July 6, 2019 4:23 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Small communities in the Mojave Desert are reeling from a magnitude 7.1 earthquake – the second major temblor in as many days to rock Southern California.
Authorities say Friday night’s shaker was centered near the town of Ridgecrest – the same area where a 6.4-magnitude quake hit on Independence Day. Mark Ghillarducci, director of the California Office of Emergency Services, says there are “significant reports of structure fires, mostly as a result of gas leaks or gas line breaks throughout the city.” He also says there’s a report of a building collapse in tiny Trona. He says there could be even more serious damage to the region that won’t be known until first light on Saturday.
The quake at 8:19 p.m. was felt as far north as Sacramento and even in Las Vegas. It’s been followed by a series of sizeable aftershocks.
July 6, 2019 4:21 am
NORTH FAYETTE TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WPXI) – A house that was fully engulfed in flames Friday morning is now destroyed. There’s not much left of the home on Bateman Road in North Fayette Township. No one was hurt in the incident. There was too much fire to send anyone inside, according to the fire chief. Multiple fire departments responded to help on scene. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
July 6, 2019 4:16 am
NORTH VERSAILLES, Pa. (WPXI) – An arrest warrant has been issued for the woman Allegheny County Police believe is responsible for shooting another woman inside the North Versailles Walmart on Friday night. Police said the shooting happened just before 10 p.m. in the electronics department when two women started fighting with a third woman. That third woman, Rojanai Alston, 22, shot one of the women in the leg, according to police. Police said it’s unclear what caused the fight or why the shooting happened. “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 Channel 11. The 25-year-old victim’s condition is still unknown. Alston, of Penn Hills, is charged with criminal attempted homicide and aggravated assault. She’s described as a black female, 5’6″ tall with a medium build. The store was on lockdown for hours and as of 7:30 a.m., was still closed. Employees said it should reopen by Saturday afternoon.
July 6, 2019 4:13 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) – Police in Donora are searching for a 14 year old boy missing since Wednesday. According to our news partner WPXI TV, Jaime Watkins was seen leaving his home at 3:30 PM on July 3. He was seen entering a white Pontiac Sunfire driven by a woman in her 20s or 30s. There were two younger children in the car at the time. Watkins is 5 feet 8 and about 106 pounds. Donora Police are asking for help. If you have any information please call Donora Police at 724-379-6600.
July 6, 2019 4:12 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania will allow school districts to turn school cancellations into school days by delivering lesson plans to students at home. The bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Tom Wolf writes a three-year pilot program into law to let all school districts participate in the flexible instruction day program. Under the law, students do not physically attend school. Rather, they must get and complete lessons at home so that a flexible instruction day counts toward the 180 days of instruction currently required annually. The law caps a school’s flexible instructional days at five a year. A district that wants to participate must show the state Department of Education how it will record attendance, institute the program and accommodate students who lack the right technology at home, such as internet access.
July 5, 2019 3:56 pm
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Utah police say the body of a slain college student has been recovered. The disclosure came at a news conference Friday in the case involving 23-year-old Mackenzie Lueck.
Authorities previously said some of her remains were found in a suspect’s backyard in Salt Lake City. The body was discovered in a canyon 85 miles north of the city. Lueck disappeared June 17, after she returned from a trip to her hometown of El Segundo, California, and took a Lyft from the airport to a park where she met someone. Police say the last person she communicated with was 31-year-old Ayoola A. Ajayi, who was also in the park. He’s being held on suspicion of aggravated murder, kidnapping and other crimes. No attorney has been listed for him.
July 5, 2019 3:41 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s governor is vetoing legislation that carried $90 million to help counties buy new voting machines before 2020’s elections, but ordered changes to election laws that the Democrat says don’t help improve voting security or access.
Gov. Tom Wolf issued the veto Friday. It passed the Republican-controlled Legislature last week. Just seven Democrats voted for it.
Wolf began pressing counties last year to replace their voting machines after federal authorities warned Pennsylvania and other states that Russian hackers targeted them during 2016’s presidential election.
One provision eliminates the straight-party ticket voting option on ballots. Wolf says that could lead to voter confusion and longer lines at polls.
Wolf says he’s still committed to helping counties pay for voting machines and that more should be done to make it easier to vote.
July 5, 2019 2:15 pm
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) – Police in Donora are searching for a 14 year old boy missing since Wednesday. According to our news partner WPXI TV, Jaime Watkins was seen leaving his home at 3:30 PM on July 3. He was seen entering a white Pontiac Sunfire driven by a woman in her 20s or 30s. There were two younger children in the car at the time. Watkins is 5 feet 8 and about 106 pounds. Donora Police are asking for help. If you have any information please call Donora Police at 724-379-6600.
July 5, 2019 4:19 am
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) – Police in the Bahamas say a helicopter flying from Big Grand Cay island to Fort Lauderdale has crashed, killing seven Americans on board. A statement from the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the cause of Thursday’s crash two miles off Grand Cay was under investigation. It identified the people killed as four women and three men. Reports from West Virginia Governor Jim Justice confirms two of the people dead came from his state. West Virginia coal billionaire and philanthropist Chris Cline was one individual on the flight, along with his daughter. It said police and civil aviation authorities were probing the crash.
July 5, 2019 4:17 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The strongest earthquake in 20 years shook a large swath of Southern California and parts of Nevada on the July 4th holiday, rattling nerves and causing injuries and damage in a town near the epicenter, followed by a swarm of ongoing aftershocks. The 6.4 magnitude quake struck at 10:33 a.m. Thursday in the Mojave Desert, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, near the town of Ridgecrest, California. Kern County Fire Chief David Witt says multiple injuries and two house fires were reported in the town of 28,000. Emergency crews were also dealing with small vegetation fires, gas leaks and reports of cracked roads. Witt says 15 patients were evacuated from the Ridgecrest Regional Hospital as a precaution and out of concern for aftershocks.
