August 15, 2019 5:17 pm
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (AP) – Dale Earnhardt Jr. was taken to a hospital after his plane crashed in east Tennessee. The NASCAR television analyst and former driver’s sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, tweeted that “everyone is safe and has been taken to the hospital for further evaluation.” Federal Aviation Administration officials said a Cessna Citation rolled off the end of a runway and caught fire after landing at Elizabethton Municipal Airport at 3:40 p.m. Thursday. FAA officials said the preliminary indication is that two pilots and three passengers were aboard. Carter County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Thomas Gray confirmed Earnhardt was aboard but said he wasn’t one of the pilots. Earnhardt retired as a full-time racer in 2017 and has been working as an analyst for NBC. He is part of the scheduled broadcast team for Saturday night’s Cup Series event in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo: WPXI-TV)
August 15, 2019 2:39 pm
BERLIN (AP) – Meteorologists say July was the hottest month measured on Earth since records began in 1880. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday that July was 0.95 degrees Celsius (1.71 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the 20th century average for the month. The results had been expected after several European countries reported new all-time temperature records in July. Scientists say the upward trend will likely continue because of man-made climate change. Last month narrowly topped the previous July record, set in 2016, by 0.03 C (0.05 F) June of this year had already set a sizzling record for that month over the past 140 years. The year to date is also 0.95 C (1.71 F) above the long-term average, but still slightly behind 2016.
August 15, 2019 2:37 pm
MADRID (AP) – Britain’s Foreign Office has warned Iran to abide by the assurances it provided to the government of Gibraltar that led to the release of a detained Iranian supertanker. In a statement hours after a Gibraltar court released the Grace I, U.K. authorities insisted they would not allow Iran or anyone else to bypass European Union sanctions meant to punish Syria for using chemical weapons against its own people. But the U.K. also insisted that there should be “no comparison or linkage” between the enforcement of sanctions and “Iran’s unacceptable and illegal seizure of, and attacks on, commercial shipping vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.” Britain wants Iran to release the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, which was seized by the Islamic Republic after British Marines took over the Grace I.
August 15, 2019 2:31 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – A man was taken into custody after a SWAT situation in Brookline Thursday, but part of Brookline Boulevard remains closed. Allegheny County police went to the home in the 1000 block of Brookline Boulevard just after 10 a.m. Thursday to serve a warrant. There was one man inside the home. Investigators haven’t said if he had any weapons inside. Negotiators were talking to the man who was taken into custody peacefully just before noon. (Photo: WPXI-TV)
August 15, 2019 2:27 pm
JERUSALEM (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is slamming Israel’s decision to deny admission to two Muslim-American congresswomen, calling the snub “beneath the dignity of the great State of Israel.” The California Democrat, long a supporter of Israel, also said President Donald Trump’s statements attacking liberal Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar and encouraging Israel to block their planned visit is “a sign of ignorance and disrespect, and beneath the dignity of the Office of the President.” Tlaib, of Michigan, and Minnesota Democrat Omar are critics of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, and many Republicans say Omar’s past rhetoric is anti-Semitic. Pelosi noted that Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, recently said that Israel would not deny any members of Congress from entering the country. She called the reversal “sad” and “deeply disappointing.”
August 15, 2019 9:18 am
A young girl was injured while on a ride at the Washington County Fair Wednesday night. Wayne Hunnell, the director of the fair, tells WJPA News that the girl bumped her head while on the ‘Swing’ ride. He says it was not a mechanical issue with the ride. According to Hunnell, the chair in which the girl was sitting was twisted when the ride launched. He says that caused it to swing out wide and led to the girl bumping her head on a support beam. Hunnell says several parents and other adults who witnessed it then tried to help and began grabbing swings and trying to stop the ride. Two other children then fell from their seats but were not seriously injured. The girl was transported to the hospital by her parents but there is no word on her condition. The ride was shut down and Hunnell says state officials were notified of the incident. The ride is to be inspected this morning and officials will then determine when or if it will reopen. Hunnell says officials are doing everything they can to ensure the safety of all of those who attend the fair.
August 15, 2019 6:50 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – (WPXI) – A 13-year-old died after he collapsed while playing football in Pittsburgh’s Windgap neighborhood. Police said they responded to reports of an unresponsive boy on a field at Chartiers Avenue and Middletown Way just before 7:40 p.m. When they arrived, police said they found Jordan Duckett, 13, who had been playing football and collapsed while running off of the field. He was transported to Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police said the scene was processed due to the boy’s age and the fact that it is an undetermined death. The cause and manner of death will be determined by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
August 15, 2019 4:49 am
An elderly woman has died after a fire ripped through her Chartiers Township home Wednesday night. The Washington County Coroner’s Office identifies her as 90 year old Grace Thomas. Firefighters were called to her home along Sprowls Avenue in Houston just after 8:30 p.m. According to reports, neighbors called 9-1-1 after seeing flames coming from the home. There is no word on a cause of the fire. The state police fire marshall and Chartiers Township police are investigating. A cause and manner of death are pending.
August 15, 2019 4:24 am
HANCOCK COUNTY, W. Va. – (WPXI) – One woman has been killed and another injured after separate but related shootings in Hancock County, West Virginia. The first shooting was reported around 7:40 p.m. in a rural area of the county on Judge Drive. Police said the woman who was shot there did not survive. About 20 minutes later, police were called to Clearview Avenue in New Cumberland, which is about an hour from Pittsburgh. Police said the suspect from the previous scene fired multiple shots into a trailer, injuring a woman and a dog inside. Two other people at the trailer were also injured, but police said the injuries were not from being shot. Around 8:15 p.m., a police officer spotted the suspect’s vehicle in the area of Locust Hill Road, where the suspect had crashed his vehicle into a home. County officials said West Virginia State Police are investigating what happened next, but the suspect was shot by police. He was flown by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh-area hospital. The suspect was described as a white male in his early 40s. Police are not identifying him or the victims at this time, as they are still looking into any potential relationship or motive.
August 15, 2019 4:20 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Eight years after former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted of corruption, the state of Illinois seeking to bar him from practicing law. The Chicago Tribune reports the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission filed a formal complaint earlier this month citing Blagojevich’s conviction on federal corruption charges and requesting a hearing before a disciplinary panel. The Tribune reports the complaint said the crimes for which Blagojevich was convicted “adversely reflect on his honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer.” James Grogan, the ARDC’s deputy administrator and chief counsel, said the complaint was served on one of Blagojevich’s attorneys on Aug. 7. That is the day President Donald Trump said he considering commuting the sentence of Blagojevich, who is serving a 14-year prison term. Grogan says Blagojevich has until Aug. 28 to respond. The Illinois Supreme Court suspended Blagojevich’s law license indefinitely after his conviction at a second trial on counts of wire fraud, bribery and attempted extortion.
