June 20, 2024 5:06 am
SQUAM LAKE, N.H. (AP) — A heat wave is moving closer to the breaking point from the Midwest to New England, but there’s no immediate relief in sight for much of the rest of the country. The National Weather Service says the heat and humidity could send heat index readings above 100 degrees in many locations, possibly breaking all-time records. At one campground in New Hampshire, guests were keeping cool using blocks of ice harvested months earlier from a frozen lake. They were packed in sawdust until now, a tradition workers have kept for more than a century. The Weather Service predicts another scorching weekend elsewhere, with triple-digit highs in California and Arizona.
June 20, 2024 5:09 am
TAMPICO, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm Alberto, the season’s first named storm, has weakened as it moves inland over northeast Mexico — but not before bringing heavy rains to the parched region and leaving at least three dead. The storm weakened rapidly over land, but carried several inches of desperately needed rain inland to Mexico’s Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila states, as well as south Texas. Alberto had spurred tropical storm warnings covering most of the western Gulf of Mexico’s coastline from Texas to Veracruz. Schools were closed across Tamaulipas state where Alberto came ashore and would be through Friday. Shelters were prepared across the state to receive residents trying to escape high water.
June 20, 2024 5:52 pm
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has failed to qualify for next week’s debate in Atlanta. Host network CNN said Thursday the independent presidential candidate fell short of benchmarks both for state ballot qualification and polling. The missed markers mean the June 27 showdown will be solely between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Kennedy wanted to stand alongside the leading candidates, to lend legitimacy to his longshot bid and convince potential supporters that he has a shot at winning. Both major-party campaigns fear Kennedy could play spoiler in what’s anticipated to be a close general election. Kennedy has filed an election complaint alleging the debate markers were created to disfavor him.
June 20, 2024 5:03 am
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a series of deals with his Vietnamese counterpart To Lam during a state visit that comes as Moscow is seeking to bolster ties in Asia to offset growing international isolation over its military actions in Ukraine. The two signed agreements to further cooperation on education, science and technology, oil and gas exploration and health. Following the Thursday afternoon talks, Putin said that the two countries share an interest in “developing a reliable security architecture” in the Asia-Pacific Region based on not using force and peacefully settling disputes with no room for “closed military-political blocs.”
June 20, 2024 5:10 am
KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia is intensifying its use of cheap glide bombs to lay waste to cities in eastern Ukraine. The latest generation of the retrofitted weapons have devastated Kharkiv, Avdiivka, Chasiv Yar and Vovchansk. Russia has nearly unlimited supplies of the bombs, which are adapted from Soviet-era stockpiles. They are dispatched from airfields just across the border that Ukraine has not been able to hit. An Associated Press analysis of drone footage, satellite imagery, Ukrainian documents and Russian photos shows that Russia has used the explosives to accelerate its destruction of front-line cities this year on a scale previously unseen in the war.
June 20, 2024 5:12 am
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday signed the bill mandating the displays. The GOP-drafted legislation requires a poster of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Opponents question the law’s constitutionality. Civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union promised a lawsuit. Proponents say the purpose of the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance. Classrooms must display the Ten Commandments by the start of 2025.
June 20, 2024 5:13 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Snapchat Inc. will pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by California’s civil rights agency. The California Civil Rights Department accused the company of discriminating against female employees, failing to prevent workplace sexual harassment and retaliating against women who complained. The department announced Wednesday that the settlement covers women who worked for the company in California between 2014 and 2024. It is subject to court approval. The bulk of the settlement will pay compensation to employees who faced discrimination at the company. The company says it disagrees with the agency’s claims but that it decided to settle to avoid costly and lengthy litigation.
June 19, 2024 5:01 am
One person has been transported to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh after a house fire in Peters Twp. Washington County 9-1-1 says it broke out just after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night in the 100-block of Clearview Drive. According to dispatchers, the home was fully engulfed in flames when firefighers arrived. The State Police Fire Marshall is now investigating. There is no word on the identity or condition of the person injured.
June 19, 2024 5:20 pm
(WPXI) – A bicyclist died after police believe he hit downed power lines in North Park on Tuesday night. He has been identified as Robert Anderson, 63, of Wexford. Emergency crews were called to a trail at Pearce Mill Road and North Ridge Drive at 8:22 p.m. where they found a man down among live wires. Duquesne Light crews were called to the scene, as first responders could not get to the bicyclist while the power was on. Power was cut to the area at 10:30 p.m., and the man was pronounced dead at the scene. County officials closed the trail and placed caution tape near the wires and at the main entrance of the trail. Duquesne Light says it is working closely with local emergency responders and park officials to investigate the incident.
June 19, 2024 11:33 am
The National Transportation Safety Board has released more information on what caused an explosion last month in Youngstown, Ohio, that killed a Penn Hills graduate. Twenty-seven-year-old
Akil Drake, a Chase Bank employee, was found in the rubble after an explosion on May 28th at the Realty Tower Building. Nine other people were injured. NTSB officials previously said their preliminary investigation led them to believe that a cut gas line caused the explosion. Just before the accident, a four-person scrap-removal crew was working in a basement area. A worker cut into one of the pipes he had been told was “dead,” but partway through the process, he heard a loud whistling sound and felt gas blowing into his face from the cut pipe, according to the NTSB report. The crew left the building, called 911 and pulled a fire alarm. Another crew member reportedly notified bank employees. The Youngstown Fire Department received reports of a gas odor from the public minutes before the explosion. The NTSB learned that at the time of the accident, the inactive service line had been pressurized with natural gas to about 38 pounds per square inch. The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing.
