January 8, 2020 9:51 am
One person was transported to Canonsburg Hospital following a two vehicle accident in North Strabane Township Wednesday morning. It happened around 7:30 along northbound Route19 at the intersection of Fulton Road. Traffic in the area was blocked for about 45 minutes before emergency crews were able to clear the scene. There is no word on the identity or the condition of the victim.
January 8, 2020 9:44 am
BALTIMORE (AP) – U.S. companies added 202,000 jobs in December, led by robust hiring in construction, trade, transportation and utilities, according to a private survey. Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that the bulk of the hiring was among smaller and mid-sized businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Hiring in November was also revised upward to 124,000, a sign that the job market was stronger than past surveys initially suggested.
January 8, 2020 8:48 am
DETROIT (AP) – Takata is recalling 10 million more front air bag inflators sold to 14 different automakers because they can explode with too much force and hurl shrapnel. The recall is the last one the bankrupt company agreed to in a 2015 settlement with U.S. safety regulators. It could bring to a close the largest series of recalls in U.S. history. The 10 million inflators are part of the approximately 70 million in the US that Takata was to recall as part of the agreement with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Vehicles made by Audi, BMW, Honda, Daimler Vans, Fiat Chrysler, Ferrari, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen are affected. Automakers will determine what models are involved and launch their own recalls.
January 8, 2020 7:54 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Researchers are reporting the largest-ever one-year decline in the U.S. cancer death rate, and they are crediting advances in lung-tumor treatments. The overall cancer death rate has been falling since 1991, and usually drops about 1.5% a year. But it fell 2.2% from 2016 to 2017, according to a new report by the American Cancer Society. That’s the largest drop ever seen in national cancer statistics that go back to 1930. The numbers were published Wednesday. Experts mainly credit refinements in surgery, better diagnostic scanning and more precise radiation treatments.
January 8, 2020 4:22 am
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Thunderstorms and showers have brought some relief for firefighters battling deadly wildfires across Australia’s drought-parched east coast. But the storms have also raised concerns that more fires will be sparked by lightning strikes when hot and windy conditions return. Fire officials say 2,300 firefighters in New South Wales state are making the most of relatively benign conditions by frantically consolidating containment lines around more than 110 fires blazes and patrolling for lightning strikes. The unprecedented fire crisis has killed 26 people, with the latest death a Victoria state firefighter who was working to extinguish unattended campfires.
January 8, 2020 4:21 am
SHAHEDSHAHR, Iran (AP) – An Iranian emergency official says a crash has killed all those on board a Ukrainian commercial airliner that took off from Tehran. The official made the comment after the crash on Wednesday morning. He said rescuers were trying to collect the dead. The plane went down in farmland outside of Iran’s capital, Tehran. Authorities initially blamed a mechanical problem for the crash. A transportation official in Iran says the plane carried 167 passengers and nine crew members. The crash of Ukraine International Airlines came just hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing U.S. soldiers in another major escalation of the latest crisis in the Mideast. The Iranian military, meanwhile, is disputing any suggestion that the Ukrainian airliner was brought down by a missile. (Photo: CNN)
January 8, 2020 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says Iran appears to be “standing down” and said no Americans or Iraqis were harmed in Iran’s Tuesday ballistic missile strike on two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. The Iranian strikes had come days after Trump authorized the targeted killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Trump reiterated his position that “Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.” He adds Americans should be “extremely grateful and happy” with the outcome. Speaking from the White House, Trump announced that the U.S. will immediately place new sanctions on Iran “until Iran changes its behavior.” He defended his targeted killing last week of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force.
January 8, 2020 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A seven-term state lawmaker from central Pennsylvania says he’ll seek the Democratic nomination to run for the open state auditor general’s office this year. Scott Conklin of Centre County entered a crowded field ahead of Pennsylvania’s Feb. 18 deadline to submit nomination petitions to get on the April primary ballot. Other Democrats running include Pittsburgh city controller Michael Lamb, Christina Hartman, a former congressional candidate from Lancaster County, Nina Ahmad, a former Philadelphia deputy mayor, and Tracie Fountain, a three-decade veteran employee of the auditor general’s office. Pennsylvania’s current auditor general, Democrat Eugene DePasquale, is completing a second four-year term and is constitutionally barred from seeking another.
January 8, 2020 4:13 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Macy’s says it is closing 29 stores in coming weeks. It says the store closures include 28 Macy’s locations and one Bloomingdale’s store. It was unclear how that would affect employees at those stores. The closures come despite the company reporting some improvement in comparable-stores sales during the crucial holiday shopping season. Macy’s sales at stores opened at least a year fell 0.6% during the November and December period, which was not as bad as most industry analysts had anticipated. áLike other department stores, Macy’s is struggling to adapt to a shift online by customers amid intense competition.
January 8, 2020 4:10 am
The son of Ron Burkle, a billionaire businessman and co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, was found dead Monday in California. Andrew Burkle, 27, was found dead in his Beverly Hills home. He was a producer. The Penguins released the following statement regarding Burkle’s death: “We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of Andrew Burkle’s passing and offer our deepest condolences to Ron and his family,” said Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux. “Drew was a bright, creative, energetic young man with a dynamic future ahead of him. Everyone in our organization knows that he was such a big part of his Dad’s life, and one of the many things they shared together was their love of Penguins hockey. My friend Ron knows that we are here if he needs us. Our hearts are heavy. “I knew Drew Burkle since he was a little boy and my grief and sadness at this sudden news is hard to describe,” said Penguins president and CEO David Morehouse. “I never met anyone with such a kind heart, gentle spirit and humility, all wrapped up in love and respect for his Dad. He was a young man so full of life, so full of energy. He will be missed.”
