July 31, 2019 3:50 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A regatta that has been a tradition in the city of Pittsburgh for more than four decades has been canceled days before its scheduled opening. Attorney Charles Scholz told reporters Tuesday that The EQT Three Rivers Regatta promoter LionHeart Event Group hadn’t secured proper permits or paid vendors, including the state for use of Point State Park and police. Scholz said the regatta board had no choice but to withdrew its permit application. Officials said investigations had begun and legal remedies would be pursued with an eye to bringing the regatta back next year. The regatta, a summer tradition since 1978, features powerboat races, an “Anything that Floats” race, and various water stunts and concerts. LionHeart president Derek Weber didn’t immediately return a call and email seeking comment.
July 30, 2019 5:52 pm
LONDON (AP) – Prince Harry says he and his wife Meghan will have no more than two children because of concerns for the environment. In an interview with primatologist Jane Goodall for British Vogue, Harry said becoming a father in May had changed his perspective. He said “I view it differently now, without question. But I’ve always wanted to try and ensure that, even before having a child and hoping to have children.” When Goodall added “Not too many,” Harry said: “two, maximum.” Harry interviewed Goodall for the September issue of British Vogue, which was guest-edited by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. He said destruction of the environment was “terrifying,” adding: “We are already living in it. We are the frog in the water and it’s already been brought to the boil.”
July 30, 2019 5:22 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence is making his second visit in two months to the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania to urge Congress to pass President Donald Trump’s rewrite of a trade pact with Canada and Mexico. Pence’s planned Thursday visit is to a crane manufacturing facility in southern Pennsylvania, a few miles from the Maryland border. The visit comes as House Democrats and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer report progress toward a deal that would clear the way for Congress to approve Trump’s U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Pence visited a York-based robotics maker in June and predicted the trade pact would boost America’s manufacturing sector. Trump’s campaign is ramping up its re-election effort in a state where he scored a surprise 2016 win and delivered a crushing loss to Democrat Hillary Clinton.
July 30, 2019 3:50 pm
EAGLEVILLE, Pa. (AP) – A former Pennsylvania attorney general is about to be released from a county jail after serving about eight months for leaking grand jury material and lying about it. Montgomery County Correctional Facility Warden Julio Algarin said Tuesday that Kathleen Kane shaved about two months off her minimum sentence by serving her time without any problems. She’s scheduled for release early Wednesday. The 53-year-old Kane was sentenced to 10-to-23 months for perjury, obstruction and other counts. She turned herself in to the jail at the end of November. She was the first Democrat and first woman to be elected the state’s top prosecutor. A special prosecutor was named to investigate Kane after former prosecutors with the attorney general’s office reported that secret grand jury material had been leaked to a newspaper.
July 30, 2019 10:29 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Department of Homeland Security plans to issue a security alert for small planes, warning that modern flight systems are vulnerable to hacking if someone manages to gain physical access to the aircraft. The Tuesday alert, obtained by The Associated Press, recommends plane owners ensure they restrict unauthorized physical access to their aircraft until the industry develops safeguards to address the issue. Boston-based cybersecurity firm, Rapid7, informed DHS that attackers could potentially disrupt electronic messages transmitted across a small plane’s network and affect aircraft systems. Most airports have security in place to restrict unauthorized access and there’s no evidence anyone has exploited the vulnerability. DHS says it decided it was important to issue a warning after it confirmed the flaw with outside partners and a national research laboratory.
July 30, 2019 10:21 am
SOUTHAVEN, Miss. (AP) – Officials say two people are dead and a police officer and a suspect were shot at a Walmart in the northern Mississippi city of Southaven, a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. WREG-TV reports both of the people who died Tuesday morning were Walmart employees. WHBQ-TV reports one person was found dead in the store and another found dead in the parking lot.
The suspect was taken to a Memphis hospital. His condition wasn’t reported. Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto tells WATN-TV the officer was hit in his bulletproof vest and not seriously injured. The Walmart is in a shopping complex in Southaven, just south of Memphis. A massive police presence surrounded the store Tuesday morning. Walmart employees joined a prayer circle outside. The company didn’t immediately respond to phone calls and information requests.
July 30, 2019 9:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is threatening to get “much tougher” with China on trade if he wins reelection in 2020. Trump is tweeting his frustration as negotiations between the countries resume Tuesday two months after talks aimed at ending a tariff war broke down. Trump complains China’s leaders “always change the deal in the end to their benefit” and suggests they should wait out the election to see if a Democrat wins. But, he adds: “The problem with them waiting, however, is that if & when I win, the deal that they get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now…or no deal at all.” He says, “We have all the cards.” Talks will be held Tuesday and Wednesday in Shanghai to try to resolve disagreements, including over China’s tech giant Huawei (WAH’-way).
July 30, 2019 8:43 am
JAMESTOWN, Va. (AP) – Black lawmakers in Virginia who boycotted a visit by President Donald Trump are blasting Trump for his recent disparaging remarks about minority members of Congress. During an emotional ceremony at a Richmond site where a notorious slave jail once stood, members of Virginia’s legislative black caucus took turns criticizing Trump as the president spoke about 60 miles away in historic Jamestown. Lawmakers who spoke at the Lumpkin’s Slave Jail site said they chose to boycott Trump’s speech commemorating the 400th anniversary of the first representative assembly in the New World so that they could mark another 400th anniversary. The first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia in 1619. Del. Delores McQuinn refused to use Trump’s name and instead called him “the tenant in the White House.” McQuinn choked back tears as she said Trump’s criticism of minority members of Congress was also aimed at “every person of color in the United States of America.”
July 30, 2019 4:34 am
Capital One says a hacker got access to the personal information of over 100 million individuals applying for credit. The McLean, Virginia-based bank said Monday it found out about the vulnerability in its system July 19 and immediately sought help from law enforcement to catch the perpetrator. The FBI has arrested the person, reportedly in Seattle, according to a report in The Washington Post. Capital One says it believes that it is unlikely that the information was used for fraud , but it will continue to investigate. The hacker got information including credit scores and balances plus the Social Security numbers of about 140,000 customers. It will offer free credit monitoring services to those affected. The data breach affected about 100 million people in the U.S. and 6 million in Canada.
July 30, 2019 4:31 am
HELSINKI (AP) – American rapper A$AP Rocky and two other men believed to be members of his entourage is going on trial in Sweden in a high-profile legal case that has caught the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump and rallied music and entertainment celebrities. The trial of Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, starts Tuesday in Stockholm District Court, which also has set aside Thursday and Friday for the case. Swedish prosecutors allege that the Grammy-nominated rapper and the two other suspects “deliberately, together and in agreement” attacked the alleged victim, Mustafa Jafari, in central Stockholm on June 30. The charges carry a maximum sentence of two years in prison. Mayers has been in custody since July 3 and has said he acted in self-defense.
