July 22, 2019 4:01 am
FARMINGTON, Pa. – (WPXI) – An employee was attacked by a Himalayan bear Saturday morning at Nemacolin Woodland Resort. A spokesperson for the resort said the staff associate was hurt while guiding a routine safari tour. The bear reached through a wire fence, pulled the worker toward it and bit the worker’s arm. The employee was standing in between the two levels of wire fencing at the bear enclosure when the attack happened. The worker was stabilized by a nurse and was stable and alert when airlifted from the scene to a trauma center for treatment, the resort spokesperson said. Nemacolin Woodland Resort released a statement saying: “We deeply regret this incident. Our thoughts are with our injured associate, our staff and guests as we focus on ensuring they receive the finest medical attention and counseling” – Maggie Hardy Knox, President of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort The resort has checked the bear enclosure, and it is completely secure. The incident is under review until resort officials determine what happened. The bear has been at Nemacolin for nine years, the resort spokesperson said.
July 21, 2019 8:07 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Germany’s foreign minister is warning Iran that its seizure of commercial vessels in a key Persian Gulf shipping lane is contributing to an “escalation spiral” that could lead to war. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in comments to Bild newspaper’s Sunday edition that the seizure of a British tanker Friday and the temporary detention of another has made the situation in the Gulf “a lot more serious and dangerous than it has been.” He says “there can be no winners, only losers, in a possible uncontrolled military escalation” and called on Iran’s leaders to fulfill “their responsibilities and not continue with this escalation spiral.” Maas says European efforts are focused on keeping diplomatic channels open with “voices of reason” despite the challenges involved. He says: “This is about preventing war.”
July 21, 2019 8:06 am
BERLIN (AP) – Sweden’s prime minister says he would be glad to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump about rapper A$AP Rocky’s detention but he “cannot and will not attempt to influence prosecutors or courts.” Trump tweeted Friday that he would call Prime Minister Stefan Lofven “to see what we can do about helping A$AP Rocky.” Rocky has been held in Sweden for weeks as police investigate his alleged involvement in a fight. First lady Melania Trump and celebrities including Kanye West urged Trump to intervene. The Swedish leader said Saturday he was aware Trump “has a personal interest in the case.” Lofven called Trump’s desire for a conversation “certainly positive” and said: “I will explain that the Swedish judicial system is independent. In Sweden, everyone is equal before the law, and this includes visitors from other countries.”
July 21, 2019 8:04 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence is marking the 50th anniversary of humanity’s first moon landing at the Apollo 11 launch site. Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin accompanied Pence to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Saturday and showed him the pad where he began that momentous journey 50 years ago. Aldrin later got a standing ovation during a speech by Pence. Mission commander Neil Armstrong, the first man to step onto the moon on July 20, 1969, died seven years ago. Command module pilot Michael Collins did not attend the Florida celebration. Pence says Apollo 11 is the only event of the 20th century that “stands a chance of being widely remembered in the 30th century.” The vice president reiterated the Trump administration’s push to put Americans back on the moon by 2024.
July 21, 2019 8:02 am
NORTH VERSAILLES, Pa. (AP) – Authorities have dropped an attempted homicide charge against a woman in a shooting in a western Pennsylvania Walmart that critically wounded another woman. The action came after surveillance video showed two women attacking 22-year-old Rojanai Alston from behind July 5 in the electronics section of the North Versailles store. Allegheny County police say Alston opened fire, hitting a 25-year-old woman multiple times. She was later arrested and still faces an aggravated assault charge. Defense attorney Ken Haber said after Thursday’s preliminary hearing that Alston didn’t pick the fight or the location but defended herself with her legal 9mm handgun. He said his client “was cold-cocked” three times and her attackers then tried to drag her to the ground, and if unarmed could have been killed.
July 21, 2019 7:58 am
CLAIRTON, Pa. (WPXI) – Four teenagers were shot early Saturday morning at a graduation party in Clairton. Investigators said they got multiple calls for a shooting around 12:15 a.m. at a home on Waddell Avenue. When officers arrived at the scene, several dozen people ran away and they found four teens, ages 14 to 18, in the yard with gunshot wounds. The victims, three girls and a boy, were taken to a hospital where they are listed in stable condition. Investigators tell our news partners at Channel 11 more than 100 people were at the home for a graduation party before the shooting. Police are still searching for suspects and a motive for the shootings. Anyone with information is asked to call Allegheny County police.
July 21, 2019 7:55 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – Pittsburgh Police conducted an End of Watch Ceremony at 8 p.m. on Saturday for fallen officer Calvin Hall. Police said they picked that time because that was when Officer Hall’s regular shift would end. The family of Officer Hall was flanked by fellow brothers and sisters in blue as many shed tears during the service. It featured dispatchers reading out over the radio Hall’s badge number was out of service. Ceremonial bagpipes played and after the last radio call, officers in tears found comfort in each other. “Especially when the last call was coming over the speaker, I started to tear up,” Ben Talik described. The ceremony and other events follow the shooting of Officer Hall when he was off duty in Homewood. Hall, 36, was at a house on Monticello Street visiting friends when he was shot three times in the back according to investigators. He died at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital several days later. A person of interest in the shooting death of Officer Hall was taken into custody on unrelated charges.
July 20, 2019 9:57 am
FLINT, Mich. (AP) – Plagued by anemic polling and fundraising, many 2020 Democratic presidential campaigns have fallen into a spiral of perceived struggles that become increasingly self-fulfilling.
Some of the most affected built their runs around signature issues that have largely fallen flat as momentum eludes their messengers. That includes New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s championing of women’s rights, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s focus on climate change and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s pitch as a principled moderate. Urgent calls for gun control also couldn’t keep California Rep. Eric Swalwell’s now-defunct presidential bid afloat. After the next Democratic primary debate later this month in Detroit, the threshold to qualify for future debates gets tougher. That’s when many of the campaigns that have yet to break out may face pressure to leave the race.
July 20, 2019 9:55 am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – The Trump administration is proposing an ambitious plan to slow Western wildfires by bulldozing, mowing or revegetating large swaths of land along 11,000 miles of terrain in the West. The plan announced this summer would create strips of land known as “fuel breaks” on about 1,000 square miles of land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in an area known as the Great Basin in parts of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Utah. The estimated cost range for the project is about $55 million to $192 million up front and up to $107 million annually to maintain them. Wildfire experts say the program could help slow fires, but it won’t help with the most extreme fires that can jump these strips of land. The breaks could fragment wildlife habitat.
July 20, 2019 9:54 am
HOUSTON (AP) – The U.S. government will expand its policy requiring asylum seekers to wait outside the country to one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities. The Department of Homeland Security said Friday it will implement its “Migrant Protection Protocols” in Brownsville, Texas, across the border from Matamoros, Mexico. DHS says it anticipates the first asylum seekers will be sent back to Mexico starting Friday. Thousands of people are already camped in Matamoros, at the eastern edge of the U.S.-Mexico border. An official waiting list to seek asylum has more than 1,000 people.
Matamoros is in Mexico’s Tamaulipas state, which the U.S. government warns citizens not to visit due to violence and kidnappings. The city is also near where a Salvadoran father and his 23-month-old daughter were found drowned in the Rio Grande, in photos that were shared around the world.
