August 19, 2019 4:19 am
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia’s new Roman Catholic bishop is set to be installed this week. A ceremony is scheduled for Thursday at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Wheeling for the Most Rev. Mark Brennan, who previously was auxiliary bishop of Baltimore. The Wheeling-Charleston diocese includes nearly 75,000 Catholics and 95 parishes and encompasses the entire state of West Virginia. Brennan vowed at an introductory news conference last month to work toward restoring faith in the diocese after a scandal over the former bishop’s sexual harassment of adults and lavish spending of church money. Pope Francis named the 72-year-old Brennan to replace Bishop Michael Bransfield, who resigned in September 2018 after a preliminary investigation into allegations of sexual and financial misconduct.
August 19, 2019 4:18 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Police say two Pittsburgh officers were injured and two men were arrested after what they call “large and unruly” crowds flooded into the street on the city’s South Side. The city’s public safety department says officers were called to the area just before 2:15 a.m. Sunday, where people had filled the street, stopping traffic in both directions and surrounding vehicles in the street. The department says one officer was writing a traffic citation in an emergency lane when a driver drove over his left foot. He and another officer who injured his knee were taken to UPMC Mercy in stable condition. Two men, both unidentified, were arrested before police managed to disperse the crowd just before 3 a.m. The reason for the disruption wasn’t immediately clear.
August 19, 2019 4:15 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. (AP) – A street fight in western Pennsylvania ended with a man being shot in the leg. Bethel Park police responded to Wallace Avenue around 8:20 p.m. Sunday following reports of two men fighting and shots being fired. They soon found the wounded man and took him to a hospital. The man’s wound is not considered life-threatening. But his name and further details on his condition were not disclosed. The other man wasn’t injured. The fight and shooting remain under investigation.
August 19, 2019 3:41 am
A Washington couple died in a motorcycle accident in Greene County Saturday evening when their motorcycle collided with another vehicle along Route 19 in Franklin Township. Authorities say 58-year-old Paul Tripoli and a passenger on the motorcycle, his 55-year-old wife Darla, were traveling south on Route 19 near Hillcrest Avenue around six o’clock, when the bike went out of control on a curve, crossed the center line and collided with an oncoming vehicle driven by 36-year-old Bianca Simpson of Waynesburg. The Tripolis died at the scene. Police say Simpson was not hurt. The Tripoli’s recently celebrated their 25th anniversary. Paul Tripoli was a well-known therapist in the Washington County area while his wife, Darla, was a funeral director at Salandra Funeral Home in Canonsburg. A memorial was set up outside of his North Main Street office shortly after word on his death. Viewings are set for Thursday, August 22nd from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Friday, August 23rd, from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m. at The Bible Chapel, 300 Gallery Drive in McMurray. A funeral service will be held Saturday, August 24th, at 11:00 a.m. at The Bible Chapel. (Photo: LinkedIn)
August 18, 2019 8:32 am
LONDON (AP) – Leaked British government documents have warned of disruptions across the country in the event that the U.K. leaves the European Union without a trade deal on Oct. 31. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is prepared to charge out of the EU regardless of whether he is able to renegotiate the Brexit deal struck with Brussels by his predecessor, Theresa May, over the next 10 weeks. The Sunday Times published what it said were confidential government memos outlining the consequences of tearing up May’s deal, warning that a sudden British exit could lead to a decrease in the supply of fresh food. The memos also warn of “significant” disruptions to drug supplies that could last for up to six months. Britain’s Cabinet Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press.
August 18, 2019 8:31 am
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Federal weather experts say Alaska just went through its warmest month ever. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says Alaska’s average temperature in July was 58.1 degrees (14.5 Celsius). That’s 5.4 degrees (3 Celsius) above average and 0.8 degrees (0.4 Celsius) higher than the previous warmest month of July 2004. Climate experts say such unusual weather events likely will become more commonplace as climate warming continues. Brian Brettschneider of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ International Arctic Research Center says Alaska has seen “multiple decades-long increases” in temperature. He says it becomes easier to have unusual weather conditions on top of the setting of a warming climate. Effects of the warm month were seen throughout the state, with sea ice disappearing north of Alaska and drought conditions on the southeast Panhandle.
August 18, 2019 8:30 am
COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) – Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are in Georgia making election appeals to thousands of black millennial Christians. The senators are competing to be the leading progressive alternative in the 2020 contest to former Vice President Joe Biden, and younger black voters could offer an important source of support. Biden remains atop primary polls partly because of his standing with older black votes. Younger African Americans are more divided on their opinions about the large field of candidates. Sanders and Warren will have back-to-back question-and-answer sessions Saturday with black pastors at the Young Leaders Conference. The gathering includes about 5,000 black millennials of faith. Sanders struggled to get enough black support early in his 2016 presidential bid and lost key states to Hillary Clinton because of it.
August 18, 2019 8:28 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Doctors and public health experts warn of poor health outcomes and rising costs they say will come from sweeping changes that would deny green cards to many immigrants who use Medicaid, food stamps or other public assistance. President Donald Trump’s administration trumpeted its aggressive approach as a way to keep only self-sufficient immigrants in the country. Some advocates say they’re already seeing the fallout even before the complex 837-page rule takes effect in October. Health experts argue it could force millions of low-income migrants to choose between needed services and their bid to stay legally in the U.S. The result could be across-the-board poorer health outcomes. Medical experts say there are signs it’s already happening in cities including Chicago, Detroit and New York.
August 18, 2019 8:26 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Residents of a Pennsylvania city gathered to mourn and remember four of the five children who died when fire swept through a home child care center. A funeral service was held Saturday in Erie for 8-year-old La’Myhia Jones, 6-year-old Luther Jones Jr., 4-year-old Ava Jones and 9-month-old Jaydan Augustyniak. All are siblings. The funeral for 2-year-old Dalvin Pacley will be held Monday. Three of the victims were the children of a volunteer firefighter, Luther Jones. Their mother, Shevona Overton, is also the mother of Jaydan. An adult and two adolescent boys were able to escape. Fire officials suspect Sunday’s blaze was accidental. Mayor Joe Schember told those attending that some things that happen in life take years to understand – but other things happen “that we will never understand.”
August 18, 2019 8:25 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The man accused of barricading himself inside a Philadelphia row house and shooting six police officers in an hours long standoff has been charged with attempted murder. Court documents show that 36-year-old Maurice Hill also faces assault charges. He was denied bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5. Hill is accused of shooting at officers who were serving a drug warrant Wednesday, then keeping police at bay while he fired repeatedly from inside a building. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that at Saturday’s video arraignment, Hill sat with arms crossed and head down, responding “I guess” when asked whether he understood the charges. Hill’s extensive criminal record includes drug and weapons charges. A message seeking comment was left with his attorney. The six officers struck by gunfire were released from hospitals Wednesday night.