September 21, 2019 3:59 am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Five people remain in critical condition after a bus crash that killed four Chinese tourists and injured dozens more near a national park in Utah. Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Nick Street said Friday evening that the bus originated in Southern California, and the tourists on board were natives of mainland China. Up to 15 people suffered injuries that were originally considered very critical, but the condition of several passengers has improved in the hours since the crash. Authorities are investigating what caused the bus to careen into a guard rail Friday morning on highway winding through otherworldly spires of red rock near Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah. The names and hometowns of the victims were not immediately released.
September 21, 2019 3:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump urged the new leader of Ukraine this summer to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden. That’s according to a person familiar with the matter. Democrats condemned what they saw as a clear effort to damage a political rival, now at the heart of an explosive whistleblower complaint against Trump. It was the latest revelation in an escalating controversy that has created a showdown between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration, which has refused to turn over the formal complaint by a national security official or even describe its contents.
September 20, 2019 4:37 pm
(AP) – The New England Patriots have released receiver Antonio Brown after a second woman accused him of sexual misconduct. The team announced the move Friday in a statement emailed to reporters. The statement said: “We appreciate the hard work of many people over the past 11 days, but we feel that it is best to move in a different direction at this time.” Brown has been accused of rape in a lawsuit by a former trainer. He is also accused of exposing himself to a painter he had hired. He has denied the allegations. The Patriots signed Brown this month hours after he was released by Oakland. He was traded to the Raiders after wearing out his welcome with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he was a four-time All-Pro in nine seasons.
September 20, 2019 3:48 pm
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Officials say a tour bus has crashed near a national park in southern Utah, killing at least four people. Utah Highway Patrol troopers said Friday that the crash on a highway near Bryce Canyon National Park also left a number of people seriously injured. Corp. Chris Bishop says the crash was reported Friday morning, but he did not immediately have further details on the cause or the number of people involved. Bryce Canyon is known for its distinctive landscape of narrow red-rock spires and is about 300 miles (480 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City.
September 20, 2019 2:46 pm
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Twenty-three states have sued to stop the Trump administration from revoking California’s authority to set emission standards for cars and trucks. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is leading the lawsuit filed Friday, along with Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Air Resources Board. The Trump administration on Thursday revoked California’s authority to set its own auto emission standards. The state has had that power for decades under a waiver from the federal Clean Air Act. The lawsuit argues that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not have the authority to revoke California’s waiver. Becerra says the Trump administration’s action fails to respect states’ authority to protect public health. Four automakers have said they would voluntarily follow California’s standards.
September 20, 2019 2:44 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Tens of thousands of mostly young people have overflowed a New York City square as U.S. activists join a wave of climate change protests unfolding around the world. Demonstrators rallied Friday with signs bearing such messages as “climate change is real” and “protect the earth, not the corporations.” Then the group began marching through lower Manhattan streets. New York City public schools say student absences for the climate strike will be excused, if the students have parental permission. Thirteen-year-old protester Pearl Seidman says she’s there with a message for President Donald Trump’s administration: “If they can’t be adults, we’re going to be adults. Because someone needs to do it.” Trump announced in 2017 he was withdrawing the United States from the international Paris agreement to fight global warming.
September 20, 2019 12:36 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez could be deported if he is convicted of charges related to a sexual encounter with an underage girl, The Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is tracking the charges against Vazquez, a native of Venezuela, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, political instability in Venezuela might make deportation difficult for the U.S. Vazquez, 28, admitted to exchanging sexually explicit pictures with the 13-year-old victim and driving to her home in Scottdale, where he attempted to have sex with her in his car about two years ago, officials said. The girl is now 15 years old and lives in Florida. According to an affidavit from Westmoreland County, Vazquez admitted to investigators the victim “looked too young and that she appeared to be 16 years of age or younger.” Police said Vazquez told them he initially refused to communicate with her due to her age. Vazquez is being held in the Allegheny County Jail.
September 20, 2019 8:59 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh is cleaning up after a massive water main break turned streets into river rapids, required the rescue of people and pets, and closed schools. Pittsburgh Public Schools announced the closure of at least 10 schools Friday because of limited access to water in buildings. Schools in Mount Lebanon and Brentwood Borough were also closed. Pittsburgh police say that a 24-inch main broke in the morning and that three people were rescued from two homes. Wendy Gitzen was among the rescued. She says the rushing waters moved her car and a shed about 30 feet away from the house. Police say the break was closed around 11:30 a.m., after about six hours.
September 20, 2019 8:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he’s ending his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. De Blasio struggled to gain traction in a sprawling field of Democrats seeking the presidency. He announced his decision in an MSNBC interview on Friday. De Blasio launched his bid in May, but his campaign largely failed to take off. De Blasio says he feels he’s contributed all he can “to this primary election.” He tells MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show “it’s clearly not my time.”
September 20, 2019 4:20 am
HOUSTON (AP) – Authorities say the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda have led to the death of a third person. Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jason Spencer said Friday that preliminary indications are a man whose body was found in a ditch Friday north of Houston drowned from storm-related flooding. An autopsy will be performed to confirm the cause of death. The unidentified man had last been seen walking during severe rainfall that hit the Houston area. Imelda’s remnants also led to the deaths of two other men on Thursday. A 19-year-old man in Jefferson County drowned and was electrocuted while trying to move his horse to safety. A man in his 40s or 50s drowned when he tried to drive a van through 8-foot-deep floodwaters near Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
