August 23, 2019 4:04 am
PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Peters Township students waiting for their school bus on their first day, witnessed a garbage truck go up in flames Wednesday morning. A Waste Management spokesperson told our news partners at Channel 11 the driver of the truck picked up a grill, and there was a propane tank hidden inside. When the trash was compacted the propane tank ignited, setting everything else on fire. Propane tanks are among a long list of items that cannot be placed in residential trash containers. (Photo: WPXI)
August 23, 2019 3:28 am
The Washington County Coroner’s office has identified a woman who was killed Tuesday night when she was struck by a train. Authorities say 49-year-old Lisa Lees of Charleroi died after being struck by a Norfolk Southern train around 10 p.m. near 7th Street and Railroad Way in Charleroi. The coroner has ruled her death accidental. Officials say Lees was crossing the tracks on foot when she was hit. Police in Charleroi along with Norfolk-Southern are continuing to investigate the incident.
August 22, 2019 12:54 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, who once sparred with journalists, has decided to join them. Fox News said Thursday that Sanders has been hired to provide political commentary and analysis across all its properties, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network and the radio and podcast division. Sanders was press secretary for President Donald Trump from July 2017 through June 2019, quarreling with reporters who aggressively questioned her about any number of controversies involving the president. In a statement, Sanders says she is “beyond proud” to join Fox. She will make her debut on “Fox & Friends” on Sept. 6.
August 22, 2019 12:36 pm
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – West Virginia University President Gordon Gee (gee) and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (KAY’-sik) are forming a nonprofit that will work to steer money from any national opioid settlement to hospitals and health-based research. The duo plans to announce Citizens for Effective Opioid Treatment on Thursday. The 501(c)4 organization will educate policymakers and the public about the negative impacts of the opioid epidemic on health care infrastructure and advance health-related solutions to the crisis. Their plan is the latest in a tug-of-war over what to do with the potential billions from a settlement with drugmakers and distributors, if one’s reached. Local governments want the Cleveland-based federal judge overseeing the majority of 2,000-plus lawsuits over the toll of opioids to let them split the money. Most state attorneys general oppose the plan.
August 22, 2019 10:22 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A shooter remains at large after wounding a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy in a station parking lot in the Mojave Desert city of Lancaster. Deputy Morgan Arteaga says a search of the area around the station concluded early Thursday. The search had focused on a block-long, four-story building with many windows overlooking the sheriff’s station. Deputy Angel Reinosa was hit shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday as he was heading to his car in the station employee parking lot.
August 22, 2019 10:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A new poll finds about 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s overall job performance. The poll released Thursday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also finds some support for the Republican president’s handling of the U.S. economy, but it gives him weak marks on other major issues. Just 36% of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, and 62% disapprove. The numbers may be ugly for a first-term president facing reelection in 14 months, but they are remarkably consistent. Trump’s approval rating has never dipped below 32% or risen above 42% in AP-NORC polls since he took office. The poor grades extend to Trump’s handling of several key issues: immigration, health care, foreign policy and guns.
August 22, 2019 10:16 am
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – New Jersey hasn’t fared too well in the latest national rankings of state highway systems. A report released Thursday by the Reason Foundation ranks New Jersey dead last in cost-effectiveness and conditions. The nonpartisan public policy think tank found New Jersey has the highest per-mile costs and has the highest total spending per mile of any state. On a more positive note, New Jersey’s overall road fatality rate was fourth in the nation. The foundation ranked New York 45th overall and Pennsylvania 35th. North Dakota ranked first. The report used statistics compiled by the Federal Highway Administration from data reported in 2016 and 2017 by each state.
August 22, 2019 4:17 am
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – President Donald Trump says he scrapped his trip to Denmark because the prime minister made a “nasty” statement when she rejected his idea to buy Greenland as an absurdity. Trump says, “You don’t talk to the United States that way, at least under me.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the whole thing “an absurd discussion” and said she was “disappointed and surprised” that Trump had canceled his visit. Trump says Frederiksen’s comment labeling his idea as absurd “was nasty. I thought it was an inappropriate statement. All she had to say was say, ‘No, we wouldn’t be interested.'” Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of the U.S. ally, and Frederiksen said the U.S. remains one of Denmark’s close allies.
August 22, 2019 4:15 am
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – Two people close to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee have told The Associated Press that he intends to seek a third term as governor. The news comes after Inslee announced the end of his Democratic presidential campaign on MSNBC on Wednesday night. The two people close to Inslee said he will announce his reelection intentions in an email to supporters Thursday. They were not authorized to discuss the announcement publicly and spoke to the AP on Wednesday on condition of anonymity. Inslee always kept the option of a third term open, even as Democratic candidates had started lining up ready to get into the race if he didn’t. Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz and King County Executive Dow Constantine had signaled they would run if Inslee didn’t.
August 22, 2019 4:13 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – The will that Jeffrey Epstein signed just two days before his jailhouse suicide puts more than $577 million in assets in a trust fund that could make it more difficult for his dozens of accusers to collect a share of his riches. Estate lawyers and other experts say prying open the trust and dividing up the financier’s fortune is not going to be easy and could take years. One attorney says Epstein managed to manipulate the system one last time from beyond the grave. The 66-year-old Epstein killed himself Aug. 10 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. He was accused of sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls.
