January 31, 2020 4:19 am
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – The Virginia House of Delegates has passed several pieces of gun-control legislation, but some of the measures face an uncertain future in the more conservative Senate. The Democratic-led House approved seven gun measures Thursday, largely along party lines. áThe legislation will now go to the Senate for a vote, which has already passed its version of some of the measures but has shown signs that others may not survive. Virginia has become ground zero in the nation’s raging debate over gun control and mass shootings as a new Democratic majority has pledged to put strict new limits in place.
January 31, 2020 4:16 am
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Law enforcement officials have identified the driver of the SUV that breached a security checkpoint at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw identified Friday’s intruder as 30-year-old Hannah Roemhild. He says she wasn’t “even remotely close to being able to get into what we call the inner perimeter” of the resort in Palm Beach. Bradshaw says Roemhild was impaired. He says when officers first approached her, she was inside her car and would not respond when they tapped on the window. Officers finally smashed through the window glass and she drove away. She crashed through two checkpoints before authorities caught up to her.
January 31, 2020 4:15 am
Washington (AP) – The United States has declared a public health emergency because of a new virus that hit China and has spread to other nations. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar also announced that President Donald Trump will temporarily bar entry to the U.S. of foreign nationals believed to be a risk of transmitting the virus. The new restrictions begin Sunday afternoon. Americans returning from Hubei province, the center of the outbreak, will be required to undergo 14 days of quarantine. Others returning from elsewhere in China will be allowed to self-monitor their condition for a similar period.
January 31, 2020 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump appeared headed for all-but-certain impeachment acquittal as senators prepared on Friday to reject efforts to call more witnesses and moved to start bringing a close to only the third impeachment trial in American history. The timing of a final vote on Trump was still uncertain. But the outcome was increasingly clear after a key Republican, Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, announced he didn’t need to see or hear more testimony. He said the Democrats had proved their case, that Trump abused power and obstructed Congress, but he did not think Trump’s actions rose to the impeachable level. Eager for acquittal, the president and his allies in the Republican majority are brushing past new revelations from John Bolton, his former national security adviser, as well as historic norms that could make this the first Senate impeachment trial without witnesses. They resisted any efforts by Democrats to keep the proceedings going for weeks. Voting on the witness question was expected late Friday after hours of debate, with other votes stretching well into the evening. The timing was not set. Democrats warned the outcome won’t mean a true acquittal for Trump but a cover-up.
January 31, 2020 4:11 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A Pennsylvania watchdog agency tasked with monitoring state misconduct and waste has found itself at the center of a nearly $160,000 gaffe. Spotlight PA reports that the state inspector generals office purchased pistols, ammunition, and other related equipment, following a law passed in 2017 that expanded the office’s powers to allow it to issue subpoenas and search warrants. But after the purchase was completed, officials discovered the law didn’t empower investigators to carry a firearm. The items are now being held in a “guarded, secure facility,” and the office is working to “return or repurpose the firearms.”
January 31, 2020 4:10 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Pennsylvania auditor general’s office says a $45 million project to upgrade emergency radio communications system in Pennsylvania is on time and within the budget. But the report issued Thursday also says the purchasing process has encountered some glitches, including errors in the bidding process and inadequate documentation about the qualifications of people involving in awarding the contract. The statewide radio project, known as PA STARNet, began with a $179 million expenditure in 1996 that developed into a massive boondoggle, eventually costing the state more than $850 million. Its poor reception, software problems, short battery life and reliability shortcomings led to the current upgrade project that auditors reviewed.
January 31, 2020 4:09 am
DONORA, Pa. — (WPXI) – One person was killed in a rollover crash in Donora. The single-vehicle accident happened around 8 p.m. Thursday. The coroner’s office identified the victim as 41 year old Derrick Dow of Donora. Police say Dow lost control and struck an embankment and rolled over near the intersection of Route 837 and Donora Road. He was not wearing a seat belt. Donora Police continue to investigate.
January 30, 2020 12:28 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Lawyers for a woman who says President Donald Trump raped her in the 1990s are asking for a sample of his DNA. The attorneys for advice columnist E. Jean Carroll say they want to determine whether Trump’s genetic material is on a dress she says she wore during the encounter. They served a legal notice Thursday to one of Trump’s lawyers demanding the sample. Carroll filed a defamation suit against Trump in November after the president said she was lying about the alleged attack. The Associated Press sent a message to Trump’s attorney seeking comment.
January 30, 2020 12:19 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — The kindergarten teacher who oversaw a science experiment that left a 5-year-old girl with severe burns has resigned. She got the burns at King PreK-8 school on Pittsburgh’s North Side as a result of a science experiment involving boiling water, her family said. Pittsburgh Public Schools conducted an investigation over the past few weeks, and it ended with the teacher’s resignation. That teacher has not been officially identified or charged. Todd Hollis, who is representing the family says the young lady is going through some very obvious signs of trauma, so we’ve assisted in putting her into some therapy. As time goes on, hopefully she’ll be able to get the assistance that she needs. Hollis said the family found out about the child’s burns through a phone call from someone at the school saying the girl had sustained “minor burns” — but they were actually a lot worse.
January 30, 2020 10:22 am
Democrats are anxious about the coming presidential election, and Republicans are more likely to be excited about it. That’s the finding of a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll finds that Republican enthusiasm for the race is up since October, while two-thirds of Democrats report anxiety about it. The poll comes as divided Democrats approach Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses with no clear leader in that pivotal state and fears mounting of a brokered convention. But the poll finds each party is equally motivated to vote in November, making it unclear which emotion will triumph.
