August 6, 2019 4:15 am
BEIJING (AP) – China says it “will not stand idly by” and will take countermeasures if U.S. deploys intermediate-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region. Chief Chinese arms control official Fu Cong also Tuesday warned neighboring countries not to allow the U.S. to deploy such weapons on their territory. President Donald Trump’s administration has withdrawn from a Cold War-era arms control treaty with Russia. And over the weekend, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said during security meetings in Asia that he wanted to deploy midrange conventional missiles in the Asia-Pacific within months. Australia’s defense minister has said that country will not be a base for the missiles. Fu said China had no intention of entering a trilateral arms control deal with the U S. and Russia but would remain engaged in disarmament discussions.
August 6, 2019 4:14 am
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) – Ohio’s Republican governor is bucking his party to call for expanded gun laws and some Democrats in Texas are telling President Donald Trump to stay away. Both states are reeling from a pair of shootings that killed 31. A racist screed remains a focus in the El Paso massacre, while further details trickle out about the alleged shooter in Dayton, who was being described as mentally ill and fascinated with violence.
August 6, 2019 4:09 am
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) – Research has found that West Virginia’s mobile voting app for overseas residents has increased voter turnout. The Herald-Dispatch cites research done by University of Chicago associate professor Anthony Fowler, which was presented this month at the Election Science, Reform & Administration Conference at the University of Pennsylvania. Fowler found the app increased voter turnout by 3 to 5 percentage points. In 2018, West Virginia was the first state to allow mobile voting for overseas voters from some counties during a federal election. Fowler says the research underscores that mobile voting has the potential to affect voter turnout while lowering the cost of voting. Cybersecurity experts and many Americans remain wary of mobile voting and Fowler says there’s good reason for the concern as officials aren’t sure how secure it is.
August 6, 2019 4:08 am
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) – A California man who admitted having about 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms) of marijuana in his suitcase when he flew to West Virginia has been sentenced to 10 months. U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart’s office said in a news release that U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers sentenced 22-year-old Gerardo Delgadillo Jr. on Monday in Huntington. Prosecutors said Delgadillo flew to Tri-State Airport in Kenova in October. He admitted he intended to sell the marijuana. Court documents didn’t list Delgadillo’s hometown.
August 6, 2019 4:06 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh’s mayor says he has beefed up his own security in response to threats after the city recently approved gun control measures. Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto says he’s extended the hours of his security detail into the evening following “direct death threats,” particularly around the issue of firearms. Peduto said he sends such threats to Pittsburgh police and tries to put them out of mind. The city approved gun control measures in the wake of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that killed 11 last fall. The measures approved in April would restrict military-style assault weapons as well as armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines and allow temporary seizure of guns from those deemed a threat. Lawsuits were filed alleging the measures violated state law barring municipalities from regulating the ownership or possession of firearms and ammunition.
August 6, 2019 4:05 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Bullying, self-harm and suicide were the most common concerns fielded during the first half-year of operation for a new threat reporting system that covers Pennsylvania schools. The state attorney general’s office says the Safe 2 Say Something program generated more than 23,000 tips between mid-January and the end of June. The report says about 1,300 tips were determined to be pranks. Safe 2 Say Something covers all K-12 students in Pennsylvania, including charter, private and vocational-technical schools. People most commonly made reports through a mobile app that handled more than 19,000 tips. The website received more than 3,500 tips, and about 500 were called in. The annual report is required under a 2018 state law that established the program.
August 6, 2019 3:48 am
Our news partners at Channel 11 have confirmed that a body was found Monday afternoon in the Youghiogheny River in Westmoreland County. According to reports, search and rescue crews were called out around three o’clock for reports of someone going off of a bridge on Interstate 70 in Smithton. Interstate 70 westbound between exits 49 and 46B were closed for several hours. No other details are currently available.
August 5, 2019 5:21 pm
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has awarded a nearly $215 million bid to improve bridges on Interstate 70. News outlets report the selection of the lowest bid for the project was announced Monday in Wheeling. New Kensington, Pennsylvania-based Swank Construction won the project to rehabilitate or replace more than two dozen bridges between Ohio and Pennsylvania. The West Virginia Department of Transportation received five bids for the project. WVDOT Construction Engineer Joe Juszczak says the Fulton Bridges on the east side of the Wheeling Tunnel are in need of full replacement because of rusting steel and eroding concrete. The rest of the bridges will be rehabilitated. The project is expected to take three years to complete. Preliminary work could begin this fall.
August 5, 2019 5:20 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks tanked again Monday on worries about how much President Donald Trump’s worsening trade war will damage the economy, and the S&P 500 was headed for its worst drop since late last year, when the market was wrapped in the throes of recession fears. China let its currency, the yuan, drop to its lowest level against the dollar in more than a decade, a move that Trump railed against as “currency manipulation.”
August 5, 2019 5:17 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Santa Clara County coroner’s office says two of the victims of the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting died of gunshot wounds to their chests and a third died of a back wound. The office of the medical examiner-coroner says Monday the deaths of Trevor Irby, Keyla Salazar and Stephen Romero are classified as homicides. The office says 25-year-old Irby and 13-year-old Salazar suffered perforating gunshot wounds to their chests, meaning the bullets completely passed through their bodies. Six-year-old Romero suffered a perforating gunshot wound to his back. The coroner’s office said last week that 19-year-old gunman Santino William Legan died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, correcting previous police accounts that said he was fatally shot by three officers. Thirteen other victims were injured in the Northern California shooting last month.
