September 19, 2019 7:36 am
At least four people have been injured in a house fire in Smith Township Thursday morning. Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers say one adult and one child were transported to a Weirton, West Virginia hospital. In all, two adults and two children, ages eleven and one, were reportedly transported from the scene. Fire crews were called to the 500 block of 5th Avenue just before 6 a.m. Two adults and five children were inside at the time. The family was renting the home, which is believed to be a total loss, and did not have renter’s insurance, officials said. According to a fire marshal, the fire appears to have started on the front porch, but it is not considered suspicious.
September 19, 2019 4:13 am
HOUSTON (AP) – Officials in Houston and surrounding communities say so far there have been no severe consequences as Tropical Depression Imelda deluged parts of Southeast Texas with rain.
The storm’s remnants spawned several weak tornadoes in the Baytown area, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Houston, causing minor damage to some homes and vehicles. Forecasters say the Houston area could still face some heavy rainfall on Thursday. Coastal counties, including Brazoria, Matagorda and Galveston, got the most rainfall since Imelda formed on Tuesday. Some parts of the Houston area had received nearly 8 inches (203 millimeters) of rain, while the city of Galveston had received nearly 9 inches (229 millimeters). Sargent, a town of about 2,700 residents in Matagorda County, had received nearly 20 inches (508 millimeters) of rain since Tuesday.
September 19, 2019 4:12 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The Pentagon says the U.S. military is working with Saudi Arabia to find ways to provide more protection for the northern part of the country in the wake of the drone and cruise missile attack on the kingdom’s oil industry. Air Force Col. Pat Ryder, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters Thursday that U.S. Central Command is talking with the Saudis about ways to mitigate future attacks. He would not speculate on what types of support could be provided. Other U.S. officials have said adding Patriot missile batteries could be one option, but no decisions have been made. Ryder says a forensic team from Central Command is still in Saudi Arabia, where it’s been examining debris from the strikes. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman says the department is providing the President Donald Trump with military options for any U.S. response, but no decisions have been made. He says the U.S. has a high level of confidence that officials will be able to accurately determine exactly who launched the attacks. Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim Saturday’s attack was in response to the yearslong Saudi led war there, but U.S. and Saudi officials say it was launched from the north. Iran and Iraq lie to the north across the Persian Gulf, while Yemen is in the south.
September 19, 2019 4:11 am
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – An Afghan official says a powerful suicide truck bombing outside a hospital in the capital of southern Zabul province has killed at least 20 and injured as many as 90 others. The head of the Zabul provincial council, Atta Jan Haqbayan, says the powerful bomb exploded shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday. The provincial governor’s spokesman Gul Islam Seyal, meanwhile, put the death toll at 12. The hospital in Qalat was badly damaged. The Taliban who have been carrying out nearly daily attacks since peace talks with the United States collapsed earlier this month claimed responsibility saying a nearby government intelligence department building was the target. Haqbayan said the wall of the National Security Department (NDS) building was damaged. He couldn’t say whether any personnel were among the casualties.
September 19, 2019 4:10 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – President Donald Trump is capping a three-day trip to the West with a visit to the border wall in San Diego, where he is showing reporters details of the ongoing construction.
Trump calls it “an amazing project.” Trump is riding a string of wins on the wall and on immigration. Arrests on the Mexican border arrests plunged well beyond the usual summer dip in August. Last week, the Supreme Court gave Trump a green light to deny asylum to anyone who passes through another country on the way to the U.S. border with Mexico without having sought protection in that third country. At the same site last year Trump saw wall prototypes, which were destroyed to make way for 14 miles (22.4 kilometers) of steel bollards currently under construction.
September 19, 2019 4:07 am
TORONTO (AP) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s wary of being definitive about how many times he’s worn brown or blackface because he didn’t recall the recent pictures that have surfaced. Trudeau at first did not answer repeated questions about how many times he wore blackface or brownface. He later said he didn’t recall the pictures that surfaced over the last day. Trudeau’s campaign moved to contain a growing furor Thursday after a yearbook photo surfaced of him in brownface at a 2001 “Arabian Nights” costume party and two other similar incidents came to light. With his bid for re-election just a month away, the 47-year-old Trudeau begged Canadians to forgive him. Trudeau says he’s hurt people that thought he was an ally. He says he is an ally to visible minorities and it is something he deeply regrets and shouldn’t have done. He says it does not represent the person or leader he has become. He says he never talked about it publicly because he’s embarrassed. He says he comes from a place of privilege.
September 19, 2019 4:02 am
WILKINSBURG, Pa. – (WPXI) – A bank robbery suspect has been shot and killed by police who were serving an arrest warrant Wednesday night in Wilkinsburg. According to Pittsburgh Public Safety, a task force including members of Pittsburgh police, Allegheny County Police and the FBI were serving the warrant around 9:15 p.m. in the 900 block of Center Street. The suspect allegedly grabbed a woman and held a knife to her neck when he encountered the officers. Police told our news partners at Channel 11 that two law enforcement officials opened fire and shot the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was not injured, but a Pittsburgh police detective was taken to the hospital with what is described as a “minor leg injury.” The suspected bank robber who was killed has not been identified at this time.
September 19, 2019 4:00 am
SHALER TOWNSHIP, Pa. – (WPXI) – A Shaler Township man is behind bars days after his 4-week-old daughter was hospitalized with multiple skull fractures, bone fractures and bruising. Police said the infant was taken to her primary care doctor’s office on Sept. 11 because she had not eaten for nearly two days. According to investigators, the doctor noted that the infant had multiple bruises on her face and abdomen. At that point, the baby was taken to Children’s Hospital in critical condition. While at the hospital, the infant was diagnosed with multiple skull fractures, 19 rib fractures, leg fractures and a left arm fracture. After a brief investigation, police arrested and charged the girl’s father in connection with her injuries. Jamie Easley, 40, is being charged with one count of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children. He is currently being held in the Allegheny County jail without bond. Doctors said the baby’s mother was crying and emotionally distraught the entire time they were with her at the hospital. The mother has not been charged with any crime.
September 19, 2019 3:57 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The parents of a Temple University student who was beaten, stabbed and strangled by a former student two years ago are suing the bar where the two met, and the killer himself. Attorney Robert Mongeluzzi announced the lawsuit Wednesday. The parents of Jenna Burleigh filed the lawsuit against Pub Webb and Joshua Hupperterz. The 31-year-old is serving a sentence of life in prison he was found guilty of murder earlier this year. The lawsuit contends that employees at Pub Webb unlawfully served alcohol to the two although they were both visibly intoxicated. The Philadelphia Inquirer says Pub Webb’s lawyers have asked in court documents for the suit to be dismissed. The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000. Prosecutors said Hupperterz killed Burleigh in his apartment in August 2017, put her in a storage container and took the remains to his grandmother’s home in the Poconos.
September 19, 2019 3:55 am
STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say two people were killed in a small plane crash in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. The wreckage of a home-built plane was found in a swampy, wooded area. The plane, a two-seater called a Van’s RV-8, was discovered around 9 a.m. Wednesday in Monroe County, about 90 miles north of Philadelphia. The Federal Aviation Administration says the plane departed Pegasus Airpark near Stroudsburg around noon Tuesday and was reported missing Tuesday night. Chief Leon Clapper of Blue Ridge Hook and Ladder says two people were killed. Coroner Thomas Yanac Jr. says the victims’ remains have been recovered. He didn’t immediately release their identities. Clapper says the wreckage was “buried in the mud.” The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
