May 29, 2024 5:16 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is congratulating Justice Samuel Alito for rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving Trump and Jan. 6 defendants because of the controversy over flags that flew over Alito’s homes. Alito says in letters to members of Congress on Wednesday that his wife was responsible for flying an upside-down flag over his Virginia home in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey beach house last year. Both flags were like those carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 while echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud. Alito says neither incident at his homes merits his recusal.
May 29, 2024 3:58 pm
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Joe Biden is renewing his election-year pitch to Black voters. At an appearance in Philadelphia with Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, he lashed out at what he called Donald Trump’s “MAGA lies” and said the winner of this year’s White House race will make crucial decisions, including nominees for the Supreme Court, that could affect the country for decades. Biden also argued that Trump is peddling misinformation in an effort to win back the White House. Biden called on the crowd at a boarding school where the student body is predominantly Black to help him and Harris win a second term. Biden has seen his solid support among Black voters show signs of erosion.
May 29, 2024 1:44 pm
Authorities say a Washington teenager is in custody in connection with a double shooting that killed one teenage girl and left another in the hospital. Police say 17-year-old Anthony Barfield was arrested over the weekend when he was found in an alley off Lennox Street in Uniontown. He faces charges of homicide and conspiracy of criminal homicide. Authorities say they believe Karon Whitlock and Anthony’s brother, Windale Barfield Jr., carried out the shooting of 18-year-old Annalaya Wilkerson of Monongahela at the direction of Anthony Barfield. Wilkerson and her friend were found shot on the side of Jolly School Road in South Franklin Township on April 13th. Wilkerson, who had been shot in the chest, was pronounced dead at the scene.
May 29, 2024 4:56 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Renewed Israeli shelling and strikes have killed at least 37 people, most of them sheltering in tents, outside the southern Gaza city of Rafah. That’s according to witnesses, first responders and hospital officials. The bombardment overnight and into Tuesday pummeled the same area where Israeli strikes triggered a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians days earlier, killing 45 people. The tent camp inferno has drawn widespread international outrage over Israel’s expanding offensive into Rafah. The U.N. says more than a million people have fled the city in recent weeks. And in a sign of Israel’s growing isolation on the world stage, Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday.
May 29, 2024 4:55 am
HOUSTON (AP) — Storm-weary Texas has been hammered again by powerful storms bearing forceful winds that left one person dead, collapsed homes under construction and uprooted trees. In Dallas, where some homes were damaged by trees, the city has opened respite centers where people can get shelter and air conditioning. The high winds were blamed for the collapse of a house under construction Tuesday in the Houston suburb of Magnolia. A 16-year-old construction worker was killed in the collapse. The storms were a continuation of deadly storms over the Memorial Day weekend, when 24 people were killed in seven states.
May 29, 2024 4:53 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The jury in Donald Trump’s hush money trial has ended its first day of deliberations without a verdict. The panel asked Wednesday to rehear potentially crucial testimony about the alleged hush money scheme at the heart of the history-making case. Jurors also asked to rehear at least part of the judge’s legal instructions. The notes sent to the judge were the first burst of communication with the court after the jury of seven men and five women was sent to a private room just before 11:30 a.m. to begin weighing a verdict. The 12-person jury was sent home around 4 p.m. after about 4 1/2 hours of deliberations. The process is to resume Thursday.
May 29, 2024 4:44 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A new lawsuit is trying to prevent thousands of mail-in ballots from being thrown out in the November election in Pennsylvania. The battleground state that is expected to play a critical role in selecting a new president. The lawsuit filed Tuesday by left-leaning groups is the latest of several cases to challenge a provision in Pennsylvania law that voters must write the date when they sign their mail-in ballot envelope. Voters not understanding that provision has meant that tens of thousands of ballots have been thrown out since 2019. The latest lawsuit says that a voter-written date is meaningless and that rejecting someone’s ballot over it should violate Pennsylvania’s Constitution.
May 29, 2024 4:42 am
After a tornado touched down in Peters Township on May 11, residents in Peters Township registered concerns with members of council and staff about emergency notifications. Residents said that weather notifications from the National Weather Service were not received that would have alerted them of the tornado. Council heard them and entered into a contract with OnSolve. According to Township Manager Paul Lauer, OnSolve is an industry leader in mass emergency notification systems. The township would use their notification system called CodeRED, that is currently employed in Mt. Lebanon, Dormont and South Strabane Township. The system is also used by the Pennsylvania American Water Company. The township would get phone contact information from PAWC to use for emergency purposes, in a township wide emergency or in targeted areas of concern such as when a tornado would strike. It has an opt in selection to allow residents to determine how emergencies would be broadcast to their phone. Other community interest applications are available also. Council approved a three year, $16,491 contract. Community education about the system will begin in earnest. Information is planned to be available for residents at Community Day. Other education events are being planned.
May 29, 2024 2:49 am
(WPXI) – A Penn Hills graduate has been confirmed as the victim of a deadly explosion at Youngstown’s Chase Bank building. Police say the body of Akil Drake, 27, was found in the rubble overnight. An explosion decimated what used to be a Chase Bank in Youngstown, Ohio on Tuesday afternoon. The explosion in the 13-story building in the heart of downtown was reported just before 3 p.m., sending debris into the street and leading to the evacuations of people in nearby buildings. The explosion sent seven people to the hospital. One person is in critical condition, according to Fire Chief Barry Finley. Initial reports were that two people were possibly unaccounted for: one man and one woman. The structural integrity of the building remains in question. The damage to the bank is severe, but the impact to the dozen floors of apartments above is unclear. The cause of the blast is under investigation.
May 28, 2024 4:59 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — “The Godfather” producer Albert S. Ruddy has died at 94. The Canadian-born producer and writer won Oscars for “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby,” developed the raucous prison-sports comedy “The Longest Yard” and helped create the hit sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes.” A spokesperson says Ruddy died Saturday at the UCLA Medical Center. Ruddy produced more than 30 movies and was on hand for the very top and the very bottom. “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby” were box office hits and winners of best picture Oscars. But Ruddy also helped give us “Cannonball Run II” and “Megaforce,” nominees for Golden Raspberry awards for worst movie of the year. (Photo: AP)
