August 26, 2019 4:24 am
MIAMI (AP) – Forecasters say the fourth tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is maintaining its strength as it moves toward the Windward Islands. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Sunday that Tropical Storm Dorian could intensify to near hurricane strength over the eastern Caribbean Sea by Tuesday. As of 8 p.m. EDT Sunday, Dorian’s center was located about 335 miles (540 kilometers) east-southeast of Barbados and was moving west at 14 mph (23 kph). Maximum sustained winds are at 50 mph (85 kph). A tropical storm warning is in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. A tropical storm watch was issued for Grenada and Martinique. Forecasters say Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and the Virgin Islands should monitor Dorian’s progress.
August 26, 2019 4:23 am
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – It’s finger lickin’ fake chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken plans to test plant-based chicken nuggets and boneless wings Tuesday at one of its restaurants in Atlanta. Depending on customer feedback, the chain could expand the test to other markets. KFC is partnering with Beyond Meat to develop the new product. Beyond Meat also sells plant-based burgers and sausages at grocery stores and some fast food chains like Carl’s Jr. and Del Taco. It sold frozen plant-based chicken strips until earlier this year, but pulled them off the market because it wanted to improve the recipe. Restaurants are responding to a surge in consumer demand for plant-based meats. U.S. sales of meat substitutes are expected to jump 78% to $2.5 billion between 2018 and 2023, according to Euromonitor.
August 26, 2019 4:22 am
BIARRITZ, France (AP) – President Donald Trump has dismissed concerns about climate change at a world leaders’ summit in France, saying he’s “not going to lose” America’s wealth “on dreams” and “windmills.” Trump was asked at the end of the Group of Seven gathering what the world should be doing to address climate change. Trump skipped a session on the topic earlier Monday and answered by saying that the U.S. “has tremendous wealth” “under its feet” and that he’s not going to lose it “on dreams, on windmills.”
August 26, 2019 4:19 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A federal appeals court is reversing a lower court decision and ruling that the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ policy barring atheists from delivering invocations doesn’t violate the U.S. Constitution. Friday’s decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds House Speaker Mike Turzai’s policy of limiting prayers at the start of legislative sessions to guest chaplains who believe in God or a divine or higher power. It reverses last year’s decision by a district judge, who sided with atheists, agnostics, freethinkers and humanists in ruling that the restrictions violated constitutional prohibitions on making laws that establish a religion. The appeals court’s 2-1 majority says the policy fits within the “historical tradition of legislative prayer” and it counts as government speech that’s protected from a free speech or equal protection challenge.
August 26, 2019 4:18 am
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (AP) – A coroner says a school bus driver in western Pennsylvania was electrocuted trying to flee from his burning vehicle after it struck a utility pole and caught fire. Authorities in Beaver County say the bus wasn’t carrying any students when it struck the pole at about 3 p.m. Friday in North Sewickley Township. Officials said the crash brought down power lines, and the driver stepped on the downed wires as he was fleeing the burning vehicle. Coroner David Gabauer said the driver, 60-year-old Timothy VanKirk of Ellwood City, died of accidental high-voltage electrocution. Chris Kemper of the First Student bus company said VanKirk was practicing his route in preparation for the start of school. He called the death a tragedy and said officials’ “thoughts and prayers are with the family.”
August 26, 2019 4:16 am
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) – The former house manager of a now-defunct Penn State fraternity where a pledge fell during a night of hazing and drinking and later died has been placed on two years’ probation on a hindering apprehension conviction. Twenty-three-year-old Braxton Becker of Niskayuna, New York was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and do 100 hours of community service on the conviction stemming from the February 2017 death of 19-year-old Timothy Piazza of Lebanon, New Jersey. The Centre Daily Times reports that defense attorney Karen Muir has vowed an appeal. Becker, accused of deleting basement security camera footage, was convicted of hindering apprehension but acquitted of evidence-tampering and obstruction. Muir said her client “has learned a very hard, valuable lesson.” Piazza’s death led to passage of a stricter state anti-hazing law.
August 26, 2019 4:15 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Authorities have collected electrical cords and other items from the scorched scene of a Pennsylvania day care center fire that killed five children. The Erie Times-News reports that an electrical engineer, an Erie Bureau of Fire inspector, Erie police detectives and agents from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the scene Friday. Authorities say the fire on Aug. 11 killed five children ranging in age from 8 months to 7 years. The owner of the Erie day care was hospitalized but has been released. Erie Fire Chief Guy Santone told the newspaper that authorities revisited the scene after speaking with the owner. Santone says authorities collected items from the residence in an effort to pinpoint the cause. The items will be examined at an ATF laboratory.
August 26, 2019 4:13 am
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. – West Virginia politicians are calling for answers after a Vietnam veteran’s death at a VA hospital was ruled a homicide. U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito vowed to investigate after a news report on the death of retired Army Sgt. Felix Kirk McDermott at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia. A lawyer for McDermott’s estate provided The Associated Press with a legal document sent to the VA claiming the 82-year-old was wrongly injected with a fatal dose of insulin in April 2018. It also contains an autopsy report from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner that rules the death a homicide. According to the obituary for McDermott, he lived in Ruffs Dale, in Westmoreland County and was born in Braddock before serving in the Army and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
August 25, 2019 8:23 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un has supervised a test-firing of what it calls “newly developed super-large multiple rocket launcher.” The Korean Central News Agency says Saturday’s weapons test was successful and cited Kim as saying the rocket launcher is “indeed a great weapon.” The report likely referred to the projectile launches that South Korea detected on Saturday morning. South Korea’s military said North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast and that they flew about 236 miles at the maximum altitude of 60 miles. North Korea has been pushing to develop powerful multiple rocket launch systems, whose projectiles show missile-like flight distance and trajectory. The latest launches were the seventh weapons test by North Korea in a month.
August 25, 2019 8:21 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis says the Amazon forest is vital for our Earth and is urging prayers that fires there are quickly controlled. Francis added his voice Sunday to the chorus of international concern that the blazes in Brazil will have grave repercussions on the world’s environmental health. The pontiff, who is from the neighboring South American nation of Argentina, told the public in St. Peter’s Square that “we’re all worried” about the vast Amazon fires. He warned that that green “lung of forest is vital for our planet.” Francis said “let us pray so that, with the efforts of all, they are controlled as quickly as possible.” The blazes have sparked anti-government protests in Brazil and became a pressing issue for leaders at the Group of Seven summit in France.
