July 14, 2019 7:55 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – Kennywood’s newest roller coaster, the Steel Curtain, shut down early Saturday due to technical difficulties, according to a post on the park’s Facebook page. The park said crews will be working to have the ride reopened for Sunday morning. In the Facebook post, the park said, “Part of the process with a brand-new, big-time ride!” Saturday was the first day the new roller coaster was open to the public. At 220 feet, the coaster is now Pennsylvania’s tallest, according to Kennywood. It also includes the world’s tallest inversion, at 197 feet high. Part of a collaboration with the Pittsburgh Steelers, The Steel Curtain is the flagship attraction of a themed section of Kennywood that’s being called “Steelers Country.”
July 13, 2019 11:36 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The storm threatening the Louisiana coast has strengthened to a hurricane. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. Saturday advisory that Barry had reached maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), with higher gusts. Hurricane-force winds were measured some 45 miles (75 km) to the east of the storm’s center, which was located 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of Lafayette, Louisiana. It was moving northwest at 6 mph (9 kph). Weather forecasters said a hurricane warning is in effect for Intracoastal City to Grand Isle. Such a warning means that hurricane conditions are expected within the warning area.
July 13, 2019 8:50 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The Coast Guard says it is in the process of rescuing more than a dozen people stranded on a remote Louisiana island by flooding from Tropical Storm Barry. Petty Officer Lexie Preston said some of the people were on rooftops Saturday on the Isle de Jean Charles, about 45 miles south of New Orleans. Preston says a helicopter and a boat are involved in the rescues. Preston says she does not know the condition of the people being helped.
July 13, 2019 8:42 am
LONDON (AP) – A British investigation into the leaking of confidential diplomatic memos is raising press freedom issues with a police warning that U.K. media might face a criminal inquiry if leaked documents are published. The Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command is investigating the leak of private memos written by Britain’s ambassador to the United States as a possible breach of the Official Secrets Act. Counter terrorism police unit leader Neil Basu warned against any further publication of leaked documents. He said that could be a criminal matter.
The Official Secrets Act prohibits public servants from making “damaging” disclosures of classified material. The chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat, said Sunday he does not believe publishing leaked material constitutes a crime. He says a free press is “essential.”
July 13, 2019 8:37 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence toured two detention facilities as part of an effort to show the Trump administration is providing adequate care for migrants, But the scene at a crowded Border Patrol station is sure to spark new criticism. At the Border Patrol station, hundreds of men were crowded in sweltering cages without cots. Some of the men said they were hungry and had been held there for 40 days or longer. Pence says: “Look, this is tough stuff.”
July 13, 2019 8:28 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony to Congress has been delayed until July 24 under an agreement that gives lawmakers more time to question him.
Mueller had been scheduled to testify July 17 about the findings of his Russia investigation. But lawmakers in both parties complained that the short length of the hearings would not allow enough time for all members to ask questions. Under the new arrangement, Mueller will testify for an extended period of time with the House Judiciary and intelligence committees.
Mueller has expressed his reluctance to testify and said he won’t go beyond what’s in his report. The Judiciary Committee is expected to focus on episodes in Mueller’s report where Trump attempted to influence the investigation.
July 13, 2019 3:57 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A Pennsylvania mother who smothered her 17-month-old son and then sent the boy’s father videos of abuse has been sentenced to life in prison without the chance for parole.
Christian Clark was sentenced Thursday. The 24-year-old McKeesport resident had pleaded no contest to homicide and attempted homicide charges in April in a deal with Allegheny County prosecutors that spared her the death penalty. Clark was charged in the November 2016 death of Andre Price III and was also accused of threatening the life of his 2-year-old sister. Authorities have said Clark thought her boyfriend was cheating on her. During hours of angry texts, Clark sent pictures and graphic videos of abuse to the boy’s father, who was charged with felony child endangerment because he didn’t intervene. He has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced July 29.
July 13, 2019 3:52 am
BOYERTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Severe weather has caused widespread damage across Pennsylvania and claimed the lives of a pregnant woman and her 9-year-old son whose car was swept away by floodwaters. Douglass Township Police Chief John Dzurek says the car was swept down the Manatawny Creek for about a half-mile on Thursday, while the woman was on the phone with emergency officials. In New Jersey, the second tornado in a week touched down in the same town.
July 13, 2019 3:48 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s Republican Party is trying to amicably settle a contested race for chairman between a candidate who had backing from Trump campaign officials, and a rival. Bernadette Comfort instead will serve as President Donald Trump campaign’s chairwoman. The state GOP’s former general counsel, Lawrence Tabas, will be the consensus candidate for state party chairman. Party activists accuse Comfort of ignoring complaints of sexual harassment by state party officials, accusations she’s denied.
July 13, 2019 3:45 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s casinos have lost a bid to shut down online lottery games that they say are too much like casino gambling, just days before the state’s first casinos launch their own online gambling portals. Friday’s decision in Commonwealth Court is a victory for the state lottery. On Monday, state regulators will allow Parx Casino and Penn Nation’s Hollywood Casino to launch their online gambling portals to patrons statewide as part of a three-day test.
