January 2, 2020 5:47 am
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) – Police in West Virginia say a fire has destroyed a former skating rink. Wheeling police spokesman Philip Stahl tells news outlets the large fire took several hours to bring under control Tuesday night in the building located next to a casino and a high school football stadium on Wheeling Island. No injuries were reported. Stahl says the fire did not threaten any other structures. Operations at the Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack were unaffected by the fire. Stahl said the former rink was being used for storage for the casino. The building was constructed in 1924 as a state fairgrounds exposition hall. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
January 2, 2020 5:41 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Pete Buttigieg’s campaign says he raised more than $24.7 million in the last three months and now has a campaign staff of 500 people nationwide. It’s a show of financial and organizational strength heading into the presidential primaries. Buttigieg’s campaign said Wednesday he raised $76 million since he launched his bid for president, including more than 2 million contributions from over 733,000 people. Buttigieg’s average contribution was around $38. Buttigieg’s campaign staff includes 100 people on the ground in Iowa, the first state where Democrats make their primary preference known. Buttigieg now has 35 field offices open in Iowa and 30 more field offices spread across the other three early nominating states.
January 2, 2020 4:10 am
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – The defense ministry has confirmed Taiwan’s top military officer and seven other people were killed in a crash of an air force helicopter. Five people survived the crash of the Blackhawk helicopter in mountains outside the capital. Gen. Shen Yi-ming was responsible for overseeing the island’s defense against China, which threatens to use military force to annex what it considers it own territory. Shen had taken over as chief of the general staff in July after serving as commander of Taiwan’s air force, which is undergoing a substantial upgrade with the arrival of the most advanced version of the U.S. F-16V fighter.
January 2, 2020 4:09 am
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Severe flooding in Indonesia’s capital as residents celebrated the new year has killed at least 16 people, displaced tens of thousands and forced an airport to close. Video and photos showed cars floating in muddy waters while soldiers and rescuers in boats helped children and elders forced onto the roofs of flooded homes. As much as 14.5 inches of rain fell on New Year’s Eve, causing two rivers to overflow. Floodwaters reached 8 feet in places. The city of 10 million people is prone to flooding and is rapidly sinking due to groundwater extraction. The president announced in August the national capital would be moved from Jakarta.
January 2, 2020 4:08 am
PERTH, Australia (AP) – Thousands of tourists are fleeing Australia’s wildfire-ravaged eastern coast ahead of worsening conditions as the military started to evacuate people trapped on the shore further south. Cooler weather has aided firefighting and allowed people to replenish supplies. Vehicles formed long lines at gas stations and supermarkets, and traffic was gridlocked as highways reopened. But fire conditions are expected to deteriorate as high temperatures and strong winds return. Wildfires this week have burned more than more than 400 homes in Australia’s two most-populous states. New South Wales ordered tourists to leave a large stretch of the coast.
January 2, 2020 4:05 am
Philadelphia’s new police chief has a challenging agenda ahead that includes addressing the city’s daily gun violence. Two shooting deaths Tuesday make 2019 the city’s deadliest year in a decade. Police have tallied 355 slayings this year, two more than 2018. City data shows the figure had fallen to below 250 homicides just a few years ago. Police say they’ve made arrests in just over half the homicide cases this year. Separately, they say about 1,450 people were shot in Philadelphia in 2019. Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw takes over the Philadelphia department in February.
January 2, 2020 4:04 am
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) – A Pennsylvania man has admitted he killed his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son nearly three years ago. Keith Jordan Lambing entered a guilty plea Monday to third-degree murder and assault. Sentencing is likely to be imposed next week. The victim bled to death after the attack in March 2017. Butler County prosecutors say they opted not to pursue the death penalty because the child’s parents did not want to relive the facts of áthe crime during a trial. The 22-year-old Lambing, from Butler, Pennsylvania, is expected to receive 30 to 60 years under the plea agreement. A charge of rape was dismissed.
January 2, 2020 4:03 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Authorities say homicides in Pittsburgh have hit a 20-year low. Data from police and the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office show 37 homicides city-wide last year. That’s way down from 52 homicides reported in 2018, and ties the number of homicides in 1998. All but four of last year’s victims were men and all but three were shot to death. Five victims were children. The Tribune-Review reports that homicides in Pittsburgh have been decreasing since a spike in 2014 when the city saw 70 homicides. Surrounding Allegheny County had 59 homicides last year.
January 1, 2020 9:43 am
WILKINSBURG, Pa. (WPXI) — Allegheny County Police have released updated information about an officer-involved shooting in Wilkinsburg that their agency is investigating. On Dec. 22, someone called 911 around 1 a.m. to report that a black man, wearing a black jacket and grey sweatpants, had ‘pulled a gun’ on them near the intersection of Penn Avenue and Wood Street. The caller described that the gunman had dreadlocks and was carrying a silver handgun, police said.
