August 26, 2019 4:19 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A federal appeals court is reversing a lower court decision and ruling that the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ policy barring atheists from delivering invocations doesn’t violate the U.S. Constitution. Friday’s decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds House Speaker Mike Turzai’s policy of limiting prayers at the start of legislative sessions to guest chaplains who believe in God or a divine or higher power. It reverses last year’s decision by a district judge, who sided with atheists, agnostics, freethinkers and humanists in ruling that the restrictions violated constitutional prohibitions on making laws that establish a religion. The appeals court’s 2-1 majority says the policy fits within the “historical tradition of legislative prayer” and it counts as government speech that’s protected from a free speech or equal protection challenge.
August 26, 2019 4:18 am
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (AP) – A coroner says a school bus driver in western Pennsylvania was electrocuted trying to flee from his burning vehicle after it struck a utility pole and caught fire. Authorities in Beaver County say the bus wasn’t carrying any students when it struck the pole at about 3 p.m. Friday in North Sewickley Township. Officials said the crash brought down power lines, and the driver stepped on the downed wires as he was fleeing the burning vehicle. Coroner David Gabauer said the driver, 60-year-old Timothy VanKirk of Ellwood City, died of accidental high-voltage electrocution. Chris Kemper of the First Student bus company said VanKirk was practicing his route in preparation for the start of school. He called the death a tragedy and said officials’ “thoughts and prayers are with the family.”
August 26, 2019 4:16 am
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) – The former house manager of a now-defunct Penn State fraternity where a pledge fell during a night of hazing and drinking and later died has been placed on two years’ probation on a hindering apprehension conviction. Twenty-three-year-old Braxton Becker of Niskayuna, New York was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and do 100 hours of community service on the conviction stemming from the February 2017 death of 19-year-old Timothy Piazza of Lebanon, New Jersey. The Centre Daily Times reports that defense attorney Karen Muir has vowed an appeal. Becker, accused of deleting basement security camera footage, was convicted of hindering apprehension but acquitted of evidence-tampering and obstruction. Muir said her client “has learned a very hard, valuable lesson.” Piazza’s death led to passage of a stricter state anti-hazing law.
August 26, 2019 4:15 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Authorities have collected electrical cords and other items from the scorched scene of a Pennsylvania day care center fire that killed five children. The Erie Times-News reports that an electrical engineer, an Erie Bureau of Fire inspector, Erie police detectives and agents from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the scene Friday. Authorities say the fire on Aug. 11 killed five children ranging in age from 8 months to 7 years. The owner of the Erie day care was hospitalized but has been released. Erie Fire Chief Guy Santone told the newspaper that authorities revisited the scene after speaking with the owner. Santone says authorities collected items from the residence in an effort to pinpoint the cause. The items will be examined at an ATF laboratory.
August 26, 2019 4:13 am
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. – West Virginia politicians are calling for answers after a Vietnam veteran’s death at a VA hospital was ruled a homicide. U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito vowed to investigate after a news report on the death of retired Army Sgt. Felix Kirk McDermott at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia. A lawyer for McDermott’s estate provided The Associated Press with a legal document sent to the VA claiming the 82-year-old was wrongly injected with a fatal dose of insulin in April 2018. It also contains an autopsy report from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner that rules the death a homicide. According to the obituary for McDermott, he lived in Ruffs Dale, in Westmoreland County and was born in Braddock before serving in the Army and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
August 25, 2019 8:23 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un has supervised a test-firing of what it calls “newly developed super-large multiple rocket launcher.” The Korean Central News Agency says Saturday’s weapons test was successful and cited Kim as saying the rocket launcher is “indeed a great weapon.” The report likely referred to the projectile launches that South Korea detected on Saturday morning. South Korea’s military said North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast and that they flew about 236 miles at the maximum altitude of 60 miles. North Korea has been pushing to develop powerful multiple rocket launch systems, whose projectiles show missile-like flight distance and trajectory. The latest launches were the seventh weapons test by North Korea in a month.
August 25, 2019 8:21 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis says the Amazon forest is vital for our Earth and is urging prayers that fires there are quickly controlled. Francis added his voice Sunday to the chorus of international concern that the blazes in Brazil will have grave repercussions on the world’s environmental health. The pontiff, who is from the neighboring South American nation of Argentina, told the public in St. Peter’s Square that “we’re all worried” about the vast Amazon fires. He warned that that green “lung of forest is vital for our planet.” Francis said “let us pray so that, with the efforts of all, they are controlled as quickly as possible.” The blazes have sparked anti-government protests in Brazil and became a pressing issue for leaders at the Group of Seven summit in France.
August 25, 2019 8:20 am
BIARRITZ, France (AP) – President Donald Trump is threatening to use the emergency authority granted by a powerful, but obscure federal law to make good on his tweeted “order” to U.S. businesses to cut ties in China amid a trade war between the two nations. China’s announcement that it was raising tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. imports sent Trump into a rage. Trump, in a tweet, declared American companies “are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China.” He later clarified he was threatening to make use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act . He seems to want to rely on that 1977 act – which is used to target terrorists, rogue regimes and drug traffickers – as the newest weapon in the clash between the world’s two largest economies.
August 25, 2019 8:17 am
BIARRITZ, France (AP) – President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are discussing the new North American free trade agreement as they meet on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in France. The two countries and Mexico agreed last year to modify the existing accord with what they termed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. All three nation’s legislatures must first approve the long-sought modernization of the 1990s trade agreement before it can go into effect. Trump says the trade relationship between the U.S. and Canada will be significantly expanded when USMCA is completed. He adds, “I think it’s a very special agreement.” Securing approval for USMCA in Congress is Trump’s top legislative priority for the year. Democrats are seeking changes designed to ensure the enforcement of the pact’s labor and environmental standards.
August 25, 2019 8:11 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa (WPXI) – Family and friends gathered to say their final goodbyes to 13-year-old Jordan Duckett, who died doing what he loved. Duckett died after he collapsed on the field during football practice with the Westside Mustangs. “He loved football. Yes, he did. You know, that’s one thing that unfortunately, he went out trying to get ready to play football,” said associate pastor Isaac Walton. While family and friends mourn Duckett, they are also celebrating his young life. He just turned 13 and would have been in eighth grade this year at Pittsburgh Public Schools. The football team also held a moment of dedication for Duckett at their game Saturday in Windgap.
