October 4, 2019 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump said Friday the White House is preparing a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally objecting to the Democrats conducting their impeachment inquiry without an official vote. The letter is expected to say the administration won’t cooperate with the probe without that vote – but Trump also said he believes it will pass. Trump acknowledged that Democrats in the House “have the votes” to begin a formal impeachment inquiry, but said he is confident they don’t have the votes to convict in the GOP-controlled Senate. And he said he believes the move will backfire on Democrats politically.
October 4, 2019 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Three House committees have released dozens of texts between U.S. diplomats in Ukraine discussing how to handle a response to President Donald Trump’s demands that the country launch an investigation into Joe Biden’s family. The release follows an almost 10-hour interview with former Ukrainian envoy Kurt Volker. Volker provided the text messages to the committees. In the texts, Volker and two other diplomats discuss how to navigate Trump’s requests for the probe into his political rival. In one exchange, Volker and Ambassador Gordon Sondland discussed a draft statement in which the Ukraine government would announce an investigation into the 2016 U.S. presidential election and into a company whose board Biden’s son served on. Trump’s pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is the subject of the House Democrats’ impeachment investigation.
October 4, 2019 4:10 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is taking a big step in his effort to fight climate change in the nation’s fourth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. The Democratic governor on Thursday ordered his administration to start working on regulations to bring Pennsylvania into a nine-state consortium that sets a price and limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative could face pushback from the Republican Legislature and the coal and gas industries.
October 4, 2019 4:07 am
ROSTRAVER, Pa. – Rostraver police are investigating an incident that happened at a school bus stop Thursday morning. School district officials told news partners at Channel 11 that a student had a knife in his backpack when he went to a bus stop along Mathews Road in Belle Vernon. According to district officials, the student had a steak knife in his backpack. However, the response from other students and adults was so quick that the knife never made it onto school property or on the bus. One parent says she stopped her son from getting on the bus once she was alerted about the student with a knife. She called police, but officials said it was students who first alerted nearby adults. The school district issued a statement regarding the incident below: “We are very proud of the students that chose to do the right thing and get an adult involved. The administration investigated and will take steps to ensure the safety of all of our students. It is our number one priority.” It is unclear what, if anything, will happen to the student who had the knife, but police said they are still in the process of fact-finding. The incident is still under investigation.
October 3, 2019 4:19 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – The outbreak of U.S. vaping-related illnesses has surpassed 1,000 cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that 1,080 confirmed and probable cases have been reported in 48 states and one U.S. territory. The count includes 18 deaths in 15 states. The first illnesses occurred in late March. Recently, 200 or more cases have been reported each week. Only Alaska and New Hampshire have yet to report cases. Doctors say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury. Symptoms include severe shortness of breath, fatigue and chest pain. So far, officials have not identified a particular electronic cigarette, vaping device, liquid or ingredient behind the outbreak. But most who got sick said they vaped products containing THC, the ingredient that gives marijuana its high.
October 3, 2019 12:39 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The government’s consumer watchdog agency is ordering Juul and five other vaping companies to hand over information about how they market e-cigarettes. The move from the Federal Trade Commission comes amid a nationwide crackdown on e-cigarettes as lawmakers and health authorities try to reverse an explosion of underage vaping. The agency said Thursday it is scrutinizing vaping sales and promotion, including the use of online influencers. The government order was also sent to R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company, Fontem US, Logic Technology Development, Nu Mark and NJOY. More than 1 in 4 high school students reported vaping in the past month, according to the latest government survey data. Juul already faces multiple investigations by Congress, the Food and Drug Administration and several states attorneys general.
October 3, 2019 7:13 am
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) – At least 22 soldiers training at a Mississippi military base have been injured during a night parachuting exercise. U.S. Army spokesman John Pennell tells WDAM-TV that at least 15 people hurt at Camp Shelby were treated by medics and another seven were hospitalized. Staff Sgt. John Healy says none of the injuries are considered to be life-threatening. Camp Shelby Cmdr. Col. Bobby Ginn says the troopers belong to the 4th Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division stationed at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. Pennell says about 89 paratroopers were on the plane for the Wednesday night exercise. Healy says about 650 soldiers were involved in the exercise. About 3,000 troops from the Alaska base are at monthlong training at Camp Shelby called “Operation Arctic Anvil.”
October 3, 2019 4:17 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea says its test-firing of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile in the waters off its east coast was successful. The test-firing Wednesday was North Korea’s first of a submarine-launched missile in three years, which occurred ahead of a restart of nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the United States this weekend. The report didn’t elaborate on whether the missile was fired from a submarine, a barge or other underwater launch platform. The Korean Central News Agency says the test of the Pukguksong-3 missile “ushered in a new phase in containing the outside forces’ threat to” North Korea. KCNA said Thursday the missile was launched in a vertical mode and that its test had no adverse impact on the security of neighboring countries.
October 3, 2019 4:15 am
WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. (AP) – A Connecticut state official says seven people died in the crash of a World War-II airplane during an aborted takeoff from Hartford’s airport. Public safety Commissioner James Rovella says the six others who were on the airplane suffered injuries ranging from minor to critical. He says there were no children on the plane. The names of the victims have not been released. Rovella said heroic actions of people on the plane and involved in the rescue helped to prevent a higher death toll. The B-17 airplane crashed and burned Wednesday morning while attempting to land back at Bradley International Airport.
October 3, 2019 4:14 am
DALLAS (AP) – The 10-year prison sentence given to a white Dallas police officer who shot and killed her black neighbor after saying she mistook his apartment for hers sparked anger but also moments of forgiveness. The dead man’s brother and the black judge hugged the sobbing officer in a stunning courtroom scene Wednesday. The brother, 18-year-old Brandt Jean, told officer Amber Guyger that he loved her as a person and didn’t wish anything bad on her. People outside the courtroom reacted angrily to Guyger’s sentence, believing she should’ve received more time for shooting the unarmed Botham Jean in his own living room. Dozens of demonstrators later marched through parts of downtown Dallas to protest the sentence. Guyger, who was fired after the September 2018 shooting, was convicted of murder Tuesday.
