January 27, 2020 4:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s legislative campaign season is kicking into gear, with incumbents announcing their retirements and the period about to begin for circulating petitions to get on the ballot. Both chambers hold comfortable majorities for Republicans, with the margin at 110 to 93 in the House and Democrats in the 50-member Senate down to 21 seats. This year’s battle for the General Assembly is being waged as Pennsylvania is widely considered to be a key to the presidential race. All 203 House districts and half the Senate will go before the voters this year.
January 27, 2020 4:12 am
FAYETTE CO., Pa. — (WPXI) – What started as a flooded basement and call for a plumber ended in a SWAT situation in Fayette County. According to state police, Frank Bowers first called the fire department Saturday afternoon because his basement flooded. Bowers was told to call a plumber by fire fighters, so a plumber later arrived at his home on Mill Run Road. Police said the plumber had an “uneasy feeling” about Bowers, so he left. Bowers then allegedly chased the plumber out of the driveway while beating his truck. The plumber’s truck got stuck in the mud and he got scared, so he jumped out and took off running down the road to ask a neighbor for help, according to investigators. Officers were called to the scene, and when they got to the plumber’s truck, he realized Bowers had stolen $15,000 worth of tools and tried to set the truck on fire. At that point, police went to Bowers’ home to talk to him, but he then holed himself inside – which prompted the SWAT situation. Officers had that road blocked off as they attempted to communicate with Bowers. Bowers was taken into custody without incident around 8:30 p.m.
January 27, 2020 4:08 am
BEIJING (AP) – U.S. health officials say they have no evidence that the new virus from China is spreading in the United States and they believe the risk to Americans remains low. As of Monday, five Americans have been diagnosed with new virus, all of whom traveled to central China. Health officials are investigating who they’ve been in contact with. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say at least 32 people thought to be possible cases have been ruled out. The virus has sickened thousands of people mostly China. Dozens of people have died. The outbreak was first identified in the city of Wuhan in central China.
January 27, 2020 4:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The stakes over witness testimony at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial are rising now that a draft of a book from former national security adviser John Bolton appears to undercut a key defense argument. Bolton writes in the forthcoming book that Trump told him that he wanted to withhold security aid from Ukraine until it helped him with politically charged investigations, including into Democratic rival Joe Biden. Trump’s legal team has repeatedly insisted that the president never tied the suspension of military assistance to investigations into Biden and his son. The Trump defense continues when the trial resumes Monday afternoon.
January 27, 2020 4:04 am
CALABASAS, Calif. (AP) – Investigators are working on a rugged hillside outside Los Angeles where a helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and eight others crashed in foggy conditions considered dangerous enough that local police agencies grounded their choppers. About 20 investigators are on the scene Monday morning in Calabasas were Bryant’s helicopter crashed Sunday with an impact that scattered debris over an area the size of a football field and killed everyone aboard. The accident unleashed an outpouring of grief from admirers around the country who mourned the sudden loss of the all-time basketball great who spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
January 26, 2020 8:25 am
BEIJING (AP) — A new viral illness being watched with a wary eye around the globe accelerated its spread in China on Sunday with 56 deaths so far, while the U.S. Consulate in the city at the epicenter announced it will evacuate its personnel and some private citizens aboard a charter flight. China’s health minister said the country was entering a “crucial stage” as “it seems like the ability of the virus to spread is getting stronger.” President Xi Jinping on Saturday called the outbreak a grave situation and said the government was stepping up efforts to restrict travel and public gatherings while rushing medical staff and supplies to the city at the center of the crisis, Wuhan, which remains on lockdown with no flights, trains or buses in or out. The epidemic has revived memories of the SARS outbreak that originated in China and killed nearly 800 as it spread around the world in 2002 and 2003. Its spread has come amid China’s busiest travel period of the year, when millions crisscross the country or head abroad for the Lunar New Year holiday. The latest figures reported Sunday morning cover the previous 24 hours and mark an increase of 15 deaths and 688 cases for a total of 1,975 infections.
January 26, 2020 8:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s lawyers plunged into his impeachment trial defense Saturday by accusing Democrats of striving to overturn the 2016 election, arguing that investigations of Trump’s dealings with Ukraine have not been a fact-finding mission but a politically motivated effort to drive him from the White House. The Trump legal team’s arguments in the rare Saturday session were aimed at rebutting allegations that the president abused his power when he asked Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden and then obstructed Congress as it tried to investigate. The lawyers are mounting a wide-ranging, aggressive defense asserting an expansive view of presidential powers and portraying Trump as besieged by political opponents determined to ensure he won’t be reelected this November.
January 26, 2020 8:20 am
WINDGAP, Pa. (WPXI) — Pittsburgh Police and SWAT surrounded an Allegheny County home after medics were assaulted while responding to a call, investigators said. According to police, one medic was punched in the face and another was pushed to the ground while responding to a call on Windgap Avenue around 3:45 p.m. Saturday. Police said the initial call came in when a man asked for help for his mother. The call was for a wellness check, and police said when medics arrived she refused treatment. There was no information suggesting there were weapons in the home or that the man was mistreating his mother, but officers learned he had “documented aggression” toward other police departments. Investigators told our news partners at Channel 11 as the EMTs were leaving the house, the woman’s son attacked them from behind. That man then holed himself and his mother in the house, which prompted the SWAT situation. The road was shut down in that area as police investigated for hours, and police said contact was made through a negotiator. The rest of the homes on that block were evacuated as well. Around 6:30 p.m., the situation ended when the suspect was taken into custody. Public safety officials told Channel 11 a fight ensued between the suspect and police officers, and two officers were injured — one from a dog bite and the other from an object thrown at him. The suspect’s home is a duplex, and their neighbor on the other side was able to get out safely. Both medics were listed in stable condition at a local hospital, but officials said one of them may have to stay overnight due to possible concussions. Police said the woman and her son were both taken to the hospital.
January 26, 2020 8:16 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The abrupt announcement by the speaker of the Pennsylvania House this week that he would not run for another term in the Legislature made him the 15th state representative to head for the exits. Candidates can begin to circulate nominating petitions Tuesday to get on the April 28 primary ballot, so retirement announcements by Speaker Mike Turzai and others are helping clear the way for newcomers who hope voters will send them to Harrisburg. All 203 seats in the House and half the 50-member Senate go before the electorate this year. Democrats hope an aggressive push can propel them out of the minority in both chambers, while Republicans are counting on favorable national political winds and the decent-size margins they now enjoy to maintain all-important majority control. Counting vacancies for the party that has held them most recently, the House is currently 110-93, meaning Democrats would need a net pickup of nine seats to control the agenda for the coming session, when lawmakers will vote on new congressional districts.
January 26, 2020 3:41 am
The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh will be closing several schools at the end of the current school year. There are four local schools affected by the closures. Those schools are St. Anne School in Castle Shannon, St. Bernard School in Mt. Lebanon, St. Thomas More School in Bethel Park and Our Lady of Grace School in Scott Township. All four schools will merge into one unified school program with two sites. One site will be at St. Thomas More and the other site at St. Bernard. Bishop David Zubik acknowledged the sadness that comes with any merger or closing and praised the efforts of school leaders, parents and the parish communities that support the schools. Two other schools were permanently closed, St. Maria Goretti in Bloomfield and East Catholic School in Forest Hills.
