February 24, 2020 4:10 am
LAWRENCE COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – A 21-year-old woman from Pittsburgh fell around 80 feet from a cliff near Breakneck Bridge at McConnells Mill State Park on Sunday afternoon, fire officials confirmed. Dispatchers said the call came in around 3:23 p.m. Our news partners at Channel 11 learned the woman, who is a Slippery Rock University student, had to be pulled up from the ledge in a rescue basket. “There’s a lot of ledges, slippery areas. If you’re not familiar with the area, you could slip and fall off a ledge or if you get too close to a ledge trying to take pictures and things like that,” said Slippery Rock Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Bill Lunn. Lunn said the woman was flown to a hospital and has head and back injuries. She was alert and conscious at the time. It’s unknown how the women fell from the cliff, but signs are posted throughout the park warning of dangerous areas. (Photo; WPXI)
February 24, 2020 4:06 am
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – Hundreds of Penn State students have raised almost $11.7 million dollars for pediatric cancer patients in the annual 46-hour dance marathon known as Thon. The $11,696,942.38 total was announced Sunday afternoon at the conclusion of the Penn State Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, billed as the world’s largest student-run philanthropy. Money raised benefits pediatric cancer patients and their families at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The amount raised this year was more than $1 million over last year’s total. Before this year’s event, officials said the dance marathon had raised more than $168 million since 1977.
February 23, 2020 8:03 am
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has cautioned against “unfair” solutions aimed at ending the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. In a speech Sunday during a visit to the Italian southern port city of Bari to reflect on peace in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Francis lamented the many areas of war and conflict, including in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Francis spoke of “the still unresolved conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, with the danger of not fair solutions, and, thus, presaging new crises.” The pope didn’t cite any specific proposals.
February 23, 2020 8:01 am
COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — A court temporarily blocked the U.S. government from sending up to 50 people infected with a new virus from China to a Southern California city for quarantine after local officials argued that the plan lacked details about how the community would be protected from the outbreak. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order late Friday to halt the transportation of anyone who has tested positive for the new coronavirus to Costa Mesa, a city of 110,000 in the heart of Orange County. U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Stanton scheduled a hearing on the issue Monday. City officials quickly sought court intervention after learning from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services that U.S. officials planned to start moving patients to a state-owned facility in Costa Mesa as early as Sunday.
February 23, 2020 7:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said he’s seen no intelligence to show that Russia is interfering in the U.S. presidential campaign in hopes of reelecting President Donald Trump. Robert O’Brien’s comments come after conflicting accounts emerged from a recent closed-door briefing by intelligence officials, who spoke to lawmakers about Russian interference in the 2020 campaign. One intelligence official said that lawmakers were not told that Russia was working to directly aid Trump. But other people familiar with the meeting said they were told the Kremlin was looking to help Trump’s candidacy. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discussed the classified briefing.
February 23, 2020 7:57 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Bernie Sanders scored a commanding victory in Nevada’s presidential caucuses, cementing his status as the Democrats’ national front-runner but escalating tensions over whether he’s too liberal to defeat President Donald Trump. As Sanders celebrated Saturday night, Joe Biden was in second place with votes still being counted. Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren trailed further behind. They were all seeking any possible momentum heading into next-up South Carolina and then Super Tuesday on March 3. Nevada’s caucuses were the first chance for White House hopefuls to demonstrate appeal to a diverse group of voters in a state far more representative of the country as a whole than Iowa and New Hampshire. Sanders, a 78-year Vermont senator and self-described democratic socialist, won by rallying his fiercely loyal base and tapping into support from Nevada’s large Latino community.
February 23, 2020 7:53 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Students at the University of Pittsburgh are fighting to protect the planet. All night long Friday, members of the campus’ Fossil Free Pitt Coalition stayed up calling on the school to not invest in fossil fuels. They occupied the main floor of the famous Cathedral of Learning. The school’s board of trustees is set to meet on Feb. 28 to vote on this issue. “It is heavily toxic, it damages communities (and) it poisons our water and soil – not just all over the world but especially right her in Southwestern Pennsylvania,” said Anais Peterson, the organizer of this event. According to the group, Pitt hasn’t been transparent regarding its multi-billion endowment, and organizers cite an investigative report from The Guardian – which accused the university of investing millions into the fossil fuel industry.
February 23, 2020 7:51 am
ASPINWALL, Pa. (WPXI)— Six people were taken to the hospital after a crash involving a Port Authority bus in Aspinwall. Emergency responders said the crash happened on the on-ramp of the Highland Park Bridge from Freeport Road around 3 p.m. Saturday. Police, firefighters and medics all were called to the crash. PAT officials confirmed a PAT bus and another car collided. It’s unclear what caused the crash, but officials said six people were taken via ambulance to the hospital. Their conditions were not released.
February 23, 2020 7:44 am
APOLLO, Pa. (WPXI) — Crews rushed to a Westmoreland County park after reports that a raft overturned, sending several people into the water Saturday afternoon. Emergency officials pulled two teens out of the semi-frozen lake after their inflatable raft tipped over. The boys were in the water for about a half hour before they could be pulled out. Rescuers were unsure of what caused the boat to lose air and it was unclear if the ice on the water was to blame. The water was estimated to be about 30 degrees and 15 feet deep where the boys were. The incident occurred at the lake at Northmoreland Park. The lake is 17 acres and stocked every by the fish and boat commission. Canoeing and kayaking is only allowed between May and October. Park officials said no watercraft is allowed on the water at this time of year. The two teens were taken to an area hospital to be treated for cold-water exposure.
February 23, 2020 4:02 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A federal judge is starting the process of figuring out how the Harrisburg Roman Catholic Diocese will remain functioning and able to pay its bills while its 2-day-old bankruptcy filing inches ahead. The judge heard from lawyers for the diocese and the bankruptcy trustee about the church’s intertwined financial operations, including the widespread use of its federal employer identification number by schools, parishes and other entities. An attorney for the diocese says it’s located 79 bank accounts for such diverse uses as a high school cafeteria and a basketball boosters’ club. The exact balances in those accounts haven’t yet been established.
