February 19, 2020 4:20 am
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Ryan Newman has been released from a Florida hospital two days after a frightening crash on the final lap of the Daytona 500. He had been hospitalized since Monday night. Roush Fenway Racing says the 42-year-old driver was fully alert and walking around the hospital in the hours before he left. No details about his injuries have been released. The team has since updated its roster for this weekend’s race at Las Vegas with Ross Chastain filling in for Newman. There is no timetable for Newman’s return.
February 19, 2020 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General William Barr has told people close to him he’s considering quitting his post after President Donald Trump wouldn’t heed his warning to stop tweeting about Justice Department cases. That’s according to an administration official who spoke Tuesday to The Associated Press. The revelation comes days after Barr said in a television interview that Trump’s tweets about Justice Department cases and staffers make it “impossible” for him to do his job. The next day, Trump ignored Barr’s request and insisted that he has the “legal right” to intervene in criminal cases. Barr’s spokeswoman says the attorney general “has no plans to resign.”
February 19, 2020 4:18 am
BEIJING (AP) – New virus cases in China continued to fall, with 1,749 new infections and 136 new deaths after China’s leader said disease prevention and control was at “a critical time.” Japan also confirmed more infections of the new coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, bringing the total to 542. The quarantine of the ship’s passengers and crew ends later Wednesday. The updated figures on the virus for mainland China bring the total for cases to 74,185 and deaths to 2,004. New cases have fallen to under 2,000 daily for the past two days. Hong Kong has reported the second death in the city.
February 19, 2020 4:17 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A man fatally shot in a Hollywood Hills home has been identified as young rapper Pop Smoke. His label, Republic Records, issued a statement saying “We are devastated by the unexpected and tragic loss of Pop Smoke.” Los Angeles police did not immediately confirm the identification. Police say officers responding to a 911 call about intruders breaking into a home found a man who had been shot. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. Police said the 911 call came from “back East.” They say some other people in the house were detained but released. Public listings show that the home is owned by Edwin Arroyave and his wife Teddi Mellencamp, daughter of singer John Mellencamp and star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
February 19, 2020 4:16 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is out of prison hours after his sentence for political corruption was commuted by President Donald Trump. Reporters and onlookers were on hand Tuesday as the now silver-haired Blagojevich left the gates of the Federal Corrections Institution Englewood south of Denver. Blagojevich served more than eight years of a 14-year sentence for crimes that included seeking to sell an appointment to Barack Obama’s former Senate seat and trying to shake down a children’s hospital. The president said the punishment imposed on the Democrat and one-time contestant on Trump’s reality TV show “Celebrity Apprentice” was excessive.
February 19, 2020 4:12 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The deadline is past for candidates for president of the United States and for state attorney general, treasurer and auditor general to file paperwork to make Pennsylvania’s April 28 primary ballot. The deadline was Tuesday at 5 p.m. Filing for the Democratic presidential primary are California billionaire Tom Steyer, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump has filed for the Republican primary.
February 19, 2020 4:10 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – One of four defendants has been sentenced to life in prison in the death of a Somali immigrant cab driver three years ago in Pittsburgh. Twenty-three-year-old Daniel Russell told an Allegheny County judge during Tuesday’s sentencing that he needed a new court-appointed attorney so he could file an appeal, accusing his current attorney of being ineffective. Russell was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of 31-year-old Ramadhan Mohamed in February 2017. Three other defendants are scheduled for trial in May. Prosecutors allege that the group wanted to rob a pizza delivery driver but due to the late hour opted for a cab driver.
February 19, 2020 2:36 am
One of two people charged in connection with a murder that led to an amber alert being issued Tuesday for a sixteen-year-old boy says he did not kidnap the teenager. Authorities in Fayette County charged 31-year-old Keith Bradshaw of Everson and 37-year-old Marjorie Jay of Connellsville, with criminal homicide in the death of 52-year-old William Stewart, who was shot multiple times on the back porch of his East Fairview Avenue home in Connellsville. Bradshaw told reporters today that he did not kidnap the teenager. Police say Stewart “had an ongoing problem” with Bradshaw and Jay but they did not specify the nature of the problem. They did say, however, that Stewart had reported it to police. Police also did not specify the relationship between Bradshaw and Jay, but said the two conspired to “talk” to the teen, who is described as being the son of Stewart’s girlfriend.
February 18, 2020 4:53 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has gone on a clemency blitz, commuting the 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and a long list of others. In addition to Blagojevich, Trump pardoned former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik, who served three years for tax fraud, and and financier Michael Milken, who pleaded guilty for violating U.S. securities laws. Trump also pardoned, among others, a technology entrepreneur who accessed a computer without authorization, a construction company owner who underpaid his taxes; and an author who served a six-month home sentence for her role in a stolen vehicle ring.
February 18, 2020 12:54 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has pardoned Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former San Francisco 49ers owner convicted in a gambling fraud scandal. DeBartolo Jr. built the San Francisco 49ers’ 1980s-1990s dynasty. He was involved in one of the biggest owners’ scandals in the sport’s history. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony when he paid $400,000 to former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards in exchange for a riverboat gambling license. The White House announced the surprise decision to reporters on Tuesday. NFL great Jerry Rice played on three of DeBartolo’s Super Bowl-winning teams and says DeBartolo “was like that 12th man” of the great 49ers teams. In addition to the 49ers, the family also owned the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League before selling the team in 1991. (Photo: CNN)
