August 5, 2019 1:35 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh’s mayor says he has beefed up his own security in response to threats after the city recently approved gun control measures. Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto says he’s extended the hours of his security detail into the evening following “direct death threats,” particularly around the issue of firearms. Peduto said he sends such threats to Pittsburgh police and tries to put them out of mind. The city approved gun control measures in the wake of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that killed 11 last fall. The measures approved in April would restrict military-style assault weapons as well as armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines and allow temporary seizure of guns from those deemed a threat. Lawsuits were filed alleging the measures violated state law barring municipalities from regulating the ownership or possession of firearms and ammunition.
August 5, 2019 12:56 pm
EL PASO, Texas (AP) – A hospital official says another victim of the weekend mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, has died. Dr. Stephen Flaherty, of the Del Sol Medical Center, says the patient was one of two victims of Saturday’s attack to die at the hospital on Monday. Police earlier announced the death of one of the patients. The new deaths bring the death toll from the attack to 22. More than two dozen other people were wounded.
August 5, 2019 10:33 am
WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. (AP) – A North Carolina ocean rescue official says more than 40 people had to be saved from dangerous rip currents at a single beach in one day. News outlets report Dave Baker, ocean rescue director for Wrightsville Beach, confirmed dozens of swimmers were rescued from rip currents there by late afternoon Sunday. He said red flags indicating a high rip current hazard were flying all day. The town says that when red flags are in the air, swimmers are discouraged from getting in the water and conditions are seen as potentially life threatening to those who enter. The National Weather Service reported the risk for rip currents across the North Carolina coast Sunday was moderate, meaning swimmers should swim near a lifeguard and pay attention to warnings and beach officials.
August 5, 2019 10:31 am
DETROIT (AP) – The most powerful street-legal Ford Mustang ever built will go on sale this fall. A 5.2-liter supercharged V8 will crank out 760 horsepower in the 2020 Shelby GT500. The new version has a beefed-up suspension and brakes. It also has a seven-speed automatic transmission that Ford promises will shift smoothly on commutes and quickly on the track. The engine is hand-built at a Michigan factory and comes with unique pistons and other parts. It can go from zero to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) in around 3.5 seconds. Performance powertrain engineering manager Patrick Morgan says the car is aimed at Mustang enthusiasts who also want track performance. The car starts at $73,995 including shipping and a $2,600 gas-guzzler tax. Ford says it hasn’t finished fuel economy tests.
August 5, 2019 9:24 am
BARTLEY, W.Va. (AP) – Three people have been charged in the case of a sexually abused teen forced to drink turpentine in an attempt to end her pregnancy. A state police criminal complaint says the pregnant 15-year-old was hospitalized and is now in the care of social workers. It says 24-year-old Daniel Atwell was living with the girl and her mother. The mother told police she gave Atwell permission to have sex with her daughter. The mother said a morning-after pill she bought to end the pregnancy didn’t work. The teen told police her aunt, Sherry Kirk, then forced her to drink turpentine. Atwell and the girl’s mother are charged with sexual assault; Kirk is charged with attempt to kill or injure by poison. All three are out on bail pending trial.
August 5, 2019 8:40 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Prosecutors are calling for a life prison sentence for a Florida amateur body builder who sent pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN. His lawyers say a decade in prison is enough. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff is scheduled Monday to decide how long Cesar Sayoc will spend behind bars. The one-time stripper and pizza delivery man from Aventura, Florida, faces a mandatory decade in prison after pleading guilty to explosives charges for mailing 16 inoperative pipe bombs days before the midterm elections last fall. Sayoc says he never intended for the explosives to work when he mailed them to Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, actor Robert De Niro and several members of Congress. Prosecutors say a life sentence is “necessary and appropriate.”
August 5, 2019 4:31 am
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) – Police say an Amtrak passenger train was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Oregon after a man threatened to harm himself and others. The Klamath County Sheriff’s Office says 25-year-old Mason Lira of Fresno, California, was charged with disorderly conduct and interfering with public transportation Sunday. Police say Lira was arrested after the Coast Starlight train from Los Angeles to Seattle stopped west of Highway 58. Authorities say train personnel contacted police around 11 a.m. after Lira made unusual gestures, statements about weapons and threats to passengers and the conductor. First responders were dispatched to the scene at Odell Lake near Shelter Cove. Authorities say no weapons were found, and there were no injuries reported. The train with 272 passengers and 15 crew members was delayed for nearly five hours.
August 5, 2019 4:29 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Seoul’s military says South Korea and the United States are preparing to hold their annual joint military exercises despite warnings from North Korea that the drills could derail the fragile nuclear diplomacy. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the exercises will be focused on verifying Seoul’s capabilities for its planned retaking of wartime operational control of its troops from Washington. It did not confirm reports that the drills began on Monday. North Korea has been ramping up its weapons tests in recent weeks while expressing frustration over the planned drills it sees as an invasion rehearsal and also the slow pace of nuclear negotiations with the United States. The North suggested last month it might call off its unilateral suspension of nuclear and long-range missile tests if the drills take place.
August 5, 2019 4:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is calling the recent mass shootings “evil attacks” that are crimes “against all humanity” and says unity must replace hatred in society. Trump gave a speech from the White House on Monday following weekend shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that left 29 people dead and dozens wounded. He called the shootings “barbaric slaughters.” Trump says “in one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy.” He urges Democrats and Republicans to set aside partisanship and find solutions to violence.
August 5, 2019 4:21 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A former Pittsburgh homicide detective accused of filing false police reports and evidence-tampering has been fined $200 after pleading no contest to two counts. Fifty-three-year-old Margaret Sherwood entered the no contest plea Friday to hindering prosecution or apprehension by providing false information to law enforcement. In such a plea, a defendant doesn’t acknowledge guilt but concedes that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction. State prosecutors accused her of providing false information in two 2014 slayings and trying to scuttle a domestic violence prosecution of a jailhouse informant. Sherwood was hired as a police officer in 1989 and retired in June 2018 after 27 years. Defense attorney Patrick Thomassey suggested that his client was a “scapegoat” and said she wanted to get on with her life.
