May 14, 2019 6:45 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General William Barr has appointed a U.S. attorney to examine the origins of the Russia investigation and determine if intelligence collection involving the Trump campaign was “lawful and appropriate.” That’s according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on Monday. The person couldn’t discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The person said Barr has appointed John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to conduct the inquiry. The inquiry will focus on whether the government’s methods to collect intelligence relating to the Trump campaign were lawful and appropriate. Durham has previously investigated law enforcement corruption, the destruction of CIA videotapes and the Boston FBI office’s relationship with mobsters. He will continue to serve as the chief federal prosecutor in Connecticut.
May 14, 2019 6:44 pm
PITTSBURGH – (WPXI) – “We were about maybe 2 miles from home. Get out of the car. Run around to the passenger side. She had already had the baby and was holding it in her arms. He was very blue. We couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not,” said Kyle and Vicky Blizzard. The Blizzards’ new baby was born in a gas station parking lot on Mother’s Day. The parents were in a panic because the child was not breathing. But first responders were not far away. The Blizzards said their baby’s birth caught them completely by surprise. They said he was 10 weeks early. It was not the Mother’s Day either of the new parents expected. Surveillance cameras captured the moment Sunday morning as the Shaler couple were on their way to the hospital. They pulled into a BP gas station in Millvale. “She said, ‘No the baby is coming now. Pull over. I’m delivering the baby in the car,” Kyle Blizzard said. It happened before he could even get to the other side of the car. The child was not breathing, and the 911 dispatcher was able to walk Kyle Blizzard through CPR. The boy was OK because he was still attached to the umbilical cord. Police and paramedics arrived quickly and took over. The newborn is in the neonatal intensive care unit at West Penn Hospital, where he’ll have to stay for six to eight weeks.
May 14, 2019 6:44 pm
BROWNSVILLE, Pa. – The man killed in a fire at an apartment building in Fayette County early Sunday morning has now been identified. He is 34 year old Vernon Pratt Sr. The chief of the South Brownsville Fire Department says the blaze broke out in the man’s top floor apartment on Second Street. All of the other tenants managed to get out safely. The Red Cross is helping about 10 people. Brownsville Fire Chief Ron Barry said it was a tough fire to get under control because of the heavy smoke, heats and flames. “Very, very difficult fire. Very stubborn fire. And again, the layout of the building and the age of the building. There were a lot of spaces where the fire had a good head start before we got there,” Barry said. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. (Photo: WPXI)
May 14, 2019 6:43 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Authorities say a western Pennsylvania professor working as an Uber driver has been charged with holding two women against their will in his vehicle over the weekend. Thirty-six-year-old Richard Lomotey is charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment and harassment. Pittsburgh police said Lomotey picked the women up early Saturday and was supposed to drive to Penn Hills, but veered from the route, pulled over, said “You’re not going anywhere” and tried to lock the doors, but the women escaped. Penn State-Beaver says Lomotey is an assistant professor but has been placed on leave following the “deeply troubling” allegations. Uber called the alleged actions “unacceptable” and said his access to the app has been removed. Court documents don’t list a defense attorney and a listed number for Lomotey couldn’t be found Monday.
May 14, 2019 6:41 pm
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The attorney general of Pennsylvania says he’s filing a lawsuit accusing a pharmaceutical giant of fueling the opioid epidemic. Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office said it would announce details of the lawsuit Tuesday afternoon. Pennsylvania is one of the states hardest hit by opioid addiction. Shapiro’s office two years ago joined with dozens of other states to investigate companies that make and distribute opioid painkillers. Several Pennsylvania counties have already sued drugmakers, and a federal judge in Cleveland is overseeing more than 1,500 lawsuits filed by local governments, American Indian tribes and others against the opioid industry. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says opioids, including prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and illicit drugs such as fentanyl and heroin, were involved in a record 48,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2017.
May 14, 2019 6:38 pm
MOSCOW (AP) – U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo has told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the start of their talks in Russia that he hopes that the U.S. and Russia can mend their relations and find areas of mutual cooperation. Pompeo said in televised remarks at the meeting venue in the Black Sea resort of Sochi that he has come to Russia because President Donald Trump is “committed to improve this relationship.” He said that each country wants to protect its interests but that there are areas for mutually beneficial cooperation, including the fight against terrorism. Pompeo said that an improved relationship, damaged by Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, its interference in the 2016 U.S. elections and U.S. sanctions against Russia, “will be good not only for our two countries but for the whole world as well.”
May 14, 2019 6:37 pm
Peters Township Council is still trying to figure out just what to do about an aquatics facility. Council held a public hearing recently and was unable to really come to some consensus. What the meeting did do is bring out more questions than answers. Several self described younger residents attended the meeting and voiced strong support for a pool. Council is struggling with just what to build and when. Councilman David Ball wonders if spending $11 million dollars on an outdoor facility used 3 months a year is the right idea. Should a year round facility be under consideration? Council Chairman Frank Kosir is looking to make sure that what is built is what best suits residents now and in the future. He wants to make sure that whatever is built is something that everyone can be proud of 20 years from now. In an effort to answer some of these questions, council did authorize a marketing survey to be done.
May 14, 2019 6:37 pm
BEIJING (AP) – U.S. trade officials have issued a $300 billion target list of Chinese imports including laptop computers for more tariff hikes, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing.
The U.S. Trade Representative said the list is aimed at carrying out President Donald Trump’s threat to extend punitive 25% duties to all Chinese goods shipped to the United States. The release follows Beijing’s announcement of tariff hikes on $60 billion of American imports in response to U.S. higher duties imposed on Chinese imports last week in an escalation of their fight. The U.S. list includes laptop computers, industrial equipment and a range of farm goods. The USTR noted it excludes pharmaceuticals and rare earths. The flurry of penalties and retaliatory moves has deepened concerns the dispute will hobble economic growth, shaking financial markets.
May 14, 2019 6:30 pm
Witness testimony in the civil trial against the NCAA took a small detour as Judge Michael Lucas granted a departure from the order of witness presentation. Defense for the NCAA called Dr. Robert Harbaugh, Director of Penn State Institute of Neurosciences to the stand. Testimony took all day as the defense used Harbaugh’s expertise to refute testimony from last week given by Dr. Julie Schwartzbard. Harbaugh’s testimony centered on reports indicating that there is no known cause of ALS, and that other documentation was not available during the playing career of Matt Onyshko, a former football player at California University of Pennsylvania and the plaintiff in this case. Under cross examination, an opinion expressed by Dr. Harbaugh was highlighted. In previous interviews, Harbaugh stated that removing facemasks from football helmets could positively influence the decrease of concussions in football as players would be reluctant to use their heads while tackling for fear of doing other damage. Harbaugh indicated that he agreed with the idea as presented by other football coaches he consulted with. Testimony resumed this morning.
January 31, 2019 9:33 am
CHARLESTON, W. Va. (AP) – West Virginia’s governor has fired 34 correction officer trainees who were photographed giving a Nazi salute, and he fired their instructor. He also says four instructors are being suspended without pay. Republican Gov. Jim Justice announced his decision Monday after receiving a report from state investigators that the trainees regularly gave the Nazi salute “as a sign of respect” for their instructor in the weeks prior to the release of the photo. Its release earlier this month triggered widespread outrage. A three-page executive summary was released Monday detailing the state’s inquiry into the controversial image. (Photo: CNN)
