November 21, 2024 2:51 am
(WPXI) – An Indiana County man was found to have a loaded handgun in his carry-on bag at Pittsburgh International Airport Wednesday morning. Transportation Security Administration officials said TSA officers intercepted the loaded .380 caliber handgun in the checkpoint lane. “This individual claimed that he had no idea how the firearm got into his bag,” said Donald Weston, TSA’s Acting Federal Security Director. “What that tells us is that this individual is careless with how he handles his firearm. Loaded guns are deadly weapons and if you own a firearm, you need to know where it is at all times. That’s part of being a responsible gun owner. One of the main reasons we are here at a checkpoint is to help ensure that weapons are not carried onto flights. So don’t come to the airport expecting to carry your gun through the checkpoint. If you must travel with your firearm, the proper way to do it is to make sure it’s unloaded, packed in a hard-sided locked case and taken to the airline check-in counter. The airline will ensure it is transported in the belly of the aircraft.”
November 20, 2024 5:43 pm
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A parole board in South Carolina has ruled unanimously that Susan Smith should remain in prison 30 years after she was convicted of rolling her car into a lake and drowning her two young sons. The 53-year-old Smith appeared before the board for the first time Wednesday and said God has forgiven her. Then her ex-husband and father of the children she killed argued along with prosecutors and his relatives that she should remain incarcerated. Prosecutors say Smith killed her 3-year-old and 14-month-old sons because she thought they were the reason a wealthy man broke up with her.
November 20, 2024 5:43 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on the House Ethics Committee voted Wednesday against releasing a report on their long-running investigation into President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz. That’s according to the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania. She said the ethics panel, which is evenly split between the two parties, voted at a lengthy closed-door meeting, and no Republican joined Democrats who wanted to release the report. Gaetz met for hours behind closed doors Wednesday with Republican senators who have questions about the sexual misconduct and other allegations against him. At least one Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham, decried the “lynch mob” forming against Gaetz. (Photo: AP)
November 20, 2024 5:40 pm
A severe storm system made its way through Washington, Allegheny, Westmoreland and Beaver counties Wednesday afternoon, causing massive power outages, down trees and other minor damages in its wake. At the height of the storm, which included a severe thunderstorm warning for Washington County and a tornado warning for Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, more than thirty-eight-hundred West Penn Power customers were without power in Washington County and over seventeen-thousand were left in the dark in Allegheny County. Crews were called out, but warned that the outages could rise as the winds continue to knock down trees and wires. There were no reported injuries.
November 20, 2024 12:43 pm
(WPXI) – Former late-night television host Jay Leno was injured when he fell down a hillside before a show in Greensburg last week. The Today Show reports that the former host of the “Tonight Show” arrived at his latest comedy show with an eye patch, broken wrist and bruised face. Leno said he was staying at a Hampton Inn about 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh when he wanted to have dinner at a local restaurant before his show. He decided to take a shortcut down a hillside and fell about 60 feet. Leno said he “hit a bunch of rocks,” which resulted in him being “all black and blue.” Leno said that one of the rocks hit him in the eye, which is why he needed the eye patch, and he also lost a nail on his finger. Leno performed at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg just three hours later. (Photo: AP)
November 20, 2024 12:33 pm
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — A Venezuelan man has been convicted of murder in the killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. Jose Ibarra was charged with murder and other crimes in Riley’s February death, and the guilty verdict was reached Wednesday by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard. Ibarra had waived his right to a jury trial, meaning that Haggard alone heard and decided the case. The killing added fuel to the national debate over immigration when federal authorities said Ibarra illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case. (Photo: AP)
November 20, 2024 10:24 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. defense chief says the Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied antipersonnel land mines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield progress in the war. It is Washington’s second major policy shift in a week after its decision to let Ukraine strike targets on Russian soil with U.S.-made missiles. The war, which reached its 1,000-day milestone on Tuesday, has largely been going Russia’s way in recent months. Russia’s bigger army is slowly pushing Ukraine’s outnumbered army backward in the eastern Donetsk region, while Ukrainian civilians have repeatedly been clobbered by Russian drones and missiles often fired from inside Russia. The U.S. and some other Western embassies in Kyiv stayed closed Wednesday after a threat of a major Russian aerial attack.
November 20, 2024 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on the House Ethics Committee voted Wednesday against releasing a report on their long-running investigation into President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz. That’s according to the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania. She said the ethics panel, which is evenly split between the two parties, voted at a lengthy closed-door meeting, and no Republican joined Democrats who wanted to release the report. The panel will meet again Dec. 5. Meanwhile, Gaetz met for hours behind closed doors Wednesday with Republican senators who have questions about the sexual misconduct and other allegations against him. At least one Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham, decried the “lynch mob” forming against Gaetz.
November 20, 2024 5:00 am
Vigils and other events are being held to draw attention to transgender people who have lost their lives due to violence in the past year. Wednesday marked Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is held every Nov. 20. The Human Rights Campaign says at least 36 transgender people have been killed by violence over the past 12 months. That number is likely higher because of deaths not being reported, misreported or because the victims are misgendered. This year’s events follow an election where transgender people were the focus of a costly barrage of attack ads by Republicans.
November 20, 2024 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is clearly prizing experience on television as he chooses people to serve in his new administration. Trump likes what he calls that “central casting” look. His choices for defense secretary and transportation chief — Pete Hegseth and Sean Duffy — have both had shows on Trump’s favorite network, Fox News. Duffy is a former lawmaker and also was a cast member on MTV’s “The Real World.” Trump has tapped Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former syndicated talk show host and heart surgeon, to head the agency that oversees health insurance programs for millions of older, poor and disabled Americans.
