September 12, 2020 4:50 am
BERRY CREEK, Calif. (AP) – A Northern California wildfire that destroyed a foothill hamlet has become the state’s deadliest blaze of the year with nine people confirmed dead, incluidng a 16-year-old boy. Authorities say the North Complex fire near the small city of Oroville that exploded in wind-driven flames earlier in the week is advancing more slowly Friday after the winds eased and smoke from the blaze shaded the area and lowered the temperature, allowing firefighters to make progress. That was a change from the hot weather and gusty winds that two days earlier sent flames exploding through foothills northeast of San Francisco, destroying at least 2,000 buildings.
September 12, 2020 4:15 am
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) – Authorities in North Carolina say a sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot by a break-in suspect, and that the suspect was then killed when other deputies returned fire. News outlets report 35-year-old Henderson County Deputy Ryan Hendrix died Thursday afternoon, hours after being shot when he and other deputies responded to a call about a vehicle break-in. Sheriff Lowell Griffin said a homeowner noticed someone breaking into a car. Griffin said the man and the homeowner exchanged gunfire before deputies arrived. The sheriff said the suspect appeared to comply with commands to show his hands before shooting Hendrix in the face.
September 12, 2020 4:07 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. — (WPXI) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced the extra $300 in unemployment benefits is ending. Pennsylvania began sending out the $300 weekly checks to eligible unemployed workers Thursday. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry said they were notified by FEMA that the last week for the LWA benefit program is Sept. 5 due to “the fund’s depletion.” According to the Pennsylvania Office of Unemployment Compensation website, the program will continue to make payments as long as funds are available for the weeks ending Aug. 1 through Sept. 5.
September 12, 2020 4:00 am
Washington County came together Friday morning to remember the lives lost and tragedy that struck America that day 19 years ago. South Strabane Police and Fire held the annual ceremony for the September 11th Attacks at the 9/11 Memorial in the old Washington Mall parking lot. This year’s ceremony was a bit different due to the pandemic, with social distancing in place and a shortened program. First responders and members from around the county came to pay their respects. A parade of fire trucks, ambulances and police cars ended the ceremony as the line drove past the memorial. South Strabane Police Chief Drew Hilk said there was no doubt that the ceremony would continue this year no matter what the circumstances.
September 12, 2020 4:00 am
FREELAND, Mich. (AP) – Reeling from another crisis of his own making, President Donald Trump tried to refocus attention on his Democratic rival at a rally in battleground Michigan Thursday as he pushed to move past revelations that he purposefully played down the danger of the coronavirus last winter. But the virus controversy followed him as he faced new pushback from local officials worried about the growing size of his rallies and his campaign’s repeated flouting of public health guidelines intended to halt the COVID-19 spread. That includes Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who raised alarms about Thursday’s event. Trump, however, reveled in the crowd of several thousand, packed shoulder-to-shoulder in a cavernous airport hangar, mostly without masks.
September 11, 2020 4:14 am
SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) – One spent time quietly consoling families. The other proclaimed America’s might. President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden marked the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at memorials Friday, where their differences in style couldn’t have been more sharply on display. Trump vowed in a speech at the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, site where hijacked Flight 93 crashed in a field, that America will “always fight back.” Biden laid a wreath after attending the annual commemoration at Ground Zero in New York and comforted family members of several people who died in the Twin Towers. Vice President Mike Pence also visited the New York event, and Sen. Kamala Harris spoke a few miles from the Pentagon.
September 11, 2020 2:29 am
President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign made stop in Washington on Thursday afternoon. Eric Trump, the President’s son stopped by the Edwin Scott Linton Post 175 of the American Legion in Washington to deliver a campaign rally speech to supporters. Trump drove home his father’s campaign priorities of strong economics, Christianity, law and order and respect for the military. Trump particularly pointed to his father’s efforts to revive manufacturing in the U.S. He included support for coal miners and gas and oil workers in his rally cry as well. Trump did take shots at Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden calling him weak. Trump also took time to hammer Hunter Biden and his dealings in the Ukraine. Roughly 500 supporters were on hand on a hot day in the middle of a parking lot. Typical of most Trump rallies of late, most supporters were without masks and social distancing was not enforced. Earlier in the day, a counter rally by Biden supporters was held on the roadside across the street from the American Legion. Sources indicate that roughly 50 people were on hand to register their displeasure with Trump policies and practices that they say disrespect the military and divide the country along ideological lines.
September 11, 2020 2:26 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – More counties in West Virginia are likely to end in-person classes a week after reopening schools. Children returned to classes Tuesday in all but nine of West Virginia’s 55 counties, based on a color-coded map that tracks the severity of the virus’s spread. Counties that were marked red and orange could only hold virtual classes until they turned yellow or green. Gov. Jim Justice announced on Friday that schools in counties that started the school year in green or yellow but move into orange will also need to go virtual-only. Previously, such schools could still offer face-to-face instruction unless they turned red.
September 10, 2020 4:28 pm
LONDON (AP) – Whether in the 1960s spy TV series “The Avengers,” on the London stage or in the streaming hit “Game of Thrones” – Diana Rigg was a standout actor. The legendary star has died of cancer. She was 82. Her daughter Rachael Stirling says Rigg “spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession.” Rigg first rose to attention in the U.S. in “The Avengers” as secret agent Emma Peel – who performed alongside Patrick Macnee’s bowler-wearing partner John Steed. She also was in the 1969 James Bond movie, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” She played Tracy di Vicenzo – the only woman to marry Agent 007, even though it was for only a short time. In her later life, she played Olenna Tyrell, “Queen of Thorns” – in “Game of Thrones,” receiving an Emmy Award nomination for the role. On the stage, Rigg won a Tony Award for “Medea” on Broadway – and was nominated three other times.
September 10, 2020 8:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for jobless aid was unchanged last week at 884,000, a sign that layoffs are stuck at a historically high level six months after the viral pandemic flattened the economy. The latest figure released by the Labor Department Thursday still far exceeds the number who sought benefits in any week on record before this year.
