February 9, 2021 1:16 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) – U.S. safety officials are criticizing the helicopter pilot’s decisions during the Southern California flight that crashed last year and killed Kobe Bryant, his teenage daughter and six other passengers. National Transportation Safety Board members on Tuesday say pilot Ara Zobayan went against his training and violated flight rules by flying into thick clouds during the roughly 40-minute flight that crashed on Jan. 26, 2020. Zobayan frequently flew Bryant and his children and was also killed. Tuesday’s federal hearing focused on the long-awaited probable cause or causes of the tragedy that unleashed worldwide grief for the retired basketball star, launched several lawsuits and prompted state and federal legislation.
February 9, 2021 9:44 am
Fort Cherry High School grad Marty Schottenheimer, who won 200 regular-season games with four NFL teams thanks to his “Martyball” brand of smash-mouth football but regularly fell short in the playoffs, has died. He was 77. Family friend Bob Moore says Schottenheimer died late Monday night at a hospice in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014. He was moved to a hospice on Jan. 30. Schottenheimer was the eighth-winningest coach in NFL history. He went 200-126-1 in 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers. His success was rooted in “Martyball,” a conservative approach that featured a strong running game and tough defense
February 9, 2021 4:42 am
Peters Township Council spent a good portion of their meeting Monday night reviewing initial steps toward the construction of an aquatic center in Rolling Hills Park. The aquatic center has not been approved, but because of logistical and cost saving advantages, Township Manager Paul Lauer presented options for council to perform preliminary grading work for the pool regardless of whether a pool is built now or several years In the future. The township’s current grading contractor is working on other areas of the park designated for development this year. Lauer suggests adding the grading for the pool to the current contractor whose bids have been very favorable instead of doing a second bidding and running the risk of higher costs or having to coordinate between two separate contractors. Lauer also pointed out that having the work for the pool completed while the other park development work is ongoing will save having the park torn apart twice, once for the current park project and if necessary years later, tearing it apart for more construction. Council approved allowing Lauer to request a proposal for the additional work. Lauer was emphatic in reminding council that doing the work now in no way commits them to building a pool this year. It does allow for work to be already completed if the project is postponed.
February 9, 2021 4:40 am
Vaccine administration has been the most recent hurdle for health care providers to cross in the battle against Covid-19. Washington Health System CEO Brook Ward provided an update to their progress in getting shots into people’s arms. Ward stated that a website dedicated to vaccine distribution only went down after two minutes when it was turned on Monday February, 1. Ward indicated that the site’s popularity is what crashed it several times that day. Improvements have been made to prevent that in the future. Nearly 25,000 people have registered on the site and roughly 1500 people have been scheduled to receive vaccines last week and this week. Patients can expect to gain greater access to vaccines as WHS will be expanding their footprint by using the old Ross Store in the Washington Crown Center, the Recreation Center in Peters Township and a larger facility at the hospital in Waynesburg. Ward states that WHS will have the capability to administer 8000 vaccines per week but that all depends on if the vaccines that are ordered are delivered by the federal government. Ward says that he orders his allotment of vaccines for first and second doses on Wednesday of each week and it is never guaranteed that what is ordered is what is delivered. Ward says cooperation between systems is the best way to get through the scheduling dilemma. He pointed to a coordinated effort between WHS, Mon Valley Hospital and Cornerstone Care to administer vaccines to local schools.
February 9, 2021 4:15 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Mary Wilson, the longest-reigning original Supreme, has died at 76 years old. Publicist Jay Schwartz says Wilson died Monday night at her home in Las Vegas and that the cause was not immediately clear. Wilson, Diana Ross and Florence Ballard made up the first successful configuration of The Supremes. She stayed with the group until it was officially disbanded by Motown in 1977. The group’s first No. 1, million-selling song, “Where Did Our Love Go,” was released June 17, 1964.
February 9, 2021 4:10 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia’s secretary of state’s office has opened an investigation into a phone call between Donald Trump and the state’s top elections official. During the Jan. 2 call, then-President Donald Trump told Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger he wanted to “find” enough votes to overturn his loss in the state. A spokesman for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger confirmed that the investigation was opened Monday. Trump had refused to accept his loss to Democrat Joe Biden and focused much of his attention on Georgia, a traditionally red state that he narrowly lost. A Trump adviser says there was “nothing improper or untoward” about the call.
February 9, 2021 4:09 am
BUFFALO, Minn. (AP) – Authorities say multiple people were shot at a Minnesota health clinic and a suspect was taken into custody afterward. Kelly Prestidge, an office manager for the Buffalo Police Department, says the shooting happened Tuesday at an Allina clinic in Buffalo, about 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis, and that one person was taken into custody. She says she doesn’t know how many people were shot or if anyone was killed. Police Chief Pat Budke says the situation was contained and there is no further threat. Gov. Tim Walz says improvised explosive devices were part of the attack, but he didn’t say whether any were detonated.
February 9, 2021 4:08 am
Authorities say a hacker gained access to a Florida city’s water treatment plant in an unsuccessful attempt to taint the water supply with a caustic chemical. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Monday that someone was able to breach a computer system for the city of Oldsmar’s water treatment plant on Friday. The hacker briefly increased the amount of sodium hydroxide by a factor of more than 100. The sheriff said a supervisor saw the chemical being tampered with and was able to intervene and reverse it. Officials say the city’s 15,000 residents were not at risk. Investigators said it wasn’t immediately clear who was behind the attack.
February 9, 2021 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee are proposing an additional $1,400 in direct payments to individuals, bolstered unemployment benefits and more generous tax breaks for families with children and for lower earners. The panel is unveiling its bill as Congress starts piecing together a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. The plan is expected to closely follow President Joe Biden’s proposed package to address the tolls of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed over 460,000 Americans, and the nation’s still staggering economy, which has lost 10 million jobs since the crisis began last year.
February 9, 2021 4:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial has opened in the Senate with graphic video of the deadly Jan. 6 attack on Congress after the defeated former president whips up a rally crowd. He shouts that “we’re going to walk down to the Capitol” as he encourages a futile fight over his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump is charged by the House with inciting the violent mob attack on the U.S. Capitol to overturn the election. Prosecutors argue Trump committed a “grievous constitutional crime,” but his defense team insists his fiery words at the rally were just figures of speech. His lawyers also say that trying a former president is unconstitutional. The debate over that constitutional question is expected to highlight the opening day
