August 26, 2020 11:51 am
(WPXI) – One person was hurt in an explosion that happened Wednesday morning at a landfill in Rostraver Township, officials said. Digging was taking place when a methane pipe exploded at the Westmoreland County Landfill on Conner Lane, officials said. The person who was hurt was taken to a hospital, according to a Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety spokesperson. Their condition has not been made available. “It was reported the scene is under control and there are no evacuations at this time,” the spokesperson said.
August 26, 2020 4:26 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Officials say protesters in Portland, Oregon, repeatedly set fire to a police union headquarters building and were repelled by officers spraying tear gas. Twenty-five people were arrested amid the clashes that lasted into Tuesday morning. Police say that the people in a group of about 300 people hurled rocks and bottles at officers and set three fires to the sides of the building and one to an awning. Portland has been gripped by nightly protests since the police killing of George Floyd. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump renewed calls to have Gov. Kate Brown and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler call in the state’s National Guard. Brown said the request was ‘political theater.’
August 26, 2020 4:25 am
DELCAMBRE, La. (AP) – Laura has strengthened into a menacing Category 4 hurricane. The storm’s power is raising fears of a 20-foot storm surge that forecasters say would be “unsurvivable” and capable of sinking entire communities on the Texas and Louisiana coast. Authorities implored coastal residents to evacuate and worried that not enough had fled. The storm grew nearly 70% in power in just 24 hours to reach Category 3 status, and it continued to draw energy from the warm Gulf of Mexico waters. Laura was on track to arrive late Wednesday or early Thursday as the most powerful hurricane to strike the U.S. so far this year.
August 26, 2020 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Casting aside his own advice to American diplomats and bulldozing a long tradition of secretary of state non-partisanship, Mike Pompeo has plunged into the heart of the 2020 presidential race with a speech supporting President Donald Trump’s reelection at the Republican National Convention. The address was roundly condemned by Democrats and others as an inappropriate breach of decades of diplomatic precedent and a possible violation of federal law prohibiting executive branch employees from overt political activism while on duty. Indeed, Pompeo himself had reminded State Department staffers of those restrictions only last month. The speech was recorded in Jerusalem during an official visit to the Middle East.
August 26, 2020 4:18 am
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – A white, 17-year-old police admirer has been arrested after the killing of two people during a third night of protests in Kenosha over the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake. Kyle Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, was taken into custody Wednesday in Illinois on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide. Antioch is about 15 miles from Kenosha. Two people were killed Tuesday night in an attack carried out by a young white man who was caught on cellphone video opening fire in the middle of the street with a semi-automatic rifle.
August 26, 2020 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – First lady Melania Trump cast her husband as the best hope for America’s future in a Rose Garden address Tuesday night. President Donald Trump turned to family, farmers and the trappings of the presidency on the second night of the scaled-down Republican National Convention. Trump himself pardoned a reformed felon, used the White House grounds to elevate his wife’s keynote address and oversaw a naturalization ceremony for several immigrants in the midst of the prime-time program. The welcoming tone was at odds with some of his own policies, which are aimed at reducing both legal and illegal immigration. Early ratings indicate the first night’s viewership was down from the Democrats’ opening night.
August 26, 2020 4:05 am
Supervisors in North Strabane Township kicked off what could be described as a mundane council meeting with recognition to all of the township first responders. Township Supervisors awarded commendations for the work of Emergency Service personnel during the Covid-19 pandemic. Township Manager Andrew Walz stated that supervisors recognize the hard work responders do and they wanted to make sure that they are aware that they and the members of the community appreciate their efforts. Additionally, supervisors recognized several police officers for exceptional actions during the line of duty. North Strabane Township Police Officers were instrumental in apprehending criminals in Canonsburg and in North Strabane Township. Officers foiled an attempted abduction, apprehended a homicide suspect and apprehended a bank robber. Supervisor Bob Ross handled the distribution of the commendations for the supervisors.
August 25, 2020 5:45 pm
DALLAS (AP) – American Airlines says it will furlough or lay off 19,000 employees in October as it struggles with a sharp downturn in travel because of the pandemic. Flight attendants will bear the heaviest cuts, with 8,100 losing their jobs. The numbers announced today are in addition to 23,500 employees who accepted buyouts, retired early or took long-term leaves of absence. U.S. air travel has recovered slightly since April but remains down 70% from a year ago, and carriers say they need fewer workers.
August 25, 2020 1:58 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – The number of Americans newly diagnosed with the coronavirus is falling – a development experts credit at least partly to increased wearing of masks – even as the outbreak continues to claim nearly 1,000 lives in the U.S. each day. About 43,000 new cases have been reported daily over the past two weeks across the country, down 21 percent since early August. That’s according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
August 25, 2020 12:43 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Authorities say an infant struck by bullets that went into a Pittsburgh home has died from his wounds. Police responding to reports of shots fired around 6 LAST NIGHT – were directed by residents – to a home where they found a year-old boy with a gunshot wound to his head. The child, who has been identified as Zykier Young, was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead there several hours later. An initial investigation showed the shots emanated from outside the home, then traveled through a window and two walls before hitting Young. Police said there was a shootout with multiple people firing and Young was simply caught in the crossfire. Investigators said they do have multiple shell casings from the scene, and they are examining security camera footage of the shootout. (Photo: WPXI)
