September 20, 2019 8:59 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh is cleaning up after a massive water main break turned streets into river rapids, required the rescue of people and pets, and closed schools. Pittsburgh Public Schools announced the closure of at least 10 schools Friday because of limited access to water in buildings. Schools in Mount Lebanon and Brentwood Borough were also closed. Pittsburgh police say that a 24-inch main broke in the morning and that three people were rescued from two homes. Wendy Gitzen was among the rescued. She says the rushing waters moved her car and a shed about 30 feet away from the house. Police say the break was closed around 11:30 a.m., after about six hours.
September 20, 2019 8:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he’s ending his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. De Blasio struggled to gain traction in a sprawling field of Democrats seeking the presidency. He announced his decision in an MSNBC interview on Friday. De Blasio launched his bid in May, but his campaign largely failed to take off. De Blasio says he feels he’s contributed all he can “to this primary election.” He tells MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show “it’s clearly not my time.”
September 20, 2019 4:20 am
HOUSTON (AP) – Authorities say the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda have led to the death of a third person. Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jason Spencer said Friday that preliminary indications are a man whose body was found in a ditch Friday north of Houston drowned from storm-related flooding. An autopsy will be performed to confirm the cause of death. The unidentified man had last been seen walking during severe rainfall that hit the Houston area. Imelda’s remnants also led to the deaths of two other men on Thursday. A 19-year-old man in Jefferson County drowned and was electrocuted while trying to move his horse to safety. A man in his 40s or 50s drowned when he tried to drive a van through 8-foot-deep floodwaters near Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
September 20, 2019 4:19 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Walmart says it will stop selling electronic cigarettes at its namesake stores and Sam’s Clubs following a string of illnesses and deaths related to vaping. The nation’s largest retailer says it will complete its exit from e-cigarettes after selling current inventory. More than 500 people have been diagnosed with vaping-related breathing illnesses. An eight death was reported this week. But health officials still have not identified the cause.’
September 20, 2019 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Pentagon will present a broad range of military options to President Donald Trump on Friday as he considers how to respond to what administration officials say was an unprecedented Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry. In a White House meeting, the president will be presented with a list of potential airstrike targets inside Iran, among other possible responses, and he also likely will be warned that military action against the Islamic Republic could escalate into war. The national security meeting will likely be the first opportunity for a decision on how the U.S. should respond to the attack. Any decision may depend on what kind of evidence the U.S. and Saudi investigators are able to provide proving that the cruise missile and drone strike was launched by Iran.
September 20, 2019 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee says President Trump’s attack on a whistleblower who alerted intelligence officials to a serious and urgent matter is “disturbing.” Rep. Adam Schiff says it’s also “deeply disturbing” that the White House appears to know more about the whistleblower’s complaint than the complaint’s intended recipient, Congress. The Trump administration is refusing to let congressional oversight committees see it. Schiff says the information “deserves a thorough investigation” and that “come hell or high water, that’s what we’re going to do.” The California Democrat worries that the president’s actions will have a “chilling effect” on other whistleblowers and pose a “real threat” to accountability. The intelligence agencies’ inspector general notified Congress of the “urgent” complaint concerning a series of events, reportedly including Trump’s conversation with a foreign leader. Trump is defending himself against a “partisan whistleblower.” He says “it’s just another political hack job” and that his conversations with foreign leaders were “totally appropriate.” (Photo: CNN)
September 20, 2019 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Legislation to cut taxes for manufacturers who use methane to make fertilizer or petrochemicals is on its way to Pennsylvania’s Senate after a positive vote in the state House of Representatives. House members voted 139 to 46 on Thursday in favor of the proposed Energy and Fertilizer Manufacturing Tax Credit program. The bill would provide a nickel-per-gallon credit for methane purchased and used by large facilities located within Pennsylvania, the nation’s No. 2 natural gas-producing state behind Texas. The measure targets production of ammonia, methanol and urea. Supporters describe it as a way to fuel economic development, create good-paying jobs and attract customers for the state’s natural gas industry. Opponents framed it as a taxpayer giveaway to the fossil fuels industry.
September 20, 2019 4:12 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The shutdown of Three Mile Island, site of the United States’ worst commercial nuclear power accident, is imminent. Exelon Corp. officials said the plant will stop producing electricity around noon Friday, following through on a decision the Chicago-based energy giant made in May after it became clear that it would not get a financial rescue from Pennsylvania. Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 opened in 1974 and is licensed to operate through 2034. But Exelon has complained that the plant is losing money in competitive electricity markets.
Three Mile Island also faces particularly difficult economics because the 1979 accident left it with just one reactor. Decommissioning it could take decades. No nuclear plant that was proposed after the accident has been successfully completed and put into operation in the United States.
September 20, 2019 4:11 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Prosecutors in Pittsburgh have charged a handyman in the death of a woman who went missing in the spring. District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. says investigators believe Douglas Berry killed 67-year-old Elizabeth Wiesenfeld, who was last heard from April 29. Her remains haven’t been found. Police filed the homicide case Thursday morning. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Wiesenfeld told her family she was afraid of Berry, who had been doing work on her house. According to warrants, she told them she’d stopped hiring him to do jobs, but he would show up anyway. A criminal complaint says police were led to Berry when surveillance video showed his truck pull into the woman’s driveway the day she went missing. Her credit card was later found in his trash.
September 20, 2019 4:08 am
CANONSBURG, Pa. – (WPXI) – The Canon McMillan school board meeting Thursday night was packed with parents, the district’s football team and so many others to support the football team’s head coach. Mike Evans has been suspended with pay for weeks due to a personnel problem. “They want their coach back and they want him back immediately he’s been gone for almost three weeks now,” said Canon-Mac Quarterback Club Booster President Jennifer McMahon. Lane Turturice, the attorney representing Evans, said there was an incident that happened at the second game of this season during halftime. “What transpired is nothing that hasn’t gone on in any locker room in western PA two or three times during a season,” Turturice said. There was a vote Thursday night to initiate disciplinary actions. Five were in favor and four were opposed. While district officials remained tight-lipped, those who support Evans had a lot to say at the meeting. Some were even in tears. Everyone who spoke at the meeting was in support of Evans. Many credited him for being there for them, even on the field. But by the end of the meeting, things got heated. Turturice said he’s optimistic there will be a resolution soon and expects Evans to be back on the field with his team, but it’s not a resolution that would happen as early as Friday’s game.
