get people out. Robinson said his crews are providing security, mission support, operations and more ahead of President Joe Biden’s Monday deadline. He said when the 911th Airlift Wing got the call, they were ready. He said he can’t release how many planes and airmen from Pittsburgh are over there, but said the region is well represented.
August 29, 2021 1:38 am
SOUTH STRABANE, Pa. — A man was hospitalized after getting shot Friday night in South Strabane Township. Washington County 911 confirms a 20-year-old male was shot in the stomach near the intersection of Route 19 and Manifold Road. Reports say the victim was found behind the Jimmy John’s restaurant just after 10:00 p.m. Officials say the victim was flown by medical helicopter to an area hospital for treatment. There is no word on his condition. Officials confirm one person was taken into custody at the scene, but Chief Drew Hilk of the South Strabane Police Department says the 22-year old male was interviewed and later released. No identities of the victim or suspect have been made public at this time. Chief Hilk says the department is not searching for a shooter and there is no threat to the public. South Strabane Police continue to investigate the situation.
August 29, 2021 1:23 am
A Washington County judge has denied a request to reverse the mask mandate at Peters Township School District. Senior Judge Katherine Emery denied the temporary injunction requested by parents who are against the mandate. Therefore, the decision by the school board requiring masks for everyone in all district buildings stands. The attorney representing the parents said they are disappointed, but the lawsuit will move forward.
August 28, 2021 4:30 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has ordered a mandatory evacuation for a small area of the city outside the levee system. But with Hurricane Ida intensifying so much over a short time, she said it wasn’t possible to do so for the entire city. Forecasters say Ida could grow to an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm with top winds of 140 mph when it nears the U.S. coast late Sunday. The National Hurricane Center says Ida already has top winds of 80 mph and should rapidly intensify as it speeds across warm Gulf waters and slams into Louisiana. Gov. John Bel Edwards has declared an emergency for all of Louisiana.
August 28, 2021 4:29 am
BEIJING (AP) – China’s defense ministry has protested the passage of a U.S. Navy warship and Coast Guard cutter through the waters between China and Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China. A statement posted Saturday on the ministry’s website called the move provocative and said it shows that the United States is the biggest creator of security risks in the Taiwan Strait. The USS Kidd guided-missile destroyer and Coast Guard cutter Munro sailed through the passage Friday. Such exercises are seen as a warning to China, which recently conducted drills near Taiwan and has not renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
August 28, 2021 4:28 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States military struck back at the Islamic State in Afghanistan on Saturday, acting on President Joe Biden’s vow to hit the extremists in retaliation for a suicide bombing claimed by IS that killed as many as 169 Afghans and 13 American service members at Kabul airport Thursday. A U.S. Central Command statement said a drone strike targeted an IS planner in the eastern province of Nangahar. It said initial indications were that the target was killed. Biden said Thursday he would strike back at the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate. “We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he said.
