August 12, 2019 4:51 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – California and Massachusetts say they’ll go to court to fight the Trump administration’s overhaul of the Endangered Species Act. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (hahv-YEHR’ beh-SEH’-rah) said Monday that they planned to sue. It came hours after the administration announced broad changes to the way the government would enforce endangered species protections. Both Democratic state prosecutors pointed to a United Nations report earlier this year warning that more than 1 million species globally are in danger of extinction. Becerra told reporters that “this is not the time to go low, go slow or go backward.” Several conservation groups also have promised court fights. The administration says the changes will reduce regulatory burdens while still protecting struggling species. (Photo: CNN)
August 12, 2019 4:45 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – School lunch menus already have Meatless Mondays and Taco Tuesdays. Now some may get Trade Mitigation Thursdays. This fall, some school cafeterias are expecting shipments of free food courtesy of President Donald Trump’s trade disputes. The products are coming from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is giving away the foods it’s buying to help farmers hurt by trade negotiations. In Maryland, one district is awaiting a truckload of canned kidney beans – one of several “trade mitigation” items schools were offered. The USDA has long purchased and distributed foods to help farmers. But for the groups that get the foods, Trump’s trade disputes are resulting in an unusual bounty. Other schools say they can’t put the extras to use.
August 12, 2019 4:16 pm
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) – Federal authorities say the friend of the Ohio shooter bought him the necessary equipment to carry out a mass shooting. Connor Betts opened fire in a popular entertainment district in Dayton, Ohio, about a week ago, killing his sister and eight others. Officers shot Betts within 30 seconds, killing him just steps outside a crowded bar. A charging document obtained by The Associated Press Monday says Ethan Kollie “indicated he purchased body armor and a firearm accessory for Betts.” Investigators though, say there is no indication that he knew that his friend was planning a mass shooting. Federal prosecutors say Kollie bought the armor, a gun accessory and a 100-round magazine for Betts and he used that equipment on Aug. 4, when he opened fire. Todd Wickerham of the FBI tells reporters Monday that it does not appear Kollie knew how Betts would use that equipment. Prosecutors are accusing Kollie of lying on federal firearms forms. Those charges are not related to the shooting. A message seeking comment was left with Kollie’s attorney.
August 12, 2019 1:52 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Immigrant rights groups are blasting the Trump administration’s new rules that could deny green cards to immigrants if they use forms of public assistance like food stamps or Medicaid. The Los Angeles-based National Immigration Law Center immediately vowed to file a lawsuit challenging the changes that take effect in October. In a Monday statement, the group calls the new rules an attempt to redefine the legal immigration system “in order to disenfranchise communities of color and favor the wealthy.” Advocates say the efforts will scare immigrants into not asking for help and worry the rules will be applied too broadly. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles says the biggest toll will be on vulnerable populations with limited means. The group’s executive director, Angelica Salas, calls the Trump administration’s approach “cruel” and “unnecessary” with the clear objective of keeping “all “all immigrants out.”
August 12, 2019 10:25 am
HONG KONG (AP) – The Hong Kong airport says it will restart flights starting at 6 a.m. Tuesday after it completely shut down operations when thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators occupied its main terminal. All flights Monday that had not completed check-in procedures by afternoon were canceled, as were arriving flights that had not yet taken off. Mayhem ensued in one of the world’s busiest airports. Airport staff advised passengers to leave the airport for their own safety, but traffic outside was at a near standstill, and public transportation was clogged. Some passengers and departing protesters opted to walk.
August 12, 2019 7:59 am
A Meadowlands, Pa. man is facing numerous charges following a wrong-way police chase and crash early Monday Morning. Washington State Police say troopers attempted a traffic stop just before 3 a.m. in North Franklin Township but the driver fled. According to police, 32 year old Mathew Harvey was traveling the wrong direction in the westbound lanes of Interstate 70. The pursuit continued onto Interstate 79 and ended when his vehicle crashed into a green dumpster off the roadway at the Laboratory exit. Police say Harvey had multiple felony warrants and was in possession of drugs. He was transported to Washington Hospital for treatment of his injuries. State Police say their investigation is on-going.
August 12, 2019 6:54 am
MONONGAHELA, Pa. – (WPXI) – The city of Monongahela celebrated its 250th birthday Sunday, and during the celebration, history was made in a very Pittsburgh way. A wedding was held in an effort to set a world record — the world’s largest wedding cookie table. With a judge from Guinness World Records there, they found out if they were successful. They needed at least 18,000 cookies. “We’re over 19,000 at this point. We know that you have set a new world record,” the judge said. The rules are tough to get this record, including a plan so that cookies don’t go to waste. The Monongahela Area Historical Society said it will be donating any leftovers to first responders, 412 Food Rescue and the local city mission.
August 12, 2019 4:27 am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A 29-year-old former Eagle Scout accused of running a multimillion-dollar opioid drug ring out of his suburban Salt Lake City basement is set to go on trial Monday. Prosecutors say Aaron Shamo was a prolific dark web kingpin who peddled poisonous fentanyl pressed to look like prescription drugs to thousands of people, killing at least one. Authorities said the 2016 bust of the operation that sold nearly half-million pills ranked among the largest in the country. But Shamo’s family and lawyers say that’s a false image of him. They say he made mistakes, but he’s being wrongly targeted as the sole ringleader, despite evidence his partners who were offered plea agreements were as deeply involved as he was.
August 12, 2019 4:25 am
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – Forecasters are warning of dangerously hot weather across a wide stretch of the U.S. South and Midwest. The National Weather Service says parts of 13 states on Monday will be under heat advisories, from Texas, Louisiana and Florida in the South to Missouri and Illinois in the Midwest. Forecasters say temperatures in the 90s combined with humidity will make it feel like as much as 110 degrees in some places. The weather service says it will be even hotter across northwestern Mississippi, northern Louisiana and Arkansas, where the heat index could reach 115 degrees. Heat exhaustion and heat strokes could result.
August 12, 2019 4:24 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The details of how Jeffrey Epstein died in his Manhattan jail cell over the weekend have yet to be released, but medical officials have performed an autopsy on the high-profile inmate accused of sexually abusing underage girls and paying them hundreds of dollars in cash for massages. Epstein’s abrupt death Saturday cut short a criminal prosecution that could have pulled back the curtain on the inner workings of a high-flying financier with connections to celebrities and presidents, though prosecutors have vowed to continue investigating. Epstein, 66, had been denied bail and faced up to 45 years behind bars on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges unsealed last month. He had pleaded not guilty and was awaiting trial.
