December 30, 2019 4:22 am
MONSEY, N.Y. (AP) – Authorities say they have found handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic references in the home of a man charged with federal hate crimes in the stabbing of five people celebrating Hanukkah in a rabbi’s house north of New York City. Federal criminal charges were filed Monday. Grafton E. Thomas was expected to appear in federal court in White Plains to face five counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by attempting to kill with a dangerous weapon and causing injuries. The attack occurred amid a series of violent attacks targeting Jews in the region. On Sunday, Thomas pleaded not guilty to five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary. (Photo: CNN)
December 30, 2019 4:21 am
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas (AP) – A man who trained others in his Texas church to use firearms to protect the congregation fatally shot a gunman seconds after he opened fire during a service. Jack Wilson fired a single shot, quickly ending the attack that killed two people at the West Freeway Church of Christáin the Fort Worth-area town of White Settlement. More than 240 congregants were in the church at the time. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton identified Wilson on Monday. Paxton also hailed the state’s gun laws, which allow weapons in places of worship. Authorities identified the gunman Monday as 43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen of the small nearby city of River Oaks.
December 30, 2019 4:20 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for his military and diplomats to prepare unspecified “offensive measures” to protect the country’s security and sovereignty as he nears his end-of-year deadline for the Trump administration to make major concessions to salvage a fragile nuclear diplomacy. North Korea’s state media says Kim during the ruling Workers’ Party meeting also stressed improvements in national efforts to rebuild the North’s moribund economy. A South Korean analyst says Kim urgent needs to make policy changes in the face of international sanctions and pressure such as a crackdown on North Korean workers abroad.
December 30, 2019 4:20 am
MIAMI (AP) – Authorities say three children have died in a house fire in South Florida. Miami Fire Rescue officials tell local media that firefighters found four children, ages 1 to 12, trapped inside the Miami home Monday as the fire was raging Monday. All four children were unresponsive and firefighters began performing CPR on some of them. They were then taken to a hospital where three of the children died.
December 30, 2019 4:15 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Authorities are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found along the shoreline in a northwestern Pennsylvania park.State police in Erie County say a duck hunter found the body floating in brush near the East Pier at Presque Isle State Park at about 9 a.m. Saturday.Coroner Lyell Cook told the Erie Times-News that there were no signs of trauma on the body, so it’s unclear whether an autopsy would reveal anything.áHe said officials were more concerned about establishing the woman’s identity, since there was no identification on the body.
December 30, 2019 4:14 am
Authorities say a suspect has been charged in the slaying of a 90-year-old man shot and killed outside a Pittsburgh cemetery. Police in Allegheny County say 27-year-old Anthony Miller of White Oak is charged with homicide, robbery and weapons crimes. Authorities said 90-year-old Samuel Rende was in a truck at the entrance to Calvary Cemetery when he was shot in the head at about 9:45 a.m. Saturday. Authorities said they believe the victim was “targeted.”áCourt documents don’t list a defense attorney and a listed number for Miller couldn’t be found Sunday.
December 29, 2019 8:19 am
GLOUCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Hundreds of people plunged into the chilly ocean at a Massachusetts beach on Saturday to honor Peter Frates, the former college baseball player whose battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease helped spread the ALS ice bucket challenge. About 1,000 people showed up for the final “Plunge for Pete” at Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester, and more than half of those braved the frigid waters on what would have been Frates’ 35th birthday. The event, in its eighth year, raised money for the Pete Frates #3 Fund, which helped pay for Frates’ medical bills. The former Boston College baseball player, who lived in Beverly, a suburb north of Boston, died Dec. 9 after a seven-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The family has accumulated roughly $500,000 in debt for their son’s medical care, Pete’s father, John Frates said, and the final fundraiser will hopefully help close the gap. The family will continue to raise money for the separate Peter Frates Family Foundation, which helps other ALS patients cover home health care costs, he said.
December 29, 2019 8:17 am
MONSEY, N.Y. (AP) — A man attacked a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi’s home north of New York City late Saturday, stabbing and wounding five people before fleeing in a vehicle, police said. The attack appeared to be the latest in a string targeting Jews in the region, including a massacre at a kosher grocery store in New Jersey earlier this month. Police said the stabbings happened at around 10 p.m. in Monsey, one of several Hudson Valley towns that have seen an influx in large numbers of Hasidic Jews in recent years. Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel said hours later that New York City police had located a vehicle and possible suspect being sought in connection with the stabbing. New York City Police wouldn’t immediately confirm whether anyone was in custody.
December 29, 2019 8:15 am
HONOLULU (AP) — Tour helicopter operations in Hawaii have come under increased scrutiny after the deadly crash this week, one of several recent accidents in the state, with a congressman calling the trips unsafe and lacking proper oversight. There were no survivors of a Thursday tour helicopter crash that killed three minors and four adults, officials confirmed Saturday. The helicopter that was set to tour the rugged Na Pali Coast, the picturesque and remote northern shoreline of Kauai that was featured in the film “Jurassic Park,” crashed on a mountaintop Thursday. The remains of six people were recovered Friday and the seventh is still missing. Kauai police confirmed there were no survivors based in part on the nature of the crash and impact damage, officials said in a statement. Recovery efforts were suspended Saturday afternoon. There were six people from two different families and a pilot on the flight.
December 29, 2019 8:11 am
WESTMORELAND CO. (WPXI) — Pennsylvania State Police are searching for three men who investigators say assaulted a girl inside the Westmoreland Mall. According to a release from state police, the assault happened Friday around 6:45 p.m. inside the mall. Troopers said the three men drove away from the mall after the alleged assault in a blue Jeep Cherokee. Anyone with information regarding their whereabouts is asked to call state police, and they emphasized the need for information on the man in the red shirt. The details surrounding the alleged assault are still unclear.
