August 19, 2019 3:17 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Planned Parenthood says it’s pulling out of the federal family planning program rather than abide by a new Trump administration rule prohibiting participants from referring patients for abortions. Planned Parenthood’s acting president and CEO says the organization’s nationwide network of health centers will remain open and strive to make up for the loss of federal money. But Alexis McGill Johnson predicts that many low-income women who rely on Planned Parenthood services will “delay or go without care.” About 4 million women are served nationwide under the Title X program, which distributes $260 million in grants to clinics. Planned Parenthood says it has served about 40% of patients. A federal appeals court is weighing a lawsuit to overturn the rule but has allowed the administration to begin enforcement.
August 19, 2019 3:15 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The acting director of the federal Bureau of Prisons has been removed from his position more than a week after millionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein took his own life while in federal custody. Attorney General William Barr announced Hugh Hurwitz’s reassignment Monday. Hurwitz had served as the agency’s acting director since May 2018. No reason was given for the reassignment, but the move comes as the bureau faces increased scrutiny after Epstein’s suicide Aug. 10 at a New York jail. The FBI and Justice Department’s inspector general are investigating. Barr has named Kathleen Hawk Sawyer to succeed Hurwitz. She was the agency’s director from 1992 until 2003. Hurwitz also led the agency when Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger was killed in a federal prison in West Virginia in October.
August 19, 2019 2:59 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – A daughter of Eric Garner is thanking New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill for firing the officer who placed her father in a chokehold that contributed to his death in 2014. Emerald Snipes Garner said Monday she wanted to thank O’Neill “for doing the right thing” in firing Officer Daniel Pantaleo. But she said her family’s fight for justice “is not over.” Garner said her family wants to see action taken against the other officers who were present when Pantaleo tried to arrest her father. And she said she wants to see an “Eric Garner Law” passed that would make police chokeholds illegal. Garner appeared with the Rev. Al Sharpton after O’Neill announced his decision. Sharpton said supporters of the Garner family are relieved that Pantaleo has been fired “but not celebratory.” (Photo: CNN)
August 19, 2019 9:27 am
LOWER SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say a tree struck by lightning fell on a tent at a Pennsylvania swim club, injuring nine people. The accident happened around 5 p.m. Sunday. Authorities say seven children and two adults were in the tent at the Dolphin Swim Club in Lower Southampton. Three people suffered undisclosed injuries that were described as severe, while the other six had minor injuries. Further details about the victims and their injuries were not disclosed. Officials say the lightning was part of a severe storm that quickly moved through the area and knocked down several trees. But no other injuries were reported in the incident.
August 19, 2019 4:27 am
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Denmark’s prime minister says U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea of buying Greenland from Denmark is “an absurd discussion,” reiterating that the semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic is not for sale. Mette Frederiksen, who was visiting the world’s largest island to meet Premier Kim Kielsen, says “Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is Greenlandic. I persistently hope that this is not something that is seriously meant.” Frederiksen said Sunday that the Arctic, with resources that Russia and others could exploit for commercial gain, “is becoming increasingly important to the entire world community.” Trump is expected to visit Denmark in early September as part of a trip to Europe.
August 19, 2019 4:25 am
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) – President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser is trying to play down fears of a looming recession after last week’s sharp drop in the financial markets. Larry Kudlow says the economy will perform well in the second half of 2019. Kudlow says consumers are seeing higher wages and are able to spend and save more. He calls such a scenario “an ideal situation. A strong economy is key to Trump’s reelection prospects. Kudlow acknowledges a slowing energy sector, but says low interest rates will help housing, construction and auto sales. Kudlow is also defending the president’s use of tariffs on goods coming from China, saying “we cannot let China pursue these unfair and unreciprocal trading practices.” Kudlow was interviewed on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and “Fox News Sunday.”
August 19, 2019 4:20 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Residents of a Pennsylvania city gathered to mourn and remember four of the five children who died when fire swept through a home child care center. A funeral service was held Saturday in Erie for 8-year-old La’Myhia Jones, 6-year-old Luther Jones Jr., 4-year-old Ava Jones and 9-month-old Jaydan Augustyniak. All are siblings. The funeral for 2-year-old Dalvin Pacley will be held Monday. Three of the victims were the children of a volunteer firefighter, Luther Jones. Their mother, Shevona Overton, is also the mother of Jaydan. An adult and two adolescent boys were able to escape. Fire officials suspect Sunday’s blaze was accidental. Mayor Joe Schember told those attending that some things that happen in life take years to understand – but other things happen “that we will never understand.”
August 19, 2019 4:19 am
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia’s new Roman Catholic bishop is set to be installed this week. A ceremony is scheduled for Thursday at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Wheeling for the Most Rev. Mark Brennan, who previously was auxiliary bishop of Baltimore. The Wheeling-Charleston diocese includes nearly 75,000 Catholics and 95 parishes and encompasses the entire state of West Virginia. Brennan vowed at an introductory news conference last month to work toward restoring faith in the diocese after a scandal over the former bishop’s sexual harassment of adults and lavish spending of church money. Pope Francis named the 72-year-old Brennan to replace Bishop Michael Bransfield, who resigned in September 2018 after a preliminary investigation into allegations of sexual and financial misconduct.
August 19, 2019 4:18 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Police say two Pittsburgh officers were injured and two men were arrested after what they call “large and unruly” crowds flooded into the street on the city’s South Side. The city’s public safety department says officers were called to the area just before 2:15 a.m. Sunday, where people had filled the street, stopping traffic in both directions and surrounding vehicles in the street. The department says one officer was writing a traffic citation in an emergency lane when a driver drove over his left foot. He and another officer who injured his knee were taken to UPMC Mercy in stable condition. Two men, both unidentified, were arrested before police managed to disperse the crowd just before 3 a.m. The reason for the disruption wasn’t immediately clear.
August 19, 2019 4:15 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. (AP) – A street fight in western Pennsylvania ended with a man being shot in the leg. Bethel Park police responded to Wallace Avenue around 8:20 p.m. Sunday following reports of two men fighting and shots being fired. They soon found the wounded man and took him to a hospital. The man’s wound is not considered life-threatening. But his name and further details on his condition were not disclosed. The other man wasn’t injured. The fight and shooting remain under investigation.
