June 5, 2024 2:36 am
The criminal trial for Washington County’s Controller has been delayed until September. April Sloane is accused of animal neglect by causing the starvation death of her dog last year. Sloane’s attorney had requested the continuance last month. Washington County Judge John DiSalle set the new trial date for September 10th. Jury selection had been expected to begin on Monday. Sloane is facing two felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty and one misdemeanor charge of animal neglect for the death of her dog, Thor. North Strabane Township Police found Thor’s body in a trash bag in her garage. Sloane, who continues to work as the county controller, is free on one-hundred-fifty-thousand-dollars bond.
June 6, 2024 5:17 am
(AP) – World War II veterans are joining heads of state and others on the beaches of Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The Allied invasion, which began on June 6, 1944, led to the defeat of the Nazis and the end of the war. The assault began with Allied aircraft bombing German defenses in Normandy, followed by around 1,200 aircraft that carried airborne troops. As dawn broke, Allied forces started bombing German coastal defenses and shortly after that vessels began putting troops ashore on five codenamed beaches: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. By the end of the day, nearly 160,000 Allied troops had landed in Normandy. There were thousands of casualties. Few witnesses to history’s biggest amphibious invasion remain alive today.
June 6, 2024 5:19 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian health officials say an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced families in central Gaza killed at least 33 people including 23 women and children. The Israeli military claims the school was being used as a Hamas compound. The strike early Thursday came after the military announced a new ground and air assault in several refugee camps in central Gaza, pursuing Hamas militants it says have regrouped there. Witnesses and hospital officials said the predawn strike hit the al-Sardi School run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees known by the acronym UNRWA. They said the school was filled with Palestinians who had fled Israeli offensives and bombardment in northern Gaza.
June 6, 2024 5:20 am
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden said in an interview with ABC that has ruled out a pardon for his son. And the first lady left France where where she was attending D-Day anniversary events with the president to head back to Wilmington. She’s expected to attend trial Friday. In court, the widow of Hunter Biden’s brother testified about their relationship, her drug use and that she took the gun at the center of the case and threw it in the trash at a nearby market. Federal prosecutors have argued that Hunter Biden was in the throes of a heavy addiction when he bought the gun. He’s pleaded not guilty.
June 6, 2024 5:21 am
A ghost from recent election cycles — controversies over certification of results — is beginning to re-emerge as the nation heads closer to the fall presidential contest. Conspiracy theorists on local canvassing boards already have delayed certifications in two major presidential swing states during this year’s primaries. Some election officials and Democrats are concerned that Republicans will deploy the strategy broadly in the fall if the presidential race is very narrowly decided. Even if those efforts ultimately fail, election officials worry they’ll become a vehicle for promoting bogus election claims. Nonpartisan groups say lawsuits and recounts are the proper way to contest ballot counts, not attempting to hold up certification.
June 6, 2024 5:22 am
LIVONIA, Mich. (AP) — A toddler has been killed and his mother was injured when a tornado struck suburban Detroit without warning. Officials in Livonia, Michigan, say the tornado tore through several neighborhoods on Wednesday afternoon and developed so quickly that there was no advance notice from the National Weather Service or others that would have normally led to the activation of warning sirens. The storm uprooted a tree that fell on one family’s house, landing on a bed where a woman and her 2-year-old were sleeping. To the east in Maryland, five people were injured when a tornado collapsed structures and trapped people inside.
June 6, 2024 1:46 pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing’s space capsule has arrived at the International Space Station after encountering thruster trouble. Docking was delayed to fix four thrusters on the Starliner capsule that went down Thursday as the two NASA test pilots closed in on the space station. Starliner will spend at least eight days at the space station before aiming for a touchdown in the western U.S. After the space shuttles retired, NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX to ferry astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX’s taxi service began in 2020.
June 6, 2024 1:45 pm
(AP) – SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket has completed its first full test flight, returning to Earth without exploding after blasting off from Texas. The previous three test flights ended with the rocket and spacecraft blowing up. This time, both managed to splash down in a controlled fashion. The 400-foot rocket was empty as it soared above the Gulf of Mexico and headed east Thursday. The booster dropped successfully into the gulf. An hour later, live views showed parts of the spacecraft breaking away during the intense heat of reentry, but it remained intact.
June 5, 2024 4:55 pm
CARENTAN-LES-MARAIS, France (AP) — The 80th anniversary this week of D-Day brings mixed emotions for French survivors of the Battle of Normandy. They remain grateful for their liberation from Nazi occupation in World War II but cannot forget its steep cost in French lives. Some 20,000 Normandy civilians were killed in the June 6, 1944, Allied invasion and as the landing forces fought inland. Soldiers from the United States and other Allied nations are remembered for their exploits, kindness and sacrifices. One Normandy survivor who was 6 in 1944 says, “They will always be gods to me.” But also seared into survivors’ memories are Allied bombing raids that pulverized Normandy communities.
June 5, 2024 1:16 pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing has launched astronauts for the first time after years of delays. Two NASA test pilots blasted off aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Wednesday. They’re headed to the International Space Station for a weeklong stay. It was their third launch attempt, coming after a pair of rocket-related delays. Starliner’s first test flight without a crew in 2019 failed to reach the space station, so Boeing had to repeat it. Then the company had to fix a slew of capsule problems. SpaceX has been launching astronauts since 2020, but NASA wants a backup taxi service. (Photo: AP)