October 9, 2019 4:21 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A woman who worked with NBC at the Sochi Olympics claims she was raped by former anchor Matt Lauer at a hotel there, an encounter the former “Today” show host says was consensual. Brooke Nevils makes her claim in Ronan Farrow’s book, “Catch and Kill,” a copy of which was obtained by Variety. Lauer was fired by NBC in 2017 for what it called inappropriate sexual conduct. Nevils says Lauer forced himself upon her after a night of drinking. She said she had not consented to the sexual act, which she called “excruciatingly painful.” Lauer, in a letter provided to Variety, called Nevils “a fully enthusiastic and willing partner” in the sexual encounter. He says he had an extramarital affair with Nevils which continued after the Olympics. The Associated Press typically does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault, unless they step forward publicly as Nevils has done.
October 9, 2019 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats are waiting to see if the Trump administration will block the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from speaking to their investigators. Marie Yovanovitch was recalled from the post and is scheduled to be deposed Friday. Whether Yovanovitch will appear has been thrown into question by the White House’s assertion that it will not cooperate with what it now considers an illegitimate impeachment inquiry of the president. The ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, had been scheduled for an interview Tuesday before a joint House committee taking depositions in the impeachment probe. Hours before his appearance, the administration blocked his testimony. House Democrats then subpoenaed Sondland, setting up another clash between the two branches of government.
October 9, 2019 4:08 am
FAYETTE CO., Pa. – (WPXI) – A person who posted a threat to shoot up Uniontown High School on social media is in police custody, according to investigators. Police said school officials were made aware of a “potential threat” on Tuesday and immediately launched an investigation. The threat, which was initially captured on Snapchat, spread across social media as people tried to figure out what was happening. According to investigators, the person who posted the threat was identified and is in custody. That person’s identity was not released. However, police did confirm the suspect is a student at the high school. Uniontown Area School District officials have notified parents of the incident as well.
October 8, 2019 5:45 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House has notified the House that the Trump administration will not participate in what it is calling Democrats’ “illegitimate” impeachment probe. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone writes in a letter to House Democratic leaders that their inquiry has processed in a “manner that violates fundamental fairness and constitutionally mandated due process”\ and “lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation” or “pretense of fairness.”
October 8, 2019 4:51 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Eagles are planning massive performances of their album “Hotel California” during their 2020 tour. Performances of the band’s 1976 album will include a 46-piece orchestra and a 22-voice choir. Organizers announced Tuesday that in total, 77 musicians are expected to be onstage while Eagles perform hits from the album including “New Kid in Town” and “Life in the Fast Lane.” The band’s 2020 tour will kick off Feb. 7 in Atlanta and end April 18 in Los Angeles. Stops will include New York, Dallas, Houston and San Francisco. The band recently performed the album in its entirety at shows in Las Vegas, the first time in its history that it had played the whole album in concert. Tickets go on sale Friday on Ticketmaster.
October 8, 2019 4:47 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – The parent company of Toys R Us is turning to a rival to restart its e-commerce business ahead of the holiday shopping season. Tru Kids Brands is teaming up with discounter Target Corp. to relaunch Toysrus.com, according to a joint release. The site, which launched Tuesday, features product reviews and directs browsers to a buy button at Target.com to complete the purchase. The moves come as the first two new Toys R Us stores – one in Houston, the other in Paramus, New Jersey – will open in November as part of a small comeback of the defunct iconic toy chain in the U.S. Target.com will also power online sales in the new Toys R Us experiential retail stores.
October 8, 2019 4:44 pm
UNDATED (AP) – The daughter-in-law of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has died after being diagnosed with cancer. Rainè Riggs was 46. The Lee & Martin Funeral Home in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, says Riggs died Saturday, the day Sanders returned to Vermont after suffering a heart attack. Her obituary said she was diagnosed recently with neuroendocrine cancer. Riggs, a neuropsychologist, was married to Levi Sanders, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2018. The couple had three children.
October 8, 2019 4:21 pm
DALLAS (AP) – Dallas police say three men are suspected in the killing of a man who testified at the trial of a Dallas police officer who killed her upstairs neighbor. Assistant Chief Avery Moore said at a news conference Tuesday that the three men from Alexandria, Louisiana, will face capital murder charges in last Friday’s killing of Joshua Brown. Moore says the three were in Dallas to buy drugs from Brown, who was fatally shot at a Dallas apartment complex. He says the killing was not tied in any way to Brown testifying at the murder trial of former officer Amber Guyger, who was sentenced last Wednesday to 10 years in prison for killing her neighbor, Botham Jean. Brown lived on the same floor as Jean and testified about what he heard the night Guyger killed him.
October 8, 2019 12:51 pm
WASHINGTON (WPXI) – The United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a man convicted and sentenced for a murder in January 2012. Jordan Clemons was sentenced to death by a Washington County jury for killing his then-girlfriend, Karissa Kunco. Prosecutors said he slit the woman’s throat so deeply the knife hit her spine. Her body was found in the woods and her car was found 7 miles away from the crime scene. It was full of blood and still running. The Washington County District Attorney said this ends Clemons’ direct appeal process.
October 8, 2019 12:35 pm
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) – A private, financially-troubled West Virginia college has hired a new president. Wheeling University said on Monday that Ginny Favede will become its 13th president. She has served as chairwoman of the university’s Board of Trustees since July. She replaces Michael Mihalyo, who was placed on leave in August. News outlets report Mihalyo is now suing the school, saying it lied to regulators about its finances. Wheeling University cut more than half its academic programs this fall due to financial concerns. It will resume offering majors in biology, engineering science and English in January. The school also will reinstate five sports teams starting next fall. Earlier this year, the school changed its name from Wheeling Jesuit University and ended its affiliation with the Jesuit order while maintaining its Roman Catholic identity.
