March 4, 2024 5:04 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – University of Pittsburgh Police and Pittsburgh Police are investigating an early morning sexual assault near campus. In a crime alert issued Sunday morning, Pitt Police say a woman was sexually assaulted around 2:10 a.m. on Melwood Avenue between Centre Avenue and Bayard Street. Pittsburgh Police say the woman had just gotten off a PRT bus and was walking to her apartment while on the phone when a man came up behind her, said he had a weapon and told her to stop talking on the phone. He then assaulted her in an alley, threatened to kill her and punched her in the eye. The woman told police she saw a knife during the assault and that the man stole her phone. She was able to call 911 after he got “scared off” and ran. Both departments describe the suspect as a man who is approximately 30-40 years of age, has a thin build and stands about 5 feet, 6 inches tall or, 5 feet, 7 inches tall. The man was last seen wearing a long-sleeve black shirt, cargo pants and a ski mask. Anyone with information about this incident should call Pittsburgh Police’s Special Victims Unit at 412-323-7141, Pitt Police at 412-624-2121 and reference report #24-00770, or 911.
March 4, 2024 1:51 pm
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — Norfolk Southern crews and contractors are working on cleanup and track repair after a collision and derailment in eastern Pennsylvania over the weekend. The derailment involved three trains that left some railroad cars scattered along a riverbank and at least one partially in the river. Officials in Northampton County say the derailment happened at 7:15 a.m. Saturday in Lower Saucon Township along the Lehigh River. It caused no reported injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board says one train hit a stopped train and a third hit wreckage from that crash. Norfolk Southern says cars from two of the trains derailed. The safety board is still gathering information at the scene. (Photo: AP)
March 4, 2024 5:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A poll finds that a growing share of U.S. adults doubt that 81-year-old President Joe Biden has the memory and acuity for the job. That means Biden’s coming State of the Union address could be something of a real-time audition as he bids for a second term. According to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 63% of U.S. adults say they lack confidence in Biden’s mental capability to serve effectively as president. That’s a slight increase from January 2022, when half of those polled expressed similar concerns. Nearly 6 in 10 also think Republican frontrunner Donald Trump lacks the mental capability to serve.
March 4, 2024 5:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nikki Haley has won the District of Columbia’s Republican primary. It’s her first victory over Donald Trump in the GOP primary race. The Associated Press declared Haley the winner Sunday night after D.C. Republican Party officials released the vote totals. Her victory halts the former president’s sweep of the GOP voting contests at least temporarily, though Trump remains the race’s dominant front-runner. There are only about 23,000 registered Republicans in the nation’s capital, which is heavily Democratic.
March 4, 2024 5:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and other top White House officials hosted a member of Israel’s wartime Cabinet who is visiting Washington in defiance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Benny Gantz, a centrist political rival of Netanyahu, sat down with several senior Biden administration officials. Among them were Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser. President Joe Biden is at Camp David, the presidential retreat just outside Washington, until Tuesday. An official from Netanyahu’s nationalist Likud party said Gantz did not have approval from the prime minister for his meetings in Washington.
March 4, 2024 4:10 pm
(AP) – JetBlue and Spirit Airlines are ending their proposed $3.8 billion merger after a federal judge blocked the deal, ruling it would hurt competition. JetBlue said Monday that even though both companies still believe in the benefits of a combination, they felt they were unlikely to meet the required closing conditions before a July 24 deadline. The airlines say they are mutually agreeing that terminating the deal is the best decision for both. A merger would have eliminated Spirit, the nation’s biggest discount airline. The Justice Department sued to block the deal and won in court.
March 3, 2024 8:20 am
STINNETT, Texas (AP) — Firefighters battling the largest wildfire in Texas history face increasingly difficult weather conditions and are focused on containing the northern and eastern perimeter of the fire while protecting life and property. Spokesperson Jason Nedlo with the team of firefighters said Saturday 15% of the 1,700 square mile fire is contained. The National Weather Service that says warm temperatures, strong winds and low humidity are expected Saturday and Sunday. The Smokehouse Creek Fire that began Monday in the Texas Panhandle has killed at least two people, left a charred landscape, dead cattle and destroyed as many as 500 structures, including burned-out homes. The fire has also crossed the state line into western Oklahoma.
March 3, 2024 8:05 am
(WPXI) – One person was taken to a hospital after a fire in Fayette County. Firefighters say they were called to Brashear Street in Brownsville at around 8:35 p.m. on Saturday. Fire Chief Richard Black said one person was rescued from the building. They were taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. State police are investigating the cause of the fire.
March 3, 2024 7:00 am
CALIFORNIA, Pa. — (WPXI) – A man was flown to a local hospital after jumping from a window when a fire broke out in California Borough. Crews responded to California Manor along Second Street around 6:30 p.m. Friday. Fire officials told Channel 11 that firefighters were in the room when the man jumped out, but the smoke was too thick and they couldn’t hear him. A firefighter was taken to a nearby hospital with breathing trouble. In total, 30 residents are displaced after the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
March 2, 2024 7:00 am
An Elco man has been sentenced on his conviction on several child sexual assault crimes. Jerome Stewart, 40 will spend the next 69-138 years in prison. Stewart was convicted of child rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated assault felonies and other charges that dated back to 2009. It took a jury 90 minutes to deliver the verdict back in November of 2023. Stewart has 5 other outstanding cases waiting to be settled.
