December 3, 2022 6:25 am
PITTSBURGH —(WPXI)-Two University of Pittsburgh students have been charged with abuse of a corpse for an alleged incident that took place during a class in November. Classmates of Amay Gupta and Sonel Jimenez, both 19 years old, reported inappropriate behavior regarding medical cadavers to Pitt police. The human cadavers were being used in a university anatomy lab class in Victoria Hall on Nov. 4. During a class about muscle groups, Gupta allegedly inappropriately touched and made inappropriate comments about a male cadaver. Jimenez allegedly inappropriately touched a female cadaver and made inappropriate comments. Gupta and Jimenez are scheduled to appear for preliminary hearings in Allegheny County Court in January. A University of Pittsburgh spokesperson issued the following response: “The University of Pittsburgh is committed to upholding the dignity of, and respect for, all donors whose selfless acts of giving enhance and enrich education. As soon as the University became aware of the incident, the appropriate offices, including Pitt Police, the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, and Compliance, Investigations and Ethics, were notified. It was determined that the alleged acts were criminal in nature, and the suspects have been charged. Members of the class who witnessed the incidents received information about resources available to them, including counseling services and Title IX programs. The University is working with the relevant organizations regarding family notifications.”
December 3, 2022 2:36 am
Greene County District Attorney David Russo says a county attorney has been accused of stealing a large sum of money. Russo says Kimberly Pratt, who works for the Greene County Commissioners as the county courts juvenile dependency and delinquency officer, is facing multiple theft charges. Russo said his office started investigating Pratt after another attorney who had previously worked in her firm filed a complaint saying some $22,000 worth of client retainers was missing. Russo says the investigation revealed Pratt took the money from an Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account and used client account money for her own benefit.
December 3, 2022 1:56 am
(WPXI) – A 4-year-old girl who was shot in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood last night has died. She, along with a woman, were shot in the 1500 block of Lincoln Avenue at around 6:40. The woman remains in critical condition. Police say there are two persons of interest at this time. Officers believe 15 rounds were fired. Drones and K-9 units were used in the search for the suspected shooters. Allegheny County dispatchers said three people were taken to a hospital but details about a third are unclear at this time.
December 2, 2022 3:48 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – The U.S. flu season keeps getting worse. Health officials say 7.5% of outpatient medical visits last week were due to flu-like illnesses. That’s as high as the peak of the 2017-18 flu season and higher than any season since. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released its latest flu update. It says 44 states reported high or very high flu activity last week. That may not bode well for the near future. It’s likely there was more spread of respiratory viruses during Thanksgiving gatherings and at crowded airports.
December 2, 2022 8:54 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The nation’s employers kept hiring briskly in November despite high inflation and a slow-growing economy – a sign of resilience in the face of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes. The economy added 263,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate stayed 3.7%, still near a 53-year low, the Labor Department said Friday. November’s job growth dipped only slightly from October’s 284,000 gain. Last month’s hiring, though down from the explosive pace at the start of 2022, amounted to a substantial increase. All year, as inflation has surged and the Fed has imposed ever-higher borrowing rates, America’s labor market has defied skeptics, adding hundreds of thousands of jobs, month after month.
December 2, 2022 4:21 am
HONOLULU (AP) – Glowing lava from the world’s largest volcano is a sight to behold, but for many Native Hawaiians, Mauna Loa’s eruption is a time to pray, make offerings and honor both the natural and spiritual worlds. An eruption of a volcano like Mauna Loa has a deep yet very personal cultural significance for many Native Hawaiians. It can be an opportunity to feel a connection with creation itself through the way lava gives birth to new land, as well as a time to reflect on their own place in the world and the people who came before them.
December 2, 2022 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court says the Biden administration program to cancel student loans will remain blocked for now, but the justices have agreed to take up the case in late winter. The court’s decision to hear arguments relatively quickly means it is likely to determine whether the widespread loan cancellations are legal by late June. That’s about two months before the newly extended pause on loan repayments is set to expire. The administration had wanted a court order that would have allowed the program to take effect even as court challenges proceed. But as a fallback, it suggested the high court hold arguments and decide the issue.
December 2, 2022 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Legislation to avert a freight rail strike in the United States is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk. A bill to avoid the strike won final approval Thursday, clearing the Senate in a bipartisan vote. The bill will bind rail companies and workers to a proposed settlement that was reached between the rail companies and union leaders in September. That settlement had been rejected by four of the 12 unions involved, creating the possibility of a strike. The Senate vote was 80-15 and came one day after the House voted to impose the agreement. Biden has vowed to sign it quickly.
December 2, 2022 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal appeals court has halted an independent review of documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, removing a hurdle the Justice Department said had delayed its criminal investigation into the retention of top-secret government information. The decision by the three-judge panel represents a significant win for federal prosecutors, clearing the way for them to use as part of their investigation the entire tranche of documents seized during an Aug. 8 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. It also rejects the arguments of Trump’s lawyers, who had said the former president was entitled to have a so-called “special master” conduct a neutral review of the thousands of documents taken from the property.
December 2, 2022 4:11 am
BEIJING (AP) – Street protests that broke out in several Chinese cities over the weekend may have come as a surprise, but the ruling Communist Party has been preparing for this moment for years, decades even. Ever since the last major demonstrations culminated in the bloody military crackdown of 1989, China has been building an internal security force aimed at overwhelming, intimidating, imprisoning and silencing all challenges. By most estimates, China spends more on internal security than on national defense. This includes police, paramilitary troops and internet spies that have honed their skills against minority rights activists, pro-democracy advocates and independent labor organizers. That’s what faces anyone daring to protest China’s severe anti-COVID-19 measures.
