August 19, 2024 4:59 am
HENRY CLAY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A homeowner who shot a burglary suspect in Fayette County will not face any charges, District Attorney Michael Aubele announced Monday. Aubele said his office determined the homeowner’s actions were “appropriate” and have cleared him of any wrongdoings. Just before midnight on Saturday, police were called to a home on Mae West Road in Henry Clay Township for a burglary in progress. During the burglary, the homeowner retrieved a gun and confronted the intruder, who PSP identifies as David Luczak, 62, of Cleveland. PSP said when Luczak didn’t leave after being approached by the homeowner, the homeowner fired the gun several times. Luczak was struck twice in the face and was treated on scene by troopers and medics, then life-flighted to a hospital. He was last listed in stable condition. Aubele said his office, along with state police, reviewed several pieces of evidence including witness statements and surveillance footage. The DA’s office also considered the remote location of the home and Luczak’s criminal history, which includes involvement in a 2013 homicide in Cleveland. “Most importantly, we acknowledge the absolute right of every citizen to make reasonable, split-second decisions to use deadly force to defend themselves and others,” Aubele said in a press release. Luczak is facing several charges including burglary and remains in the hospital.
August 19, 2024 4:52 am
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — As Democrats kick off their convention in Chicago, Donald Trump’s campaign is trying to regain its footing after spending the last several weeks flailing to adjust to the new reality of Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket. Trump had appeared in denial of the reality of Harris’ rise, lashing out angrily as he claimed the large crowds she’s been drawing were generated by artificial intelligence and making racist attacks questioning her identity. The outbursts alarmed allies, who worried Trump was damaging his chance in what they believe is an eminently winnable race.
August 19, 2024 4:50 am
ROCHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz gave pep talks to campaign volunteers and a high school football team Sunday. Their bus tour in a corner of Pennsylvania is serving as a modest, small-town version of the grand rally she’s expected to have at the Democratic nominating convention in Chicago this week. Vice President Harris and Walz, the governor of Minnesota, visited volunteers at a campaign office not far from Pittsburgh before continuing on to a firehouse and a high school in another town. The tour, in a bright blue bus bearing the candidates’ names and the phrase “A new way forward,” also included pilgrimages to a convenience store and a restaurant known for its towering sandwiches.
August 19, 2024 4:46 am
CHARLEROI, Pa. — A man was stabbed in Charleroi Sunday. Washington County dispatchers said emergency crews were called to the 500 block of Washington Avenue at 7:05 p.m. First responders found a man who had been stabbed in the back. The victim was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital, dispatchers said. There’s currently no word on his condition. Dispatchers also said that the suspect was taken into custody.
August 18, 2024 8:21 am
(AP) – Even with the storm hundreds of miles offshore, Hurricane Ernesto was still being felt Saturday along much of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, with dangerous rip currents forcing public beaches to close during one of the final busy weekends of the summer season. The storm’s high surf and swells also contributed to coastal damage, including the collapse of an unoccupied beach house into the water along North Carolina’s narrow barrier islands. Hurricane specialist Philippe Papin from the National Hurricane Center said Ernesto, which made landfall on the tiny British Atlantic territory of Bermuda early Saturday, was a “pretty large” hurricane with a “large footprint of seas and waves” affecting the central Florida Atlantic coastline all the way north to Long Island in New York. “That whole entire region in the eastern U.S. coastline are expecting to have high seas and significant rip current threats along the coast,” Papin said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes rip currents as “powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water” that move at speeds of up to 8 feet (2.44 meters) per second.
August 18, 2024 8:19 am
9ap) – Former U.S. Rep. George Santos is expected to plead guilty to multiple counts in his federal fraud case, according to a person familiar with the matter. Santos, a Republican from New York, is expected to enter the plea at a court hearing planned for Monday on Long Island, the person said. The person could not publicly discuss details of the plea and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Messages were left seeking comment from Santos and three lawyers representing the former congressman. The court hearing was scheduled for Monday afternoon after prosecutors and Santos’ lawyers jointly requested one on Friday. They also sought and received a delay in certain pre-trial deadlines. The news comes just weeks before jury selection was set to begin on Sept. 9. Santos has previously pleaded not guilty to a range of financial crimes, including lying to Congress about his wealth, collecting unemployment benefits while actually working and using campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses such as designer clothing. (Photo: AP)
August 18, 2024 8:17 am
ATLANTA (AP) — Delta Air Lines said Friday it is reviewing how a man who allegedly followed a family around the terminal then boarded the family’s plane earlier this month without a ticket for the flight. The incident happened at Washington Dulles International Airport. “Delta has processes in place for gate agents and flight crews to verify that individuals onboard aircraft prior to departure are customers that are booked on that particular flight,” the airline said in a statement. “Delta is reviewing the matter in question internally and has been in touch with airport authorities in conjunction with this review.” Lauren Benton told ABC News that she noticed a man who appeared to be following herself, her husband and their two young children inside the terminal, even into a women’s restroom. She said when they boarded the plane, the man followed and sat down in their row. Benton said her husband confronted the man, and a flight attendant asked to see his boarding pass, which he was unable to produce. The man was removed from the plane. According to the Transportation Security Administration, he had a valid ID and boarding pass for a later flight, explaining how he got past the checkpoint.
August 18, 2024 8:13 am
CHICAGO (AP) — Thousands of activists are expected to converge in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, hoping to call attention to abortion rights, economic justice and the war in Gaza. While Vice President Kamala Harris has energized crowds of supporters as she prepares to accept the Democratic nomination at the event this week, progressive activists maintain their mission remains the same. Activists say they have learned lessons from last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and are predicting bigger crowds and more robust demonstrations in Chicago, a city with deep social activism roots.
August 18, 2024 8:12 am
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly swerved from a message focused on the economy into non-sequiturs and personal attacks, including thrice declaring that he was better looking than Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump, on Saturday, wound back and forth between hitting his points on economic policy and delivering a smattering of insults and impressions of President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron at a rally in northeastern Pennsylvania. Trump’s rally was in a swath of the pivotal battleground state where he hopes conservative, white working-class voters near Biden’s hometown will boost the Republican’s chances of winning back the White House.
August 18, 2024 8:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz will campaign by bus in southwestern Pennsylvania on Sunday, hoping to ride the wave of enthusiasm her candidacy has brought to the presidential race to their party’s nominating convention in Chicago this week. Vice President Harris and Walz, the governor of Minnesota, will be joined by their spouses, Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz, as they get on and off the bus in the Pittsburgh area to glad-hand with voters. Harris and Emhoff were scheduled to deliver remarks at an event in the borough of Rochester, in Beaver County, which Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, won in 2020, though he lost the general election to Democrat Joe Biden. Southwestern Pennsylvania is a critical part of a key battleground state that has long commanded the attention of presidential candidates. The state voted for the Republican presidential candidate in 2016 and for the Democratic candidate in 2020. Both Harris and Trump are vying to see who can put Pennsylvania in their column on Nov. 5th. (Photo: AP)
