June 20, 2020 9:19 am
BEIJING (AP) – The body that handles most lawmaking for China’s top legislative body has closed its latest meeting with no word on whether it passed a highly controversial national security law for Hong Kong. China’s official Xinhua News Agency says the bill – which has been strongly criticized as undermining the semi-autonomous territory’s legal and political institutions – was raised for discussion at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress but there was no further word on its fate. Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s sole delegate on the Standing Committee, told Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK that the law was reviewed but no vote had been taken, and that it wasn’t clear when it would be further vetted.
June 20, 2020 9:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Protesters have toppled the only statue of a Confederate general in the nation’s capital and set it on fire. It happened on Juneteenth, the day marking the end of slavery in the United States, and amid continuing anti-racism demonstrations following the killing of George Floyd. Cheering demonstrators watched as the statue of Albert Pike – wrapped with chains – wobbled on its high granite pedestal before falling backward, landing in a pile of dust. Eyewitness accounts and videos indicated that police were on the scene but didn’t intervene. President Donald Trump called out the mayor and the local police on Twitter, complaining that they “are not doing their job.”
June 20, 2020 9:13 am
TULSA, Okla. (AP) – A gathering of supporters and detractors of President Donald Trump is growing larger with occasional verbal clashes ahead of Trump’s rally in Tulsa. The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request to require everyone attending Trump’s weekend rally this weekend to wear a face mask and maintain social distancing inside the arena to guard against the spread of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum rescinded a day-old curfew that was put in place ahead of Saturday night’s rally. Tens of thousands are expected to attend the rally or hang out outside of the arena
June 20, 2020 9:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department moved abruptly Friday to oust Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan overseeing key prosecutions of President Donald Trump’s allies and an investigation of his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. But Berman said he was refusing to leave his post and his ongoing investigations would continue. áThe standoff set off an extraordinary clash between the Justice Department and one of the nation’s top districts, which has tried major mob and terror cases over the years. It is also likely to deepen tensions between the Justice Department and congressional Democrats who have pointedly accused Barr of politicizing the agency.
June 20, 2020 6:36 am
The Washington County Coroner’s Office has released information about an early morning motorcycle accident in Carroll Township. Zachary J. Greyshock, 28 of Monongahela was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle near 56 Gearing Road in Carroll Township. A passing motorist discovered the accident at 12:35 Saturday morning. The cause and manner of death are pending an autopsy. Carroll Township Police continue to investigate the accident.
June 20, 2020 4:15 am
(WPXI) – Local radio broadcaster Bill Hillgrove was arrested for DUI after crashing into a grocery store in Westmoreland County. The incident happened just after 5 p.m. on Monday at Ferri’s Shur Save on Old William Penn Highway in Murrysville. According to police, Hillgrove crashed his SUV into the front window panes of the store. He then went inside and picked up a prescription before driving back home. When officers arrived at Hillgrove’s home, they said they saw damage to the front of his SUV. He also appeared visibly intoxicated, police said. Hillgrove told police that he had a couple of beers, according to the criminal complaint. Hillgrove is the longtime radio play-by-play voice of the Steelers, Pitt football and Panther men’s basketball.
June 20, 2020 4:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s unemployment began sliding down from its pandemic peak in May, even clocking in at below the national rate as payrolls grew by almost 200,000. The state Department of Labor and Industry said Friday that Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 13.1% in May. That’s down 3 percentage points from April’s adjusted rate of 16.1%, its highest rate in over four decades of record-keeping. The national rate was 13.3% in May. Meanwhile, payrolls began rebounding, gaining back about 1 in 5 jobs lost during the pandemic as the number of new infections has slowed, Gov. Tom Wolf has eased social distancing restrictions and many businesses have reopened.
June 20, 2020 4:02 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – With some states taking a fresh look at strengthening measures to hold police officers accountable, lawmakers in Pennsylvania are being urged to join states that make police department records of discipline accessible to the public. The NAACP and ACLU support making those records public. Thus far, no such legislation is part of a reform package put forward by Democratic lawmakers, and a bill advancing in the House of Representatives would require some department-to-department disclosure of discipline records during the hiring process for a police officer. But, it would leave those records out of the public’s reach in Pennsylvania, and the state’s largest police unions are against making those records public.
June 20, 2020 3:47 am
Five young members of the black community organized a Juneteenth Panel on Black Issues. Local elected officials were invited to the LeMoyne Community Center to attend a panel discussion on several topics that the age 20 something residents felt the need to address. Kierra King, Faith McClendon, Zhiere Patmon, A’Shon Burgess and Ahmad Morris-Walker worked to organize the discussion with State Senator Carmen Bartolotta (R-46) and State Representatives Tim O‘Neal (R-48), Jason Ortitay (R-46) and Pam Snyder (D-50). Issues surrounding police reform, equality in health care, upward mobility in the workplace, voting rights and better education of the history of black people in America were topics raised during the discussion. Both the panel and the elected officials agreed that this is an important first step and that follow up discussions need to take place. Two key absences were noted by the organizers. State Representative Bud Cook (R-49) and United States Congressman Guy Reschenthaler (R-14) did not respond to nor attend the event. These same youth organizers will attend a demonstration Saturday June 20 in Canonsburg.
June 19, 2020 5:53 pm
Washington City Treasurer Tony Nicolella announced on Friday that the city would be waiving all late fees related to solid waste bills and property taxes amid the coronavirus pandemic. Nicolella told WJPA News that the city recognizes that things may still be difficult for some residents and they hope that they can alleviate some of the burden by waiving, through the end of the year, late fees on solid waste bills and property taxes. Nicolella says the waiver of those fees should not have any impact on the city’s revenues.
