February 3, 2020 4:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Department of Homeland Security is warning airline passengers that their flights may wind up rerouted if officials discover mid-flight that someone onboard has been in China in the last 14 days. The warning comes as the U.S. steps up its response to the coronavirus outbreak. DHS guidance comes in a notice released by the department Sunday as new travel restrictions officially go into effect for flights commencing after 5 p.m. EDT. And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that a “handful of flights will be heading to China to bring Americans back home from Hubei Province, which is at the heart of the coronavirus outbreak.
February 3, 2020 4:00 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A judge has dismissed the charges against one of two men accused of killing five people and an unborn baby at a western Pennsylvania cookout almost four years ago. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward Borkowski on Monday granted a defense motion to dismiss the case against 31-year-old Robert Thomas in the March 2016 killings in Pittsburgh’s Wilkinsburg suburb. The defense sought dismissal after prosecutors decided against putting a key witness on the stand. Testimony was expected to begin Monday against 33-year-old Cheron Shelton. Prosecutors say they plan to seek capital punishment in the event of a first-degree murder conviction.
February 3, 2020 3:52 am
HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Six people were forced out of their homes by a duplex fire in Harrison Township on Sunday night. Hilltop Hose Fire Chief Mike Krzeminski said heavy smoke was pouring out of the second story of the duplex on Chestnut Street. He said crews were able to get it knocked down pretty quickly with the help of four other departments. Two adults and three children lived on one side of the duplex and a woman lived on the other side. Dispatchers told us initially one person was injured in the fire, but Krzeminski told our news partners at Channel 11 that a firefighter suffered from heat-related issues. The Red Cross is helping the families affected by the fire. The fire is being investigated by the Allegheny County fire marshal.
February 2, 2020 8:26 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines Register, CNN and its polling partner have decided not to release the final installment of its presidential preference poll, fearing its results may have been compromised. Carol Hunter, the executive editor of the Iowa newspaper, posted the announcement Saturday night at the same time the results of the highly anticipated survey were supposed to be released. Hunter said that one of the poll respondents reported concerns earlier in the day, which raised questions about the integrity of the results.
February 2, 2020 8:25 am
RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Gunfire erupted after a funeral Saturday in Florida, killing a teenager and a man and leaving one other person wounded, police said. Riviera Beach police said in a statement that the shooting happened near the Victory City Church shortly after 2:30 p.m. They said a 15-year-old boy and 47-year-old Royce Freeman died at the scene. The teen’s name wasn’t immediately released. Police initially said a woman and a teenager were also wounded, but later released a statement Sunday night saying the juvenile male was shot at a different location in Riviera Beach. The woman, whose name police didn’t immediately release, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. No arrests were announced as of late Saturday.
February 2, 2020 8:23 am
NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidates promised voters in Iowa on Saturday they would unify the party to take on President Donald Trump even as they kept up their criticism of each other and navigated the lingering divides from the 2016 campaign. About 20 miles away in Cedar Rapids, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren updated her stump speech to include a more explicit call for unity. And Bernie Sanders insisted he would back the ultimate Democratic nominee even if it’s not him. On the eve of Monday’s Iowa caucuses, the unity pledges marked an early — and urgent — effort to avoid the divides that some Democrats say helped Trump win the presidency in 2016. After a year of campaigning, most polls show a tight race between Biden, Warren, Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Those candidates, along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and businessman Andrew Yang, crisscrossed Iowa on Saturday seeking a breakout victory that would propel them deeper into the contests that will decide the Democratic nomination.
February 2, 2020 8:20 am
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday pressed Kazakhstan to be wary of Chinese investment and influence, urging the Central Asian nation and others to join calls demanding an end to China’s repression of minorities. Bringing a message similar to the one he has delivered repeatedly to other countries, Pompeo told senior Kazakh officials that the attractiveness of Chinese investment comes with a cost to sovereignty and may hurt, instead of help, the country’s long-term development. Pompeo began his brief visit to the country by meeting with ethnic Kazakhs whose families have gone missing or been detained in China’s widespread crackdown on Muslims and other ethnic and religious minorities in its western Xinjiang region.
February 2, 2020 8:17 am
DONORA, Pa. (WPXI) — A father and son were left without a home after an apartment caught fire overnight in Donora. The fire happened at a building along Fifth Street and McKean Avenue. The man who lived in the unit that caught fire said his 22-year-old son jumped out of a window to escape the smoke and flames. The family said they were sleeping and woke up to smoke filling the apartment. Fire officials said the blaze was caused by a stove. Four other families live in the building and they were allowed to return once it was ventilated.
February 2, 2020 8:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf’s sixth budget proposal to Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature will come out Tuesday, and the Democrat is expected to seek more money for public schools and emphasize the urgency of addressing student-loan debt and cleaning up lead and asbestos in schools. Many details of the plan, which could exceed $35 billion, remain under wraps, although the governor’s office in recent days has rolled out some features. Wolf himself said his spending blueprint for 2020-21 fiscal year that starts July 1 would hold the line on taxes and contain “no surprises.” To a large degree, Wolf is hemmed in by the Legislature’s Republican majorities. While Wolf’s relationship with top Republican lawmakers has been stable since a protracted budget dispute in 2017, they have generally blocked his most expansive proposals since he took office in 2015.
February 2, 2020 8:11 am
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog on Sunday declared: “Spring will be early, it’s a certainty.” At sunrise on Groundhog Day, members of Punxsutawney Phil’s top hat-wearing inner circle revealed the cuddly oracle’s prediction — his 134th, according to the Pennsylvania Tourism Office. Awoken by the crowd’s chants of “Phil!” the groundhog was hoisted in the air for the assembly to hail before making his decision. He then grasped the glove of a handler as a member of his inner circle announced that spring would come early this year. The annual event has its origin in a German legend that says if a furry rodent casts a shadow on Feb. 2, winter continues. If not, spring comes early. In reality, Phil’s prediction is decided ahead of time by the group on Gobbler’s Knob, a tiny hill just outside Punxsutawney. That’s about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
