September 20, 2019 4:12 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The shutdown of Three Mile Island, site of the United States’ worst commercial nuclear power accident, is imminent. Exelon Corp. officials said the plant will stop producing electricity around noon Friday, following through on a decision the Chicago-based energy giant made in May after it became clear that it would not get a financial rescue from Pennsylvania. Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 opened in 1974 and is licensed to operate through 2034. But Exelon has complained that the plant is losing money in competitive electricity markets.
Three Mile Island also faces particularly difficult economics because the 1979 accident left it with just one reactor. Decommissioning it could take decades. No nuclear plant that was proposed after the accident has been successfully completed and put into operation in the United States.
September 20, 2019 4:11 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Prosecutors in Pittsburgh have charged a handyman in the death of a woman who went missing in the spring. District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. says investigators believe Douglas Berry killed 67-year-old Elizabeth Wiesenfeld, who was last heard from April 29. Her remains haven’t been found. Police filed the homicide case Thursday morning. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Wiesenfeld told her family she was afraid of Berry, who had been doing work on her house. According to warrants, she told them she’d stopped hiring him to do jobs, but he would show up anyway. A criminal complaint says police were led to Berry when surveillance video showed his truck pull into the woman’s driveway the day she went missing. Her credit card was later found in his trash.
September 20, 2019 4:08 am
CANONSBURG, Pa. – (WPXI) – The Canon McMillan school board meeting Thursday night was packed with parents, the district’s football team and so many others to support the football team’s head coach. Mike Evans has been suspended with pay for weeks due to a personnel problem. “They want their coach back and they want him back immediately he’s been gone for almost three weeks now,” said Canon-Mac Quarterback Club Booster President Jennifer McMahon. Lane Turturice, the attorney representing Evans, said there was an incident that happened at the second game of this season during halftime. “What transpired is nothing that hasn’t gone on in any locker room in western PA two or three times during a season,” Turturice said. There was a vote Thursday night to initiate disciplinary actions. Five were in favor and four were opposed. While district officials remained tight-lipped, those who support Evans had a lot to say at the meeting. Some were even in tears. Everyone who spoke at the meeting was in support of Evans. Many credited him for being there for them, even on the field. But by the end of the meeting, things got heated. Turturice said he’s optimistic there will be a resolution soon and expects Evans to be back on the field with his team, but it’s not a resolution that would happen as early as Friday’s game.
September 19, 2019 4:50 pm
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Gunmaker Colt says it is suspending its production of rifles for the civilian market including the popular AR-15. Colt’s chief executive officer, Dennis Veilleux, says it is not permanently ending production but believes there is already an adequate supply of sporting rifles on the market. He said in a statement Thursday the company will concentrate on fulfilling military and law enforcement contracts with its rifle manufacturing. The West Hartford, Connecticut-based company has received some criticism from gun rights advocates for moving away from the civilian market. Veilleux said in the statement the company remains committed to the Second Amendment and is adapting to consumer demand. A national gun control debate has focused on access to AR-15s and other assault-style rifles because of their use in mass shootings.
September 19, 2019 8:37 am
SHANDON, Calif. (AP) – Authorities in central California say a passenger bus has crashed while carrying the road crew for country and gospel singer Josh Turner, leaving one dead and seven injured.
Turner and his band were not on the bus. The bus was traveling eastbound on Highway 46 in San Luis Obispo County when it crashed in Shandon late Wednesday night. The trip followed a Turner concert at the Vina Robles Amphitheatre in Paso Robles, according to media reports.
September 19, 2019 7:40 am
Emergency crews were called to a one-vehicle accident in Peters Township Thursday morning. 9-1-1 dispatchers tell WJPA news that the vehicle struck a utility pole and brought down wire at 112 Thomas Road. One person was injured and transported from the scene. The is no word on the identity or condition of that individual. The roadway was closed and forced Peters Township school buses to detour around the area. No other information is currently available.
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.
