October 21, 2020 2:56 am
Two people charged with selling fatal overdoses of drugs appeared in plea court before Judge Gary Gilman. Nyieka Speeer, 26 of Canton Township is charged with selling a fatal overdose of morphine laced with fentanyl to 25 year old Sara Nicole Morrison Jones of Somerset Twp. In what appeared to be a tense misunderstanding between Speer and her public defender, Speer rejected the plea deal and asked for a trial but indicated that she wanted to seek different representation. Gilman scheduled a pre trial conference for December 4. A second case was continued for Robert Hayes. The 38 year old Washington man is also charged with selling fatal overdoses of cocaine laced with fentanyl to Brandon Howard and Joseph Francis, both of Washington. The public defender’s office asked for and was granted a continuance pending a plea deal from the district attorney. Hayes’ hearing is scheduled for November 4.
October 20, 2020 5:40 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is calling on Attorney General William Barr to launch an investigation of Democrat Joe Biden and his son Hunter, effectively demanding that the Justice Department muddy his political opponent and abandon the department’s historic resistance to getting involved in elections. Trump for the first time explicitly called on Barr to investigate the Bidens and even pointed to the nearing Nov. 3 election as a reason that Barr should not delay taking action. Trump’s pressuring of Barr comes as national and most battleground polls show him facing an increasingly narrow path to reelection.
October 20, 2020 4:38 pm
LONDON (AP) – British guitarist and bandleader Spencer Davis, whose eponymous rock group had 1960s hits including “Gimme Some Lovin”‘ and “I’m a Man,” has died at the age of 81. Davis’ agent, Bob Birk, said Tuesday that he died in a hospital while being treated for pneumonia. Davis formed the Spencer Davis Group in 1963, with a teenage Steve Winwood on keyboards and guitar, his brother Muff Winwood on bass and Pete York on drums. With Steve Winwood as lead vocalist, the band had two No. 1 U.K. singles, “Keep on Running” in 1965 and “Somebody Help Me” in 1966, and seven British top 40 hits.
October 20, 2020 1:47 pm
(WPXI) – The driver of a car was killed in a wrong-way crash involving a Pepsi truck on Interstate 279 north in Pittsburgh. Police said the car was going the wrong way and collided head on with the truck, which was traveling in the right direction, just before 12 a.m. Tuesday. The front end of the car became wedged under the front of the truck. Investigators said the car caught fire and the driver of the truck put out the flames. The 34-year-old driver of the car was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. His name has not been released. The truck driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. I-279 north was closed for several hours just before the Chestnut Street exit. It reopened about 6 a.m. Investigators are working to determine where the driver of the car got onto I-279.
October 20, 2020 1:43 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Jeff Bridges says he is being treated for lymphoma and his prognosis is good. The actor channeled his The Dude character from “The Big Lebowski” in a statement on social media about the diagnosis Monday evening. He said he understands the disease is serious and expressed gratitude to his family, friends and medical team. Bridges, the son of the late actors Lloyd and Dorothy Bridges, is a seven-time Oscar nominee known for his roles in “Starman,” “True Grit,” “The Last Picture Show” and many other films. He won an Academy Award in 2010 for “Crazy Heart” and was most recently nominated for playing a grizzled lawman in “Hell or High Water.”
October 20, 2020 10:40 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department is expected to file a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that Google has been abusing its online dominance in online search to stifle competition and harm consumers. The litigation marks the government’s most significant act to protect competition since its groundbreaking case against Microsoft more than 20 years ago. The suit could be an opening salvo ahead of other major government antitrust actions, given ongoing investigations of major tech companies including Apple, Amazon and Facebook at both the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission. Google has long denied the claims of unfair competition. Google argues that although its businesses are large, they are useful and beneficial to consumers.
October 20, 2020 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump plans to attend Thursday’s debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden despite rule changes – opposed by his campaign – that are meant to foster more ordered discussions. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien says Trump “is committed to debating Joe Biden regardless of last minute rule changes from the biased commission.” The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced Monday that the second and final debate between the two candidates will have each nominee muted while the other delivers his two-minute remarks at the outset of each of the six debate topics. The remainder of each 15-minute block will be open discussion, without any muting, the commission said.
October 20, 2020 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Wasting no time, the Senate is on track to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court by next Monday. Republicans are charging toward a rare weekend session to push past procedural steps and install President Donald Trump’s pick before Election Day. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will begin the process as soon as the Senate Judiciary Committee wraps up its work Thursday. Democrats decry the rush, but don’t have the votes to block. Trump’s nominee is on a glide path to confirmation. Barrett’s ascent would seal a 6-3 conservative hold on the court for years to come.
October 20, 2020 4:09 am
USHUAIA, Argentina (AP) – Argentina has reached a grim milestone in the pandemic, becoming the fifth country in the world to surpass 1 million coronavirus cases. Across Latin America, three other nations are expected to reach 1 million cases in the coming weeks – Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The somber point comes as Latin America continues to register some of the world’s highest daily case counts. And though some nations have seen important declines, overall there has been little relief, with cases dropping in one municipality only to escalate in another. The trajectory is showing that the pandemic is likely to leave no corner of Latin America unscathed.
October 20, 2020 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is reporting some progress in advance of a Tuesday deadline for reaching a pre-election deal with President Donald Trump on a new coronavirus relief package, but the same problems bedeviling the effort remain in place despite optimistic talk from the president and his team. Pelosi negotiated for nearly an hour Monday with Trump’s top emissary, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and a top aide called it productive. But with time nearly up for Congress and the White House to deliver aid to Americans before the election, the question remains: If not now, when?
