July 10, 2023 5:09 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Heavy rain has spawned extreme flooding in New York’s Hudson Valley, killing at least one person and forcing road closures. The flooding comes Sunday night as much of the rest of the Northeast U.S. prepares for a major storm. Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus says rescue teams were attempting to retrieve the body of a woman in her 30s who drowned after being swept away while trying to evacuate her home. Two other people escaped. Officials say the storm has already wrought tens of millions of dollars in damage. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for Orange County just after 9 p.m. Sunday.
July 10, 2023 5:06 am
BRUSSELS (AP) — Nearly 50,000 Russian soldiers have died in the war in Ukraine, according to a new statistical analysis. Moscow has tried to hide the human toll of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, censoring local media and cracking down on activists who document Russia’s expanding cemeteries. Now, two independent Russian media outlets, Mediazona and Meduza, working with a data scientist in Germany, have used Russian government data to shed light on one of Moscow’s closest-held secrets. Using inheritance records and official mortality data, they calculated how many more military-aged men have died since February 2022 than expected. They found that around 47,000 more Russian men under age 50 died between February 2022 and May 2023 than normal.
July 10, 2023 5:05 am
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Russia’s war on Ukraine will top the agenda when U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts meet on Tuesday and Wednesday. The focus will be what to do about Ukraine’s future membership of NATO, and the security guarantees the country might need to ensure that Russia doesn’t invade again after the war is over. The leaders are set to endorse new defense plans should President Vladimir Putin try to broaden Russia’s war beyond Ukraine and westward into allied territory. Sweden’s accession is up for discussion too, as Turkey delays the Nordic country’s entry into the world’s biggest security organization. The leaders will also set a new, higher target for defense spending.
July 10, 2023 5:01 am
PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A man is facing charges after police say he attacked his ex-girlfriend with a hammer. Police say they were called to Thompsonville Road at around 1:45 a.m. on Saturday after a father said he woke up to screaming and found his daughter unresponsive on a garage floor. Court documents say there was a large pool of blood around the woman and bloody footprints that left the garage through a man door. Police also found a hammer near the woman with what appeared to be blood and hair on it. The 26 year old woman was flown by medical helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. She was last reported in critical condition. Officers identified William Oberschelp, 28, as a possible suspect after the victim’s father told them his daughter had just broken up with him and moved home just 10 days earlier. Court documents say that police went to Oberschelp’s apartment in Bethel Park to ask him questions. When he greeted them he allegedly said, “I’m the one you’re looking for.” Oberschelp told police he took an Uber to the house on Thompsonville Road and entered the house through the garage. He said he woke the victim out of her sleep and the two went to the garage where they began arguing. The argument escalated into an assault and Oberschelp allegedly began hitting the woman in the back of the head with a hammer and then kicked her multiple times once she was on the ground. Oberschelp is facing attempted homicide, burglary and aggravated assault charges. The woman’s father says his daughter had been dating Oberschelp for three years and that the two shared an apartment near Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair but his daughter moved back into her parents home when they broke-up approximately ten-days earlier.
July 10, 2023 4:57 am
West Virginia University has responded to Bob Huggins’ claims that he never resigned and will sue if not reinstated. Hoppy Kercheval of MetroNews released the following responses from WVU: “If Mr. Huggins is somehow now maintaining that he did not resign after discussions with his attorney on June 16-17, then we would ask that whoever is taking that position on his behalf to do their due diligence before asserting a position that is clearly contrary to the documented evidence.” “If Mr. Huggins or his counsel attempts to publicly suggest that he somehow did not resign and retire from his position, please be advised that the University will swiftly and aggressively defend itself from these spurious allegations.” “The University will not accept Mr. Huggins’ revocation of his resignation, nor will it reinstate him as head coach of the men’s basketball program.” Huggins’ wife, June, released the resignation letter to WVU on June 17.
July 10, 2023 4:46 am
A man who was missing for four days in Westmoreland County has been found and is being treated in an area hospital. Rostraver Township police say Robert Peresolak, 61, was reported missing by his family on July 5 after not being seen since the morning of July 4. The police department launched a search but was unable to locate him. On July 7, a friend checked a wooded area near the Belle Vernon Cemetery and found Peresolak’s bike and hat. The Greensburg Bloodhound Team was requested to assist. The dog teams tracked Peresolak’s scent to a more specific area of the woods but didn’t find him. The next morning, the police department and the Rostraver Central Fire Department conducted a walking search of the area and found Peresolak. He was severely dehydrated and had to be extricated from the woods. Peresolak was taken to an area hospital for treatment. He is expected to recover, according to the police department.
July 9, 2023 7:20 am
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police say a man on a scooter fired a handgun in a string of random shootings that killed an 87-year-old and wounded three others. Police say the gunman fired at pedestrians in Brooklyn and Queens on Saturday. Assistant Police Chief Joseph Kenny said investigators don’t know his motive. A 25-year-old man, whose identity hasn’t been revealed by police, was taken into custody. In all, police said there were five shootings carried out during the spree. One man was shot in the face and is hospitalized in critical condition. Another is in stable condition. No one was hurt in one of the shootings.
July 9, 2023 7:19 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Republicans say the party’s presidential nominating caucuses will be held Jan. 15, on the federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. That announcement Saturday puts the first votes of the 2024 election a little more than six months away as the GOP tries to reclaim the White House. White House candidates have campaigned in Iowa since last winter, but there has been some uncertainty about the date for the caucuses that have by tradition kicked off the Republican selection process for a nominee. What’s changed is the Democratic National Committee’s election calendar, dropping Iowa as its first contest.
July 9, 2023 7:17 am
LONDON (AP) — A dash of pomp and a dose of politics are on the agenda during President Joe Biden’s stopover visit to the U.K. He’s due to discuss the environment with King Charles III and the war in Ukraine with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Biden flies to London on Sunday on his way to a NATO summit in Lithuania. He is scheduled to hold talks with Sunak at 10 Downing St. on Monday before heading to Windsor Castle to meet Charles. Though it’s not a full state visit, the royal element helps underscore the importance of the trans-Atlantic “special relationship,” which has been tested by Brexit but reinforced by unity over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
July 9, 2023 7:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — NATO leaders have celebrated their unity in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, that will be tested at the alliance’s annual summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, next week. Disagreements have been stacking up over admitting Sweden as NATO’s 32nd member, boosting military spending and finding a new secretary general. In addition, there’s division over how to fulfill a years-old promise to admit Ukraine into NATO. Douglas Lute, who served as U.S. ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama, says “any fissure, any lack of solidarity provides an opportunity for those who would oppose the alliance.” The U.S. announced Friday it will provide Ukraine with the controversial cluster munitions, causing unease among some NATO partners.
