December 27, 2019 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Newseum – a private museum dedicated to exploring modern history as told through the eyes of journalists – is closing its doors after 11 years. The Newseum will close for good Tuesday. Administrators say they are proud of their work but found it difficult to compete with a city full of free museums while charging $25 for an adult ticket. The Freedom Forum, an educational foundation that runs the museum, says it will find other ways to continue its work, like smaller travelling exhibits in airports and regional museums around the country.
December 27, 2019 4:17 am
NEW YORK (AP) – More people did their shopping online this year in one of the shortest holiday shopping seasons in years and that pushed overall sales higher. Early data from Mastercard SpendingPulse shows that retail sales in the US rose 3.4% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 compared with last year. However, that’s slower growth than in the previous year, when sales grew 5.1%. Online sales rose at a faster pace, up 18.8% from last year.
December 27, 2019 4:16 am
ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) – Authorities suspended some flights in Kazakhstan after a jetliner carrying 98 people crashed shortly after takeoff. At least 12 people were killed and 54 hospitalized Friday in the accident. The aircraft hit a concrete wall and a two-story building soon after leaving Almaty International Airport for a flight to Nur-Sultan, the country’s capital formerly known as Astana. All Bek Air and Fokker 100 flights were suspended while the investigation got underway. Kazakhstan’s president also ordered an inspection of all airlines in the former Soviet republic. A survivor says the plane started shaking soon after departure.
December 27, 2019 4:15 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A winter storm has brought a deluge of rain and snow to Southern California. Snow has shut down the vital Interstate 5 in Tejon Pass through the mountains north of Los Angeles and dozens of miles of Interstate 15 from Baker, California, to Primm, Nevada. A trucker found in a rig stopped on Tejon Pass was pronounced dead. It was not known if the death was weather-related. Authorities say a woman passenger was killed Thursday when a car skated off a snowy road in San Diego County. Officials also say a small tornado hopped across Ventura Harbor on Wednesday night. Damage was minor.
December 27, 2019 4:13 am
WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. (AP) – Thousands turned out to watch the annual reenactment of George Washington’s daring Christmas Day crossing of the Delaware River in 1776. It was the first time the crossing was completed in three years. The event was scrapped because of bad weather the last two years. The crossing is the highlight of a historical reenactment that draws thousands of people to the banks of the river in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, and Titusville, New Jersey. Last year, high water conditions scuttled plans for the crossing. The year before, high winds prompted cancellation of the event. But on Wednesday, thousands joined the festivities.
December 27, 2019 4:11 am
PENN HILLS, Pa. — (WPXI) – The family of an 18-year-old woman is demanding answers after she was shot and killed outside a Penn Hills bar early Thursday morning. Police found Leona Dailey lying in the parking lot of Flinn’s Pub on Frankstown Road around 3 a.m. She was later pronounced dead from gunshot wounds. Investigators learned Dailey got in some sort of altercation with another woman in the parking lot before the deadly shooting, but there are currently no suspects. Family members told our news partners at Channel 11 this isn’t the first time they have lost someone to gun violence. Dailey’s older sister was killed in a shooting a few years ago. The lack of information provided by investigators is causing frustrations for Dailey’s family. They want to know who killed her.
December 27, 2019 4:06 am
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. — (WPXI) – A water main break caused major issues at Kennywood during its annual “Holiday Lights” festivities Thursday night. Food stands, the Penny Arcade train display, & Thomas Town gift shop were all closed. Officials said the park did open as scheduled Thursday at 5 p.m. – hours after the water main break – but there was a delay in restoring service.
December 27, 2019 3:33 am
(AP)-An Associated Press review finds that Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses have paid nearly $84 million to 564 victims of sexual abuse. Seven of the state’s eight dioceses launched victim compensation funds in the wake of a landmark grand jury report on sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. The funds were open to claims for a limited time this year. The tally is sure to grow in 2020 as compensation fund administrators work through a backlog of claims. One survivor says the money won’t make him rich, but he hopes it will make his life a little better and help him to put the abuse behind him.
December 26, 2019 8:46 am
MANILA, Philippines (AP) – A strong typhoon that barreled through the central Philippines has left at least 20 people dead and forced thousands to flee their homes, devastating Christmas celebrations in the predominantly Catholic country. Typhoon Phanfone stranded many people in sea and airports at the peak of holiday travel, set off landslides, flooded low-lying villages, destroyed houses, downed trees and electrical poles and knocked out power in entire provinces. A disaster response officer described one coastal area as a “ghost town” on Christmas Day. The storm weakened slightly on Thursday as it blew into the South China Sea. Most of the 20 deaths were due to drowning, falling trees and accidental electrocution.
December 26, 2019 8:44 am
The flu continues to hit the region hard. State Department of Health officials say they are concerned with the growing number of confirmed cases, especially in Allegheny County. Lab confirmed cases jumped 53 percent in the seven county Pittsburgh region which includes Washington County. Allegheny County continues to lead the state with more than three-thousand cases and a 51-percent increase in one week. They account for 27 percent of all state cases. As a whole, the western Pennsylvania region accounts for about half of the state’s more-than eleven thousand cases. The State total increased 61 percent in one week.
