July 8, 2019 4:38 am
A Canonsburg man was killed in a one-vehicle crash Sunday afternoon in North Strabane Township. The Washington County Coroner’s office says 77 year old Robert Boyd was traveling southbound along State Route 519 when he lost control of his vehicle, struck a fence, traveled down an embankment and struck a parked dump truck. He was wearing a seatbelt but was pronounced dead at the scene. A cause and manner of death are pending. North Strabane Township Police continue to investigate.
July 8, 2019 4:30 am
RIDGECREST, Calif. (AP) – Shaken residents are cleaning up from two of the biggest earthquakes to rattle California in decades as scientists warn that both should serve as a wake-up call to be ready when the long-dreaded “Big One” strikes. California is spending more than $16 million to install thousands of quake-detecting sensors statewide that officials say will give utilities and trains precious seconds to shut down before the shaking starts. Gov. Gavin Newsom said it’s time residents did their part by mapping out emergency escape routes and preparing earthquake kits with food, water, lights and other necessities. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake Thursday and a magnitude 7.1 quake Friday were centered 11 miles (18 kilometers) from the small desert town of Ridgecrest, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) from Los Angeles.
July 8, 2019 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department is shaking up the legal team trying to add a citizenship question to the census. Officials say a new team of lawyers will take over the litigation. The Supreme Court has barred the inclusion of a citizenship question, at least temporarily. But the Justice Department has said it will continue to try to find legal grounds to force it on the 2020 census. A Justice Department official tells The Associated Press that the team will be made up of career lawyers and political appointees. The official says a top civil attorney in the department, John Burnham, will no longer lead the litigation team. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter ahead of a court filing expected Monday.
July 8, 2019 4:25 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Jeffrey Epstein has been ordered jailed at least until a bail hearing Thursday after he pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking charges. He made his first court appearance Monday following his arrest over the weekend. Prosecutors say Epstein, a registered sex offender, is a significant flight risk and are asking that he be detained until his trial. They say he has three active U.S. passports and has frequently traveled in and out of the country on his private jet. The 66-year-old Epstein is accused of creating and maintaining a network that allowed him to sexually exploit and abuse dozens of underage girls from 2002 to 2005. Prosecutors said several alleged victims have come forward since Epstein’s arrest. Epstein’s lawyers argued the matter had been settled in a Florida case involving similar charges a decade ago.
July 8, 2019 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Navy admiral set to become his service’s top officer on Aug. 1 says he will instead retire. The extraordinary downfall of Adm. William Moran was prompted by what Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Sunday called poor judgment. Spencer faulted Moran for having a professional relationship with a person who had been disciplined for what Spencer called “failing to meet the values and standards of the naval profession.” It is highly unusual for a senior officer like Moran to ask to retire after having been confirmed by the Senate for the top job in his service, but before taking the position. The current top Navy officer, Adm. John Richardson, will extend his tenure beyond Aug. 1 while a new candidate is chosen and nominated for Senate confirmation.
July 8, 2019 4:18 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A Philadelphia university is apologizing for an erroneous message warning of an active shooter on the campus. Thomas Jefferson University says a “resolvable system error” during a routine test of the school’s JeffAlert system sent out the alert at 10:18 a.m. Sunday about the campus in the East Falls neighborhood, which was formerly known as Philadelphia University.
WPVI reports that the message instructed recipients to “Follow emergency procedures: RUN, HIDE, ACT.” University spokeswoman Angela Showell said the all-clear came about 15 to 20 minutes later following a check by campus security to confirm there was no danger. Since it occurred on a Sunday during the summer, she said, “campus is pretty empty at this time.” Showell said officials are “taking further action to ensure this does not happen again.”
July 8, 2019 4:17 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The iconic Fallingwater home built over a western Pennsylvania waterfall by Frank Lloyd Wright has been designated a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO announced on its site that during a Sunday World Heritage Committee meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, the organization added Fallingwater and seven other U.S. buildings designed by Wright in the first half of the 20th century to its World Heritage List. Wright designed Fallingwater in 1935 for Pittsburgh department store magnate Edgar Kaufmann Sr. and his family, placing the home on top of Bear Run, a mountain stream. It now receives about 180,000 visitors per year. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Fallingwater director Justin Gunther called the designation “a tremendous honor, one reserved for the world’s most treasured places.”
July 7, 2019 8:44 am
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says it is aware of Iran saying it will break the 2015 nuclear deal’s limit on uranium enrichment. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Sunday that its inspectors in Iran will report to its Vienna headquarters “as soon as they verify the announced development.” It did not elaborate. Iranian officials announced on Sunday that the country is ramping up the level of uranium enrichment beyond the 3.67% permitted under the deal. Earlier this month, Iran increased its stockpile of low-enriched uranium beyond the cap set by the deal. Iran’s moves have come in response to sweeping U.S. sanctions, imposed after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal a year ago.
July 7, 2019 8:40 am
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Afghan officials say a car bomb in central Afghanistan has killed three people and wounded 72 others, many of them students attending a nearby school. Hasan Raza Yousafi, a provincial council member, says the target of Sunday’s suicide attack was an intelligence unit compound in Ghazni, the capital of the province of the same name. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed claimed responsibility saying several intelligence agents were killed. Officials have not confirmed any deaths among government intelligence employees. The attack comes as an all-Afghan two-day conference that includes the Taliban begins in Doha in an effort to find an end to Afghanistan’s relentless wars. U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said the latest round of talks with the Taliban, also in Doha, were the most productive ever.
July 7, 2019 8:39 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Lawmakers returning from their Fourth of July recess are trying to set aside their differences over the Obama-era Affordable Care Act and working toward a bipartisan agreement on a more immediate health care issue – lowering costs for people who have coverage. The Senate and House are moving to end surprise medical bills, curb high prices for medicines and limit prescription copays for people with Medicare. Democrats and Republicans say they’re trying to work together. Partisan disagreements could derail the effort, but lawmakers fear the voters’ verdict in 2020 if politicians have nothing to show for their hand-wringing about drug prices. The big cuts that President Donald Trump promised haven’t materialized.
