August 9, 2024 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH —(WPXI)-Several people are facing charges after detectives executed search warrants on encampments in Downtown Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh police said Narcotics, Violence Prevention Unit, and Downtown Public Safety Center detectives executed search warrants on two tents located on Grant Street between First Avenue and Fort Pitt Boulevard on Aug. 7. Detectives seized quantities of crack cocaine and lorazepam pills believed to be intended for distribution from this location, police said. Two people were removed from the tents and were interviewed at police headquarters. David Brown and Daidra Lomax were arrested and charged with narcotics violations. Tracy Smith was arrested on an outstanding warrant and William Mazon and Lamar Williams were arrested via summons for possession of a controlled substance. Each person who was arrested provided police with a valid home address, officials said. The area surrounding the tents is a public health and fire hazard, police said. Piles of trash, crack pipes/needles, rotten food, human feces and urine bottles are strewn throughout, and several propane tanks are located around and inside tents. Any obvious health/bio hazards and trash will be removed from the area, police said.
August 9, 2024 3:40 am
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. — Kennywood Park will be closed on Friday, Aug. 9, due to remnants of Tropical Storm Debby that are expected to move through the area. In a social media post, the park said all tickets dated for Aug. 9 will be valid for any operating day through Sept. 14. “We will see you on Saturday!” the post said.
August 8, 2024 5:49 pm
(AP) – Federal food safety officials say three people have now died in a listeria food poisoning outbreak linked to Boar’s Head deli meats. The overall number of people sickened has risen to 43. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a news release Thursday that the additional death happened in Virginia. The other two deaths were in New Jersey and Illinois. The CDC also said nine more cases were reported since a July 31 release about the outbreak, which started in late May. Boar’s Head recalled 7 million pounds of deli meats on July 30th. (Photo: AP)
August 8, 2024 5:46 pm
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump has recommitted to debating Vice President Kamala Harris after recently backing out. The Republican presidential nominee held a lengthy news conference Thursday in which he taunted his new rival, boasted of his crowd on Jan. 6, 2021, and lashed out at questions about the enthusiasm her campaign has been generating. As he addressed reporters at his Palm Beach, Florida, estate, ABC announced that Trump and Harris have agreed to a Sept. 10 presidential debate. In taking questions from reporters for more than an hour, Trump tried to draw a contrast with Harris, who has not held a news conference since she became the likely Democratic nominee following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race. (Photo: AP)
August 8, 2024 9:09 am
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell last week but remain at slightly elevated though not troubling levels. Jobless claims for the week of Aug. 3 fell by 17,000 to 233,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 240,000 analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting. Weekly unemployment claims are widely considered representative of layoffs, and though they have trended higher recently, they remain at historically healthy levels. Continuing claims, which represent the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits, rose by 6,000 to 1.88 million for the Week of July 27. That the most since the week of Nov. 27, 2021.
August 8, 2024 5:07 am
VIENNA (AP) — Austria’s intelligence chief says chemical substances were found at the house of a 19-year-old Austrian suspected of planning an attack on upcoming Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna. The public security director at Austria’s Interior Ministry says investigators found chemical substances and and technical devices at the 19-year-old suspect’s house. Just a few weeks ago, the suspect had uploaded an oath of allegiance to the current leader of the Islamic State group militia to an internet account. The concerts’ cancellations devastated Swifties across the globe, many of whom had dropped thousands of euros on travel and lodging for the sold-out Eras Tour shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
August 8, 2024 5:06 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A new poll shows that most Americans believe this year’s presidential race will be crucial for the future of the country’s democracy. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs survey finds that they see the threat differently based on their political leanings. Nearly 6 in 10 Democrats say the November election is “extremely important” to the future of U.S. democracy, compared to about 4 in 10 independents and Republicans. Many Democrats continue to view former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy after he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. But the results also suggest that many of Trump’s supporters agree with him that President Joe Biden is the real threat to democracy.
August 8, 2024 5:00 am
HUGER, S.C. (AP) — Tropical Storm Debby has made a second landfall in South Carolina on its way up the East Coast, where residents as far north as Vermont could get several inches of rain this weekend. The National Hurricane Center says Debby came ashore early Thursday near Bulls Bay, South Carolina. The storm is expected to keep moving inland, spreading heavy rain and possible flooding all the way up through the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast by the weekend. Debby first made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
August 8, 2024 4:57 am
MONROEVILLE, Pa. — (WPXI) – An 18-year-old was reported missing two hours before police say they found her shot to death in Monroeville. Emergency crews were called to Cambridge Square Apartments around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday. Once on scene, they found the victim, Joselyn Thomas, 18, shot to death. Thomas was reported missing to North Versailles police at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday. Detectives say Albert Williams, 18, of Wilkinsburg, is responsible for the deadly shooting. Williams has been arrested and detectives are working with the DA’s office on appropriate charges. A motive has not been revealed.
August 8, 2024 4:54 am
ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – A local softball coach is accused of sexually assaulting a teen girl over the last three years. James Muir, of Blawnox, served as an assistant softball coach with multiple local organizations including Fox Chapel Area High School and Penn State New Kensington. According to Allegheny County Police, the girl, who is currently 17, told investigators about the alleged sexual abuse last month, saying it began as inappropriate sexually explicit comments when she was just 14 and soon escalated to physical contact. Channel 11 has learned Muir served as an assistant softball coach with multiple organizations including Fox Chapel Area High School and Penn State New Kensington. According to the police report, Muir would give the teen girl vapes or alcohol in exchange for sexual favors. She told police Muir would record video of the sexual encounters. Investigators found multiple nude images of the victim on his phone as well as videos of them having sex. Muir was denied bail and is being held at the Allegheny County Jail.
