July 11, 2024 5:11 am
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors sought to cast Alec Baldwin as someone who flouts rules and has little regard for safety at the first day of his New Mexico trial in the shooting of a cinematographer. Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson repeatedly referred to Baldwin playing “make-believe” with a revolver on the set of the film “Rust.” She said it led to very real danger and the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin’s attorney, Alex Spiro, told jurors that the actor did only what actors always do — act like the characters they’re playing. He called the death an “unspeakable tragedy,” but said Baldwin had committed no crime.
July 10, 2024 4:45 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Michael Brackman walked out of his preliminary hearing Tuesday afternoon denying he terrorized young girls with his drone for a year. Canonsburg police arrested Brackman after they say he used a drone at least 120 times to stalk girls, following them when they left their houses, jumping on trampolines, at a lemonade stand or the playground. Officers said it started when he began stalking a 13-year-old girl with his drone 80 to 90 times, many times within 10 feet of her. That victim testified saying the drone was following her almost every time she went outside. Her family moved because of it. Two other underage victims testified they saw the drone hovering right outside their bedroom window. The victims said they felt uncomfortable, calling it scary and terrifying. Officers said more victims and their parents came to the police station with sexual notes that they say Brackman left for their child on their porch as well as flyers he allegedly put up around the neighborhood with actual photos police said he took of kids with his drone. Brackman’s attorney said flying the drone was his hobby. ”It was a hobby of his. He was on house arrest. Couldn’t go out so he was flying the drone,” said attorney Bruce Carsia. “They weren’t really being harassed and he was legally flying his drone.” All charges were held for court. Brackman remains in the Washington County jail.
July 9, 2024 2:53 am
State Police say a tractor-trailer traveling east on Interstate 70 near the Bentleyville Exit Tuesday afternoon created a traffic nightmare for motorists. The truck lost some of its load of coils, creating a miles-long back-up of traffic. There’s been no word on whether there were any injuries or how the coils came loose, but crews were called in to clear the scene. Traffic was able to get around the area, but very slowly.
July 9, 2024 2:37 am
Attorneys for Washington County election officials and the ACLU were in court Tuesday for the first of several hearings regarding mail-in ballot curing. Vic Walczak is the attorney for the ACLU, he is representing seven county voters, the Center for Coalfield Justice and the Washington branch of the NAACP, who say their votes were not counted in the primary election due to minor errors on their mail-in ballots. Representing the county are special prosecutor David Berardinelli and RNC and PA GOP representative Kathleen Gallagher. With a tight deadline due to the November general election, Judge Neuman set a timeline for late July for the two sides to agree on a date to begin arguments with an aspirational goal of mid-August for a final decision.
July 9, 2024 4:51 am
PITTSBURGH — TSA officers stopped two grenades from getting on a plane at Pittsburgh International Airport. A TSA spokesperson said the two inert grenades were removed from a checked bag on Tuesday morning. The traveler told officials that his friend said he could take them on a plane, but the TSA spokesperson says grenades — live or inert — cannot fly.
July 10, 2024 4:57 am
HOUSTON (AP) — The return of soaring heat in Houston is deepening the misery for people still without power after Hurricane Beryl crashed into Texas and left residents in search of places to cool off and fuel up as the extended outages strain one of the nation’s largest cities. Officials say restoring power is the No. 1 priority. Nevertheless, frustration is mounting that Houston appeared to buckle under a storm less powerful than previous ones. State officials are facing questions over whether Houston’s power utility had sufficiently prepared for the storm that made landfall early Monday.
July 10, 2024 4:55 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Used to shrugging off the heat, Las Vegas residents are now eyeing the thermometer. The desert city is on track Wednesday to set a record for the fifth consecutive day over 115 degrees amid a lingering hot spell that will continue scorching much of the U.S. into the weekend. A meteorologist says Nevada’s largest city is experiencing the most extreme heat wave in the history of record-keeping since 1937. More than 161 million people around the U.S. were under heat alerts Tuesday, especially in Western states. The heat is suspected to have caused six deaths in Oregon.
July 10, 2024 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s imperiled reelection campaign is hitting new trouble. Rather than urging him to stay in, on Wednesday Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said “it’s up to the president to decide” if he should. Celebrity donor George Clooney said he should not run, and Democratic senators expressed fresh fear about his ability to beat Republican Donald Trump. It all shows how unsettled the questions over Biden’s candidacy remain among Democrats, despite Biden’s insistence he is staying in the race. Pelosi has been widely watched for signals of how top Democrats are thinking about Biden’s candidacy. And Clooney’s portrayal of Biden as “the same man we all witnessed at the debate” shows the depth of concerns.
July 9, 2024 5:00 am
MIAMI (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is reveling in the mounting turmoil surrounding President Joe Biden’s campaign. He returned to the campaign trail Tuesday after days spent lying low and letting Democratic infighting play out in public. Trump held a rally at his golf course in Doral, Florida. He repeatedly teased his upcoming announcement of a vice presidential pick with one of the top contenders, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, in the crowd. And he suggested without evidence that first lady Jill Biden and the president’s son Hunter were controlling the White House. Biden’s campaign fired back by saying the president didn’t have time for Trump’s “weird antics.”
July 10, 2024 5:54 pm
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A defense attorney says that Alec Baldwin’s shooting of a cinematographer was “an unspeakable tragedy,” but that he “committed no crime, he was an actor, acting.” Baldwin’s attorney Alex Spiro gave the opening statement Wednesday at his involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico. Prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson told jurors Baldwin “violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety” in her opening. The trial will delve into the confluence of gun safety, high-wattage celebrity and a low-budget Western movie on a remote movie ranch. Baldwin was the lead actor and co-producer on “Rust.” He has pleaded not guilty and says he followed instructions in pointing the gun and didn’t pull the trigger.
