March 4, 2020 4:22 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – A lower-level meeting of the G7 will be held in Pittsburgh at the end of March, sources confirm to our news partners at Channel 11. Sources said the meeting will involve secretaries of states. It will be hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo. The City of Pittsburgh has started preparing police and Public Safety for the event, sources said. It will be held March 24-25 at the Omni William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. The last time Pittsburgh hosted an event with the G7 community was in 2009 when the city hosted the G20. This year’s meeting won’t involve high-level world leaders such as presidents and prime ministers. Instead, the officials will be mostly cabinet members, so the intense protests that happened in 2009 aren’t expected this time around. Almost 200 people were arrested during those protests over a decade ago.
March 4, 2020 4:17 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The number of deaths from devastating tornadoes in Tennessee has risen to 24. Gov. Bill Lee announced the increase Tuesday at a news conference with Nashville Mayor John Cooper. Rescuers were searching through shattered neighborhoods for bodies less than a day after the storms ripped across the capital city and other parts of the state as families slept. Authorities say some of the victims died in their beds. The governor declared an emergency and sent the National Guard to help with search-and-rescue efforts. An unspecified number of people were missing.
March 4, 2020 4:16 am
SEATTLE (AP) – The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 11 with a victim succumbing in California – the first reported fatality outside Washington state. Officials in Placer County, northwest of Sacramento, said Wednesday an elderly adult who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. They said the victim had underlying health conditions. Washington also announced another death Wednesday, bringing its total to 10. Most of the deceased were residents of a nursing home in Kirkland, a suburb east of Seattle.
March 4, 2020 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The future of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign is in serious doubt after she finished a surprisingly weak third in the Democratic primary in her home state of Massachusetts. The disappointing finish in the state she represents, and a weak showing in other Super Tuesday contests, mark a striking collapse for the onetime favorite of progressives who was known for “having a plan” for nearly everything. After mediocre showings in the first four states, where Warren never finished higher than third place, Warren is trailing significantly in the delegate count.
March 4, 2020 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Joe Biden has won Texas’ Democratic presidential primary. The state has 228 delegates at stake, the second biggest prize of Super Tuesday. The state, which has long been reliably Republican, is growing increasingly bluer amid a demographics change. Biden held a rally in Dallas on Monday night, where he showcased two of his newest supporters and former rivals, Amy Klobuchar and Beto O’Rourke. Pete Buttigieg endorsed Biden earlier in the night in Dallas. Biden has also won Massachusetts, Arkansas, Minnesota, Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Virginia. Bernie Sanders has won California, Utah, Vermont and Colorado.
March 4, 2020 4:06 am
(AP) – A state lawmaker is introducing legislation that would ban abortion in Ohio if the Supreme Court overturns the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Republican state Rep. John Becker says he wants the state to be prepared if the nation’s high court overturns the 1973 decision legalizing abortion. His bill would ban all abortions in Ohio except those to save a woman’s life or prevent substantial and irreversible harm. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports eight states have similar laws that would take effect after a U.S. Supreme Court decision. Several other states have pre-existing bans that also would go into effect.
March 4, 2020 4:04 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania health officials say a state laboratory is now able to handle about six tests per day for a new coronavirus that’s sickening people across the globe. The state’s health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, said Tuesday test results are typically available within about a day. She says people who fear they may have COVID-19 should call their doctor or hospital. Those health care workers can take a sample if testing is necessary. Levine says the state lab is waiting for equipment that should increase its testing capacity and that private labs are likely to soon get federal permission to do testing.
March 4, 2020 4:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The leader of Pennsylvania’s system of 14 state-owned universities told lawmakers that it is urgent they act to help the schools in the face of sinking enrollment, rising student debt and a lagging commitment of public tax dollars to higher education. The system’s chancellor urged the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday to approve a package of legislation that would deliver cash and greater authority to the system over how it spends money and administers the schools. The chancelloráhas rejected calls to close struggling schools in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and says Pennsylvania needs to greatly increase the number of adults with degrees for its economy.
March 4, 2020 2:40 am
State Police are searching for a missing teenager. Troopers say 14-year-old Shae Bedillion was last seen Tuesday in the Fredericktown area. He is described as a white male who is five feet nine inches tall and 190 pounds. Police say he left his home around two a.m. on February 28th. He was last seen wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants and recently shaved his head. Anyone with information is asked to call state police at 724-223-5200.
March 3, 2020 1:29 pm
(WPXI) – Parents and students are fighting to keep Vincentian Academy in McCandless open. It was announced in late February the Catholic school, which is run by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, will shut down at the end of this school year. Reasons given for the closure include lack of financial resources and declining enrollment. On Monday, the Vincentian Academy Parent Association weighed in on the closure, sending a letter asking the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth to keep the school open until at least the incoming freshman class graduates. The letter brings up another school, Presentation Academy in Kentucky, that was in a similar situation in the 1990s. It was saved by a grassroots effort and is still open today. A meeting will be held Wednesday night in Vincentian Academy’s cafeteria by the parent association, which said it will separate fact from rumor and share a detailed plan of what lies ahead.
