September 22, 2023 7:38 am
HONOLULU (AP) — Lahaina residents are bracing for what they’ll find when they return to the ruins of their homes after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century killed at least 97 people and destroyed thousands of buildings. Authorities on Monday will begin escorting the first residents back into the burn zone. For many it will be the first time back to their properties since the Aug. 8 wildfire. Darryl Oliveira, Maui Emergency Management Agency interim administrator, says the goal of the supervised visits is for them to see their homes and properties safely and to get some closure. Officials are urging people not to sift through the ash for fear of stirring up toxic dust.
September 22, 2023 7:37 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian official says Ukraine carried out a missile strike on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Images on social media Friday showed large plumes of smoke said to be coming from Sevastopol harbor in the annexed Crimea. The Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol didn’t offer any details, saying only that emergency services have been dispatched to the site of the strike. Je says there is no information about casualties. He warned Sevastopol residents that “another attack is possible,” and urged them not to come to the city center. Ukraine did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack. It comes a day after Russian missiles and artillery pounded cities across Ukraine, killing at least five people.
September 22, 2023 7:36 am
(WPXI) – A Toronto, Ohio, man is in custody after a chase that started in Ohio and ended in Allegheny County Friday morning. Police say the suspect, later identified as 27-year-old Tyler Karhut,led them on a chase from Jefferson County, Ohio, through West Virginia, Washington County, then into Findlay Township in Allegheny County. Ohio State Troopers say that just before four-thirty, they found a vehicle parked in a rest area on Route 213 occupied by Karhut, who was wanted in Jefferson County. Troopers attempted to make contact with him and he failed to comply, starting a pursuit on Route 7. During the pursuit, shots were fired at law enforcement. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department called Washington County 911 dispatchers to let them know about the chase. Ohio troopers ended their pursuit, but a short time later, the suspect was seen by McDonald Borough police. The vehicle was stopped at Boggs and Potato Garden roads in Findlay Township just before 5 a.m. No officers were injured and no shots were fired by law enforcement. The investigation is ongoing.
September 22, 2023 5:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the collapse of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s latest plan to avert a federal shutdown, lawmakers have left town with no endgame in sight. The White House will tell federal agencies on Friday to prepare for a shutdown, according to an official with the Office of Management and Budget who insisted on anonymity to discuss the upcoming instructions. That’s standard seven days out from a federal disruption. A core group of Republicans refused to vote with the speaker, whose job is on the line. Afterward, McCarthy acknowledged his frustration, saying, “This is a whole new concept of individuals who just want to burn the whole place down.”
September 22, 2023 5:03 am
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. (AP) — A charter bus carrying high school students to a band camp careened off a New York highway and tumbled down an embankment Thursday, killing two adults and seriously injuring several others. Gov. Kathy Hochul said a front-tire failure could have contributed to the early afternoon accident on Interstate 84 in the town of Wawayanda, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of New York City. The two adults who died were Beatrice Ferrari, 77, of Farmingdale and Gina Pellettiere, 43, of Massapequa. Five of the 44 passengers on board were critically injured. according to state police.
September 22, 2023 4:59 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republican David McCormick is entering Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race in his second bid for the office, this time to take on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. McCormick’s announcement Thursday comes after he lost in last year’s Republican primary for Senate. McCormick made the announcement in a ballroom full of supporters at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. Senate candidates in Pennsylvania will share a ticket with candidates for president next year in a state that’s critical to whether Democrats can maintain control of the White House and the Senate. A race between Casey and McCormick could be one of the nation’s most expensive and closely watched.
September 22, 2023 2:02 am
Washington County Commissioners approved a contract that could last up to 10 years with the Washington County Chamber of Commerce with a 2-1 vote. At issue is an economic development agreement that has been in existence for more than 20 years and its renewal at a higher rate. The original agreement in 1999 called for a $70,000 payment and that has remained in place to this date. The new agreement calls for a $140,000 payment this year and next with a 3% escalator clause for each of the remaining years of the contract. In all the contract could cost $1.6 million. The county could get out of the contract after 5 years but would have to pay a fee of half of the remaining contract to do so. Commissioner Nick Sherman voted against the measure stating that he is against a no bid contract that binds tax payer monies for a significant number of years. Voting in support of the measure was Commissioner Larry Maggi that praised the work of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce as they led the county through the development of Southpointe, Southpointe II and the emergence of the gas and oil industry. Refuting Sherman’s claim that economic development is a commissioner’s job, Maggi stated that “government doesn’t do economic development well, leave it to the private sector.” After the meeting, Commissioner Chairwoman Diana Irey-Vaughan indicated that this measure was tabled last month and at no time did Commissioner Sherman put forth any alternate entity that would provide the services that are required of this contract.
September 21, 2023 3:55 pm
WAWAYANDA, N.Y. (AP) — One person is dead and dozens more hurt after a charter bus carrying high school students to a band camp hurtled off a New York highway and down an embankment. The wreck happened on Interstate 84 in the town of Wawayanda. That’s about 45 miles northwest of New York City. Officials say 43 people were taken to hospitals. Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus told WNBC-TV at least five people were badly hurt. The bus was one of six in a caravan carrying students from Farmingdale High School on Long Island to a band camp in the northeastern Pennsylvania community of Greeley.
September 21, 2023 5:14 am
TORONTO (AP) — Canada is making an explosive allegation that India may have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, but thus far Canada’s allies are voicing measured concern about what happened. They are calling for a full investigation. But none of Canada’s key allies — not the U.S., Britain, Australia or New Zealand — has echoed the allegations of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. These days, India is just too important to alienate. The Biden administration and governments of other allies want to maintain strong ties with India because of its economic might and as a counterweight to China’s rising assertiveness.
September 21, 2023 5:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Under intense political pressure from fellow Democrats, the Biden administration has announced it is granting protection to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are already in the country. The move Wednesday to give Venezuelans who arrived in the country as of July 31, 2023, temporary protected status essentially makes it much easier and faster for them to get authorization to work in the U.S. That has been a key demand of Democratic mayors and governors who are struggling to care for an increased number of migrants in their care. Venezuelans account for such a large number of the migrants who have been arriving in the country in recent years.
