November 26, 2019 8:52 am
TIRANA, Albania (AP) – Albania’s Defense Ministry says five more bodies have been recovered following a powerful earthquake, bringing the death toll to 14. The Health Ministry is reporting that around 600 people have been injured, some who are still in very serious condition. About 400 soldiers are putting up tents in two towns to shelter people with damaged houses. Live TV footage showed people cheering when a child was found alive in a collapsed building in the town of Durres where a body had been found earlier.
November 26, 2019 4:28 am
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) – Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he’s a problem-solver who can rebuild America and beat the “existential threat” that is President Donald Trump. The 77-year-old billionaire spoke Monday at his first public appearance since announcing his presidential bid. Bloomberg warned that Trump has an even better chance of being reelected now than he did before. He told reporters that he “looked in the mirror and said, ‘I just cannot let this happen.'” The centrist is joining an already crowded group of Democrats. He said his campaign would focus on issues including gun control, the environment and education. Bloomberg’s first campaign stop was in Norfolk, Virginia, where he chatted with people at a diner. Virginia is part of Bloomberg’s strategy of focusing on states with primaries on Super Tuesday.
November 26, 2019 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says “I have to protect our war fighters” as he explains his actions in the case of a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes in Iraq. Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher was acquitted of murder in the stabbing death of an Islamic State militant captive but convicted of posing with the corpse in 2017. Defense Secretary Mark Esper allowed Gallagher to retire with his Trident pin, retaining his status as a SEAL. He says he did so at the president’s direction. Trump said Monday that he is sticking up for members of the armed forces. Esper fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Sunday, accusing him of secretly offering to the White House to rig the Navy disciplinary process to ensure that Gallagher not lose his Trident.
November 26, 2019 4:26 am
DENVER (AP) – Thanksgiving travel is an ordeal under the best of circumstances, and a one-two punch of bad weather threatens to make it even more exhausting. Airlines prepared to deal Tuesday with a forecast for heavy snow in Denver, canceling flights ahead of time and offering customers a chance to reschedule without racking up standard ticket-change fees. As that front moves through the Great Lakes and the Northeast later in the week, forecasters say another storm will crash into the West Coast, possibly fouling flights and making driving treacherous. The AAA auto club says more than 55 million people will travel at least 50 miles (81 kilometers) from home over Thanksgiving, and the Transportation Safety Administration is predicting record numbers at airports.
November 26, 2019 4:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House Judiciary Committee is set to take over the impeachment probe of President Donald Trump next week, scheduling a Dec. 4 hearing on the question of “high crimes and misdemeanors” set out in the Constitution. The hearing will feature legal experts who will examine the constitutional grounds for impeachment, according to Democratic aides who discussed the schedule on condition of anonymity before any announcement. The Judiciary hearing will come as the House intelligence committee is expected to submit a report compiling evidence of the committee’s probe on President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. The intelligence panel held two weeks of impeachment hearings this month examining Trump’s repeated requests for Ukraine to investigate Democrats as the U.S. withheld military aid to the Eastern European country. (Photo: CNN)
November 26, 2019 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge has ordered former White House counsel Donald McGahn to appear before Congress in a setback to President Donald Trump’s effort to keep his top aides from testifying. The outcome could lead to renewed efforts by House Democrats to compel testimony from other high-ranking officials, including former national security adviser John Bolton. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled Monday in a lawsuit filed by the House Judiciary Committee. McGahn was a star witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and Democrats wanted to question McGahn about possible obstruction of justice by Trump. That was months before the House started an impeachment inquiry into Trump’s effort to get Ukraine to announce an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden. An appeal is likely.
November 26, 2019 4:22 am
A SWAT team was called in after a stolen car was found along a road in Washington Monday night. Pennsylvania State Police say a trooper found that the car had been stolen out of Uniontown. Before the trooper could pull the car over, the driver pulled into a driveway on Hayes Avenue. Three people in the car then ran into the back of the building. Police set up a perimeter and took five people out of the building for questioning. Because of the number of people in the building, state police activated the Special Emergency Response Team. Two handguns were found outside the building, according to police. One of the people taken from the building was taken to jail on an outstanding warrant for an unrelated incident. (WPXI)
November 26, 2019 4:09 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania state lawmakers, judges and top executive branch officials will collect another annual salary increase, with the governor passing $200,000 and rank-and-file lawmakers passing $90,000. Increases for 2020 will be 1.9%, a figure tied by law to the year-over-year regional change in consumer inflation. The boost takes effect Dec. 1 for lawmakers and Jan. 1 for judicial and executive branch officials. Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Saylor is highest-paid, pulling down a $4,000 raise to just above $221,000. Gov. Tom Wolf’s salary will rise about $3,800 to almost $202,000, although he donates it to charity. Both are among the nation’s highest. Most lawmakers, the nation’s third-highest paid, will see increases of $1,725 to about $90,300 in base pay. They also receive per diems, pensions and health benefits, while lawmakers in leadership posts will top out at $141,000.
November 26, 2019 4:03 am
Taxes in Peters Township will not be going up in 2020. That is the message from the preliminary budget adopted unanimously by Peters Township Council on Monday night. Council approved a $33 million dollar operating budget for 2020 with anticipated revenues of $23 million dollars. The $10 million dollar difference will be made up by a bond issued earlier in 2019. That bond was floated for the purpose of the development of the new Rolling Hills Park. In 2020 Peters Township will have 3 large scale projects in the park. Rolling Hills Drive will be extended to meet a newly realigned E. McMurray Road. Much of that project will be funded by traffic impact fees paid by developers and by a $500,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development (pictured). Park infrastructure will also be addressed this year. Picnic shelters, parking a restroom and a link to Arrowhead Trail are anticipated this year. Finally, a design for a community aquatics facility will be funded. The pool will not be built this year. This is merely a design phase. Also anticipated is the purchase of land for a third fire station to service the eastern side of the township. The previously mentioned $500,000 grant was presented to Township and School District Officials by State Representative Natalie Mihalek.
November 26, 2019 3:51 am
A Monessen woman is facing multiple charges, including attempted homicide, after a woman was stabbed multiple times with a pocket knife early Monday morning. Thirty-seven-year-old Tiffany Grogan was jailed without bond following the alleged attacks at a home in the 300 block of 10 Street in Monessen just after one-thirty. Authorities allege that Grogan stabbed Haley Aldrich in the head, neck, back, arm and armpit during an argument over money. Police say two other women were also hurt. Tonya Young told police Grogan bit her on the arm when she tried to restrain her and Djuna Tansmore was cut on her hand when she also tried to stop the attack. Both women refused medical treatment. Aldrich was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital where she was reportedly in stable condition. Grogan has also been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and harassment.
