March 27, 2021 4:15 am
MONROEVILLE (WPXI) — On Friday night, Monroeville Police responded to the Cambridge Square Apartments to investigate a shooting. When officers arrived, a 3-year-old female was found with a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead. A detective believes the child’s sibling, a 5-year-old, was handling an unsecured firearm and accidentally shot their sister. Allegheny County Police tell our news partners at Channel 11 the firearm is legally owned by a person who lives in the residence and that person is cooperating with the investigation.
March 27, 2021 1:20 am
National forecasters are very optimistic about the future growth of the economy both nationally and locally here in Washington County. Dr. Joel Naroff, President of Naroff Economics, spoke to the Washington Chamber of Commerce during a webinar Thursday as part of the Chamber’s state of the Economy. Naroff says this is a rare time period where is extremely optimistic about economic growth in the United States. Naroff says the federal government’s stimulus for both businesses and people are having a great impact so far, but he warns that there could be a leveling off from the stimulus surge in the years 2022 and 2023 when businesses need to start making money on their own once again. The forecaster says locally, Washington County is in a great spot because the people and businesses in this area are helping keep Pittsburgh growing, even as workforces are largely based from home. Naroff also says Washington’s energy sector will keep playing a vital role in the national economy for years to come.
March 26, 2021 4:28 pm
DALLAS (AP) – Larry McMurtry, the prolific and popular author who took readers back to the old American West in his Pulitzer Prize-winning “Lonesome Dove” and returned them to modern-day landscapes in works such as his emotional tale of a mother-daughter relationship in “Terms of Endearment,” has died. He was 84. McMurtry died Thursday night of heart failure, according to a family statement issued through a publicist on Friday. The statement did not say where he died but noted that he’ll be buried “in his cherished home state of Texas.” Several of McMurtry’s books became feature films, including the Oscar-winners “The Last Picture Show” and “Terms of Endearment.” His epic 1986 Pulitzer winner “Lonesome Dove,” about a cattle drive from Texas across the Great Plains during the 1870s, was made into a popular television miniseries that starred Robert Duvall, who has often cited the project as a personal favorite and likened his role as retired Texas Ranger Augustus McCrae to acting in “Hamlet.”
March 26, 2021 4:23 am
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) – About 2,000 people gathered for a vigil honoring the 10 people killed in the Colorado supermarket shooting Thursday night, just hours after attorneys for the shooting suspect asked during his first court appearance that he receive a mental health evaluation before the case against him proceeds. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa did not speak during the brief hearing except to say “yes” to a question from the judge. The judge advised him that he is charged with murder in the attack that killed 10 people, including a Boulder police officer. The 21-year-old man entered court in a wheelchair, presumably because of a gunshot wound to the leg that he suffered Monday in a gunbattle with police.
March 26, 2021 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former President Donald Trump is defending some of his supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, saying they posed “zero threat” to the lawmakers who had assembled there to certify the Electoral College vote that confirmed Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential race. Trump complained to Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham on Thursday that law enforcement was “persecuting” the Capitol rioters, while “nothing happens” to left-wing protesters. Trump did acknowledge that those who stormed the Capitol “went in and they shouldn’t have done it.” More than 300 people have been charged in connection to the riot.
March 26, 2021 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is leaving the door open to backing fundamental changes in Senate procedure to muscle key parts of his agenda past Republican opposition. In his first formal news conference as president, Biden at first backed a modification – but not elimination – of the filibuster, which stands in the way of passing the president’s ambitious agenda in the deadlocked Senate. But he then appeared, at least on certain issues, to suggest he would go further. The 78-year-old president also said for the first time that his “plan is to run for reelection,” adding, “that is my expectation.”
March 26, 2021 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. will take steps to more quickly move hundreds of migrant children and teens out of cramped detention facilities along the Southwest border. That from President Joe Biden Thursday as he pushed back against suggestions that his administration’s policies are responsible for the rising number of people seeking to cross into the country. Biden was pressed repeatedly on the situation at the border at his first news conference since taking office. He cited a series of measures such as opening space at a Texas Army base for about 5,000 unaccompanied minors, to address the issue. But he also sought to portray the rise in migrants as little different from seasonal increases in the past.
March 26, 2021 4:18 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has drawn protests as he signed into law a sweeping Republican-sponsored overhaul of state elections. The law passed Thursday places new restrictions on voting by mail and greater legislative oversight of elections. Democrats and voting rights groups say the law will disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color. It’s one of a wave of GOP-backed state election bills introduced after former President Donald Trump stoked false claims that fraud led to his 2020 election defeat. President Joe Biden called the GOP efforts “un-American” Thursday. Separately, Georgia authorities said one Black House representative was arrested while she was protesting outside the governor’s bill-signing ceremony and jailed. She has since been released.
March 26, 2021 4:17 am
Tornadoes hatched by early spring “super cell” storms have ripped a path of devastation across Alabama and into Georgia early Friday, leaving at least five people dead. Authorities say one fierce tornado traveled roughly 100 miles and left a long path of damage. The storms knocked out power to tens of thousands in Alabama. They also raised warnings about possible overnight flash floods in parts of Georgia and Tennessee and other severe weather into Kentucky and the Carolinas. First lady Jill Biden has postponed a trip to Birmingham and Jasper, Alabama, that had been planned for Friday.
March 26, 2021 4:13 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Both United Airlines and Southwest Airlines announced passengers will be able to fly to new destinations from Pittsburgh International Airport. According to airport officials, United announced travelers will be able to fly nonstop to Pensacola, Florida; Portland, Maine; and Charleston and Hilton Head, South Carolina. Several hours later, Southwest announced it was adding a route to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. United officials said these seasonal routes will be offered starting Memorial Day and will operate until Labor Day weekend. They will be served using the new Bombardier CRJ-550 jets. Southwest will begin Saturday nonstop service to Myrtle Beach in late May. It will ramp up to five times weekly starting in early June. Spirit and Allegiant both also offer flights to Myrtle Beach from Pittsburgh.
