July 6, 2020 3:37 am
MANILA, Philippines (AP) – More than 400 people have been evacuated from a coastal village in the central Philippines after some 250,000 liters (66,000 gallons) of bunker fuel spilled from a power-generating barge into the sea. The spill began Friday when an accidental explosion on the barge blasted a hole in it hull. There were no reported injuries. Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas says the accident has not affected the power supply to the commercial city of about half a million people because it has other power sources. The coast guard is investigating.
July 6, 2020 3:36 am
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) – A statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass has been ripped from its base in Rochester on the anniversary of one of his most famous speeches. Police say the statue of Douglass was taken from Maplewood Park and placed near the Genesee River gorge on Sunday. On July 5, 1852, Douglass gave the speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” in Rochester. There was no indication the vandalism was timed to the anniversary. The park was a site on the Underground Railroad where Douglass and Harriet Tubman helped shuttle slaves to freedom.
July 6, 2020 3:35 am
(AP) – Tributes have come pouring in for Tony Award-nominated stage actor Nick Cordero, who died of severe medical complications after contracting the coronavirus. Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted “What a loss, what a light” and Bernadette Peters was “sending love” to his widow and infant son. Many asked people to wear masks in his honor. Cordero specialized in playing tough guys on Broadway in such shows as “Waitress,” “A Bronx Tale” and “Bullets Over Broadway.” Cordero had a succession of health setbacks, including mini-strokes, blood clots, septic infections, a tracheostomy and a temporary pacemaker implanted. He had been on a ventilator and had his right leg amputated.
July 6, 2020 3:34 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is set to hold an outdoor campaign rally Saturday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The rally at Portsmouth International Airport will come three weeks after an indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That gathering was the president’s first of the COVID-19 era, and it drew a smaller-than-expected crowd amid concerns of rising infections in the region. The president was narrowly defeated in 2016 in New Hampshire by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Before the pandemic, Trump campaign officials had pointed to the state as a place where they saw a chance to expand the electoral map during the president’s reelection effort.
July 6, 2020 3:33 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell has been transferred to New York to face charges she recruited women and girls for him to sexually abuse. The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Maxwell was transferred Monday and is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Prosecutors have asked a judge to schedule a Friday court appearance in Manhattan federal court for for Maxwell. The 58-year-old was arrested last week at a $1 million estate she had purchased in New Hampshire. Maxwell was the former girlfriend and longtime close associate of Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail last August while he awaited trial on federal sex trafficking charges. She has denied wrongdoing and called claims against her “absolute rubbish.”
July 6, 2020 3:29 am
SOMERSET, Pa. (WPXI) — Six people were taken to a hospital following a multi-vehicle crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Somerset County Sunday evening The crash happened between the Somerset and Bedford exits and involved two vehicles and a tractor-trailer. Five people were flown to the hospital by helicopter and one by ambulance. The extent of their injuries is unknown at this time. The road has since reopened, according to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Traffic was backed up for about 10 miles.
July 6, 2020 3:27 am
Officials at the UPMC Mercy Burn Center in Pittsburgh said Monday that more than twenty people were treated for serious injuries related to fireworks over the fourth of July weekend, including several children. The 2020 total is the highest Independence Day weekend injury count on record at the UPMC Mercy Burn Center, surpassing 2019’s weekend total of six. “Some of the injuries are very serious. Several patients were admitted and will need ongoing care and therapy. We urge people to not engage in personal fireworks use to avoid any of these devastating traumas,” said Jenny Ziembicki, M.D., medical director, UPMC Mercy Burn Center. “It is important to understand that even legal fireworks should only be handled by those properly trained in their use.” The UPMC Mercy emergency department also treated multiple outpatient injuries of varying degrees to the hands, most commonly associated with reloadable mortars and fire pits.
July 6, 2020 3:20 am
DERRY, Pa. — Police and the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office have released additional details regarding a two-vehicle collision on the morning of the 4th of July. Deputy Coroner John Ackerman says Brittany C. Lash, 23, of Blairsville died of blunt force injuries to the head, torso and extremities around 8:30 a.m. on State Route 217 at the intersection of Pizza Barn Road in Derry Township. Lash was the lone operator of a 1998 Chevrolet Blazer that pulled out on a 2013 Ford F150, according to reports. Lash was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash and was ejected from the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene. There is no word on whether cell phone use was a factor in the accident. According to the coroner, the toxicology results will not be ready for several weeks. Pennsylvania State Police continue to investigate.
July 6, 2020 3:12 am
ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (WPXI) — One person was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital after a motorcycle crash on the Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge in Beaver County, according to police. Dispatchers said the crash happened around 6:10 p.m. Witnesses told police the driver of the motorcycle lost control going from Route 51 to the bridge. The bridge was shut down, but reopened by 7:30 p.m. Pennsylvania State Police are investigating.
July 6, 2020 3:06 am
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – The developers of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline have announced they are canceling the multi-state natural gas project due to delays and “increasing cost uncertainty.” Despite a recent victory before the U.S. Supreme Court over a critical permit, Dominion Energy and Duke Energy said in a statement Sunday that “recent developments have created an unacceptable layer of uncertainty” for the $8 billion, 600-mile project designed to cross parts of West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. The project has drawn fierce opposition from a coalition of landowners, activists and environmental advocates.
