May 31, 2021 4:34 am
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) – A man has been arrested in Texas, accused of plotting to carry out a mass shooting at a Walmart. The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release Sunday that 28-year-old Coleman Thomas Blevins is charged with making a terroristic threat. Investigators say they intercepted a message from Blevins on Thursday indicating he was “preparing to proceed with a mass shooting,” and that the threat included Walmart. Blevins was arrested Friday. Authorities searched his home and found firearms, ammunition, and more, including what officials called “radical ideology paraphernalia” such as books, flags and handwritten documents. Jail records didn’t list an attorney who could comment on Blevins’ behalf.
May 31, 2021 4:29 am
PITTSBURGH — It’s been well over a year into this pandemic and businesses that have had to shut down and then work under several limitations are now finally able to go to full capacity. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration announced that after midnight May 31, businesses, events and venues can go back to normal, except for the mask requirement for anyone who is not fully vaccinated. Wolf added that it’s important for people to get the COVID-19 vaccine in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. Requirements such as testing and reporting new cases will remain in place for hospitals and long-term care facilities. Maintaining requirements for hospitals and long-term care facilities will allow Pennsylvania to continue to closely monitor COVID-19 spread while lifting other restrictions.
May 31, 2021 4:24 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A fight between multiple people at a western Pennsylvania mall culminated in gunfire, forcing stores to lock down and shoppers to evacuate. Law enforcement officials say two young men were arrested in connection with the shooting at the Ross Park Mall in Ross Township on Saturday. No one was injured. Ross Township Police Detective Sergeant Brian Kohlhepp says authorities recovered three guns from the two suspects. Police say five or six people were involved in the fight. It took several hours for everyone in the mall to be evacuated.
May 31, 2021 1:31 am
MCDONALD, Pa. — Area police are looking for a missing McDonald man. According to the McDonald Borough Police are searching for 58-year-old John Terrell. The man was reported missing Friday morning and was last seen wearing blue jeans and blue tennis shoes. The african american male stands at 5’9″ and weighs 215 pounds with brown eyes. Police say he is known to suffer from alcoholism and he is also known to frequent the Panhandle Trail in the area. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Terrell are asked to call McDonald Borough Police at 724-926-2105.
May 31, 2021 1:21 am
DONORA, Pa. — A Washington County man is dead and another is in jail following a shooting at a residence late Friday night. According to Coroner Tim Warco, 26-year-old Dakota Johnson was shot at a home on 3rd Street in Donora around 11:45 p.m. Johnson was transported to the Monongahela Valley Hospital emergency department, where he was pronounced dead at roughly 2:30 Saturday morning. The cause and manner of Johnson’s death is still pending. According to police reports, 24-year-old Tionya Gaston was shot multiple times during the altercation and was also taken to the hospital for treatment. Javonne Crawford, 22, was taken into custody for the shooting and is charged with criminal homicide and attempted criminal homicide. This shooting is under investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police. Donora, Carroll Township, Charleroi, and Ringgold School District Police Departments all responded to the scene.
May 30, 2021 7:55 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Republicans dug in Saturday for a final weekend vote on some of the most restrictive new voting laws in the U.S., putting the last touches on a sweeping bill that would eliminate drive-thru voting, empower partisan poll watchers and limit voting on Sundays, when many Black churchgoers head to the polls. The changes would need to be approved before midnight on Sunday, when the GOP-controlled Legislature wraps up a session dominated by Republicans muscling through staunchly conservative measures pertaining to guns, abortion and how race can be taught in public schools. But none have drawn backlash like Senate Bill 7, which Republicans packed with a raft of new voting restrictions that would alter how the country’s biggest red state conducts elections. Democrats have virtually no path to stop it from passing, thereby putting Republicans on the brink of a major victory in their nationwide campaign to impose new voting restrictions. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has said he will sign the measure, which Democrats have said they would challenge in court.
May 30, 2021 7:53 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gavin MacLeod, the veteran supporting actor who achieved fame as sardonic TV news writer Murray Slaughter on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and stardom playing cheerful Capt. Stubing on “The Love Boat,” has died. He was 90. MacLeod died early Saturday at his home in Palm Desert, California, said Stephanie Steele Zalin, his stepdaughter. She attributed his death to his age, saying he had been well until very recently. Ed Asner, who played opposite MacLeod on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” said on Twitter that “my heart is broken. Gavin was my brother, my partner in crime (and food) and my comic conspirator.” Known to sitcom fans for his bald head and wide smile, MacLeod toiled in near anonymity for more than a decade, appearing on dozens of TV shows and in several movies before landing the part of Murray in 1970.
May 30, 2021 7:51 am
B.J. Thomas, the Grammy-winning singer who enjoyed success on the pop, country and gospel charts with such hits as “I Just Can’t Help Believing,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” and “Hooked on a Feeling,” has died. He was 78. Thomas, who announced in March that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, died from complications of the disease Saturday at his home in Arlington, Texas, his publicist Jeremy Westby said in a statement. A Hugo, Oklahoma-native who grew up in Houston, Billy Joe Thomas broke through in 1966 with a gospel-styled cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and went on to sell millions of records and have dozens of hits across genres. He reached No. 1 with pop, adult contemporary and country listeners in 1976 with ″(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.” The same year, his “Home Where I Belong” became one of the first gospel albums to be certified platinum for selling more than 1 million copies.
May 30, 2021 7:49 am
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Just in time for Memorial Day weekend, more U.S. cities and states are shrugging off lingering COVID-19 restrictions as vaccination rates rise and the number of infections falls. Massachusetts lifted a mask requirement Saturday, a day after New Jersey dropped its mandate. In New York City and Chicago, officials reopened public beaches, though winds and cool temperatures kept crowds away. Chicago’s Navy Pier also reopened retail stores and restaurants, carnival rides, and tour boats and cruises after the pandemic forced monthslong closures at the busy tourist destination. It’s one more sign of progress that reflects increasingly positive health data. On Saturday, Illinois’ Department of Public Health reported 802 new confirmed and probable infections, the second-lowest one-day total in the last six months. For businesses nationwide, the improving outlook and long holiday weekend offered a chance to welcome customers back to in-person shopping. Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, opened its doors to customers for the first time in nearly 14 months Friday. Masks are still required. The business had switched to internet orders, sidewalk sales and virtual author events to survive the pandemic.
May 30, 2021 7:47 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — With Pennsylvania’s wide-open races for governor and U.S. Senate taking shape, Republican candidates with strong ties to Donald Trump are running and considered strong contenders for the party’s nominations — a powerful sign of the former president’s enduring popularity within the GOP. Within a few days of each other, Sean Parnell entered the race for U.S. Senate and Lou Barletta entered the race for governor. Trump had urged both men to run in prior bids for public office. Parnell and Barletta have ties to Trump that go deep. Barletta was co-chair of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in Pennsylvania and a loyal ally on Capitol Hill when he was in Congress. He was Trump’s endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018 and watched the Super Bowl that year with the then-president. He was one of Trump’s hand-picked presidential electors in Pennsylvania last year and has hired veterans of Trump’s campaign to run his own.
