August 15, 2019 3:53 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A judge has upheld an arbitration ruling that a Pittsburgh police officer fired after an alleged road rage incident two years ago should be reinstated to the force. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Donald Walko Jr. rejected the city’s appeal of the March arbitration ruling in the case of Officer Robert Kramer, who was fired following allegations that he pointed a gun at a man during a May 2017 confrontation. Kramer was acquitted of simple assault in September. He filed a federal lawsuit in May alleging malicious prosecution, fabrication of evidence and racial discrimination. Pittsburgh officials declined comment, saying attorneys are reviewing the decision. Robert Swartzwelder, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge 1, said the union was “very pleased.” (Image: WPXI-TV)
August 15, 2019 3:23 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – The Kraft Heinz Co. said Tuesday that it’s cutting 400 jobs, including 100 that it’s cut already. In a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Kraft Heinz said the job cuts will result in $27 million in expenses in the first quarter, including $1 million in employee severance and employee benefit costs, $9 million in non-cash and asset-related costs, $15 million in other implementation costs and $2 million in other exit costs.
August 14, 2019 5:38 pm
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A Philadelphia Police sergeant says six police officers have been shot in what’s still an active shooting situation in the city. Sgt. Eric Gripp tweeted Wednesday shortly before 6 p.m. that all of the injuries are considered non-life threatening. He also said that the suspect is still firing and warned people to stay out of the Nicetown neighborhood. The officers have been taken to area hospitals. Temple University Hospital referred questions on the conditions of police officers to police. A massive police presence remains with dozens of police cars and officers, many of them with their guns drawn. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says numerous agents are responding to the scene to assist Philadelphia police. (Photo: NBC)
August 14, 2019 3:56 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The acting director of Citizenship and Immigration Services says the inscription on the Statue of Liberty welcoming immigrants into the country is about “people coming from Europe.” Ken Cuccinelli said Tuesday on CNN that the poem referred to Europeans coming from “class-based societies where people were considered wretched if they weren’t in the right class.” His comment came a day after the Trump administration announced it would seek to deny green cards to migrants who use public assistance. Cuccinelli was asked earlier Tuesday on NPR whether the words “give me your tired, your poor” were part of the American ethos. Cuccinelli responded: “They certainly are. Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge.”
August 14, 2019 12:50 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Police and the FBI are investigating after a man in a wheelchair attempted to rob a bank in Pittsburgh’s South Side. Police say a man described to be in his 60s entered the First National Bank in a wheelchair on Tuesday afternoon and handed a note demanding cash to a teller. However, the man had second thoughts and left the bank. The investigation is ongoing.
August 14, 2019 12:47 pm
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) – A man has been charged with breaking into a Planned Parenthood office in Pennsylvania, smashing glass doors and painting graffiti on the walls. Thirty-nine-year-old Iain Carberry is charged in Luzerne County with burglary, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct in the early morning break-in Monday at the Wilkes-Barre office. Melissa Reed is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Keystone. She says surveillance images show a man throwing a brick through a window and then coming back an hour later with another brick and smashing other windows and painting graffiti, including a Bible verse in red. Planned Parenthood Keystone says in a statement that the act was “aimed to intimidate, threaten and instill fear.” Court documents don’t list a defense attorney who could speak for Carberry, and a working phone number for him couldn’t be found.
August 14, 2019 8:20 am
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – New Zealand officials have admitted they made a big mistake by allowing the man accused of killing 51 people at two Christchurch mosques to send a hand-written letter from his prison cell. The six-page letter from Brenton Tarrant was posted this week on the website 4chan, which has become notorious as a place for white supremacists to post their views. And it comes at a sensitive time, with other alleged killers from El Paso to Norway citing Tarrant as an inspiration. The letter appears to be written in pencil on a small notepad and is addressed to “Alan” in Russia. Much of it appears to be relatively innocuous, discussing a one-month trip Tarrant says he took to Russia in 2015. But the letter also warns a “great conflict” is coming.
August 14, 2019 4:22 am
NEW YORK (AP) – CBS and Viacom are set to reunite, bringing together their networks and the Paramount movie studio as traditional media giants challenge streaming companies like Netflix.
Viacom owns Paramount Pictures and pay TV channels such as Comedy Central, MTV and BET, while CBS has a broadcast network, television stations, Showtime and a stake in The CW network.
Analysts say the reunion will help both companies navigate an ever-competitive streaming landscape. CBS was one of the first media companies to launch its own streaming service, CBS All Access. It now has a new “Star Trek” series and a revival of “The Twilight Zone.” Now, Disney, NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia are jumping in with their own streaming services to challenge Netflix, Amazon and other tech companies encroaching into entertainment.
August 14, 2019 4:20 am
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) – A longtime friend of the Dayton gunman is due in court after authorities accused him of buying the body armor and helping assemble the weapon used in last week’s mass shooting. A judge scheduled a detention hearing for Ethan Kollie of Kettering in suburban Dayton on Wednesday afternoon. Investigators say there’s no evidence that Kollie knew what gunman Connor Betts had planned. But they say Kollie lied on a federal firearms form while buying a pistol not used in the shooting. Kollie’s attorney says Kollie was shocked that Betts carried out the shooting. Authorities say they discovered that Kollie had lied on the form while investigating the Aug. 4 shooting in Dayton. Police say Betts killed nine people within 30 seconds before officers shot and killed him.
August 14, 2019 4:18 am
HONG KONG (AP) – Check-in counters have reopened at Hong Kong’s airport after being shut during protests the previous day. About three dozen protesters remained camped out in the arrivals area Wednesday morning. Flights appeared to be operating normally. The airport closed check-in for remaining flights late Tuesday afternoon as protesters swarmed the terminal and blocked access to immigration for departing passengers. More than 100 flights were cancelled on the fifth consecutive day protesters occupied the airport. Airlines had still been trying to clear a backlog of more than 200 flights from Monday. The airport disruptions escalated a summer of demonstrations aimed at what many Hong Kong residents see as an increasing erosion of the freedoms they were promised in 1997 when Communist Party-ruled mainland China took over what had been a British colony.
