September 20, 2019 2:46 pm
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Twenty-three states have sued to stop the Trump administration from revoking California’s authority to set emission standards for cars and trucks. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is leading the lawsuit filed Friday, along with Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Air Resources Board. The Trump administration on Thursday revoked California’s authority to set its own auto emission standards. The state has had that power for decades under a waiver from the federal Clean Air Act. The lawsuit argues that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not have the authority to revoke California’s waiver. Becerra says the Trump administration’s action fails to respect states’ authority to protect public health. Four automakers have said they would voluntarily follow California’s standards.
September 20, 2019 2:44 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Tens of thousands of mostly young people have overflowed a New York City square as U.S. activists join a wave of climate change protests unfolding around the world. Demonstrators rallied Friday with signs bearing such messages as “climate change is real” and “protect the earth, not the corporations.” Then the group began marching through lower Manhattan streets. New York City public schools say student absences for the climate strike will be excused, if the students have parental permission. Thirteen-year-old protester Pearl Seidman says she’s there with a message for President Donald Trump’s administration: “If they can’t be adults, we’re going to be adults. Because someone needs to do it.” Trump announced in 2017 he was withdrawing the United States from the international Paris agreement to fight global warming.
September 20, 2019 12:36 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez could be deported if he is convicted of charges related to a sexual encounter with an underage girl, The Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is tracking the charges against Vazquez, a native of Venezuela, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, political instability in Venezuela might make deportation difficult for the U.S. Vazquez, 28, admitted to exchanging sexually explicit pictures with the 13-year-old victim and driving to her home in Scottdale, where he attempted to have sex with her in his car about two years ago, officials said. The girl is now 15 years old and lives in Florida. According to an affidavit from Westmoreland County, Vazquez admitted to investigators the victim “looked too young and that she appeared to be 16 years of age or younger.” Police said Vazquez told them he initially refused to communicate with her due to her age. Vazquez is being held in the Allegheny County Jail.
September 20, 2019 8:59 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh is cleaning up after a massive water main break turned streets into river rapids, required the rescue of people and pets, and closed schools. Pittsburgh Public Schools announced the closure of at least 10 schools Friday because of limited access to water in buildings. Schools in Mount Lebanon and Brentwood Borough were also closed. Pittsburgh police say that a 24-inch main broke in the morning and that three people were rescued from two homes. Wendy Gitzen was among the rescued. She says the rushing waters moved her car and a shed about 30 feet away from the house. Police say the break was closed around 11:30 a.m., after about six hours.
September 20, 2019 8:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he’s ending his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. De Blasio struggled to gain traction in a sprawling field of Democrats seeking the presidency. He announced his decision in an MSNBC interview on Friday. De Blasio launched his bid in May, but his campaign largely failed to take off. De Blasio says he feels he’s contributed all he can “to this primary election.” He tells MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show “it’s clearly not my time.”
September 20, 2019 4:20 am
HOUSTON (AP) – Authorities say the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda have led to the death of a third person. Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jason Spencer said Friday that preliminary indications are a man whose body was found in a ditch Friday north of Houston drowned from storm-related flooding. An autopsy will be performed to confirm the cause of death. The unidentified man had last been seen walking during severe rainfall that hit the Houston area. Imelda’s remnants also led to the deaths of two other men on Thursday. A 19-year-old man in Jefferson County drowned and was electrocuted while trying to move his horse to safety. A man in his 40s or 50s drowned when he tried to drive a van through 8-foot-deep floodwaters near Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
September 20, 2019 4:19 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Walmart says it will stop selling electronic cigarettes at its namesake stores and Sam’s Clubs following a string of illnesses and deaths related to vaping. The nation’s largest retailer says it will complete its exit from e-cigarettes after selling current inventory. More than 500 people have been diagnosed with vaping-related breathing illnesses. An eight death was reported this week. But health officials still have not identified the cause.’
September 20, 2019 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Pentagon will present a broad range of military options to President Donald Trump on Friday as he considers how to respond to what administration officials say was an unprecedented Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry. In a White House meeting, the president will be presented with a list of potential airstrike targets inside Iran, among other possible responses, and he also likely will be warned that military action against the Islamic Republic could escalate into war. The national security meeting will likely be the first opportunity for a decision on how the U.S. should respond to the attack. Any decision may depend on what kind of evidence the U.S. and Saudi investigators are able to provide proving that the cruise missile and drone strike was launched by Iran.
September 20, 2019 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee says President Trump’s attack on a whistleblower who alerted intelligence officials to a serious and urgent matter is “disturbing.” Rep. Adam Schiff says it’s also “deeply disturbing” that the White House appears to know more about the whistleblower’s complaint than the complaint’s intended recipient, Congress. The Trump administration is refusing to let congressional oversight committees see it. Schiff says the information “deserves a thorough investigation” and that “come hell or high water, that’s what we’re going to do.” The California Democrat worries that the president’s actions will have a “chilling effect” on other whistleblowers and pose a “real threat” to accountability. The intelligence agencies’ inspector general notified Congress of the “urgent” complaint concerning a series of events, reportedly including Trump’s conversation with a foreign leader. Trump is defending himself against a “partisan whistleblower.” He says “it’s just another political hack job” and that his conversations with foreign leaders were “totally appropriate.” (Photo: CNN)
September 20, 2019 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Legislation to cut taxes for manufacturers who use methane to make fertilizer or petrochemicals is on its way to Pennsylvania’s Senate after a positive vote in the state House of Representatives. House members voted 139 to 46 on Thursday in favor of the proposed Energy and Fertilizer Manufacturing Tax Credit program. The bill would provide a nickel-per-gallon credit for methane purchased and used by large facilities located within Pennsylvania, the nation’s No. 2 natural gas-producing state behind Texas. The measure targets production of ammonia, methanol and urea. Supporters describe it as a way to fuel economic development, create good-paying jobs and attract customers for the state’s natural gas industry. Opponents framed it as a taxpayer giveaway to the fossil fuels industry.
