July 7, 2019 8:40 am
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Afghan officials say a car bomb in central Afghanistan has killed three people and wounded 72 others, many of them students attending a nearby school. Hasan Raza Yousafi, a provincial council member, says the target of Sunday’s suicide attack was an intelligence unit compound in Ghazni, the capital of the province of the same name. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed claimed responsibility saying several intelligence agents were killed. Officials have not confirmed any deaths among government intelligence employees. The attack comes as an all-Afghan two-day conference that includes the Taliban begins in Doha in an effort to find an end to Afghanistan’s relentless wars. U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said the latest round of talks with the Taliban, also in Doha, were the most productive ever.
July 7, 2019 8:39 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Lawmakers returning from their Fourth of July recess are trying to set aside their differences over the Obama-era Affordable Care Act and working toward a bipartisan agreement on a more immediate health care issue – lowering costs for people who have coverage. The Senate and House are moving to end surprise medical bills, curb high prices for medicines and limit prescription copays for people with Medicare. Democrats and Republicans say they’re trying to work together. Partisan disagreements could derail the effort, but lawmakers fear the voters’ verdict in 2020 if politicians have nothing to show for their hand-wringing about drug prices. The big cuts that President Donald Trump promised haven’t materialized.
July 7, 2019 8:34 am
PLANTATION, Fla. (AP) – Police and firefighters are investigating an explosion at a Florida shopping plaza that injured multiple people. The explosion happened Saturday morning at a shopping center in Plantation, west of Fort Lauderdale in Broward County. The blast sent large pieces of debris about 100 yards (about 91 meters) across the street. Video and photos posted on social media showed a destroyed business with damaged buildings next to it. Police officer Chavez Grant said there were no known fatalities. The Plantation fire and police departments said on Twitter that the street was closed to traffic. The fire department called it a gas explosion with “multiple patients.”
July 7, 2019 8:32 am
RIDGECREST, Calif. (AP) – The two major earthquakes that hit Southern California should alert people across the nation of the need to be prepared for the natural disasters, the state’s governor said as officials expressed relief that the damages weren’t worse. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday that governments must strengthen alert systems and building codes, and residents should make sure they know how to protect themselves during an earthquake. Friday’s earthquake was the largest one Southern California in nearly 20 years. Officials voiced concerns about the possibility of major aftershocks in the days and months to come. No fatalities or major injuries were reported after Friday night’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake, which jolted an area from Sacramento to Mexico and prompted the evacuation of the Navy’s largest single landholding, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in the Mojave Desert.
July 7, 2019 8:30 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Researchers at West Virginia University are testing an idea to help save freshwater resources by combining wastewater from power plants with wastewater from fracking. The Dominion Post reports the power industry is the biggest water user in West Virginia. Nationally, it is the second biggest, behind agriculture. Thermoelectric plants use water in heat exchangers. As it evaporates, natural salts concentrate to the point where they could foul the cooling system. Meanwhile, water from fracking contains other substances that could harm the cooling towers, like magnesium and strontium. But when the two are mixed together, the chemicals combine in a way to precipitate out of the water. This produces clean water to recirculate. The project is still in its early stages. It is funded by a $400,000 Department of Energy grant.
July 7, 2019 8:28 am
WASHINGTON, PA – Lightning was the cause of a house fire in the City of Washington Friday afternoon. A bolt struck the roof of the home at 220 Maple Avenue in the city shortly after 3:00 p.m. According to reports, smoke was seen billowing from the structure, as crews had the situation under control in roughly 30 minutes. City Fire Chief Gerald Coleman says no one was home at the time of the fire, but over half a dozen dogs were inside the house. Officials say none of the animals were injured. Reports say all damage occurred in the attic.
July 7, 2019 8:26 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – A coke plant in northwestern Pennsylvania will be allowed to continue operating until a hearing board rules on its appeal of state environmental officials’ denial of its operating permit. A judge on Pennsylvania’s Environmental Hearing Board on Friday granted a delay until at least Wednesday of the state Department of Environmental protection’s denial of Erie Coke Corp.’s application to renew its operating permit. Erie Coke attorney Paul Stockman said failure to grant relief would in effect impose “a corporate ‘death penalty”‘ on the company by destroying its primary asset – two batteries of coke ovens.” Erie Coke filed an appeal Tuesday after the department denied the permit renewal and filed a complaint in Erie County Court to shut the plant down, citing “years of numerous repetitive environmental violations.”
July 7, 2019 8:25 am
NORTH VERSAILLES, Pa. (WPXI) – The woman who Allegheny County Police believe is responsible for shooting another woman inside the North Versailles Walmart turned herself in Saturday evening. Police said the shooting happened just before 10 p.m. in the electronics department when two women started fighting with a third woman. According to the criminal complaint, the victim was there with another woman, who had “beef” with 22-year-old Rojanai Alston. The two are seen on video walking up to Alston, starting a fight and pulling her hair, according to police. That’s when Alston reached for her gun. The two ran off, and police say Alston fired several shots at the other woman. Alston then walked down an aisle and shot the victim in the hand and leg, according to police. She left the store before she could be arrested. According to the criminal complaint, Alston has a concealed carry permit that is valid for two guns. “At least nine or 12 shots and then everyone started running,” a person who was inside the store at the time of the shooting told our news partners at Channel 11. The 25-year-old victim is in critical condition. Alston, of Penn Hills, is charged with criminal attempted homicide and aggravated assault. She’s currently in the Allegheny County Jail awaiting arraignment. The store was on lockdown but has since reopened. “Our thoughts are with the victim and her family. We are working with law enforcement to provide any assistance we can as part of the ongoing investigation, as well as performing a review of our own,” the spokesperson said.
July 6, 2019 8:11 am
WASHINGTON, PA – Lightning was the cause of a house fire in the City of Washington Friday afternoon. A bolt struck the roof of the home at 220 Maple Avenue in the city shortly after 3:00 p.m. According to reports, smoke was seen billowing from the structure, as crews had the situation under control in roughly 30 minutes. City Fire Chief Gerald Coleman says no one was home at the time of the fire, but over half a dozen dogs were inside the house. Officials say none of the animals were injured. Reports say all damage occurred in the attic.
July 6, 2019 4:27 am
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – The U.S. says it is requesting a special meeting of the board of the United Nations’ nuclear agency to discuss the latest developments in Iran’s atomic program. The U.S. said Friday its ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Jackie Wolcott, had requested a special meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency to discuss its “latest, concerning report on the Iran regime’s nuclear program.” The IAEA on Monday said its inspectors had confirmed Iran had surpassed the limit set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium established in the 2015 deal promising the country economic incentives in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. The U.S. unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear deal last year, but Iran had been abiding by the restrictions.
The IAEA says it will hold the meeting Wednesday.
