December 7, 2022 1:54 pm
(AP) – Electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs has reached settlements covering more than 8,000 cases brought by about 10,000 plaintiffs related to its vaping products. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Juul said that it has secured an equity investment to fund it. The company has been buffeted by lawsuits and chances that it would seek bankruptcy protection, or a buyer, were elevated last month as Juul announced hundreds of layoffs and secured new financing to continue operations.
December 7, 2022 9:59 am
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — A handful of centenarian survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor are expected to gather at the scene of the Japanese bombing on Wednesday to commemorate those who perished 81 years ago. That’s fewer than in recent years, when a dozen or more traveled to Hawaii from across the country to pay their respects at the annual remembrance ceremony. Part of the decline reflects the dwindling number of survivors as they age. The youngest active-duty military personnel on Dec. 7, 1941, would have been about 17, making them 98 today. Many of those still alive are at least 100. About 2,400 servicemen were killed in the bombing, which launched the U.S. into World War II. The USS Arizona alone lost 1,177 sailors and Marines, nearly half the death toll.
December 7, 2022 4:19 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Drones struck inside Russia’s border with Ukraine Tuesday in the second day of attacks exposing the vulnerability of some of Moscow’s important military sites, observers said. Ukrainian officials did not formally confirm carrying out drone strikes inside Russia, and they have maintained ambiguity over previous high-profile attacks. But Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak taunted Moscow in comments on Twitter. Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia was likely to consider the attacks on Russian bases more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border with Ukraine as “some of the most strategically significant failures of force protection since its invasion of Ukraine.”
December 7, 2022 4:17 am
BERLIN (AP) – Officials say thousands of police have carried out a series of raids across much of Germany against suspected far-right extremists who allegedly sought to overthrow the state in an armed coup. Federal prosecutors said some 3,000 officers conducted searches at 130 sites in 11 of Germany’s 16 states. They said 22 German citizens were detained on suspicion of “membership in a terrorist organization.” Three other people, including a Russian citizen, are suspected of supporting the organization, they said. The suspects were aware that their aim could only be achieved by military means and with force, prosecutors said. One person was also detained in the Austrian town of Kitzbuehel and another in the Italian city of Perugia.
December 7, 2022 4:16 am
BEIJING (AP) – In a sharp reversal, China has announced a series of measures rolling back some of its most draconian anti-COVID-19 restrictions. The National Health Commission in a 10-point announcement on Wednesday stipulated that COVID-19 tests and a clean bill of health displayed on a smartphone app would no longer be required, apart from vulnerable areas such as nurseries, elderly care facilities and schools. It also limited the scale of lockdown to individual apartment floors and buildings, rather than entire districts and neighborhoods. The announcement follows recent street protests in several cities over the strict “zero-COVID” policy now entering its fourth year, which has been blamed for upending ordinary life, travel and employment while dealing a harsh blow to the national economy.
December 7, 2022 4:15 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a runoff election in Georgia. The victory by the state’s first Black senator ensures Democrats an outright majority in the chamber for the rest of President Joe Biden’s current term. That means the party won’t have to negotiate a power-sharing deal with Republicans and Vice President Kamala Harris won’t be called on as frequently to break tie votes. Warnock told jubilant supporters Tuesday night: “After a hard-fought campaign — or should I say campaigns — it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy: The people have spoken.”
December 7, 2022 4:12 am
The Department of Justice has subpoenaed local election officials from several states, including in Allegheny County, asking for communications with or involving former President Donald Trump, his 2020 campaign aides and a list of allies involved in his efforts to try to overturn the results of the election. Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed officials in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania, asking for communications with or involving former President Donald Trump, his campaign aides and a list of allies involved in his efforts to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The requests, issued to Milwaukee and Dane counties in Wisconsin; Wayne County, Michigan; Maricopa County, Arizona; and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, are the first known subpoenas by Smith, who was named special counsel last month by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Smith is overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation into the presence of classified documents at Trump’s Florida estate as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the violent storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and Trump’s frantic efforts to remain in power. The subpoenas, first reported by The Washington Post, are the clearest indication yet that Smith’s work will include an examination of the fake electors that were part of Trump’s efforts to subvert the election count and certification. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment Tuesday.
December 7, 2022 2:14 am
The man who allegedly caused a several hours long SWAT incident in Peters Township will face trial. Brandon Osborne, 31 of Clairton, faced his preliminary hearing on Tuesday and had a felony strangulation charge and misdemeanor assault and criminal mischief charges held for court. Victim testimony during the hearing stated that an argument began between her and Osborne, who had been staying with her temporarily, over information on her cell phone. Osborne wanted access and when he could not get it, destroyed two televisions and grabbed the victim by her collar causing her to nearly pass out and left brush burns around her neck. The victim was taken to Canonsburg Hospital for evaluation. Osborne fled the scene just after the victim escaped to call 9-1-1. Osborne turned himself into police the following day. Osborne is scheduled to be formally arraigned on January 19.
December 7, 2022 2:05 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Donald Trump’s company has been convicted of tax fraud for a scheme by top executives to avoid paying personal income taxes on perks such as apartments and luxury cars. As punishment, the Trump Organization could be fined up to $1.6 million. The guilty verdict Tuesday day came on the second day of deliberations in the only criminal trial to arise from the Manhattan district attorney’s three-year investigation of the former president and his businesses. Longtime Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg previously pleaded guilty to hatching the 15-year scheme. He testified at the trial in exchange for a promised five-month jail sentence.
December 7, 2022 1:09 am
WASHINGTON D.C. – A Uniontown man was one of the first Capitol breach defendants to be convicted at trial of assaulting police officers with pepper spray. According to the Department of Justice, Peter J. Schwartz, 49, and his wife Shelly Stallings, who pleaded guilty in August, traveled to Washington, D.C., and were around the area of the Lower West Terrace at the Capitol. Officials said Schwartz threw a folding chair at officers in a police line at around 2:28 p.m. and told a friend that he “started a riot” by “throwing the first chair.” Schwartz then stole police duffle bags full of pepper-spray canisters and gave them to other members of the mob, the Department of Justice said. The organization also said that he began spraying at any retreating police officer he could find. Schwartz followed officers up into the lower west terrace tunnel where he joined dozens of other rioters. They heaved against the police line, Schwartz showing another member of the mob how to operate the pepper-spray canisters, officials said. Schwartz was arrested in Uniontown on Feb. 4, 2021. Schwartz was convicted of four counts of felony assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers using a dangerous weapon; interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; and related charges. The charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers using a dangerous weapon carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison, as does the charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. The charge of interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder carries a statutory maximum of five years in prison. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled but is expected to take place in early 2023, officials said. (Photo: WPXI)
