November 1, 2019 4:12 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – California weather conditions that led to power shutoffs to prevent wildfires and fanned fires that broke out around the state have eased significantly. Southern California Edison says only 1,100 customers remained without power early Friday, down from 80,000 the previous evening. San Diego Gas & Electric says power was restored Thursday to more than 25,000 customers and its community resource centers have been demobilized. Pacific Gas & Electric has finished restoring power to dozens of counties in the north and central regions. Cal Fire says containment of the state’s largest fire has increased to 67 percent. Latest assessments show the 121-square-mile (313-square-kilometer) fire in Sonoma County has burned 167 homes and 175 other structures. Another 33 homes are damaged.
November 1, 2019 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats have swept a rules package for their impeachment probe of President Donald Trump through a divided House, as the chamber’s first vote on the investigation highlighted the partisan breach the issue has only deepened. By 232-196, lawmakers have approved the procedures they’ll follow as weeks of closed-door interviews with witnesses evolve into public committee hearings and – almost certainly – votes on whether the House should recommend Trump’s removal. All voting Republicans opposed the package. Every voting Democrat but two supported it. Trump tweeted, “Now is the time for Republicans to stand together and defend the leader of their party against these smears.”
November 1, 2019 4:08 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A judge in Pittsburgh says she’s not ready to set a trial date for the man charged with killing 11 people inside a synagogue. U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose on Thursday says she won’t schedule Robert Bowers’ trial until pretrial motions over the death penalty and other issues are resolved. The judge is giving defense lawyers until mid-December to file motions challenging the constitutionality of the death penalty sought by prosecutors. Federal prosecutors had asked for a fall 2020 trial to spare survivors and the families of those killed long delays.
But the defense is concerned the date would overlap with the Jewish holidays or a divisive presidential election. The October 27, 2018, shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue is considered the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history.
November 1, 2019 4:08 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania is making the most significant changes to its election laws in 80 years and helping counties buy new voting machines ahead of next year’s presidential election. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf signed the bill Thursday, two days after it passed the Republican-controlled Legislature handily. The legislation was negotiated privately by Wolf and top Republicans. Wolf says it’s taking the nation’s least voter-friendly election laws and putting them in line with states that have the highest voter turnout. It lets any voter mail in a ballot, moves voter-registration deadlines closer to elections and extends the deadline to return absentee ballots. It also authorizes $90 million in borrowing for voting machines that Wolf insisted on to bolster election security. Meanwhile, it eliminates the ballot option for straight party-ticket voting, a top priority of Republicans.
November 1, 2019 4:05 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s chief elections official is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling preventing the state from immediately counting or certifying results in next week’s referendum on a victims’ rights constitutional amendment. Acting Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar filed an emergency order Thursday arguing the ruling a day earlier by Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler will suppress voter turnout and “foment irreparable uncertainty” among voters. The Supreme Court ordered both sides to file briefs Friday. The filing by the attorney general’s office, which represents Boockvar, criticizes Ceisler’s decision as unprecedented. The amendment would enshrine into the state constitution a set of victims’ rights. Ceisler said the amendment would have immediate, profound and irreversible consequences for the rights of accused and the criminal justice system.
November 1, 2019 2:31 am
As October comes to a close it’s time to start thinking Turkey! Yes, Thanksgiving is just around the corner and that means we need your help making sure area families have a traditional Thanksgiving meal. WJPA’s annual 2000 Turkey’s event is already in full swing. Canonsburg Mayor Dave Rhome says since the 2019 drive began October 3rd they have raised $19,360. He says there are “a whole lot of families that we will provide Thanksgiving dinner to those in need” through the Washington County Food Bank. Laurel Ziemba of Range Resources says “when you prioritize how you feed your family, Thanksgiving dinner is a luxury that a lot of families can’t afford.” She says “that’s where 2000 Turkey’s will be able to supplement their income this holiday season to ensure they have a nice dinner for their family”. If you would like to donate, you can send a check to; 2000 Turkeys P.O. Box 2000 Washington, Pa. 15301.
October 31, 2019 2:49 pm
(AP) – The number of U.S. vaping illnesses has jumped again, reaching more than 1,800 cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that 1,888 confirmed and probable cases have been reported in 49 states. That includes 37 deaths in 24 states. The total is 284 higher than what the government reported last week and a larger increase than seen in several weeks. Officials say the previous slowdown could have been caused by reporting delays. The outbreak appears to have started in March. No single ingredient, electronic cigarette or vaping device has been linked to all the illnesses. Most who got sick said they vaped products containing THC, the high-inducing ingredient in marijuana. Health officials urge people to avoid vaping, particularly products containing THC and purchased off the street.
October 31, 2019 6:38 am
A Pittsburgh woman and owner/operator of two Peters Township massage parlors is facing charges following an investigation into suspected prostitution and human trafficking. State Police have charged 50 year old Feng Yu Sun with 8 counts of promoting prostitution and 4 counts of prostitution and related offenses. According to investigators, employees at Pink Body Works Asian Massage along Washington Road and Health Spa II along E. McMurray Road were offering sexual services to customers. Police used undercover operations and also located hundreds of advertisements for the massage parlors on various adult escort web sites. THey also found several online forums where customers posted reviews and detailed their sexual experiences at the parlors. Police executed search warrants Wednesday. Five Asian females at the locations were positively identified and were found to be in the country legally. Yu Sun is to face a preliminary hearing November 5.
October 31, 2019 4:18 am
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) – Santa Ana winds are expected to linger for a final day after driving more than a dozen wildfires through California, sending thousands fleeing and burning nearly up to the walls of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Firefighters managed to tamp down or at least partially corral fires that for the past few days surged through tinder-dry brush in both the north and south, destroying dozens of homes. But much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties remain under a National Weather Service red flag warning of extreme fire danger through Thursday evening because of bone-dry humidity and the chance of winds gusting to 70 mph (112 kph) in the mountains. Fire crews worked through the night to make sure a fire that burned dangerously near the Reagan library Wednesday and prompted thousands to flee doesn’t re-erupt.
October 31, 2019 4:18 am
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) – A Pakistani official says the death toll from a horrific train fire that broke out after a cooking gas stove used by passengers for cooking breakfast exploded has risen further to 71. Kaleem Ullah, an official with the district emergency services, says another 43 people are injured, with 11 still in critical condition following the blaze on the train traveling in eastern Punjab province on Thursday morning. Survivors said it took the train nearly 20 minutes to come to a halt after the fire broke out and passengers began screaming for help. Some pulled at emergency cords that weave through the train to notify the conductor. Thursday’s tragedy underscores how Pakistan’s dilapidated train system is badly in need of repairs and maintenance.
