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)
May 28, 2024 5:07 am
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Authorities fear a second landslide and a disease outbreak are looming at the scene of Papua New Guinea’s mass-casualty disaster. U.N. official Serhan Aktoprak said Tuesday the mass of debris that devastated Yambali village in the South Pacific nation’s remote highlands when a limestone mountainside sheared away Friday is becoming more unstable with recent rain and streams trapped between the ground and rubble. The United Nations’ migrant agency has officials at the scene in Enga province helping shelter 1,600 displaced people. The agency estimates 670 villagers have died, while Papua New Guinea’s government has told the United Nations it thinks more than 2,000 were buried.
May 28, 2024 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Laws passed in several Republican-controlled states after the 2020 presidential election have criminalized much of the work done by voter outreach groups. Advocates are finding it difficult to adapt as they try to register and educate potential voters with just months to go before this year’s presidential election. In-person activities have been eliminated or severely cut back, and staffing has been reduced. Voting rights experts say it’s another tactic to strip access to the ballot box, especially for minority voters, who mostly benefit from third-party voter registration.
May 28, 2024 5:03 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s defense team attacked the hush money case against him by calling the star witness a liar in closing arguments. Trump’s attorneys sought to discredit weeks of testimony that prosecutors say prove the former president interfered in the 2016 election through a scheme to suppress stories seen as harmful to his campaign. The prosecution was to speak to the jury in the afternoon. The arguments gave both sides one last chance to address the Manhattan jury and to score final points with the panel before it starts deliberating the fate of the first former American president charged with felony crimes.
May 28, 2024 5:01 am
A series of powerful storms in the central and southern U.S. over the Memorial Day holiday weekend has killed at least 22 people as they left a wide trail of destroyed homes, businesses and power outages. The destructive storms caused deaths in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky and were just north of an oppressive early season heat wave setting records from south Texas to Florida. Forecasters said the severe weather could shift to the East Coat later Monday and warned millions of people outdoors for the holiday to watch the skies.
