September 8, 2020 4:14 am
SHAVER LAKE, Calif. (AP) – California’s largest utility shut off power to 172,000 customers to guard against its power lines and other equipment sparking wildfires. High winds are forecast for the next two days, and fire danger is high throughout wildfire-ravaged California. Pacific Gas & Electric said the outages started at 9 p.m. Monday and affect 22 counties in Central and Northern California. The utility hopes to return power by Wednesday night. The move came at the end of a scorching Labor Day weekend that saw several major wildfires break out in different areas of California. Earlier Monday, the U.S. Forest Service closed national forests in the southern half of California and added restrictions at others because of dangerous fire conditions.
September 8, 2020 4:13 am
ATLANTA (AP) – An Associated Press analysis of absentee ballot rejections found the number of ballots that could go uncounted this year in some key battleground states could be up to three times higher than during the last presidential election four years ago. The rejections could be even more pronounced in some urban areas where Democratic votes are concentrated and rejections trended higher during this year’s primaries. Ballots typically go uncounted because they arrive at local election offices too late, voters forgot to sign them or signatures did not match the one on file. The number of ballots rejected could prove pivotal in close races.
September 8, 2020 4:09 am
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Pro-Trump supporters and counter-protesters have clashed at Oregon’s Capitol. On Monday, the right-wing crowd rushed a smaller group of Black Lives Matters counter-demonstrators, firing paint-gun pellets at them. There were skirmishes, and the Black Lives Matter group dispersed shortly after local police arrived on the scene. Earlier Monday, hundreds of people gathered in a small town south of Portland for a pro-Trump vehicle rally. Oregon Public Broadcasting report vehicles waving flags for Trump, the QAnon conspiracy theory and in support of police gathered at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City. The rally’s organizers say they did not plan to enter Multnomah County, where Portland is located. Oregon City is about 20 miles south of Portland.
September 8, 2020 4:08 am
FAYETTE COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – State police are investigating after a body was found at a park in Fayette County on Monday. According to Fayette County 911, the body was found in Patsy Hillman Park. Emergency crews were called around 10:15 a.m. after someone reported finding the person dead. It’s not clear at this point if it was a man or woman, or how the person died. We have reached out to state police for more information. We’ll update this story once we learn more.
September 7, 2020 4:45 am
LONDON (AP) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson is talking tough ahead of a crucial round of post-Brexit trade talks with the European Union. He says Britain is prepared to walk away and insists a no-deal exit would be a “good outcome for the U.K.” With talks deadlocked, Johnson says an agreement will only be possible if EU negotiators were prepared to “rethink their current positions.” The EU, in turn, accuses Britain of failing to take the negotiations seriously. EU and U.K. negotiators are meeting in London on Tuesday for the eighth round of talks since Britain left the now 27-nation bloc on Jan. 31. The two sides are seeking a new deal on trade, security and other issues.
September 7, 2020 4:44 am
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Jacob Blake has spoken publicly for the first time since a Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer shot him seven times in the back. In a brief video posted Saturday night on Twitter by his family’s lawyer, Ben Crump, Blake says from his hospital bed that he’s in constant pain from the shooting, which doctors fear will leave him paralyzed from the waist down. He says, “Twenty-four hours, every 24 hours it’s pain, nothing but pain. It hurts to breathe, it hurts to sleep, it hurts to move from side-to-side, it hurts to eat.” The Aug. 23 shooting of Blake, who is Black and was shot by a white officer, was captured on cellphone video and sparked several nights of protests.
September 7, 2020 4:43 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – A powerful typhoon damaged buildings, flooded roads and knocked out power to thousands of homes in South Korea after battering southern Japanese islands. Korean forecasters warned of heavy rain and wind as the typhoon made landfall, but it’s expected to later weaken to a tropical storm. Cars struggled to navigate flooded roads in coastal cities, and more than 1,600 residents were evacuated due to the possibility of landslides and other concerns. Haishen plowed through Okinawa and other southern Japanese islands over the weekend. One person was lightly injured in Busan, and Japanese officials said at least 38 people were injured, and NHK public TV said four people were missing.
September 7, 2020 4:42 am
SHAVER LAKE, Calif. (AP) – Rescuers in military helicopters airlifted 207 people to safety after an explosive wildfire trapped them in a popular camping area in California’s Sierra National Forest, one of dozens of fires burning Sunday amid record-breaking temperatures that strained the state’s electrical grid and for a time threatened power outages for millions. Other blazes broke out in Southern California and forced evacuations in San Diego and San Bernardino counties. Cal Fire says the latter blaze started Saturday morning and was caused by a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used during a gender-reveal party. About 8:30 p.m., the state agency that manages the power grid issued a tweet calling off an emergency because Californians had cut back on electricity use.
September 7, 2020 4:41 am
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) – The mayor of Rochester says reforms are coming to the police department as community elders seek to bring calmer minds to a fifth night of demonstrations over the March death of Daniel Prude, who lost consciousness after police held a hood over his head. Mayor Lovely Warren announced that the crisis intervention team would move from the police department to the city’s department of youth and recreation services at a news conference Sunday. Police Chief La’Ron Singletary said he supports the need for reform and is working with experts and clinicians in getting services for people with mental health issues that bring them into repeated police contact. More than 1,000 protesters gathered for a march led by community elders in Rochester Sunday night.
September 7, 2020 4:41 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Demonstrators against police brutality have gathered Sunday night near a police precinct on the city’s north side. Police say the demonstrators have blocked traffic near the precinct. Hundreds of people gathered for rallies and marches Saturday night as often violent demonstrations that have happened nightly since Floyd hit the 100-day mark. Molotov cocktails thrown in the street during a march sparked a large fire and prompted police to declare a riot.Police confirmed that tear gas was deployed to defend themselves and said 59 people were arrested, ranging in age from 15 to 50
