August 12, 2019 4:25 am
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – Forecasters are warning of dangerously hot weather across a wide stretch of the U.S. South and Midwest. The National Weather Service says parts of 13 states on Monday will be under heat advisories, from Texas, Louisiana and Florida in the South to Missouri and Illinois in the Midwest. Forecasters say temperatures in the 90s combined with humidity will make it feel like as much as 110 degrees in some places. The weather service says it will be even hotter across northwestern Mississippi, northern Louisiana and Arkansas, where the heat index could reach 115 degrees. Heat exhaustion and heat strokes could result.
August 12, 2019 4:24 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The details of how Jeffrey Epstein died in his Manhattan jail cell over the weekend have yet to be released, but medical officials have performed an autopsy on the high-profile inmate accused of sexually abusing underage girls and paying them hundreds of dollars in cash for massages. Epstein’s abrupt death Saturday cut short a criminal prosecution that could have pulled back the curtain on the inner workings of a high-flying financier with connections to celebrities and presidents, though prosecutors have vowed to continue investigating. Epstein, 66, had been denied bail and faced up to 45 years behind bars on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges unsealed last month. He had pleaded not guilty and was awaiting trial.
August 12, 2019 4:18 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) – Hundreds of people gathered to remember a western Pennsylvania graduate student killed in a mass shooting in an Ohio nightclub district last weekend. Mourners from all stages of the life of 25-year-old Nicholas Cumer filled every seat in Saturday’s service and lined the hallways of a Washington, Pennsylvania funeral home. Pastor Brian Greenleaf said Cumer “had a heart bigger than his chest.” He was among nine people killed early last Sunday by a gunman who was then killed by police shortly after he opened fire at a bar in Dayton, Ohio. Cumer was a graduate student in the master of cancer care program at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania. He was in Dayton as part of his internship with the Maple Tree Cancer Alliance. He was a 2012 graduate of Washington High School.
August 12, 2019 4:15 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A Pennsylvania appeals court questioned why Bill Cosby’s legal team never got a supposed non-prosecution agreement in writing as his latest lawyers fought Monday to have his sexual assault conviction overturned. The 82-year-old actor was not in court Monday as his lawyers attacked the trial judge’s decision to send Cosby to trial and to let five other accusers testify. The three-judge Superior Court panel asked why Cosby’s lawyers never got the supposed agreement in writing or approved by a judge in 2005. He was arrested by another prosecutor a decade later after dozens of other accusers came forward. Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the (hash)MeToo era. He is serving a three-to 10-year prison term. The court typically takes several months to rule.
August 12, 2019 4:13 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Prosecutors and lawyers for the man charged with killing 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue last year have agreed to a 120-day extension in the case. The sides met briefly in federal court in Pittsburgh on Monday to review the status of Robert Bowers’ prosecution. The defendant wasn’t in court. Authorities say Bowers opened fire with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons during worship services inside Tree of Life synagogue. Bowers allegedly expressed hatred of Jews during the Oct. 27 rampage and later told police that “all these Jews need to die.” It was the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Prosecutors have not made a final decision on whether to seek the death penalty. Bowers has pleaded not guilty to hate crimes and other offenses.
August 12, 2019 4:12 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say a morning fire in Pennsylvania claimed the lives of five children and sent another person to the hospital. Lt. Szocki of the Erie Police Department said the victims died in a fire in Erie reported at about 1:15 a.m. Sunday. Chief Guy Santone of the Erie Fire Department says the victims ranged in ages from 8 months to 7 years. The Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership lists a daycare at the fire address. Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny told the Erie Times-News that detectives are working to determine whether any of the victims were staying at the daycare. Chief Fire Inspector John Widomski told The Erie Times-News that a woman who also lives at the residence was flown to UPMC Mercy for treatment. Fire Chief Guy Santone told the paper that a neighbor was also injured.
August 6, 2019 4:09 am
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) – Research has found that West Virginia’s mobile voting app for overseas residents has increased voter turnout. The Herald-Dispatch cites research done by University of Chicago associate professor Anthony Fowler, which was presented this month at the Election Science, Reform & Administration Conference at the University of Pennsylvania. Fowler found the app increased voter turnout by 3 to 5 percentage points. In 2018, West Virginia was the first state to allow mobile voting for overseas voters from some counties during a federal election. Fowler says the research underscores that mobile voting has the potential to affect voter turnout while lowering the cost of voting. Cybersecurity experts and many Americans remain wary of mobile voting and Fowler says there’s good reason for the concern as officials aren’t sure how secure it is.
August 6, 2019 4:08 am
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) – A California man who admitted having about 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms) of marijuana in his suitcase when he flew to West Virginia has been sentenced to 10 months. U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart’s office said in a news release that U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers sentenced 22-year-old Gerardo Delgadillo Jr. on Monday in Huntington. Prosecutors said Delgadillo flew to Tri-State Airport in Kenova in October. He admitted he intended to sell the marijuana. Court documents didn’t list Delgadillo’s hometown.
August 6, 2019 4:06 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh’s mayor says he has beefed up his own security in response to threats after the city recently approved gun control measures. Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto says he’s extended the hours of his security detail into the evening following “direct death threats,” particularly around the issue of firearms. Peduto said he sends such threats to Pittsburgh police and tries to put them out of mind. The city approved gun control measures in the wake of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that killed 11 last fall. The measures approved in April would restrict military-style assault weapons as well as armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines and allow temporary seizure of guns from those deemed a threat. Lawsuits were filed alleging the measures violated state law barring municipalities from regulating the ownership or possession of firearms and ammunition.
August 6, 2019 4:05 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Bullying, self-harm and suicide were the most common concerns fielded during the first half-year of operation for a new threat reporting system that covers Pennsylvania schools. The state attorney general’s office says the Safe 2 Say Something program generated more than 23,000 tips between mid-January and the end of June. The report says about 1,300 tips were determined to be pranks. Safe 2 Say Something covers all K-12 students in Pennsylvania, including charter, private and vocational-technical schools. People most commonly made reports through a mobile app that handled more than 19,000 tips. The website received more than 3,500 tips, and about 500 were called in. The annual report is required under a 2018 state law that established the program.
