July 20, 2019 9:54 am
HOUSTON (AP) – The U.S. government will expand its policy requiring asylum seekers to wait outside the country to one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities. The Department of Homeland Security said Friday it will implement its “Migrant Protection Protocols” in Brownsville, Texas, across the border from Matamoros, Mexico. DHS says it anticipates the first asylum seekers will be sent back to Mexico starting Friday. Thousands of people are already camped in Matamoros, at the eastern edge of the U.S.-Mexico border. An official waiting list to seek asylum has more than 1,000 people.
Matamoros is in Mexico’s Tamaulipas state, which the U.S. government warns citizens not to visit due to violence and kidnappings. The city is also near where a Salvadoran father and his 23-month-old daughter were found drowned in the Rio Grande, in photos that were shared around the world.
July 20, 2019 9:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has chided his supporters who chanted “send her back” when he questioned the loyalty of a Somali-born congresswoman, joining widespread criticism of the campaign crowd’s cry after Republicans warned about political blowback from the angry scene. In a week that has been full of hostile exchanges over race and love of country on both sides, Trump also claimed he had tried to stop the chant at a reelection event Wednesday night in North Carolina – though video suggests otherwise. The target- Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota – responded defiantly Thursday. She told reporters at the Capitol the confrontation is a fight over “what this country truly should be.”
July 20, 2019 9:50 am
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Germany says Iran’s seizure of a British oil tanker and the brief detention of another is an “unjustifiable intrusion” on shipping through a key Persian Gulf route that is increasing tensions in the region. The Foreign Ministry said Saturday that it “strongly condemns” Iran’s actions on Friday against the vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. The ministry is urging Iran to immediately release the ship and crew it seized, and said Britain has Germany’s support. It calls the seizure “an unjustifiable intrusion into the civilian shipping industry which further exacerbates an already strained situation.” It added that, “Another regional escalation would be very dangerous; it would also undermine all ongoing efforts to find a way out of the current crisis.”
July 20, 2019 8:29 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Charges have been dropped against a woman accused of forcing her friend’s 12-year-old daughter to get a birth control implant without the mother’s permission. Online court documents show two felony counts of endangering welfare of children and a misdemeanor charge of recklessly endangering another person were withdrawn on Friday against 29-year-old Valerie Fullum. Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County district attorney’s office, says he can’t comment on why the charges were withdrawn, other than to say that investigators “came across an evidentiary issue” that they “could not overcome.” Fullum’s attorney, Steve Townsend, says the girl was never forced to get the implant, and that story was fabricated by others who wanted to discredit his client. He says Fullum, who lost her job during the ordeal, feels vindicated but now must work on mending her reputation.
July 20, 2019 8:26 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) – Funeral arrangements and other events have been announced for fallen Pittsburgh police Officer Calvin Hall. Pittsburgh Police will conduct an End of Watch Ceremony on Saturday at 8 p.m., exactly when his regular shift would end. The ceremony will take place in the 1500 block of Brighton Road in front of the Zone 1 police station. Brighton Road from Pennsylvania Avenue to California Avenue will be closed from 7 p.m. until the ceremony ends. There will be additional closures that include Jacksonia Street from Cameo Way to Brighton Road to McCullough Street and Columbia Place and Wright Way off of Brighton Road. Port Authority buses will be re-routed during the ceremony. On Monday, the viewing for Hall will be at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland from noon to 8 p.m. The funeral for Hall will be held on Tuesday at Soldiers & Sailors at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at Homewood Cemetery. The family has agreed to have the funeral and burial open to the public. There will be several road and bridge closures in place starting at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Here is a list of the areas that will be affected:
CLOSURES
- Fort Duquesne Bridge
- SR 65 Inbound in the area of the West End Bridge
- SR 279 Onramp to Ft. Duquesne Bridge
- Fort Pitt Tunnel and Bridge inbound to SR 376 E and the E. Carson-Ft. Pitt Bridge Onramp
- Grant St. Access to SR 376 E
- SR 376 E between Downtown and Oakland Exits
AVOID
- Oakland Area, particularly Forbes/Fifth Ave.
- North Shore Area
July 20, 2019 8:25 am
MONROEVILLE, Pa. – The U.S. Marshals’ Fugitive Task Force have made an arrest of a New Kensington fugitive who had been on the run since September of last year. Officials say they captured Omari Parker Jr. on Thursday. Parker was wanted for a shooting that killed an individual in Vanderbilt Borough Fayette County on September 17th. The fugitive was also wanted for robbery in Westmoreland County. The task force was alerted that Parker was spotted at a Monroeville hotel. Authorities took him in without incident. Helping in the arrest were the Monroeville Police Department, the Penn Township Police and K-9 Unit as well as the Pittsburgh Police Department.
July 20, 2019 8:20 am
CLAIRTON, Pa. (WPXI) – Four teenagers were shot early Saturday morning at a graduation party in Clairton. Investigators said they got multiple calls for a shooting around 12:15 a.m. at a home on Waddell Avenue. When officers arrived at the scene, several dozen people ran away and they found four teens, ages 14 to 18, in the yard with gunshot wounds. The victims, three girls and a boy, were taken to a hospital where they are listed in stable condition. There are no suspects at this time, and the incident is still under investigation.
July 19, 2019 3:30 pm
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) – A shipping business in Ohio says two workers died after they were trapped in a silo filled with grain. The workers became trapped Friday morning inside the silo operated by The Andersons in Toledo. A Toledo fire department spokesman says rescue crews spent nearly two hours trying to reach the men. He says at one point they were able to make contact with one of the workers. Rescue crews had brought in special equipment to try to stop the grain from collapsing on the men. A statement released by The Andersons says the company is shaken by the loss of two of its workers. The company says it will work authorities to investigate what happened.
July 19, 2019 3:21 pm
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) – A West Virginia Roman Catholic diocese is announcing financial reforms after its former bishop was found to have misused funds. The new policies for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston were announced in a letter to parishioners this week from Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore. A church investigation found sexual misconduct accusations against former Bishop Michael Bransfield to be credible. It also found that Bransfield misused church funds, spending them on dining, liquor, gifts, personal travel and luxury items. The new policies announced Thursday include a new auditing firm, changes to the diocese’s finance council and closing a discretionary fund for the bishop. Lori wrote in a letter to parishioners that “the church has a long way to go to regain your confidence and trust.” Bransfield resigned from the diocese last year.
July 19, 2019 2:51 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A baby alligator has been found far from the tropics in the parking lot of a grocery store near Pittsburgh. It’s the fourth alligator discovered around the city since May. Shaler Township Police Lt. Dave Banko tells the Tribune Review an employee found the 2-foot-long creature Friday morning near a garbage can at the Giant Eagle grocery store. The police department posted on its Facebook page that reptile’s owner should send them a message. Paul McIntyre, of Big Daddy Wildlife Removal, says the animal was healthy, docile and seems like a pet. vThree other gators have been found around Pittsburgh since May. On June 8, a 2 1/2-foot-long alligator was found on a home’s porch. Two days earlier, a man walking his dog spotted a 5-foot-long alligator in front of a garage. On May 18, a 3-foot-long gator was captured near a park. There’s no word on whether the gator sightings are related. (Photo: WPXI)
