December 24, 2021 4:02 am
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) – Bangladesh fire services say at least 37 passengers have been killed and many others injured in a massive fire that swept through a crowded ferry on the southern Sugandha River. The blaze broke out around 3 a.m. Friday on the ferry packed with 800 passengers. Rescuers have so far recovered 37 bodies and rescued 72, 48 of whom are being treated for burns. There was no word on what caused the fire. Ferries are a leading means of transportation, especially in the southern and northeastern regions. In April, 25 people died after a ferry collided with another vessel and capsized outside Bangladesh’s capital.
December 24, 2021 3:59 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Police say a man suspected of shoplifting at a store where he worked in Pittsburgh is wanted for homicide in Texas. Officers were called to the Family Dollar store on Wednesday night to assist with the termination of 22-year-old Joseph Tedder of Hutchinson, Kansas. But Tedder fled the scene. Police say they soon learned Tedder was wanted in connection with a homicide in early November in Austin, Texas, that stemmed from a drug deal. Authorities tracked Tedder to a Pittsburgh home and he was taken into custody. He’s awaiting arraignment and an extradition hearing.
December 24, 2021 3:57 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The state Supreme Court is just now releasing its rationale for why it ruled that Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration had no legal authority to require masks in Pennsylvania’s schools and child care centers, even amid a pandemic and surging cases of COVID-19. The court ruled 6-0 on Dec. 10, immediately ending the statewide mask mandate. The justices’ 58-page opinion released Thursday says the Legislature’s move in June to end Wolf’s COVID-19 emergency disaster declaration also eliminated any legal justification for a school mask mandate. The justices say state law gives the state broad authority to protect public health, but it doesn’t empower a mask mandate without a regulation.
December 24, 2021 3:55 am
ALLEGHENY COUNTY — (WPXI) – Testing has confirmed the first two cases of omicron in an Allegheny County resident. According to a release from the health department, the first was from a man on December 7 and was confirmed to be the omicron variant on December 22. The second case, also found in a man on December 13 and was confirmed to be the omicron variant on December 2 “Omicron is highly contagious and is causing daily cases to rapidly increase in other parts of the country and world,” Health Department Director Debra Bogen said Wednesday during the county’s regular COVID briefing. “I expect we will see a rapid rise in the omicron variant in our county in the coming days to weeks.” Dr. Bogen continues to urge people to protect themselves and others by getting vaccinated, wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and getting tested when symptoms set in. Resources, including a Testing Site Locator and a Vaccine Provider Map, are available on the county’s website.
December 23, 2021 2:49 pm
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Jurors have convicted a suburban Minneapolis police officer of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Black motorist Daunte Wright. The jury deliberated for about four days before finding Kim Potter guilty of both counts on Thursday. Potter, who is white, was a Brooklyn Center police officer when she shot and killed the 20-year-old Wright during an April 11 traffic stop. Potter has said she mistook her handgun for a Taser while she and other officers were trying to arrest Wright on an outstanding warrant for a weapons possession charge. She faces about seven years in prison on the most serious count under the state’s sentencing guidelines, but prosecutors said they’d seek a longer term.
December 23, 2021 8:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years as a surge in inflation battered Americans as the holiday shopping season was getting under way. The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in October and kept up a trend of annual price gains running well above the 2% inflation target set by the Federal Reserve. Thursday’s report showed that consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of economic activity, rose 0.6% in November, a solid gain but below the 1.4X% surge in October. Personal incomes, which provide the fuel for future spending increases, rose 0.4% in November, slightly lower than the 0.5% increase in October.
December 23, 2021 4:25 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – A California woman who punched a flight attendant in the face and broke her teeth during a flight has pleaded guilty to a federal charge. Prosecutors say 28-year-old Vyvianna Quinonez of Sacramento entered a plea Wednesday to interfering with a flight attendant. Quinonez was on a Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento to San Diego in May when an attendant asked her to buckle her seatbelt, stow her tray table and wear her mask properly during the descent. Authorities say Quinonez punched the woman in the face and grabbed her hair before other passengers intervened. The attendant suffered three chipped teeth, bruises and a cut that needed stitches.
December 23, 2021 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration is extending a student loan moratorium that has allowed tens of millions of Americans to put off debt payments during the pandemic. Under the action Wednesday, payments on federal student loans will remain paused through May 1. Interest rates will remain at 0% during that period, and debt collection efforts will be suspended. Those measures have been in place since early in the pandemic but were set to expire Jan. 31. This is the second extension from the administration. President Joe Biden says the administration understands that borrowers are still coping with the impact of the pandemic.
December 23, 2021 4:24 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Sally Ann Howes, who played as a child actor before she later starred in the 1968 film “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” with Dick Van Dyke, has died. She was 91. Her son Andrew Hart Adler confirmed his mother’s death in an interview with the Press Association on Wednesday. The English actor began her career on the big screen at the age of 12. In five decades, Howes made appearances in more than 140 films, musicals, plays and television projects. She made her biggest splash as the character Truly Scrumptious in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” which became a holiday favorite.
December 23, 2021 4:21 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The jury at the trial of a suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Black motorist Daunte Wright was to return Thursday for a fourth day of deliberations as the Christmas holiday loomed. The jury weighing Kim Potter’s fate has been out 2 1/2 days, or about 23 hours, since getting the case Monday following closing arguments. Potter is charged with two counts of manslaughter in the killing of Wright during an April 11 traffic stop. She has said she meant to use her Taser on Wright but used her gun instead. The judge has given no indication of how she’ll handle the Christmas holiday.
