November 20, 2019 4:08 am
(AP) – The American Medical Association is calling for an immediate ban on all electronic cigarettes and vaping devices. The group adopted the sweeping stance Tuesday at a policy-making meeting in San Diego. It aims to lobby for laws, regulations or legal action to achieve a ban, but the industry is sure to fight back. The AMA cited the surge in teen e-cigarette use. The group also said the recent outbreak of lung illnesses linked to vaping shows how little is known about the health consequences. Most of those sickened said they vaped THC, the high-inducing ingredient in marijuana, not nicotine. The policy singles out e-cigarette and vaping products not approved to help people quit smoking. But none have been approved yet for that use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
November 20, 2019 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – New uncertainty hangs over the Democratic presidential primary as 10 candidates meet on the debate stage once again. No longer is there a clear front-runner, the fight for African American voters is raging and concerns are growing that impeachment may become a distraction from the primary. Those issues and more will play out Wednesday night when the Democratic Party’s top 10 face off in Atlanta just 75 days before primary voting begins. The debate will be carried live by MSNBC. Turbulent polling across the first states to vote in the presidential primary has created a murky picture of the top tier of Democratic candidates. A sign of whom the candidates themselves consider to be out in front may come during the debate. Usually the perceived leader takes the most heat.
November 20, 2019 4:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Ambassador Gordon Sondland has finished with almost six hours of testimony in a hearing that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is calling “a seminal moment in our investigation.” Sondland, President Donald Trump’s European Union ambassador, told lawmakers that he worked with Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine policy at Trump’s direction and that “everyone was in the loop” as Giuliani and Trump pressured Ukraine for investigations. Schiff said Sondand’s testimony was “deeply significant and troubling.” Republicans pushed back. California Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House intelligence panel, said there was “zero evidence” from Sondland’s testimony. A State Department spokeswoman has called “flat-out false” any suggestion that Ambassador Gordon Sondland told Secretary of State Pompeo that President Donald Trump was linking aid to Ukraine to politically motivated investigations. Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters that Sondland “never told Secretary Pompeo that he believed the president was linking aid to investigations of political opponents.” Ortagus made the remarks to reporters accompanying Pompeo on his plane back to Washington from Brussels. Sondland testified that he kept top members of the Trump administration, including Pompeo, in the loop about Trump’s pressure on Ukraine for investigations. (Photo: CNN)
November 20, 2019 4:01 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Two students in Pennsylvania are in police custody after a gun was found in a parked car on campus. Seneca Valley School District Superintendent Dr. Tracy Vitale says several students reported seeing a gun in a student’s possession at Intermediate High School Tuesday morning. The firearm was found in the glove compartment of a student’s car. Vitale says police believe the weapon may have been sold to another student. Both students were removed from school grounds and taken into police custody. Vitale says all students in the district are safe. The incident is under investigation.
November 20, 2019 2:00 am
DETROIT (AP) – A jury has acquitted a Pittsburgh-area elected official of disturbing the peace but couldn’t reach a verdict on a felony charge of obstructing police at a Detroit hotel. Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner was accused of interfering with police as officers tried to remove her husband, Khari Mosley, from the Westin Book Cadillac hotel last March. They were in Detroit to attend a concert. The jury delivered the verdict Wednesday. It’s not known if Wagner will face a second trial. Hotel staff had called 911 to report that Mosley was alone and unruly in the bar. Police say Wagner was drunk in her room and that she boasted about her job. She denied being drunk during her testimony Tuesday. Wagner, a Democrat, was recently re-elected to a third term.
November 19, 2019 5:15 pm
CLEVELAND (AP) – A judge overseeing 2,500 federal lawsuits related to the nation’s opioid crisis has scheduled a trial for late next year over the role played by major pharmacy chains. U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland ruled Tuesday that he would hear a case next October brought by Cuyahoga and Summit counties in Ohio against CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, HBC and Discount Drug Mart. He also recommended that other cases be transferred to Chicago, San Francisco and Oklahoma. He plans to transfer a case soon to West Virginia. Polster was scheduled to hear a case last month, but most parties settled. Talks continue toward a possible national settlement that could end all the lawsuits related to the epidemic, which has killed more than 400,000 in the U.S. since 2000.
November 19, 2019 4:25 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – New York has joined the ranks of states suing the nation’s biggest e-cigarette maker. Attorney General Letitia James today announced the lawsuit against San Francisco based JUUL Labs. It alleges the company used deceptive and misleading marketing of its e-cigarettes, contributing to a youth vaping epidemic.
November 19, 2019 4:20 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Two jail guards charged with falsifying prison records the night Jeffrey Epstein killed himself have pleaded not guilty. A grand jury indictment made public Tuesday accused guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas of failing to perform checks on Epstein every half hour, as required, and of fabricating log entries to show they had. Noel and Thomas will both be released on $100,000 bond. A lawyer for Thomas, Montell Figgins, said earlier Tuesday both guards are being “scapegoated.” Epstein was found dead in his cell in August as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. New York City’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide. Federal prosecutors say security camera footage proves Jeffrey Epstein was alone in his cell the night he killed himself. The 66-year-old financier’s death in prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges prompted conspiracy theories from people who don’t accept the official ruling that the death was a suicide.
November 19, 2019 1:34 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – A group of criminals are targeting women in our area and across the country, in order to steal purses and money. Financial institutions have dubbed them the “Felony Lane Gang.” The criminals take bank cards and IDs, dress up like the person they’ve stolen from and use the lane farthest away from the teller’s window to steal money. Police say they’ve struck in more than 30 states. They work in groups and often recruit women to impersonate a victim by wearing disguises. The gang is so widespread across the country, a group of moms have now formed their own task force on social media to get the word out. They post photos of suspects smashing and grabbing from state to state. In 2016, the FBI said the Felony Lane Gang was responsible for smash and grabs, and identity fraud in more than 34 states. The agency’s best advice for anyone going to the gym early in the morning is to not have any personal belongings visible in their car. Police were able to identify one of the suspects, Emily Helmer from Florida, who is also wanted in Philadelphia by three different police departments. Bethel Park police said Helmer couldn’t help them identify any of her accomplices, claiming she only knows the men by their nicknames.
November 19, 2019 12:19 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Disney says its new Disney Plus streaming service doesn’t have a security breach, but some users have been shut out after hackers tried to break into their accounts. The news site ZDNet found stolen account usernames and passwords selling for $3 on underground hacking forums. Disney’s streaming service costs $7 a month or $70 a year. Disney says there’s no indication of a security breach on Disney Plus. It says it takes the privacy and security of users’ data seriously. It’s likely hackers found email and password combinations re-used by Disney Plus subscribers after they’d previously been stolen from other online services. Disney Plus hasn’t said how many subscribers have had security problems. The new service attracted 10 million subscribers the day it launched earlier this month.
