December 8, 2022 3:27 am
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WPXI)– A loaded gun was found in a West Virginia man’s luggage at Pittsburgh International Airport. According to a news release, this was the second gun found at the security checkpoint on Wednesday. The guns found mark the 25th and 26th guns found at the airport so far in 2022. Officials said an antique .22-caliber handgun loaded with six bullets was found in the front pocket of a laptop bag that belonged to a man from Clarksburg, West Virginia. The man told officials that the gun belonged to his wife’s grandmother, and he did not know that he had it with him or how it ended up in his bag. The gun was confiscated by Allegheny County police. The incidents were not related.
December 8, 2022 3:21 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania government panel is considering adding extensive definitions of sex, religious creed and race to nondiscrimination regulations. The proposal being voted on Thursday is a change some Republican lawmakers see as an overreach on a subject they think should not be addressed without legislation. It would clarify and enshrine into writing a set of definitions regarding the types of employment, housing, education and public accommodations discrimination complaints that can be brought before the Human Relations Commission. Advocacy groups say greater clarity about the terms sex, religious creed and race would be helpful and a step forward.
December 8, 2022 1:36 am
A Monongahela man accused of holding a woman against her will and potentially offering her out for prostitution had his preliminary hearing on Wednesday. Nikolaus Breland, 32 appeared via video facing charges of promoting prostitution, sexual assault and false imprisonment among others. He is accused of holding an 18 year old victim against her will in a boarded up home in Monongahela. Victim testimony stated that Breland and she connected on a relationship app and he traveled from Pennsylvania to New Jersey to retrieve her. The victim testified that they spent a period of time in Center Valley, PA before arriving in Monongahela. She stated that she told Breland multiple times that she did not wish to engage in sexual relations with him and wanted to leave. She stated that on several occasions he threatened her with a knife. She said she finally got a chance to contact police using Breland’s phone, texting 9-1-1 with the address and plea for help. Monongahela police responded with a search warrant and SWAT. The incident ended within an hour with the victim and defendant exiting the home quietly. All charges were held for court. Breland faces four felony charges and 5 misdemeanor charges. He will be arraigned on January 19.
December 7, 2022 3:41 pm
State Rep. Austin Davis is resigning his seat in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives effective immediately to focus on his new role as the state’s lieutenant governor and assist in the transition to the administration of Gov. Josh Shapiro. “It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve in the state House of Representatives and to be the voice of my community in Harrisburg,” Davis said in a prepared statement “If you had told me as a 16-year-old teen, driven to my first city council meeting to protest gun violence that had reached my own block, that I would have the privilege to represent my hometown and neighboring communities in our state Capitol, and the opportunity to take those issues head on and improve lives, I wouldn’t have believed it.” A Democrat, Davis became the first African American to serve as state representative for the 35th Legislative District in Allegheny County.
December 7, 2022 1:54 pm
(AP) – Electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs has reached settlements covering more than 8,000 cases brought by about 10,000 plaintiffs related to its vaping products. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Juul said that it has secured an equity investment to fund it. The company has been buffeted by lawsuits and chances that it would seek bankruptcy protection, or a buyer, were elevated last month as Juul announced hundreds of layoffs and secured new financing to continue operations.
December 7, 2022 9:59 am
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — A handful of centenarian survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor are expected to gather at the scene of the Japanese bombing on Wednesday to commemorate those who perished 81 years ago. That’s fewer than in recent years, when a dozen or more traveled to Hawaii from across the country to pay their respects at the annual remembrance ceremony. Part of the decline reflects the dwindling number of survivors as they age. The youngest active-duty military personnel on Dec. 7, 1941, would have been about 17, making them 98 today. Many of those still alive are at least 100. About 2,400 servicemen were killed in the bombing, which launched the U.S. into World War II. The USS Arizona alone lost 1,177 sailors and Marines, nearly half the death toll.
December 7, 2022 4:19 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Drones struck inside Russia’s border with Ukraine Tuesday in the second day of attacks exposing the vulnerability of some of Moscow’s important military sites, observers said. Ukrainian officials did not formally confirm carrying out drone strikes inside Russia, and they have maintained ambiguity over previous high-profile attacks. But Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak taunted Moscow in comments on Twitter. Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia was likely to consider the attacks on Russian bases more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border with Ukraine as “some of the most strategically significant failures of force protection since its invasion of Ukraine.”
December 7, 2022 4:17 am
BERLIN (AP) – Officials say thousands of police have carried out a series of raids across much of Germany against suspected far-right extremists who allegedly sought to overthrow the state in an armed coup. Federal prosecutors said some 3,000 officers conducted searches at 130 sites in 11 of Germany’s 16 states. They said 22 German citizens were detained on suspicion of “membership in a terrorist organization.” Three other people, including a Russian citizen, are suspected of supporting the organization, they said. The suspects were aware that their aim could only be achieved by military means and with force, prosecutors said. One person was also detained in the Austrian town of Kitzbuehel and another in the Italian city of Perugia.
December 7, 2022 4:16 am
BEIJING (AP) – In a sharp reversal, China has announced a series of measures rolling back some of its most draconian anti-COVID-19 restrictions. The National Health Commission in a 10-point announcement on Wednesday stipulated that COVID-19 tests and a clean bill of health displayed on a smartphone app would no longer be required, apart from vulnerable areas such as nurseries, elderly care facilities and schools. It also limited the scale of lockdown to individual apartment floors and buildings, rather than entire districts and neighborhoods. The announcement follows recent street protests in several cities over the strict “zero-COVID” policy now entering its fourth year, which has been blamed for upending ordinary life, travel and employment while dealing a harsh blow to the national economy.
December 7, 2022 4:15 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a runoff election in Georgia. The victory by the state’s first Black senator ensures Democrats an outright majority in the chamber for the rest of President Joe Biden’s current term. That means the party won’t have to negotiate a power-sharing deal with Republicans and Vice President Kamala Harris won’t be called on as frequently to break tie votes. Warnock told jubilant supporters Tuesday night: “After a hard-fought campaign — or should I say campaigns — it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy: The people have spoken.”
