June 8, 2023 6:06 pm
A Monongahela man pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges relating to his taking of a car in California in March of this year. Antwane Cunningham, 30 was on parole and probation for 4 previous violations. On March 1, Cunningham allegedly took a car from a convenience store parking lot in California. He led police on a high speed chase along Rt. 88 before he crashed the car in Speers. Cunningham pleaded guilty to felony flight to elude an officer and theft of a moveable object. He also pleaded to a misdemeanor DUI charge. Cunningham will spend the next 3-6 years in state prison, all of the probation and parole sentences from the 4 previous incidents were revoked and will be served concurrently with the state sentence.
June 8, 2023 6:05 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is giving whiskey maker Jack Daniel’s a reason to raise a glass. The justices on Thursday handed the company a new chance to win a trademark dispute with the makers of a dog toy that mimics the whiskey’s signature bottle. The justices unanimously said a lower court’s reasoning was flawed when it ruled for the makers of the Bad Spaniels toy. The court did not decide whether the toy’s maker had violated trademark law with their toy, which squeaks and resembles the whiskey’s signature bottle. Instead, the justices said a lower court needed to redo its analysis in the case and sent it back for further review.
June 8, 2023 12:22 pm
Three longtime administrators in Washington County have announced plans to resign at the end of June. Michael Namie, who currently serves as the chief of staff for the county commissioners, Finance Director Josh Hatfield and Human Services Director Kimberly Rogers say they will be leaving their current positions as of June 30th. Each director gave a different reason for their decision with the exception of Namie. Namie, who had served as the county’s controller for several years declined to offer a reason for his departure. Hatfield says he is leaving to accept a new job, but declined to say where he would be working. As for Rogers, she says she and her husband have purchased a home in West Virginia and they are planning to retire there. Washington County Commission Chairperson Diana Irey-Vaughan though, says she believes the mass resignations stem from political infighting between the elected row officers and other county officials, along with the uncertainty about who will be in charges of the board of commissioners next year following the November general election. Irey-Vaughan is also leaving her position. She announced earlier this year that she would also be retiring when her term ends in January.
June 8, 2023 8:48 am
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) – Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson has died. He had an enormous impact on American politics and religion. Robertson turned a tiny Virginia television station into the far-reaching Christian Broadcasting Network, where he hosted the flagship “700 Club” show for half a century. Robertson ran for president as a Republican in 1988, and from that experience founded the Christian Coalition, which helped cement the Republican Party’s enduring alliance with evangelical voters. Robertson also drew attention for his televised pronouncements of God’s judgment on America for everything from homosexuality to teaching evolution. Robertson died Thursday at the age of 93.
June 8, 2023 5:15 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The Republican Party’s 2024 presidential field is all but set after a trio of new announcements this week. There are at least 10 high-profile Republican candidates officially seeking their party’s nomination. And with the announcement phase of the primary campaign largely over, several leading Republican contenders will gather in North Carolina this weekend to begin a more aggressive sorting period. It will be a long road to the GOP’s national convention in Milwaukee next summer and surprises are guaranteed. But as of now, most Republican White House hopefuls are looking up at former President Donald Trump, who is the undisputed front-runner in the crowded contest.
June 8, 2023 5:12 am
KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in the flood-hit region of Kherson to evaluate response to damage caused by a dam breach. The Ukrainian leader wrote on his Telegram account that he was helping assess efforts to evacuate civilians, provide them with drinking water and other support, and try to stanch vast environmental damage. Meanwhile, the Kremlin-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, a Russian-occupied town 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the collapsed Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric plant, reported on Russian state TV Thursday that five of seven local residents who had been declared missing following the dam breach have died. The two remaining people have been found and efforts were being made to evacuate them, Vladimir Leontyev added.
June 8, 2023 5:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump in Florida has heard from at least one additional witness Wednesday amid signs that the Justice Department is moving toward a possible indictment over the former president’s mishandling of classified documents. Over the last week, Trump’s lawyers have met with Justice Department officials to argue against an indictment, while Trump has issued a series of social media posts suggesting he was anticipating being charged. A former top aide appeared Wednesday before a grand jury in Miami — an indication, legal experts say, that prosecutors have settled on Florida, not Washington, as the appropriate venue for charges.
June 8, 2023 5:10 am
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has spent a good first night in the hospital following a three-hour operation to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair a hernia in his abdominal wall. Doctors say Wednesday’s operation was successful and there were no complications or other pathologies discovered. Francis was even joking with his surgeon. The pontiff is expected to remain in the 10th floor papal suite at the Gemelli hospital for several days, and all papal audiences were canceled through June 18. The Vatican is expected to provide a medical update later Thursday. Experts who didn’t participate in the surgery said the key issues going forward will be pain management and ensuring the wound heals.
June 8, 2023 5:06 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A proposal to allocate $100 million in federal funds to pay for adult mental health programs easily passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The measure was developed with guidance from a state commission charged with making recommendations for coordinated care. The bill passed 173-30 on Wednesday and goes to the Senate. Funding of the American Rescue Plan Act would bolster the behavioral health industry’s workforce, improve the criminal justice and public safety systems and expand access to support. Other bills eyeing mental health are also in the works, including proposals to support children’s mental health in schools and ongoing funding for a suicide prevention hotline.
June 8, 2023 5:04 am
NEW YORK (AP) — With weather systems expected to hardly budge, the smoky blanket billowing across the U.S. and Canada from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia should persist into Thursday and possibly the weekend. That means at least another day, or more, of a dystopian-style detour that’s chased players from ballfields, actors from Broadway stages, delayed thousands of flights, and sparked a resurgence in mask wearing and remote work — all while raising concerns about the health effects of prolonged exposure to such bad air. U.S. National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Ramsey says the weather system that’s driving the great Canadian-American smoke out “will probably be hanging around at least for the next few days.”
