January 21, 2024 8:45 am
(WPXI) – Five firefighters were hurt battling a 5-alarm fire in Homestead Saturday morning. Allegheny County 911 confirms firefighters, police and EMS were sent to a building on the 200 block of East 17th Avenue just before 9:30 a.m. Matt Brown, the Chief of Allegheny County Emergency Services, says police and fire units showed up within minutes of being dispatched, confirming the active structure fire. Brown says the blaze began in one residential building and spread to two others because of the extreme cold and wind conditions. The fire was considered under control just after 1 p.m. Five firefighters were hurt while working to put the fire out, including two who reportedly fell through the floor. Brown says none of the injuries are life-threatening. “The first two injured firefighters had fallen through the first floor; that was early into the firefight,” Brown said. “The other injuries, again, are minor and not related to that. Additionally, eight residents were displaced but not hurt. Brown says at least a dozen fire departments responded, along with police, EMS, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.
January 21, 2024 5:11 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian-installed officials in the eastern city of Donetsk say at least 27 people have been killed in the shelling by Ukraine of a market. The attack hit Tekstilshchik, a Donetsk suburb, on Sunday. Kyiv has not commented on the attack and the claim could not be independently verified by The Associated Press. Donetsk is one of four regions in Ukraine that Russia annexed illegally in 2022, months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion. Also Sunday, officials said a fire broke out at a chemical transport terminal at Russia’s Ust-Luga port southwest of St. Petersburg following two explosions. Local media reported it had been attacked by Ukrainian drones.
January 21, 2024 5:06 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump could testify as soon as Monday in his defamation trial for calling sexual assault accuser E. Jean Carroll a liar. But the judge has ruled that if Trump takes the stand, he won’t be allowed to say that the writer concocted her allegation, nor that she was motivated by financial or political considerations. That’s because a different jury found last year that Trump sexually abused Carroll. Last week, Trump was threatened with expulsion from court for making comments about what he called a “con job.” AP typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.
January 20, 2024 4:58 am
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alec Baldwin once again is facing a felony involuntary manslaughter charge after a grand jury indicted the actor in connection with the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie in New Mexico. The new charge was filed Friday and defense attorneys indicate they’ll fight it. Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal outside Santa Fe when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. A new analysis of the gun opened the way for prosecutors to reboot the case. A separate trial of the film set weapons supervisor could provide a preview of strategies and witnesses against Baldwin.
January 20, 2024 4:56 am
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has endorsed former President Donald Trump ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire GOP primary. It’s a blow to Scott’s fellow South Carolinian Nikki Haley, who is banking on a strong showing in New Hampshire to keep her presidential hopes alive. Scott traveled from Florida to the state with the GOP front-runner to announce his support for Trump at a rally in Concord. Scott launched his own bid to challenge Trump last May before shuttering his effort about six months later. Trump has been appearing on the campaign trail with several other former rivals who have endorsed him. Haley appointed Scott to the Senate in 2012.
January 20, 2024 4:53 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally have spoken by phone after a glaring, nearly four-week gap in direct communication. They talked on Friday. The leaders spoke frequently in the weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, but their direct communication has decreased amid fundamental differences over their visions for Gaza once the war ends. Neither side shows signs of budging, and both men are hemmed in by domestic political considerations. Netanyahu has repeatedly rebuffed Biden’s calls for Palestinian sovereignty. Netanyahu said this week that he has told U.S. officials in plain terms that he will not support a Palestinian state as part of any postwar plan.
January 20, 2024 4:34 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A U.S. company’s failed moonshot has ended with a fiery plunge over the South Pacific. Astrobotic Technology said Friday that it had confirmation that its lunar lander broke apart as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday. A fuel leak shortly after liftoff from Florida last week had nixed any chance of a moon touchdown. The company took steps to destroy its crippled lander to protect other spacecraft. It was the first U.S. lunar lander in more than a half-century. The next one from a U.S. business is set to blast off next month.
January 20, 2024 3:44 am
A Washington County man will face trial on more than 280 felony charges relating to child pornography and child pornography dissemination. Zachary Gentile, 23 of Claysville faced his preliminary hearing Friday and waived 288 criminal charges to court. According to the criminal complaint, the CyberTip line was alerted to child pornography activity in March of 2022 on Gentile’s Kik messaging app. They stated that there were 75 child pornography images linked to his account in his college apartment. Facebook and Snapchat reported to the tipline in September and October. In December of 2022, Gentile told University of Pittsburgh Greensburg Police investigators that he destroyed his laptop and threw it away. Gentile left Pitt Greensburg and moved to Washington County where investigators say Gentile told them he last saved child pornography four or five years ago. Gentile was arrested in November of 2023, he remains in the Washington County Jail on $250,000 bond. His formal arraignment date is pending.
January 19, 2024 5:36 pm
(AP) – Thousands of opponents of abortion rights went marching in Washington Friday after speakers urged the impassioned crowd to capitalize on the movement’s major victory in the Supreme Court and keep fighting until abortion is eliminated. The event though, was much smaller than in past years – as ice and snow complicated travel plans.
January 19, 2024 5:24 pm
(AP) – The jobs of people who produce Sports Illustrated were in limbo after the company that paid to maintain the iconic brand’s print and digital products told staff that its license was revoked. In an email to employees Friday morning, the Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated and related properties, said that because of the revocation, “we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand.” Authentic later said in a statement it intends to keep Sports Illustrated going. The company is negotiating with Arena and other publishing entities to determine who will do that, according to a person with knowledge of the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about them.
