August 7, 2019 12:40 pm
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (AP) – A western Pennsylvania amusement park says its newest and biggest attraction will remain closed with no timetable for opening. Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh says crews “are continuing work on some adjustments” to the Steel Curtain, which has been closed since Saturday. The 4,000-foot-long coaster contains nine inversions, which park officials say is the most in North America, and the world’s tallest inversion at 197 feet. The park said on its Facebook site that maintenance crews are working with designer S&S Worldwide but can’t say when the Steel Curtain will reopen. When it does, the park says “stoppages and periodic closures” will remain possible due to the “newness, complexity and record-breaking nature” of the ride. The park is located in West Mifflin, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of downtown Pittsburgh.
August 7, 2019 12:30 pm
CYBERSPACE (AP) – Walgreens is looking to cut costs. And to do so, it’s cutting the number of stores it operates in the U.S. The company says it is shuttering 200 stores – a move it says will reduce costs by $1.5 billion over the next few years. Previously, Walgreens announced plans to close 200 stores in the U.K. In all, Walgreens operates more than 18,000 stores worldwide – but has also been struggling because of a decrease in revenue.
August 7, 2019 10:19 am
SPENCER, W.Va. (AP) – A West Virginia city is offering to forgive unpaid parking tickets in exchange for school supplies. The city of Spencer announced the deal Tuesday on Facebook. It says it will clear the parking tickets if a person brings an item from a list of supplies for elementary, middle and high schools. Some of the items include crayons, pencils, pens, loose-lead paper and Clorox Wipes. Supplies can be dropped off at the city’s municipal building. Multiple tickets can be excused if a person brings one item per ticket. Tickets issued through Friday are eligible for the program.
August 7, 2019 9:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke is attending an El Paso, Texas community rally timed to serve as counterprogramming to President Donald Trump’s visit.
An El Paso native, O’Rourke will address the #ElPasoStrong event at a park Wednesday afternoon, during Trump’s visit. O’Rourke is also attending a morning remembrance at a high school and making an evening visit to a makeshift memorial outside the Walmart where a gunman killed 22 people. In February, during a packed Trump rally in El Paso supporting a U.S.-Mexico border wall, O’Rourke drew thousands with his own counter speech across the street. Trump tweeted that he had “trounced” O’Rourke at those dueling February events, adding that O’Rourke should respect victims and law enforcement and “be quiet.” O’Rourke tweeted: “El Paso will not be quiet and neither will I.”
August 7, 2019 4:16 am
BEIJING (AP) – China’s yuan has weakened again after signs its decline was stabilizing helped to reassure jittery financial markets. The currency edged down to 7.0488 to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, about 0.4 percent below its level late the previous day. Financial markets tumbled after Beijing allowed the yuan to fall to an 11-year low against the dollar this week. That prompted Washington to label China a currency manipulator, opening the way to possible sanctions. The central bank promised to keep the currency stable, which helped to reassure investors. Despite that, the central bank set the opening level for trading Wednesday at 6.9996 to the dollar, almost 0.5 percent below Tuesday’s starting level. The central bank allows the yuan to rise or fall 2% during the day.
August 7, 2019 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A veteran FBI agent who was fired over derogatory text messages about President Donald Trump has sued the FBI and Justice Department. Peter Strzok says in the lawsuit filed Tuesday that the FBI’s decision to fire him was “the result of unrelenting pressure” from Trump and his allies. The suit also says the Justice Department violated Strzok’s privacy by disclosing hundreds of the text messages to reporters. Strzok was a veteran counterintelligence agent who helped lead FBI investigations into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. He was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team after the texts were discovered, and was fired from the FBI last August. Representatives of the FBI and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
August 7, 2019 4:13 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un supervised a live-fire demonstration of newly-developed short-range ballistic missiles he said would send an “adequate warning” to the United States and South Korea over their joint military exercises. The announcement by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday came a day after South Korea’s military said it detected the North firing two projectiles that were likely ballistic missiles into the sea. Tuesday’s launches were the North’s fourth round of weapons tests in less than two weeks. Experts say the country’s testing activity could intensify if progress isn’t made on nuclear negotiations with Washington. KCNA says two missiles launched from a western airfield flew cross-country and over the area surrounding capital Pyongyang before accurately hitting an island target off its eastern coast.
August 7, 2019 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump and the first lady spent time at a hospital in Dayton, Ohio, Wednesday, where many of the victims of Sunday’s attack were treated. The White House says Trump visited Miami Valley Hospital to thank first responders and hospital staff, as well as meet with victims and their families. At least 200 protesters gathered outside the hospital. Connor Betts opened fire in Dayton’s Oregon district early Sunday morning, killing nine people, including his 22-year-old sister, before officers fatally shot. Later, Trump will travel to El Paso, Texas – the site of the second mass shooting last weekend. (Photo: CNN)
August 7, 2019 4:07 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A Pennsylvania man has been charged with selling machine guns and other firearms and ammunition stolen from a federal storage facility in West Virginia. Richard Adam Schreiber of Everett was indicted Tuesday after federal agents seized about 100 guns, more than 1,300 gun components and nearly 124,000 rounds of ammunition. Prosecutors say Schreiber plotted with a security guard who pilfered the weapons and ammunition from a gun-disposal facility operated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The guard, Christopher Lee Yates, has pleaded guilty in the case and is due to be sentenced in late August. Prosecutors say Schreiber bought the stolen weapons from Yates and then sold them over the internet.
August 7, 2019 4:06 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s top state prosecutor says investigations remain underway after 1,862 calls were made to his office’s clergy abuse hotline in the 12 months since a landmark grand jury report exposed decades of child abuse within the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses. Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Tuesday that about 90 percent of those calls concerned allegations of abuse or cover-ups within the Catholic church. The rest were about institutions or people outside the Catholic church. Shapiro calls it “a profoundly impactful experience” that he’s been stopped daily by people who are grateful for the investigation or want to tell him their own stories of victimization. Pennsylvania dioceses have been evaluating claims and making payments through compensation funds established in the wake of the report.
