July 14, 2020 2:16 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend has been denied bail and will remain behind bars on charges she recruited girls and women for the financier to sexually abuse more than two decades ago. British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell appeared in a video court hearing in Manhattan, where she pleaded not guilty. Maxwell, 58, has been held without bail since her July 2 arrest at her million-dollar New Hampshire estate. She was charged with recruiting at least three girls, one as young as 14, for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 1997. An indictment alleged that she helped groom the victims to endure sexual abuse and was sometimes there when Epstein abused them. Epstein killed himself in August 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges.
July 13, 2020 7:41 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The son of Lisa Marie Presley has died. He was 27. Presley’s representative Roger Widynowski said in a statement Sunday to The Associated Press that she was “completely heartbroken” after learning about the death of her son Benjamin Keough. He is the grandson of the late Elvis Presley. TMZ reports that Keough died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday in Calabasas, California. Keough is also survived by his sister, actress Riley Keough.
July 13, 2020 4:24 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom has extended the closure of bars and indoor dining statewide and has ordered gyms, churches and hair salons closed in most places as coronavirus cases keep rising. On July 1, Newsom ordered many counties to close bars and indoor operations at restaurants, wineries, zoos and family entertainment centers like bowling alleys and miniature golf. On Monday, Newsom extended that order statewide and closed additional parts of the world’s fifth-largest economy, including indoor malls and offices for noncritical industries. California confirmed 8,358 new coronavirus cases on Sunday. Hospitalizations have increased 28% over the past two weeks.
July 13, 2020 4:22 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Twenty-one people have suffered minor injuries in an explosion and fire Sunday on board a ship at Naval Base San Diego. The blaze was called in shortly before 9 a.m. on the USS Bonhomme Richard. The cause is under investigation. Officials don’t immediately know where on the 840-foot amphibious assault vessel the fire was sparked. San Diego is the Bonhomme Richard’s home port, and it was undergoing routine maintenance at the time of the fire. Officials said about 160 sailors and officers were on board – far fewer than the thousand typically on the ship when it’s on active duty.
July 13, 2020 4:20 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Actor Kelly Preston has died at age 57. John Travolta, Preston’s husband of 28 years, confirmed late Sunday that his wife had died after a two-year battle with breast cancer. Preston enjoyed a lengthy career in film and television, appearing in “Jerry Maguire,” “Twins” and at times starring with her husband in films like “Battlefield Earth” and “Gotti.” The couple was married in 1991 in Paris after meeting on a film set, and had three children together. They experienced tragedy in 2009 when their son Jett died after a seizure in the Bahamas.
July 13, 2020 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge is demanding more information about President Donald Trump’s decision to commute the prison sentence of longtime ally Roger Stone. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered that the parties provide her by Tuesday with a copy of the executive order that commuted Stone’s sentence. She also asked for clarity about the scope of the clemency, including whether it covers just his prison sentence or also the two-year period of supervised release that was part of his sentence. Trump commuted Stone’s 40-month prison sentence on Friday evening, just days before he was to report to prison.
July 13, 2020 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is slowly coming to accept that the Republican National Convention won’t be the four-night infomercial for his reelection that he’d anticipated. Already the late August event has moved from North Carolina to Florida, and now coronavirus cases are spiking and there’s an economic recession. Trump aides and allies are increasingly questioning whether the convention will be worth the trouble. Some are advocating that it be scrapped altogether. They reason that conventions are meant to lay out a candidate’s vision for the coming four years, not spark months of intrigue over the health and safety those who attend. Ultimately, the call on whether to move forward will be Trump’s alone.
July 13, 2020 4:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania schools are working on how they will safely transport students this fall, but one idea that won’t be part of the plan is to install plastic barriers around school bus drivers. The state Transportation Department rejected that idea recently, saying there wasn’t evidence it’ll make anyone safer. But a bus trade group spokesperson says the idea was to protect drivers, many of whom are older people at risk of serious illness. The challenge of getting students to school without putting them at heightened risk of COVID-19 infection could involve staggered schedules, limited ridership and health checks.
July 13, 2020 4:10 am
MURRYSVILLE, Pa. — (WPXI) – Police investigating a deadly motorcycle crash in Westmoreland County. It happened just after 4 p.m. in the westbound lanes of Route 366 eastbound just past Route 380 Auction in Murrysville. One person has been killed. The name of the person has not yet been released. Westbound lanes between Route 380 and Greensburg are shut down while crews work to clear the crash.
July 13, 2020 4:08 am
SOUTH HILLS, Pa. — (WPXI) – An employee at Blessed Trinity Parish in the South Hills has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Diocese of Pittsburgh. People in direct exposure to the person who tested positive are being tested and will be self-quarantined. The Allegheny County Health Department has been contacted, and employees at the parish have been informed. As a result, churches and other buildings in the parish will be closed for extra cleaning and sanitizing. The church building involved is St. Albert the Great in Baldwin; however, as a precaution, all parish church buildings, including St. Basil in Carrick, St. Wendelin in Carrick, Holy Angels in Hayes and St. Sylvester in Brentwood will be cleaned and sanitized. Reopening schedules for Blessed Trinity Parish will be forthcoming. None of the churches will be open for daily Masses or will be used this week.
