July 10, 2020 3:57 am
ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP — (WPXI) – Two 13-year-olds were responsible for a fire at a community pool in Elizabeth Township, according to Allegheny County police. A building that houses bathrooms, storage and the lifeguard area at the Buena Vista Pool on Styche Street caught fire just after 3:30 Thursday morning. The pool is owned and operated by the Buena Vista Fire Company. “It’s been here about 70 years now and we operate it as a public swimming pool to help generate money for the fire company,” said Chief James Davenport of the Buena Vista Fire Company. The fire chief told Channel 11 News that the fire started in the center of the building and appeared to be suspicious. Once detectives started investigating further, they found incendiary devices (Molotov Cocktails) near where the fire started. The pool opened in June and has been running at maximum capacity.
July 9, 2020 1:42 pm
Kennywood and Sandcastle will begin reopening on Friday. Officials with the parks say they will open to season pass-holders on Friday and then open to the public on Monday. The announcement comes on the heels of a reopening postponement because of rising cases of the coronavirus in Allegheny County. Officials say planned safety measures include limiting the parks’ capacity, requiring masks (except for children under 3 years old) and temperature checks at the park entrance. Anyone with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher or who shows COVID-19 symptoms will be denied entry. Visitors will also be required to register for their visit after buying a ticket. Tickets will not be available at the gates. Social distancing guidelines will also be in place.
July 9, 2020 7:57 am
DUNMORE, Pa. (AP) – Democrat Joe Biden is turning his campaign against President Donald Trump toward the economy. On Thursday, he introduced a New Deal-like economic agenda while drawing a sharp contrast with a billionaire incumbent he said has abandoned working-class Americans amid cascading crises. Biden presented details of a comprehensive agenda that he touted as the most aggressive government investment in the U.S. economy since World War II. He also accused Trump of ignoring the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis while encouraging division amid a national reckoning with systemic racism. The economy was expected to be a strength for Trump in his reelection bid before the pandemic.
July 9, 2020 4:14 am
NEW YORK (AP) – President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, has been returned to federal prison. The federal Bureau of Prisons told The Associated Press on Thursday that Cohen had “refused the conditions of his home confinement.” The move comes weeks after the 53-year-old was released in late May to serve the remainder of his sentence at home because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion, campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress and began serving his sentence in May 2019, scheduled to remain in prison until November 2021. An attorney for Cohen called the jailing an “overly draconian response.”
July 9, 2020 4:11 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Authorities say they are searching for a second day for “Glee” star Naya Rivera, whose 4-year-old son was found alone on a boat they had rented together on a lake near Los Angeles. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office says divers, drones and helicopters are being used to search Thursday for the 33-year-old Rivera on Lake Piru. Authorities say Rivera and her son rented a pontoon boat at about 1 p.m. Wednesday and her son was found about three hours later. Rivera played Santana Lopez, a singing cheerleader in the musical-comedy “Glee” that aired on Fox from 2009 until 2015.
July 9, 2020 4:09 am
Texas has reported its deadliest day of the pandemic, with nearly 100 new deaths as newly confirmed cases continue soaring. Officials in the state capital of Austin have begun preparations to turn the downtown convention center into a field hospital. The 98 reported deaths in Texas set a one-day record, surpassing the previous high of 60 a day earlier. Texas has recorded a total of 2,813 deaths. The state reported 9,979 new coronavirus cases after hitting a record 10,028 Tuesday. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 continued to climb Wednesday, with 9,610 patients in hospitals across the state. Gov. Greg Abbott aggressively began one of America’s fastest reopenings in May but has begun reversing course in recent weeks, ordering bars closed and mandating face coverings.
July 9, 2020 4:06 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Hollywood’s technical expertise can awe us with monsters and imaginary worlds. But is it capable of delivering a simple screen kiss during a pandemic marked by masks and social distancing? Yes, according to the producer who is making that happen for CBS’ “The Bold and the Beautiful.” The daytime serial is among the first TV series to resume taping after an industry-wide production shutdown in March. The soap opera is relying on health advisers and coronavirus safeguards to bring cast and crew members together. There’s also ingenuity involved, including employing the real-life partners of “The Bold and the Beautiful” stars including Denise Richards as stand-ins for romantic scenes.
July 9, 2020 4:05 am
MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. (AP) – Country Music Hall of Fame musician Charlie Daniels received military honors at a memorial service in Tennessee on Wednesday. The writer of the hit “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” died at the age of 83 on Monday. The singer, guitarist and fiddler was also an honorary brigadier general in the Tennessee State Guard and founded a veteran’s center at Middle Tennessee State University. University officials, along with the state’s adjutant general presented American flags to Daniels’ wife and son at the service outside a Mount Juliet funeral home. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee delivered remarks and country musician Trace Adkins performed.
July 9, 2020 4:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Top Pentagon leaders have told Congress that reports of Russia offering Taliban militants bounties for killing Americans were not corroborated by defense intelligence agencies. They said they are looking into it and the U.S. will respond if necessary. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says his military commanders heard initial reports on the bounty issue in January and he first saw an intelligence paper about it in February. He says that while the threats were taken seriously, they have not yet been found credible. They also defended the performance of the National Guard in helping law enforcement agencies handle protests triggered by the May killing of George Floyd in police hands.
July 9, 2020 4:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Two Supreme Court rulings will keep President Donald Trump’s tax returns, banking records and other financial documents out of the public eye for the time being. One case the justices ruled on Thursday had to do with whether Congress could get access to Trump’s financial records. The other case had to do with whether prosecutors in New York could get them. The records requests were nearly identical, except the request from the Manhattan district attorney specifically included Trump’s taxes. The cases go back to lower courts. Trump doesn’t seem too happy with the outcomes. The Republican president says it’s all “a political prosecution” and it’s “Not fair to this Presidency.”
