June 28, 2020 4:53 am
FINLEYVILLE, Pa. – A Finleyville man died as a result of an ATV accident early Saturday morning in Union Township. Washington County Coroner Tim Warco reported the death of Tyler James Gereshenski, 21. According to authorities, Gereshenski was operating an ATV in the southbound lanes of the PA Turnpike State Route 43 around 12:15 a.m. when the vehicle was struck by an SUV near mile marker 44.4. Police say Gereshenski was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash and pronounced dead at 2:12 a.m. The official cause of death is pending an autopsy, as the Pennsylvania State police continue the investigation of the incident. State Police were assisted by Allegheny Health Network Ambulance, Southeast Regional EMS and the Finleyville Fire Department.
June 27, 2020 4:54 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas and Florida have clamped down on bars in America’s biggest retreat yet as the nation’s daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to an all-time high of 45,300. In Florida, Miami-Dade County announced beaches would be closed for the Fourth of July weekend. Texas Governor Greg Abbott closed bars and scaled back restaurant capacity as the second-largest state sets records for cases and hospitalizations. It’s a reversal for a Republican governor who had pursued one of the nation’s most aggressive reopening efforts. In Asia, the number of confirmed cases in India topped 500,000, while China and South Korea battled smaller outbreaks in their capitals.
June 27, 2020 4:19 am
South Korea has reported 51 more confirmed coronavirus cases as new clusters emerge in the densely populated Seoul area where people have been increasingly venturing out despite government warnings against complacency. Thirty-five of the new cases are in the capital region, which is at the center of a COVID-19 resurgence threatening to erase earlier gains against the virus. Authorities are struggling to trace contacts and predict infection routes as new clusters pop up. Hundreds of infections have been linked to nightspots, church gatherings, restaurants and low-income workers who couldn’t afford to stay home. Officials are resisting calls to reimpose stronger social distancing guidelines, concerned about hurting the economy.
June 27, 2020 4:17 am
HOUSTON (AP) – A federal judge has ordered the release of children held with their parents in U.S. immigration jails and denounced the Trump administration’s prolonged detention of families during the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee’s order Friday applies to children at three family detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some have been detained since last year. Citing the recent spread of the virus in two of the three facilities, Gee set a deadline of July 17 for children to either be released with their parents or sent to family sponsors.
June 27, 2020 4:16 am
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A journalist who covered President Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa on Saturday says he’s tested positive for COVID-19. Oklahoma Watch reporter Paul Monies said on Twitter he was notified Friday of his positive test result. Monies said he was inside the BOK Center in Tulsa for about six hours on Saturday during Trump’s rally. Monies said he was wearing a mask and mostly following social distancing guidelines. Monies was never near Trump and spent most of the time around other journalists. He said an epidemiologist who contacted him said it’s difficult to determine exactly when he contracted the virus.
June 27, 2020 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats are intensifying their attacks on President Donald Trump and his Republican allies over health care. They’re hoping that an issue that helped lift the party during the midterms will prove even more resonant as the White House seeks to repeal the Affordable Care Act during a public health crisis. Spikes in coronavirus cases nationwide and the Trump administration’s filing this week supporting a GOP-led effort to dismantle the Obama-era law in the courts have offered Democrats an opportunity to return the issue to the spotlight. Republican attempts to dismantle the law is now an issue the party believes is even more crucial as the coronavirus ravages the nation.
June 27, 2020 4:13 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minneapolis City Council has unanimously advanced a plan that could one day do away with the city’s police department, following unrest over the killing of George Floyd. The council voted Friday in favor of amending the city charter to replace the current department with a “Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention” that would prioritize a “holistic” and “public-health oriented” approach. Several obstacles remain for the proposal to make it onto the November ballot. Critics of the plan, including Mayor Jacob Frey and the officers’ union, say it’s short on specifics for what would replace the police department.
June 27, 2020 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald has signed an executive order to protect monuments, memorials and statues. Trump had promised the order earlier this week after police thwarted an attempt by protesters to pull down a statue of Andrew Jackson in a park across from the White House. The order calls on the attorney general to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law any person or group that destroys or vandalizes a monument, memorial or statue. Federal law calls for punishment of up to 10 years in prison. Earlier Friday, Trump called for the arrest of protesters involved in the attempt to pull down the statue of Jackson.
June 27, 2020 4:11 am
ALLEGHENY CO., Pa. (WPXI) — There is a petition circulating that wants to change the name of a local park because some claim it is offensive. Squaw Valley Park sits along Fox Chapel Road in O’Hara Township. The term “squaw” is considered an ethnic slur. Activists say it is very offensive to Native American women, and they don’t want it used anymore in the Fox Chapel area. “It’s 2020 and at the time this park was named it was appropriate, but now in this day of age it’s not,” said activist Kayla Portis. The petition seeks to rename the park, nearby Squaw Run Road and other local landmarks — citing the word “squaw” is an ethnic and sexual slur aimed at objectifying Native American women. Portis and another woman who are both part-Native American are spearheading the movement. So far, Portis says there are hundreds of signatures. But not everyone agrees with the change. It’s the latest racial issue that has been brought up in the Fox Chapel area. Now, this movement wants to change the name of the park, roads and waterways in the community. The Fox Chapel borough manager says they always consider requests from their residents. As for O’Hara Township, where the park is located, officials said this issue will be discussed at the next council meeting.
June 27, 2020 4:06 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — More than 100 people gathered in East Liberty Friday afternoon for a protest supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. Protesters were standing and chanting at the corner of Penn Avenue and Centre Avenue — outside the Target store where violence broke out on June 1 following another protest. After about 30 minutes, the crowd moved into the intersection, forming a circle and blocking the roadway to traffic. The crowd started marching down Centre Avenue around 4:30 p.m., with police in front and behind blocking traffic as they moved. Protesters marched to the intersection of Centre Avenue and South Negley Avenue and stopped for a while, which was another spot where police and protesters had a standoff on June 1. It was that location where police admitted gas was used to disperse people from that intersection. At 7 p.m., the crowd marched back to the starting point at the intersection of Centre Avenue and Penn Avenue. The protest has remained peaceful. The group dispersed shortly after. Police said there were no incidents or arrests, and all surrounding roads have been reopened.
