September 30, 2020 9:17 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – An expert says a flash that lit up the skies over parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio in the wee hours was most likely a random meteor. Many social media users in the Pittsburgh area reported seeing a streaking fireball shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday. It remained in the skies for a short time before disappearing from view. The American Meteor Society says it received more than 200 reports of a bright fireball over eastern Ohio. An official with the nonprofit says it was probably a random meteor not associated with any known meteor shower.
September 30, 2020 8:57 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Country star Mac Davis, who crafted the Elvis hits “A Little Less Conversation” and “In the Ghetto” before launching his own successful artist career, has died. He was 78.
His longtime manager Jim Morey said in a press release that Davis died in Nashville on Tuesday after heart surgery and was surrounded by family and friends. Davis had a long and varied career in music for decades as a writer, singer, actor and TV host and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006. He was named 1974’s entertainer of the year by the Academy of Country Music after the success of songs including “Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me.” Born in Lubbock, Texas, and raised in Georgia, Davis was inspired by fellow Lubbock native Buddy Holly, but it was Elvis who gave him his first musical big break. Davis helped craft the song “Memories” that was a cornerstone of Elvis’ big 1968 comeback TV special.
September 30, 2020 6:19 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Authorities say they have arrested a man in connection with the shooting of two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies as they sat in their squad car. District Attorney Jackie Lacy on Wednesday says attempted murder charges have been filed against 36-year-old Deonte Lee Murray. He was arrested two weeks ago in connection with a separate carjacking. The deputies suffered critical wounds in the Sept. 12 shooting which was recorded by surveillance video. They have since been released from the hospital and are recovering at home.
September 30, 2020 4:16 am
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – The Walt Disney Co. is planning to lay off 28,000 workers in its theme parks division in California and Florida. The company has been squeezed by limits on attendance at its parks and other restrictions due to the pandemic. Officials said Tuesday that two-thirds of the planned layoffs involve part-time workers but they ranged from salaried employees to hourly workers. Disney’s parks closed last spring as the pandemic started spreading in the U.S. The Florida parks reopened this summer, but the California parks have yet to reopen as the company awaits guidance from the state of California.
September 30, 2020 4:15 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Helen Reddy, the Australian-born singer who scored an enduring hit with her feminist anthem “I Am Woman,” has died at 78 in Los Angeles. Reddy’s children announced their mother’s death Tuesday evening, saying that while they are heartbroken, they “take comfort in the knowledge that her voice will live on forever.” The Australian-born singer enjoyed a prolific career, appearing in “Airport 1975” as a singing nun and scoring several hits, starting with “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” from “Jesus Christ Superstar” in 1971. She won the best female pop vocal performance in 1973, thanking her then husband and God, telling the audience “because she makes everything possible.”
September 30, 2020 4:11 am
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A Kentucky judge delayed until Friday the release of secret grand jury proceedings in Breonna Taylor’s killing by police. That’s according to the state Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office. Audio recordings of the proceedings were originally supposed to be released Wednesday. Cameron’s office asked a Louisville court for a week’s delay, so it could redact the names of witnesses and personal information such as addresses and phone numbers. Cameron’s spokeswoman said Wednesday that a judge granted a shorter delay, giving the attorney general until noon Friday. Taylor was shot and killed in her Louisville home by police who were executing a narcotics warrant in March.
September 30, 2020 4:09 am
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Authorities in Florida say a woman has been killed and a man hospitalized following a shooting at an Amazon Fulfillment Center in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says it responded to the center Tuesday night, where deputies found the woman dead at the scene. The man has been taken to a hospital with injuries that haven’t been detailed. Lt. J.D. Stronko said early findings show the two may have been in a “domestic relationship.” Investigators think they were both Amazon employees. This is the second shooting outside the Amazon facility this year. In June, a targeted shooting left one person dead and two others wounded.
September 30, 2020 4:08 am
CLEVELAND (AP) – The first debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden deteriorated into bitter taunts and near chaos Tuesday night. Trump in particular repeatedly interrupted his opponent with angry – and personal – comments that sometimes overshadowed the sharply different visions each man has of a nation facing historic crises. There were heated clashes over the president’s handling of the pandemic, the integrity of the election results, deeply personal attacks about Biden’s family and how the Supreme Court will shape the future of the nation’s health care. Trump also refused to condemn white supremacists who have supported him, telling one such group known as Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
September 30, 2020 4:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A few hundred people brought their support for gun rights to the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol building for what is an annual rally. Tuesday’s gathering constituted a pep rally, provided an update on the gun lobby’s legislative efforts and opposition, and gave participants an opportunity to target Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and other political opponents. áOrganizers said rainy weather and the pandemic may have kept down attendance. Cease Fire PA, which advocates to reduce the harm done by firearms, says about 1,600 people have been killed by guns in Pennsylvania in the past year.
September 30, 2020 4:01 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s counties are pressing lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf to allow them to process mail-in ballots before Election Day in the battleground state as they consider the prospect of waiting until polls open to dig into 3 million envelopes. Allowing counties time to process mail-in ballots before Election Day remained stuck Tuesday in a wider partisan dispute between the Democratic governor and the Republican-controlled Legislature. County officials say processing mail-in ballots before Election Day will speed up vote counting amid concerns that a presidential election result will hang in limbo for days on Pennsylvania’s vote count. Meanwhile, Philadelphia on Tuesday opened seven satellite election offices.
