April 20, 2023 4:24 am
LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — Andrew Lester, the 84-year-old white man who shot Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager in Kansas City, pleaded not guilty in his first court appearance Wednesday. Yarl mistakenly went to Lester’s door looking for his younger brothers. Lester walked with a cane in court as he answered charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the shooting, which has attracted presidential attention and renewed national debate about gun policies. Lester remains free after posting 10% of his $200,000 bond. The bond agreement requires him to relinquish any weapons and have no contact with Yarl or his family. He also agreed to have his cellphone monitored.
April 20, 2023 4:22 am
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — A ban on dozens of semi-automatic rifles has cleared the Democratic-controlled Washington state Legislature. Gov. Jay Inslee has pushed for the ban and is expected to sign it into law. It’ll almost certainly be challenged in court. The Legislature approved the bill on Wednesday. The measure would cover more than 50 types of guns, including AR- or AK-style rifles. It bans the future sale, distribution, manufacture and importation of these firearms. The bill will go into effect immediately once it’s signed. Nine other states have passed similar laws. Republican lawmakers in Washington opposed the ban, contending it would not prevent mass shootings.
April 20, 2023 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the next labor secretary, Julie Su, is testifying to the Senate. But key Democrats are unwilling to voice support for her confirmation. It creates uncertainty about her prospects in the narrowly divided Senate. A handful of Democrats have not publicly stated whether they will vote for Su’s nomination ahead of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. She has gotten complaints from business groups. Biden in February picked Su to replace Marty Walsh, the former mayor of Boston, to lead the Department of Labor. Su is a civil rights attorney and the current deputy labor secretary.
April 20, 2023 4:20 am
COLE, Okla. (AP) — Strong storms including tornadoes, winds and hail have moved through parts of the Central U.S., killing at least two people, causing injuries, destroying homes and leaving thousands without power. The National Weather Service began issuing tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings Wednesday evening in Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa with forecasters warning people to find shelter. Central Oklahoma saw multiple tornadoes with one death and several injuries reported in the town of Cole in McClain County. A number of homes and other buildings were badly damaged or destroyed. At its peak, more than 23,000 customers were without electricity in the state. Storms this spring have spawned tornadoes in the South, Midwest and Northeast, killing dozens of people.
April 20, 2023 4:17 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s high court is holding a Republican-majority county in contempt over its commissioners allowing a third party to copy voting-machine data. It was part of a failed effort to locate fraud that might overturn former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat. The state Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday against Fulton County commissioners Stuart Ulsh and Randy Bunch, and their lawyers for their behavior last year. That’s when a special master appointed by the justices was trying to figure out how an outside consultant was allowed to inspect voting machines and copy computer data despite a court order against it. Ulsh says he had no regrets over how he and Bunch handled the machines.
April 20, 2023 4:15 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former Congressman Bud Shuster, an influential Republican who strongly backed transportation projects but once ran afoul of ethics guidelines, has died at 91. A close family friend, Rebekah Sungala, said Shuster died peacefully at his farm Wednesday in Everett, Pennsylvania, surrounded by his family. His son, Bill Shuster, succeeded his father in the southern Pennsylvania seat. Sungala said Shuster died of old age. Congressman John Joyce, who now represents the area, called Shuster a “true legend in the halls of Congress.” Shuster resigned in 2001, right after he was sworn in for his 15th term, because he was losing his committee chairmanship.
April 20, 2023 4:12 am
ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI)- A massive fire tore through part of Elizabeth Forward High School in February. It destroyed the auditorium, music wing and more. After two months of remote learning, teachers and students returned to the building earlier this month, and now, teachers tell our news partners at Channel 11 that people keep getting sick. “A whole lot of health problems from our staff and students since we’ve been back,” ninth-grade teacher and union vice president Justin Plansinis said. “The district has done testing and we don’t dispute the tests they’ve done so far have been accurate, but what we’re concerned about is that people are still feeling unwell, so whatever is doing that is not coming through on their tests.” It’s unclear what’s causing the illnesses, but Plansinis thinks it has something to do with cleaning products and a lack of ventilation. He says teachers sent a letter to the school board last week and received a reply reiterating that testing has come back clean. He says the right thing to do would be to shut back down temporarily.
April 20, 2023 4:07 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — (WPXI) – A man is recovering in the hospital after he was hit by a vehicle at an intersection many people say is dangerous for pedestrians. “I just want him home,” said Paulette Boyer, the man’s fiancée. Paulette Boyer’s fiancée is in the ICU at UPMC Presby after he was hit by a car crossing Jefferson Avenue in Washington. She says the intersection is one people commonly worry about crossing. “I was worried about crossing the street myself! He was worried about me getting hit and I was worried about him getting hit and I said ‘Be careful crossing that street’ and he got hit,” said Boyer. There is a button on the intersection for pedestrians to press for crossing but there are no actual painted lines to show a crosswalk as cars come flying off the interstate. Workers in the area say they are too afraid to cross. A young woman was hit by a car at the same spot less than a year ago. The city of Washington and PennDOT have been working on changes for several years, trying to improve it but people are asking for more. They want to see sidewalks and proper crosswalks.
April 20, 2023 4:02 am
The Ringgold School Board met Wednesday night and received a draft presentation on their Strategic Improvement Plan. Dr. Wanda Creel made the presentation via Zoom. She outlined just how the plan is constructed, who was involved and where the plan is in its development. Creel indicated that the plan is built on four pillars of student well being, employee involvement, family and community input and organizational input. The study gathered its data from surveys from students, parents and employees. Also involved were a steering committee and a focus group of 203 people. The plan is in its final stages of formation. Students are currently finishing up surveys so that data from this year can be compared to last year’s student surveys. The final product will be presented at the May 17 school board meeting and once accepted, will be available to the public on the district’s website.
April 19, 2023 5:19 pm
(AP) – Anyone in the U.S. who has had a Facebook account at any time since May 24, 2007, can now apply for their share of a $725 million privacy settlement that parent company Meta has agreed to pay. Meta is paying to settle a lawsuit alleging the world’s largest social media platform allowed millions of its users’ personal information to be fed to Cambridge Analytica. That’s a firm that supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. It’s not clear how much money individual users will receive. To apply for the settlement, users can fill out a form and submit it online or print it out and mail it.
