June 17, 2024 5:21 am
(AP) – More than 70 million people in the United States are under extreme heat alerts as a heat wave moves eastward. The mid-Atlantic and New England are likely to see highs in the 90s as the week progresses. Excessive humidity will make it feel even more oppressive. The U.S. last year saw the most heat waves, consisting of abnormally hot weather lasting more than two days, since 1936. Officials again are warning residents to take precautions. Much of the Midwest and Northeast are under heat warnings or watches. While much of the U.S. swelters, late-season snow was forecast for the northern Rockies.
June 17, 2024 5:21 am
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has signed an executive order to issue more than 175,000 pardons for misdemeanor marijuana convictions. The governor described the pardons Monday as the “most sweeping state-level pardon in any state in American history.” The pardons will not result in anyone being released from incarceration. And nor will they prompt past convictions to be automatically expunged from a person’s background check. But advocates praised the move as a way of removing barriers to housing, employment, or educational opportunities based on convictions for conduct that is no longer illegal.
June 17, 2024 5:20 am
Text, photos, videos and audio created using artificial intelligence are increasingly making their way into campaigns for state and local office. AI deepfakes that misrepresent candidates often can do more damage in those races because campaigns have fewer staffers and less money to combat them, and because they typically draw less scrutiny. Yet some local candidates see AI as a force for good and an equalizer against more powerful or well-financed candidates. They can use it for the more mundane aspects of running a campaign, which frees them up to meet voters and participate in more community events.
June 17, 2024 5:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is spending $50 million through the end of June targeting voters in key swing states. The spending includes boosting a new ad that highlights former President Donald Trump’s felony conviction. It signals that the Democratic incumbent is seeking harder than ever to make his opponent’s legal woes an issue. Announced Monday, such a costly advertising push is unusual with Election Day still more than four and a half months away. But Biden’s campaign says it wants to more clearly define the choice between the two candidates ahead of the first debate between them in Atlanta on June 27.
June 17, 2024 5:15 am
AVONMORE, Pa. — (WPXI) – Firefighters battled a massive fire at a building in Westmoreland County for hours on Saturday. Westmoreland County dispatchers say firefighters were called to the 400 block of Indiana Avenue in Avonmore at around 4:33 p.m. The building consists of three floors. The first floor is a bar and the other two floors are apartment buildings. Firefighters say the fire started in the kitchen of the bar and quickly spread to the back of the building and then to the other two floors. Investigators say the roof collapsed and all three floors were destroyed. The building is expected to be torn down after the fire marshal conducts an investigation. Everyone was out of the building when emergency crews got to the scene. Firefighters had to be rotated over the course of the hours-long fight because of Saturday’s hot temperatures. There are no reported injuries at this time.
June 17, 2024 5:11 am
ROSTRAVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – One person was injured after a crash on I-70 in Westmoreland County. Westmoreland County dispatchers say emergency crews were called to the eastbound lanes of I-70 near exit 46A at 4:32 p.m. Firefighters from the Rostraver Central Fire Department said the crash involved a motorcycle. The injured person was life-flighted to a hospital from the scene. There is no word on the identity or condition of the person injured. (PHOTO; Rostraver Central Fire Department)
June 17, 2024 5:09 am
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disbanded his war Cabinet, consolidating his influence over the Israel-Hamas war and likely diminishing the odds of a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip anytime soon. Netanyahu announced the step days after his chief political rival, Benny Gantz, withdrew from the three-member war Cabinet. Gantz, a retired general and member of parliament, was widely seen as a voice of moderation. Major wartime policies will now be solely decided by Netanyahu’s security Cabinet — a larger body that is dominated by hard-liners who oppose the U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal and want to press ahead with the war.
June 17, 2024 5:06 am
No injuries, but a detached garage was destroyed in a fire early Monday morning in the City of Washington. Washington County 9-1-1 says it broke out just after 1 a.m. in the 500-block of Fayette Street in the West End. There is no word on the cause of the fire.
June 17, 2024 2:19 am
Due to a planned power outage by West Penn Power on Tuesday June 18th, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., Charleroi Borough Council President Kristen Hopkins-Calcek has made the decision to close borough offices that day. “With temperatures reaching into the 90’s, I viewed this as a safety issue regarding our staff,” Hopkins-Calcek said. “With no power, no lights or internet the staff would be extremely limited as to what services they could perform for the public so it seemed the only logical thing to do was to close the building for the day.” Borough offices will be closed Wednesday as well in observance of Juneteenth, which is now a federal holiday.
June 16, 2024 7:06 am
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A judge could soon decide on a trial date for a man charged in the deaths of four University of Idaho students who were killed more than a year and a half ago. Bryan Kohberger was arrested roughly six weeks after the bodies of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were found at a rental home near the Moscow campus Nov. 13, 2022. A judge entered a not guilty plea on Kohberger’s behalf the following spring. Now a scheduling hearing is set for June 27. The judge says attorneys should be ready to set several deadlines for the case, including a date for the trial. (Photo: AP)
