March 7, 2024 4:53 am
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama has a new law protecting in vitro fertilization providers from legal liability. Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation Wednesday that shields IVF providers from possible lawsuits and criminal prosecutions stemming from a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children. Three major IVF providers paused services after the state Supreme Court ruled last month that three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits. The ruling raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics and prompted an outcry from patients and other groups.
March 6, 2024 2:13 am
(WPXI) – NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy testified to Congress Wednesday that a controlled burn and explosion weren’t necessary after a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio in February 2023. Homendy was questioned by Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) in front of a senate committee. Vance asked Homendy if the Norfolk Southern contractors at the scene lacked a scientific basis when a decision was made on the controlled explosion. “Yes. In fact, they were informed by Oxy Vinyls of the information that should have been taken by the contractors in their decision-making,” Homendy said. “But yes, they did not have that. They lacked the scientific background to address that.” Homendy confirmed that ground crews were told to decide in 13 minutes on the controlled explosion, and no other opinions were offered. Homendy also testified that there was an option to let the chemicals cool down. “This town very well may have been poisoned to facilitate the rapid movement of freight, or at the very least, it was poisoned for reasons that we can’t identify,” Vance said. “That should really concern every single person on this committee.”
March 7, 2024 5:27 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sweden has formally joined NATO as the 32nd member of the transatlantic military alliance, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality and centuries of broader non-alignment. Sweden’s membership comes as concerns about Russian aggression in Europe have spiked following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided at a Washington ceremony Thursday when the “instrument of accession” for Sweden to join NATO was deposited at the State Department. Sweden and Finland both abandoned long-standing neutrality that had been a hallmark of the Nordic states’ Cold War foreign policy after Russia invaded Ukraine. Finland joined NATO last year.
March 7, 2024 4:50 am
Egyptian officials said Thursday that negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza are at an impasse as Hamas insists on a process to end to the war. After nearly five months of war, much of Gaza is in ruins, and international pressure is growing for Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would halt the fighting and release the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been trying to broker an agreement that would stop the fighting for six weeks, and include the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
March 7, 2024 5:25 pm
(AP) – Officials in Texas say power lines ignited deadly wildfires across the state’s Panhandle region that destroyed homes and livestock and left a charred landscape last week. Texas A&M Forest Service said Thursday that investigators concluded power lines ignited the Smokehouse Creek and Windy Deuce fires. Xcel Energy also said Thursday in a news release that its equipment appeared to have played a role in the starting of the Smokehouse Creek fire. That blaze has burned nearly 1,700 square miles and spilled into neighboring Oklahoma. It was 74% contained as of Thursday. Xcel Energy disputes claims of negligence in maintaining and operating infrastructure.
March 7, 2024 4:55 am
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The trial against an armorer in a fatal shooting on the set of the Western movie “Rust” has given Alec Baldwin’s team a window into how his own trial could unfold. A New Mexico jury convicted Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter in cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ death in October 2021. Alec Baldwin had pointed a gun at Hutchins, and it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin factored prominently into 10 days days of testimony in Gutierrez-Reed’s trial. He has pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge. His trial is scheduled to begin in July.
March 6, 2024 12:37 pm
(WPXI) – A Delta flight heading to Dallas diverted to Pittsburgh International Airport Wednesday morning. Delta flight 534 from LaGuardia to Dallas/Ft. Worth reported a mechanical issue and diverted to Pittsburgh at around 10 a.m. Delta Airlines told our news partners at Channel 11 that the plane had a performance issue with one of its jet engines. The plane landed safely and taxied to the gate, officials from PIT said. Two pilots, three flight attendants and 64 passengers were on board. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people and we apologize to our customers for the delay in their travels,” Delta said in a statement to Channel 11. Delta teams worked to get customers to their final destinations as quickly as possible, the airline said.
March 6, 2024 6:41 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Nikki Haley will suspend her presidential campaign. That’s according to three people with direct knowledge of her decision. The decision by the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador on Wednesday will leave Donald Trump as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination. Haley was Trump’s first GOP challenger and the only woman in the race. Haley argued that she was a fresh alternative to the former president and that it was time to move past the “chaos” of the Trump era. Haley’s candidacy was slow to attract support. But Haley ultimately outlasted other high-profile candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.
March 6, 2024 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, have dominated coast-to-coast contests on Super Tuesday. They have all but cemented a November rematch and increased pressure on the former president’s last major rival, Nikki Haley, to leave the Republican race. Their victories from coast to coast, including the delegate-rich states of California and Texas, left little doubt about the trajectory of the race. Haley won Vermont, denying Trump a full sweep. But the former president carried other states that might have been favorable to her such as Virginia, Massachusetts and Maine, which have large swaths of moderate voters like those who have backed her in previous primaries.
March 5, 2024 2:25 am
(WPXI) – Two more wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against a local healthcare facility – after a nurse allegedly killed two patients and hurt nearly a dozen more with intentional doses of insulin. Forty-one-year-old Heather Pressdee is facing dozens of charges for allegedly administering lethal doses of insulin to 19 additional patients at five different care facilities over a three year period. The wrongful death lawsuits were filed against Guardian Healthcare and its facility – Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center. They were filed on behalf of the families of Jack Allen Rogers and Norman Paul Hendrickson and claim their deaths were directly caused by Pressdee, who was the facility’s former Assistant Director of Nursing.
