August 11, 2021 4:18 am
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – Tropical Storm Fred has made landfall in the Dominican Republic, with forecasters warning that heavy rains could cause dangerous flooding and mudslides there and in the neighboring country of Haiti. The forecast track would bring it near Florida by the weekend.. After a quiet month in the region, Fred became the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season late Tuesday. Tropical storm warnings have been discontinued for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, though heavy rains and power outages were reported. Forecasters said Fred’s center could be over the southeastern Bahamas Thursday and north of Cuba on Friday as it approaches the U.S.
August 11, 2021 4:17 am
The latest wave of coronavirus infections in Texas continues to tax the state’s health care systems as health officials report that 10,000 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 for the first time since early February. State health officials reported Tuesday that 10,041 hospital patients in Texas were ill with COVID-19 as of Monday. That is the most since 10,259 COVID-19 hospitalizations were reported Feb. 4. Meantime, a state district judge in San Antonio granted a temporary restraining order to allow the governments of San Antonio and Bexar County to require public school students to wear masks in class and to quarantine unvaccinated students exposed to the virus.
August 11, 2021 4:16 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The Pacific Northwest is bracing for another major, multi-day heat wave just five weeks after temperatures soared in a record-shattering hot weather that killed scores of the most vulnerable in June. The National Weather Service in Portland, Oregon, warned that the thermometer would start to rise Wednesday and could reach as high as 110 F in some places before a weekend cooldown. Those numbers would have broken all-time records if it weren’t for the June heat wave, which killed hundreds of people across Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Seattle will be cooler than Portland but could still break records with temperatures in the mid-90s.
August 11, 2021 4:15 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Eight months after the death of beloved “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, the daily syndicated quiz show chose its executive producer Mike Richards as Trebek’s successor over a field of celebrity candidates. But after fan backlash to a selection process that turned messy in recent weeks, producer Sony split the pie by naming another guest host, actor Mayim Bialik, as emcee for “Jeopardy!” primetime and spinoff series, including a new college championship. In another nod to “Jeopardy!” devotees, longtime champion Ken Jennings will return as a consulting producer.
August 11, 2021 4:10 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A Republican-majority county board in rural northern Pennsylvania is accusing a state senator of creating “unnecessary chaos” in pushing for a detailed review of how the county collected and counted votes in former President Donald Trump’s reelection defeat last year. The three Tioga County commissioners all read portions of a statement at a board meeting Tuesday. They’re urging Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano to reverse his demand that Tioga and two other counties turn over election records and equipment to the Intergovernmental Operations Committee that he chairs. Mastriano didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.
August 11, 2021 2:25 am
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul says she is prepared to lead after Gov. Andrew Cuomo steps down. Hochul gave her first public remarks Wednesday. It came a day after Cuomo’s announcement that he would step down rather than face a likely impeachment trial over allegations that he sexually harassed several women. He denies touching anyone inappropriately. Hochul says she planned to bring in new people to her administration and eliminate anyone “unethical” named in the attorney general’s report on Cuomo. Hochul will become the state’s first female governor when she takes over from Cuomo.
August 10, 2021 4:23 pm
(AP) – Emmy Award-winner Christina Applegate has announced that she has multiple sclerosis, describing her diagnosis as a “tough road.” The 49-year-old actor known for her roles in “Married… with Children” and “Dead to Me,” said in a tweet late Monday that she was diagnosed “a few months ago.” Multiple sclerosis – also known as MS – affects the nervous system and often results in progressive physical and cognitive decline. Applegate won her Emmy in 2003 for a guest spot on “Friends” and has a Tony Award nomination for the musical “Sweet Charity.” (Photo: AP)
August 10, 2021 11:57 am
Two men are being held in the Washington County Jail without bond while they await trial on homicide and firearms charges. During a preliminary hearing on Monday, 32-year-old Sydney Devon McLean of McKeesport and 31-year-old Devell Dexter Christian of White Oak were identified as the men authorities believe shot and killed 28-year-old Nicholas Tarpley on February 24th inside Anna Lee’s Convenience Store on Allen Avenue in Donora. No motive has been given for the murder, although authorities suggest that the two men may have been targeting someone else and Tarpley was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
August 10, 2021 4:16 am
MIAMI (AP) – Tropical storm watches have been issued for various Caribbean islands for what soon could become the sixth named tropical storm of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season. The National Hurricane Center announced Monday evening that watches for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques have been upgraded to a tropical storm warning. Forecasters believe the disturbance heading toward the Lesser Antilles could become Tropical Storm Fred later Monday night or early Tuesday morning. It has been more than a month since the last storm, Hurricane Elsa, formed. The disturbance had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. A tropical storm has maximum sustained winds of at least 39 mph.
August 10, 2021 4:15 am
California’s largest single wildfire in recorded history is running through forestlands as fire crews try to protect rural communities from flames that have destroyed hundreds of homes. The Dixie Fire in the northern Sierra Nevada is just 22% contained and fire officials warn that hot, dry weather and gusts could push flames harder in the next few days. On Monday, however, crews managed to make progress, cutting thousands of acres of fire lines. The fire has destroyed more than 600 homes and other buildings and gutted the town of Greenville. It’s the largest of some 100 large blazes burning in more than a dozen Western states.
