July 19, 2024 2:51 pm
CABOT, Pa. (AP) — A fire truck carried Corey Comperatore’s flag-draped casket to a Pennsylvania church on Friday for the funeral of the former fire chief, who was shot and killed when a gunman tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump last weekend. Hundreds of firefighters arrived at the church in a procession of over 100 trucks in a show of support for Comperatore’s grieving relatives and friends. Outside the church, a massive American flag hung from the ladder of a fire truck. A sharpshooter team mounted on a nearby rooftop served as a reminder of last weekend’s bloodshed. Officials have said that Comperatore spent his final moments shielding his wife and daughter from gunfire at Trump’s rally last Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump, who suffered an ear injury in the shooting but was not seriously hurt, did not attend the funeral because of Secret Service concerns. Two other people were wounded at Trump’s rally: David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township. As of Wednesday night, both had been upgraded to serious but stable condition, according to a spokesperson with Allegheny Health Network.
July 19, 2024 8:16 am
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AP) — A Russian court has convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges that his employer and the U.S. have rejected as a sham. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison after a secretive and rapid trial in the country’s highly politicized legal system. Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently denied the charges. The unusually swift trial perhaps clears the way for a swap between Moscow and Washington.
July 19, 2024 6:28 am
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. — (WPXI) – A woman is suing Kennywood for negligence after she said she was injured during a ride on the Thunderbolt. The lawsuit said that the woman visited Kennywood on July 23, 2022 with her son and they decided to ride the roller coaster. She said she had ridden it multiple times before with no issues. The woman claimed everything was operating as usual until the ride started, which was when she was “violently thrown to her side of the car in which she was riding.” The suit said the woman instantly felt pain in her chest, left side and ribs which continued throughout the ride. She also had difficulty breathing. The woman told the ride operator that she got injured because of the seat belt or restraining bar failure. She had chest contusions and bruises, injuries to her lower back and spine, left arm, hand and side injures, leg injuries, nerve root irritations, disc herniation, aggravation of pre-existing back conditions, loss of range of motion and more, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit also said the woman’s injuries still continue to present day and she has undergone ongoing medical treatments. She said the Thunderbolt was not properly maintained and claimed Kennywood staff failed to check whether the seat belt was properly secure and would restrict injurious movements. Representatives with Kennywood said they cannot comment at this time.
July 19, 2024 5:03 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Much of the world faced online disarray Friday as a widespread technology outage affected companies and services across industries — grounding flights, knocking banks and hospital systems offline and media outlets off air. At the heart of the massive disruption is CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that says the problem occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows — with the company noting that the issue was not a security incident or cyberattack. Scores of companies rely on CrowdStrike for their security needs. That makes the consequences of a faulty update, like the one CrowdStrike cited Friday, all the more far-reaching.
July 19, 2024 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a critical weekend ahead for President Joe Biden. Isolated as he battles a COVID infection at his beach house in Delaware, he is confronting the stark reality that many Democrats at the highest levels want him to consider how stepping aside from the 2024 election could be the party’s best chance of preventing widespread losses in November. Biden’s small circle of advisers has grown smaller as he weighs whether to stay in the race. His campaign is calling an all-staff meeting for Friday. And the Democratic National Committee is pressing ahead Friday with planning for a virtual roll call to nominate the president ahead of the party convention in August.
July 19, 2024 4:55 am
Washington County probation offices will be merging. The salary board voted 4-1 to merge the adult and juvenile probation offices into one department of Probation Services with 96 employees during Thursday’s meeting. Commissioner’s Chairman Nick Sherman, who attended the meeting remotely due to be diagnosed with COVID-19 voted against the measure. At the request of the court, President Judge Gary Gilman and the county judges came up with the plan they say will save taxpayers money and better operate the adult and juvenile centers. Democratic Commissioner Larry Maggi says the merger will save about $90,000 and will allow the offices to operate more efficiently. The measure is designed to streamline transports, on-call response, training and other office functions.
July 18, 2024 4:57 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The 20-year-old Pennsylvania man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump had photos on his phone of the former Republican president, President Joe Biden and other officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Chris Wray. That’s according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition on anonymity to discuss the details of the ongoing probe. Investigators have been searching for any clues into what motivated Crooks to open fire at Saturday’s campaign rally in attempt to assassinate the GOP presidential nominee.
July 18, 2024 4:51 pm
FREEPORT, Pa. (AP) — Thousands of mourners gathered to celebrate the life of the former fire chief who was fatally shot during the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally. Fire trucks and police vehicles filled the parking lot outside the banquet hall where friends of Corey Comperatore went to pay their respects to him and his family. Sharpshooters were stationed atop buildings overlooking the venue and the dozens of people waiting in line to enter. Among the mourners were firefighters in dress uniforms and a group of five men in black suits with gold, red and blue “Trump 2024” buttons on their lapels. Comperatore, 50, worked as a project and tooling engineer, was an Army reservist and spent many years as a volunteer firefighter after serving as chief, according to his obituary. He spent the final moments of his life shielding his wife and daughter from gunfire, officials said. Trump suffered an ear injury but was not seriously hurt and has been participating this week in the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. (Photo: AP)
July 18, 2024 9:36 am
U.S. filings for unemployment benefits rose again last week and appear to be settling consistently at a slightly higher though still healthy level. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims for the week ending July 13 rose by 20,000 to 243,000 from 223,000 the previous week. The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits rose after declining last week for the first time in 10 weeks. About 1.87 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits for the week of July 6, around 20,000 more than the previous week. That’s the most since November of 2021. Weekly unemployment claims are widely considered as representative of layoffs.
July 18, 2024 5:09 am
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donald Trump, somber and bandaged, has accepted his party’s presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention. His speech described in detail the assassination attempt that could have ended his life just five days earlier before laying out a sweeping populist agenda, particularly on immigration. The 78-year-old former president says: ““If I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark. And I would not be here tonight.” Trump’s address, among the longest convention speeches in modern history, marked the climax and conclusion of a massive four-day Republican pep rally as voters weigh an election that currently features two deeply unpopular candidates.
