January 21, 2020 3:04 am
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WPXI) — Several students from the Mount Pleasant Area School District were hurt Monday evening in a crash in Westmoreland County, the district’s superintendent said. The head-on crash happened about 5:30 p.m. on Claypike Road in Mount Pleasant Township, officials said. Four people were flown by medical helicopters to Pittsburgh hospitals, officials told our news partners at Channel 11. Mount Pleasant Area School District Superintendent Timothy Gabauer released the following statement: “The Mount Pleasant Area School District is saddened by the news that several of our students were injured in a two vehicle accident earlier this evening. Our entire community prays together for a full recovery of everyone involved.” Gabauer’s statement went on to say that the school district’s crisis teams will be available Tuesday morning “to assist other members of our MP family as we continue thinking of our friends.”
January 20, 2020 4:11 pm
GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) – A defense attorney says he expects to appeal the murder conviction of a western Pennsylvania man who asserted that his now-deceased twin brother was the shooter. Jurors in Westmoreland County deliberated for about two hours Friday before convicting 30-year-old Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 32-year-old Michael Wilson. McGhee had asserted that he was in Florida at the time of the April 2017 slaying in downtown Jeannette. He said the shooter was his twin brother, Dwayne, who was killed in a shooting 13 months later in Wilkinsburg. Prosecutors said the shooter’s identity wasn’t in question.
January 20, 2020 3:28 pm
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Police say an armed security guard shot and killed a man suspected of fatally shooting a woman and injuring 15 more people outside a bar in Kansas City, Missouri. The attack took place shortly before midnight Sunday outside 9ine Ultra Lounge. A motive for the shooting has not been revealed. Kansas City Police Capt. David Jackson told reporters early Monday that responding officers found “a chaotic scene.” Jackson says a man and a woman were killed and police believe the shooter is the deceased man. The venue was hosting a celebration of the Kansas City Chiefs’ progression to the Super Bowl.
January 20, 2020 12:23 pm
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. (AP) – State police say an armed woman was shot and wounded by a state trooper in western Pennsylvania.Police in Lawrence County say troopers responded just after 9 a.m. Monday to a Slippery Rock Township location where a woman was reported causing a disturbance. Trooper R. Dan Kesten said the woman was armed and failed to comply with the demands of the troopers. Kesten said the troopers’ lives “became endangered and they fired at her.” She was taken to a hospital. No information was available about her condition. Police say she will face charges. The troopers weren’t injured.
January 20, 2020 12:15 pm
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Thousands of gun-rights activists from around the country rallied peacefully at the Virginia Capitol on Monday, protesting plans by the state’s Democratic leadership to pass gun-control legislation that have become a key flashpoint in the national debate over gun violence. The size of the rally and the expected participation of white supremacists and fringe militia groups raised fears that the state could see a repeat of the violence that exploded in 2017 in Charlottesville. But the rally concluded uneventfully around noon, and the mood was largely festive. Attendees spilled into the streets, chanting “USA” and waving signs denouncing Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam. (Photo: CNN)
January 20, 2020 11:54 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – A local paramedic is on a personal mission after his friend and co-worker died while on the job. Michael Bedner is asking people to sign an online petition to raise awareness and increase protections for first responders when they’re called to scenes along roads. Bedner’s friend, 43-year old Matt Smelser, was hit and killed while responding to a crash on Interstate 70 on Jan. 5th. Bedner wants to see more advanced warning at crash scenes to give drivers more time to react. He also wants lawmakers to expand their definition of “move over and slow down” and increase fines for people who speed through emergency scenes or work zones.
January 20, 2020 3:26 am
BEIJING (AP) – China has reported a sharp rise in the number of people infected with a new coronavirus, including the first cases in the capital. The outbreak coincides with the country’s busiest travel period, as millions board trains and planes for the Lunar New Year holidays. Health authorities in the central city of Wuhan, where the pneumonia appears to have originated, have confirmed more cases that raise the total to more than 200. And a third patient has died, bringing the death toll to three. Thailand and Japan have identified three cases among people who recently traveled from China. South Korea reported its first case, a woman who arrived in Seoul from Wuhan and is now hospitalized.
January 20, 2020 3:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The New York Times has endorsed not one but two candidates for the Democratic nomination for president, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar from the party’s moderate wing and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren from its progressive wing. The paper said Sunday it had chosen the two most effective candidates from the moderate and progressive sides of the party – without stating a preference for either approach. In passing over Joe Biden, the paper cited his age and occasional gaffes.
January 20, 2020 3:23 am
ATLANTA (AP) – The nation is marking the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on the holiday memorializing the civil rights leader. Monday’s holiday in King’s name comes against the backdrop of a presidential election year. In Atlanta, Monday’s commemorations could draw attention to the continuing leadership role of the clergy in African American politics. U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Georgia Republican appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, plans to attend Monday’s tribute at Ebenezer Baptist Church, which King and his father both led. And in an early tribute to King, Vice President Mike Pence spoke Sunday in Memphis, Tennessee, at a church service recalling the challenges and accomplishments of the slain civil rights leader.
January 20, 2020 3:21 am
HONOLULU (AP) – Authorities and neighbors say Hawaii man with a history of run-ins with police and neighbors was facing eviction when he stabbed his landlord and killed two officers before the house he and two women were believed to be in caught fire. Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard said Sunday that police found a woman who had been stabbed in the leg and resident Jaroslav “Jerry” Hanel opened fire, killing Officers Tiffany Enriquez and Kaulike Kalama. Police suspect he and two women were inside the house when it caught fire, and Ballard said it could take days to process evidence and recover any remains. Court records say homeowner Lois Cain had recently sought to evict the man. A neighbor told The Associated Press she saw Cain being loaded into an ambulance with knife wounds.
