January 1, 2023 1:51 am
A woman who alleges Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1986 has sued the comedian-actor, NBCUniversal and other companies in New York, where five other women filed a similar lawsuit earlier this month. Stacey Pinkerton says she was a 21-year-old flight attendant and model that year when she claims Cosby drugged her at a restaurant in Illinois and sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in Chicago. Pinkerton filed her lawsuit Friday. A spokesperson for Cosby denied the allegations and says the accusers are out for money. The lawsuit comes more than a year after Cosby left prison after his 2018 sexual assault conviction in Pennsylvania was overturned.
January 1, 2023 1:10 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Excitement spanned 14 blocks through Pittsburgh’s Cultural District for Highmark First Night, the 29th year for the event. From two rounds of fireworks to plenty of activities for children, including an ice maze and New Year’s Eve parade, there was something for everyone. The parade started at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, turning onto Stanwix Street and towards the Allegheny River. People from all over the country had their reasons for wanting to ring in the New Year downtown. Plenty of performers took several outdoor stages throughout the night, with thousands of people projected to attend, most of whom waited patiently until 11:59 for the “Future of Pittsburgh” ball to drop.
December 31, 2022 5:21 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) – The Vatican says Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died. He was 95. Benedict was the first pope in 600 years to resign. Benedict had become increasingly frail during his almost 10 years of retirement. Benedict’s dramatic decision in 2013 to resign paved the way for the conclave that elected Pope Francis. The two popes then lived side-by-side in the Vatican gardens in an unprecedented arrangement that set the stage for future “popes emeritus” to do the same. The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger never wanted to be pope. But he was forced to follow in St. John Paul II’s footsteps, running the church during a period of scandal and indifference.
December 31, 2022 4:33 am
The first Mega Millions drawing of the new year will be a big one as no one won Friday night’s estimated $685 million jackpot. The top prize increased to $785 million ahead of the next drawing Tuesday night. Mega Millions says no ticket purchased for the lottery matched all six numbers drawn Friday night. The numbers selected Friday were: 1, 3, 6, 44, 51 and gold Mega Ball 7. The jackpot has grown so large thanks to long odds of one in 302.6 million that have resulted in 22 straight drawings without a big winner. The estimated $785 million prize is for a winner who chooses to be paid through an annuity, with annual checks over 29 years. Nearly all winners opt for cash, which for the next drawing would be an estimated $395 million.
December 31, 2022 4:20 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Barbara Walters was that rarest of TV personalities: a cultural fixture. For more than a half-century, she was on the air, placing in front of her audience world figures, big shots and celebrities whose names and faces might have changed from year to year. But hers never did. She first found her way to prominence in a visually oriented business where, typically, women were adornments or otherwise secondary. Walters death at age 93 was announced Friday. Late in her career, she gave infotainment a new twist with “The View,” which she considered the “dessert’ of her career. (Photo: ABC News)
December 31, 2022 4:15 am
DALLAS (AP) – Southwest Airlines is returning to a relatively normal flight schedule as the focus shifts to making things right with what could be well more than a million passengers who missed family connections or flights home during the holidays, and many of whom are still missing luggage. The Dallas carrier, which had canceled thousands of flights every day this week after a winter storm last weekend, reported less than 40 cancellations early Friday. While that was still more than United, American and Delta combined, it is a step back from one of the most chaotic weeks in aviation history for a single airline. Federal regulators have vowed a rigorous review of what happened at Southwest.
December 31, 2022 4:14 am
(AP) – Democrats in Congress have released thousands of pages of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns. The documents provide the most detailed picture to date of his finances over a six-year period, including his time in the White House, when he fought to keep the information private in a break with decades of precedent. The material shows how Trump used the tax code to lower his tax obligations and it reveals details about foreign accounts and the performance of some of his highest-profile business ventures. The disclosure marks the culmination of a years-long legal fight that has played out everywhere from the presidential campaign to Congress and the Supreme Court. The release of Trump’s tax returns show he maintained a bank account in China through 2017, his first year in the White House. Trump had claimed he closed the account before running for president. Trump also reported making no charitable donations in 2020, his final year in the White House. It’s unclear whether the totals include Trump’s pledge to donate his $400,000 annual presidential salary to the federal government. Trump pledged payback after the release of his tax returns Friday by a Democratic-controlled House committee. He says, “The Radical Left Democrats have weaponized everything, but remember, that is a dangerous two-way street!”
December 31, 2022 4:12 am
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Roads have reopened in storm-besieged Buffalo as authorities continue searching for people who may have died or remain stranded after last week’s blizzard. Mayor Byron Brown announced that the driving ban in New York’s second-most-populous city was lifted just after midnight Thursday. He says significant progress has been made on snow removal, but he’s still asking residents not to drive if they don’t have to. Suburban roads, major highways and Buffalo Niagara International Airport had already reopened. At least 40 deaths have been reported in western New York from the blizzard that raged Friday and Saturday.
December 31, 2022 4:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A suspect in the killings of four slain Idaho students has been arrested in eastern Pennsylvania, a law enforcement official said Friday. Arrest paperwork filed in Monroe County Court says 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger was being held for extradition to Idaho on a warrant for first degree murder. The four students were all friends and members of the University of Idaho’s Greek system. They were stabbed to death at a rental home near campus sometime in the early morning hours of Nov. 13. His extradition hearing is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Monroe County at the courthouse. The Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar will be handling the extradition proceeding. (Photo: ABC News)
December 31, 2022 4:09 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ten months into Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine, overwhelming evidence shows the Kremlin’s troops have waged total war, with disregard for international laws governing the treatment of civilians and conduct on the battlefield. Ukraine is investigating more than 58,000 potential Russian war crimes – killings, kidnappings, indiscriminate bombings and sexual assaults. Reporting by The Associated Press and “Frontline,” has verified more than 600 incidents that appear to violate the laws of war. Some of those attacks were massacres that killed dozens or hundreds of civilians and as a totality it could account for thousands of individual war crimes. Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, told the AP, “Ukraine is a crime scene.”
