July 31, 2024 5:16 am
BEIRUT (AP) — Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ supreme leader in exile who landed on Israel’s wanted list after the militant group staged its surprise Oct. 7 attacks, was killed in an airstrike in the Iranian capital early Wednesday. He was 62. Hamas said Haniyeh was killed at his residence in Tehran in an Israeli airstrike after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president. Israel has not commented on the accusation. His death makes him the latest Hamas official to be killed by Israel since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel.
July 31, 2024 5:08 am
A group of nearly 70 people allege they were sexually abused as children while housed in detention centers in Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs filed suit in state or federal court Wednesday against 10 different juvenile facilities across Pennsylvania, three of them state-operated. Some of the plaintiffs said they were repeatedly raped by staff members and threatened with harm if they reported it. Others said their reports of sexual abuse were ignored. Their lawyers say none of the facilities protected the children in their care. The litigation adds to earlier lawsuits targeting what the accusers’ lawyers say is Pennsylvania’s broken juvenile justice system.
July 31, 2024 5:07 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — (WPXI) – TSA officers prevented two guns from getting on planes at the Pittsburgh International Airport last week. A revolver was found in a woman’s backpack on Sunday. The Allegheny County Police Department says that woman is facing charges for carrying a firearm without a license. Now, TSA says a loaded handgun was found in the carry-on of a Claysville man on Friday. “Since mid-June our officers have intercepted 10 firearms at our checkpoints here at Pittsburgh,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s federal security director for the airport. “Let’s be very clear about this. Firearms are not permitted past our security checkpoints. Period. Bringing a gun to a checkpoint means that travelers are introducing threats to the airport environment.” Passengers can travel with guns only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case. Then the locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website. Civil penalties for bringing a weapon into a checkpoint can reach up to $15,000, depending on the specific weapon and the circumstances. So far in 2024, TSA officers have stopped 27 guns from getting on planes at Pittsburgh International Airport.
July 31, 2024 5:06 am
ROSTRAVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A hangar caught fire at Rostraver Airport Wednesday. Westmoreland County dispatch said the call for the fire came in just after 9:40 a.m. No one was injured in the blaze, Rostraver Central Fire Department said. Airport officials say three privately owned planes were heavily damaged. The manager was also damaged, but the official expects it can be rebuilt. State police are investigating the cause of the fire being electrical. Officials don’t think it’s suspicious.
July 31, 2024 5:01 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — A dump truck hit a bridge in West Brownsville Borough on Wednesday afternoon. The crash happened along Route 40 between the Mon-Fayette Expressway and Blaine Hill Road. Route 40 was closed to traffic but has since reopened. A single-lane restriction is still in place on the Route 2079 (Knob Road) overpass between Wilson Road in California Borough and Old National Pike in West Brownsville Borough.
July 31, 2024 2:53 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The owners of twelve Pennsylvania casinos are asking the state’s highest court to declare that a tax on slot machine revenue is unconstitutional because the state doesn’t impose it broadly on cash-paying electronic game terminals known as skill games that can be found in many bars and stores. The lawsuit, filed Monday, could endanger a tax that delivers more than $1 billion annually to the state and local governments for property tax rebates and economic development projects. The lawsuit asks the court to force the state to either apply the same tax rate to skill games or to bar it from collecting taxes on slot machines.
July 31, 2024 1:59 am
Freedom Transit and the Washington County Transportation Authority welcomed officials from the Federal Transit Authority on Tuesday to accept a grant that will pave the way to completion of the new Freedom Transit transportation hub. Freedom Transit Executive Director Sheila Gombita welcomed Terry Garcia Crews, Regional Administrator from the Federal Transit Authority and Michael Carroll, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to a check presentation ceremony where Freedom Transit was awarded a $15 million grant from the FTA. According the Crews the funds are from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Carroll indicated that Pennsylvania has kicked in $17 million of state funds for the project. Gombita was elated to receive the competitive grant. She said the 88,000 square foot maintenance facility will help extend the life of busses. Customers will see a cleaner and better maintained fleet. Gombita said that the new facility will be for maintenance only. Executive offices and the transfer station will stay in the middle of Washington on E. Chestnut Street. Groundbreaking on the $56 million facility is anticipated in July of 2025 with a completion date of December of 2026. (Photo: L-R. Terry Garcia Crews, Regional Administrator, Federal Transit Authority; Michael Carroll, Secy. PA Dept. of Transportation; Sheila Gombita, Exec. dir. Freedom Transit and members of the Freedom Transit Board of Directors)
July 30, 2024 2:57 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Secret Service’s acting director says he considers it indefensible that the Pennsylvania roof used by the gunman in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was unsecured. Ronald Rowe on Tuesday faulted local law enforcement for not circulating urgent information ahead of the shooting and for not adequately protecting the scene. Rowe also testified he recently visited the shooting site and said what he saw made him “ashamed.” Rowe assures lawmakers “people will be held accountable.” The Republican former president was struck in the ear by a bullet or a bullet fragment in the July 13 assassination attempt before a Secret Service counter-sniper killed the gunman.
July 30, 2024 8:54 am
LONDON (AP) — British police are questioning a suspect and working to understand what motivated a 17-year-old boy to attack children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class, leaving three dead and six in critical condition. A total of eight other children and two adults were wounded in the rampage in Southport in northwest England. Both adults and five of the children are in critical condition in local hospitals. Swift said on Instagram she was “completely in shock” and still taking in “the horror” of the event. A 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
July 30, 2024 5:19 am
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has extended his party’s control over the media, directly affecting informed democratic participation. Opposition politicians have long complained that they only get five minutes of air time every four years on public television, the legal minimum, to present their platforms before elections. His Fidesz party has won four consecutive two-thirds majorities in parliament, but is now facing its stiffest challenge yet from a former insider who has set up his own party. Opposition lawmakers and independent analysts say many Hungarians simply aren’t aware of corruption scandals and other abuses because they aren’t reported by media outlets loyal to Fidesz.
