August 6, 2019 9:39 am
PITTSBURGH -(WPXI) – A barge struck a boat overnight on the Ohio River and three people had to be rescued, authorities said. The collision happened shortly after midnight Tuesday below the Point and above the West End Bridge. At one point, the boat was stuck under the front right side of the barge. According to public safety officials, the barge was empty and riding high, so the captain was not aware the boat was caught under it. When barges are empty, they float up and are 10-feet high, meaning the captain can’t see when something’s too close. But when barges are filled, the captain’s line of sight is OK. The barge was slowed and stopped after the captain saw and heard River Rescue’s lights and sirens, officials said. The three adults who were on the boat called 911. River Rescue got them onto the River Rescue boat and took them to the North Shore boathouse outside PNC Park. Paramedics then took them to a hospital to be evaluated. A woman who was on the boat said she and her two brothers had stopped on the river to charge their boat battery and none of them noticed the barge until it came right at them and slammed into the boat. The woman claims they blared their SOS horn, but the barge still pushed them down the river a couple hundred feet. She also says the lights on the boat were on at the time.
August 6, 2019 9:29 am
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) – Hundreds of people held vigil outside the National Rifle Association’s headquarters in Virginia for the dozens slain in mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Gun control groups including March for Our Lives organized Monday’s “Vigil for Remembrance and Change,” which sought to honor the dead and call for stronger gun laws. The back-to-back weekend shootings cost a total of 31 lives and left more than 50 people wounded. Vigil attendees held moments of silence punctured by the recitation of victim names, including those gunned down in Chicago and the 13 black transgender women killed so far this year. Democratic Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton joined the crowd in decrying political inaction. The NRA has said it wouldn’t take part in “politicizing” the shootings, but would work to find solutions.
August 6, 2019 4:36 am
In a departure from contentious meetings for Cecil Township Supervisors, the most recent meeting was busy but very civil in tone. Highlighting a busy agenda was the passage of an ordinance to allow township fire departments to receive reimbursements for their expenditures from their rescue responses. Chief William Cass of the Cecil #1 Fire Company explained that all Cecil Twp Fire Companies are now authorized to seek reimbursement from insurance companies for services rendered during a rescue. These reimbursements are being sought for rescues when the companies are called out to assist victims especially on Interstate 79 where services are for victims of other places and not residents of the township. It is not the intent of the reimbursements to be used against residents. In other township business, supervisors created a Capital Parks Account to allow long term savings for park improvements. Chairperson Cindy Fisher explains that this account is different from the General Park Improvement Account as the monies deposited here will accrue from year to year and not get swept back into the township’s general fund at the end of the fiscal year. Upon creation of the account, supervisors authorized a $150,000 transfer from the General Park Improvement Account.
August 6, 2019 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration has frozen all Venezuelan government assets in a significant escalation of tensions with socialist leader Nicolas Maduro. The ban on Americans doing business with Venezuela’s government takes effect immediately. An executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday cited Maduro’s continued “usurpation” of power and human rights abuses by those loyal to him. The order falls short of an outright trade embargo but represents the most crippling U.S. efforts to remove Maduro since the Trump administration recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful leader in January. Previous sanctions have targeted Venezuela’s oil industry, the source of most of the country’s export revenue.
August 6, 2019 4:16 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea’s military says North Korea fired unidentified projectiles twice into the sea as it continues to ramp up weapons tests amid stalemated nuclear negotiations with the United States. The launches on Tuesday came a day after the U.S. and South Korean militaries started scaled-down joint military exercises despite warnings from the North that the drills could derail fragile nuclear diplomacy. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says the projectiles were launched from an area near the North’s western coast and flew cross-country before landing in waters off the country’s eastern coast. It didn’t immediately say how far the projectiles flew. The North last week conducted two test-firings of what it described as a new rocket artillery system and conducted a short-range ballistic missile launch on July 25.
August 6, 2019 4:15 am
BEIJING (AP) – China says it “will not stand idly by” and will take countermeasures if U.S. deploys intermediate-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region. Chief Chinese arms control official Fu Cong also Tuesday warned neighboring countries not to allow the U.S. to deploy such weapons on their territory. President Donald Trump’s administration has withdrawn from a Cold War-era arms control treaty with Russia. And over the weekend, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said during security meetings in Asia that he wanted to deploy midrange conventional missiles in the Asia-Pacific within months. Australia’s defense minister has said that country will not be a base for the missiles. Fu said China had no intention of entering a trilateral arms control deal with the U S. and Russia but would remain engaged in disarmament discussions.
August 6, 2019 4:14 am
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) – Ohio’s Republican governor is bucking his party to call for expanded gun laws and some Democrats in Texas are telling President Donald Trump to stay away. Both states are reeling from a pair of shootings that killed 31. A racist screed remains a focus in the El Paso massacre, while further details trickle out about the alleged shooter in Dayton, who was being described as mentally ill and fascinated with violence.
August 6, 2019 4:09 am
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) – Research has found that West Virginia’s mobile voting app for overseas residents has increased voter turnout. The Herald-Dispatch cites research done by University of Chicago associate professor Anthony Fowler, which was presented this month at the Election Science, Reform & Administration Conference at the University of Pennsylvania. Fowler found the app increased voter turnout by 3 to 5 percentage points. In 2018, West Virginia was the first state to allow mobile voting for overseas voters from some counties during a federal election. Fowler says the research underscores that mobile voting has the potential to affect voter turnout while lowering the cost of voting. Cybersecurity experts and many Americans remain wary of mobile voting and Fowler says there’s good reason for the concern as officials aren’t sure how secure it is.
August 6, 2019 4:08 am
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) – A California man who admitted having about 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms) of marijuana in his suitcase when he flew to West Virginia has been sentenced to 10 months. U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart’s office said in a news release that U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers sentenced 22-year-old Gerardo Delgadillo Jr. on Monday in Huntington. Prosecutors said Delgadillo flew to Tri-State Airport in Kenova in October. He admitted he intended to sell the marijuana. Court documents didn’t list Delgadillo’s hometown.
August 6, 2019 4:06 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh’s mayor says he has beefed up his own security in response to threats after the city recently approved gun control measures. Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto says he’s extended the hours of his security detail into the evening following “direct death threats,” particularly around the issue of firearms. Peduto said he sends such threats to Pittsburgh police and tries to put them out of mind. The city approved gun control measures in the wake of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that killed 11 last fall. The measures approved in April would restrict military-style assault weapons as well as armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines and allow temporary seizure of guns from those deemed a threat. Lawsuits were filed alleging the measures violated state law barring municipalities from regulating the ownership or possession of firearms and ammunition.
