July 30, 2019 8:43 am
JAMESTOWN, Va. (AP) – Black lawmakers in Virginia who boycotted a visit by President Donald Trump are blasting Trump for his recent disparaging remarks about minority members of Congress. During an emotional ceremony at a Richmond site where a notorious slave jail once stood, members of Virginia’s legislative black caucus took turns criticizing Trump as the president spoke about 60 miles away in historic Jamestown. Lawmakers who spoke at the Lumpkin’s Slave Jail site said they chose to boycott Trump’s speech commemorating the 400th anniversary of the first representative assembly in the New World so that they could mark another 400th anniversary. The first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia in 1619. Del. Delores McQuinn refused to use Trump’s name and instead called him “the tenant in the White House.” McQuinn choked back tears as she said Trump’s criticism of minority members of Congress was also aimed at “every person of color in the United States of America.”
July 30, 2019 4:34 am
Capital One says a hacker got access to the personal information of over 100 million individuals applying for credit. The McLean, Virginia-based bank said Monday it found out about the vulnerability in its system July 19 and immediately sought help from law enforcement to catch the perpetrator. The FBI has arrested the person, reportedly in Seattle, according to a report in The Washington Post. Capital One says it believes that it is unlikely that the information was used for fraud , but it will continue to investigate. The hacker got information including credit scores and balances plus the Social Security numbers of about 140,000 customers. It will offer free credit monitoring services to those affected. The data breach affected about 100 million people in the U.S. and 6 million in Canada.
July 30, 2019 4:31 am
HELSINKI (AP) – American rapper A$AP Rocky and two other men believed to be members of his entourage is going on trial in Sweden in a high-profile legal case that has caught the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump and rallied music and entertainment celebrities. The trial of Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, starts Tuesday in Stockholm District Court, which also has set aside Thursday and Friday for the case. Swedish prosecutors allege that the Grammy-nominated rapper and the two other suspects “deliberately, together and in agreement” attacked the alleged victim, Mustafa Jafari, in central Stockholm on June 30. The charges carry a maximum sentence of two years in prison. Mayers has been in custody since July 3 and has said he acted in self-defense.
July 30, 2019 4:30 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A jury has found that Katy Perry’s 2013 hit “Dark Horse” copied a 2009 Christian rap song. The nine-member federal jury in Los Angeles returned the unanimous verdict Monday. The decision came five years after Marcus Gray and two co-authors first sued alleging that “Dark Horse” stole from “Joyful Noise,” a song he released under the stage name Flame.
Gray’s attorneys argued that the beat and instrumental line featured through nearly half of “Dark Horse” are substantially similar to those of “Joyful Noise.” Perry and the song’s co-authors testified during the seven-day trial that none of them had heard the song or heard of Gray before the lawsuit. “Dark Horse” spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and earned Perry a Grammy nomination. The case now goes to a penalty phase, where the jury will decide how much the plaintiffs are owed for the copyright infringement.
July 30, 2019 4:28 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Experts say organizers should take another look at their emergency plans in the wake of the deadly shooting at a California food festival to see if they can make additional safety improvements. The shooting Sunday at the Gilroy Garlic Festival left three dead – including two children – and a dozen wounded at the three-day event that attracts more than 100,000 people annually to Northern California agricultural community. The festival included a perimeter fence, metal detectors, bag searches and police. Despite those measures, 19-year-old Santino William Legan cut through the fence and opened fire before three officers fatally shot him. Officials say first responders and event coordinators need to balance safety concerns, costs and a welcoming atmosphere for visitors as the height of summer brings the peak of fair season.
July 30, 2019 4:27 am
DETROIT (AP) – The second set of Democratic presidential debates will be a last chance for some 2020 candidates to be considered serious contenders. The 20 hopefuls will face off Tuesday and Wednesday nights in Detroit. They will have the opportunity to respond to President Donald Trump’s recent string of racist and incendiary tweets and comments, but they’ll also be under pressure to provide specifics on how they can improve the lives of Americans. The stakes are high: To qualify for the third set of debates in September, candidates must raise money from more donors and hit higher polling thresholds – a bar more than half of the contenders are at risk of missing. Those tougher rules set by the Democratic National Committee are expected to winnow the race.
July 30, 2019 4:25 am
A security breech that crippled City of Washington computers is causing City Council to export their computers out of the city for increased security. Councilman Joe Manning explained that the cyber attack that occurred in May caused the city quite a bit of distress but measures before council will go a long way to prevent that from occurring again. Council paid $40,000 to Sylint Group, Inc. to regain control of their computers. Council would pay $15,000 in set up fees to Blue Bastion and Ideal Integrations to host and monitor their computer system. Once that is complete, an $8400 monthly charge to the city is anticipated to avoid any shutdown like the one experienced by the city back in May. Councilman Manning acknowledged the cost but explained that the city is actually playing catch up with security measures that exist and are not in place right now. Manning went out of his way to further explain that it took over 109,000 attempts by the hackers to gain access to the city’s computers anyway. The measures will be voted on at the next regular meeting on Thursday.
July 30, 2019 4:21 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf is warning that food stamp benefits for about 200,000 people are jeopardized by a Trump administration move to stop allowing states to exceed federal income eligibility thresholds. Wolf said Monday that such a change would primarily affect the elderly, the disabled and lower-income families. He also says it’ll result in fewer school lunches.
In Pennsylvania, more than 1.7 million people are in the food stamp program, called the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP. Current federal guidelines forbid people who make more than 130% of the poverty level from getting food stamps. But most states bypass the limits under a federal policy that allows people who receive benefits through other government programs to automatically qualify for SNAP. The Trump administration seeks to end that policy.
July 30, 2019 4:18 am
PITTSBURGH – (WPXI) – Food giant The Kraft Heinz Co. may give up naming rights on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ home turf, Heinz Field, when the $57 million deal expires in 2021, according to Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, a publication that is owned by American City Business Journals, which also owns the Pittsburgh Business Times. Industry insiders expect Kraft Heinz to drop naming rights to stadium. A 20-year deal expires in 2021 as Kraft Heinz — and professional sports — have undergone big changes. The company put its name on the stadium in 2001 when it was still known as the H.J. Heinz Co. But since then, much has changed for Heinz, which was acquired by private equity firm 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway in 2013, then merged with Kraft Foods Inc. two years later. Staff and offices have been slashed in Pittsburgh, and the executive team is based in Chicago, although the company says it is headquartered in both cities. SBJ cites industry experts as saying they don’t expect the Heinz name to be on the stadium come 2021. It does, however, note that Heinz is still at the table
July 30, 2019 4:15 am
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. – (WPXI) – A woman has turned herself in after a bizarre incident at the Walmart in West Mifflin, police said. The woman is accused of urinating on potatoes at Walmart. Surveillance pictures of the woman were released by police. A Walmart representative said a store employee saw what the woman was doing. “My first reaction is one, kind of horrified. I realize that some people have issues that might lead them to do things that might be considered unusual,” said Beth Elliot, who shops at the store. Walmart issued the following statement: “This type of obscene conduct is outrageous and we immediately disposed of the affected products and sanitized the area to ensure its cleanliness and safety for our customers. We’re working with the West Mifflin Police Department to find the responsible party and have them prosecuted.”
