November 19, 2019 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – As impeachment hearings resume on Capitol Hill, House Democrats are preparing to choose who will lead the powerful Oversight and Reform Committee. The panel plays a key role in the ongoing impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Three veteran lawmakers, including the acting chairwoman, Carolyn Maloney of New York, are seeking to replace the late Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who died last month. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Gerry Connolly of Virginia also are seeking the post. The House Democratic Steering Committee will make a recommendation on Tuesday, with the full caucus set to vote Wednesday. Maloney lost out to Cummings as the committee’s top Democrat a decade ago. She’s seen as the front-runner this time around. Now 73, Maloney is her in 14th term representing Manhattan.
November 19, 2019 4:18 am
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) – An attack on a family party in California’s Central Valley that left four people dead and six wounded has spurred shock and fear in the close-knit Hmong community. Police say at least two gunmen entered a Fresno backyard Sunday evening and fired at a group of men watching football on TV outdoors. The dead include Xy Lee, a well-known Hmong singer and musician. Police haven’t identified a motive or suspects. They say the victims haven’t been linked to gangs. Police Chief Andrew Hall says the shooters appeared to target the house but fired randomly at the victims. About 25,000 Hmong, an ethnic group originally from Laos, live in Fresno. Community members say the shooting has left them wondering what happened and how they can protect themselves and their families from further violence.
November 19, 2019 4:17 am
BOSTON (AP) – “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband are contesting expanded charges against them in the college admissions bribery scandal. Lawyers for Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli entered not guilty pleas on their behalf Tuesday to charges of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery. Earlier this month, the couple waived their right to appear in federal court in Boston to answer to the latest counts. Prosecutors added the bribery charge for 11 parents who previously pleaded not guilty in the case. Another 19 parents have pleaded guilty or agreed to do so. Loughlin and Giannulli are accused of paying $500,000 to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as fake athletic recruits. Their daughters no longer attend USC. The couple previously pleaded not guilty to fraud and money laundering.
November 19, 2019 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman says there is no ambiguity that President Donald Trump wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to commit to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden on a July phone call. Vindman testified in a House impeachment hearing that there was no ambiguity about Trump’s use of the word “Biden” in the phone call, which is at the heart of the Democrats’ impeachment probe. Trump asked Zelenskiy to investigate the former vice president and his son, Hunter Biden, who was linked to a gas company in Ukraine. In contrast, the hearing’s other witness said Vice President Mike Pence did not request the investigations in his own conversations with Zelenskiy. Jennifer Williams, a State Department employee detailed to Pence’s office, said he never brought up the investigations. (Photo: CNN)
November 19, 2019 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The families of young people diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer have confronted Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf over what they called his administration’s insufficient response to a health crisis they blame on pollution from the shale gas industry. Dozens of children and young adults have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma and other forms of cancer in a four-county region of southwestern Pennsylvania where energy companies have drilled intensively. The cause of Ewing sarcoma is unknown, and there’s been no evidence linking the Pennsylvania cases to the natural gas industry. But the families, confronting Wolf at the Capitol on Monday, demanded that he launch an environmental investigation into the cancers that have devastated their loved ones. Wolf says he’s ordered his health department to look into the possibility.
November 19, 2019 4:12 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A compromise package to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage for the first time since 2009 is advancing in the Legislature, up against a deadline for Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to relent on his effort to extend overtime pay eligibility to thousands of workers. A Senate committee on Monday passed a newly unveiled measure to gradually raise the minimum wage to $9.50 in 2022. The state’s current minimum wage is the federal minimum of $7.25. A spokeswoman for Senate Republican leaders says they expect to bring it to a floor vote this week, although its prospects in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are unclear. The bill is more modest than what Wolf proposed in January, and requires him to make a number of concessions. That includes rescinding his proposed overtime regulation before a state rule-making board votes on it Thursday.
November 19, 2019 4:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf will sign legislation allowing hunting on three Sundays a year in Pennsylvania. The Senate voted 38-11 on Wednesday, the bill’s last hurdle before it heads to Wolf’s desk. The bill permits Sunday hunting one day during rifle deer season, one during statewide archery deer season and a third day the Game Commission selects. It also requires a landowner’s written permission and makes it easier for wardens to enforce the anti-trespassing law. The long-fought issue overcame opposition from farmers and outdoors groups. Pennsylvania has banned Sunday hunting since the 19th century, although there are currently exceptions for crows, foxes and coyotes, and for noncommercial private game reserves. The bill is touted as a way to make it easier for younger people and those who work during the week to hunt.
November 19, 2019 4:06 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – John Chapman, the man behind bars on multiple charges related to the kidnapping of a Bethel Park woman, was denied bond during a hearing Tuesday morning. Chapman, 39, has been in jail since Friday, charged with kidnapping Jaime Feden, 33, who hasn’t been seen since Sept. 15. He confessed to murdering her in Las Vegas. Police said Chapman confessed to driving Feden to Las Vegas sometime around Sept. 25, suffocating her and leaving her to die. Police in Las Vegas found a body, but it has not yet been identified. Chapman has not been charged with Feden’s murder.
November 18, 2019 2:50 pm
DUNCAN, Okla. (AP) – Authorities in Oklahoma say the investigation into a fatal shooting outside a Walmart is preliminary, but insist it was an “isolated incident.” Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks said during a press conference that there was never an active shooter Monday inside the Walmart in Duncan. The shooting in the parking lot left three dead, including the shooter. Police Chief Danny Ford says the shooter shot a man and woman then turned then gun on himself. All three died at the scene. (Photo: CNN)
November 18, 2019 1:32 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – Pittsburgh Steelers’ center Maurkice Pouncey is appealing his three-game suspension handed down by the NFL following a brawl at the end of a “Thursday Night Football” matchup with divisional rivals the Cleveland Browns. SPN reports two officers have been appointed by the NFL to review the appeals and make decisions on the appeals of three players: Pouncey, Larry Ogunjobi and Myles Garrett. The league will reportedly issue “mass fines” to players who left the bench area when Myles Garrett ripped off Mason Rudolph’s helmet and smashed him over the head with it in the final minutes of the game. Meanwhile, the NFL has changed the kickoff time of the Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleveland Browns game at Heinz Field on Dec. 1. Originally scheduled for 4:25 p.m., the game has been moved up to 1 p.m. The Steelers said the game was moved under the league’s “flexible scheduling” policy, which is in effect from Week 5 to Week 17. It will be the teams’ first meeting since Nov. 14 in Cleveland.
