May 26, 2024 7:29 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing is now aiming for its first astronaut launch at the beginning of June. Officials for the company and NASA said Friday that weeks of review show that the capsule can safely fly with two test pilots, despite a propulsion system leak. The small helium leak was discovered following the first launch attempt on May 6 that was scuttled by an unrelated rocket problem. Boeing’s Starliner capsule is already years late in transporting astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA. SpaceX has been launching crews since 2020.
May 26, 2024 7:28 am
(AP) – In what had long been celebrated every May 30 to honor America’s fallen soldiers, Memorial Day officially became a federal holiday in 1971, observed on the last Monday in May. Businesses increasingly have chosen to stay open on the holiday, leading to what is now one of the biggest retail sales and travel weekends of the year. Government offices, post offices and schools are closed, as is the stock market, banks and a handful of businesses. The vast majority of retailers will be open, with many trying to lure customers with big promotional sales. Hours may vary by location.
May 26, 2024 7:23 am
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Authorities says at least two people are dead after severe weather swept across Texas and Oklahoma overnight, causing extensive damage and outages. Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington has confirmed the deaths in Valley View, Texas, on Saturday night. Forecasters have issued tornado and severe thunder storm warnings for parts of both states. An official in Denton County, Texas, says a tornado caused damage to homes, power lines and trees. The official says overturned tractor-trailer trucks stopped traffic on Interstate 35. An excessive heat warning also has been issued for South Texas, where the heat index is forecast to approach 120 degrees Fahrenheit over the holiday weekend.
May 26, 2024 7:17 am
(WPXI) – A Somerset County man who spent 101 days detained in Turks and Caicos is home. Bryan Hagerich arrived at Pittsburgh International Airport just after 9:30 Friday evening and ran into the arms of his two small children. Hagerich faced up to 12 years in prison after he was found with hunting ammunition on his way out of the country. Early Friday, a judge ruled the ammunition was brought in unintentionally and gave him a suspended sentence. His release comes after a major effort here at home. Congressman Guy Reschenthaler and Senator John Fetterman were part of a delegation that traveled to the Caribbean earlier this week to lobby for the release of Hagerich and other detained Americans. “On Monday when we left the island, we weren’t sure that Bryan was going to be released,” Reschenthaler said. “Just as a father, as a husband, to be reunited after 101 days. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders,” Hagerich said. He also shared a message to the families of the remaining American detainees: “Keep praying.”
May 26, 2024 7:11 am
(WPXI) – A man is dead after a motorcycle crash in Westmoreland County. The Westmoreland County coroner said Joshua Michael Haynes, 24, from Blairsville, was driving a Suzuki motorcycle south on Derry Lane when he left the road and crashed into the woods. Haynes hit a tree and was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:12 a.m. on Saturday. The coroner said he was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the crash.
May 26, 2024 7:09 am
(WPXI) – Pennsylvania State Police are investigating a homicide in a Fayette County community. A state police spokesperson says Troopers were informed about a shooting at a residence on Second Street in Redstone Township around 11:12 a.m. Friday. Through their investigation, police say they learned two men, identified as Edmund Parson and James Tucker, were in the living room of the home Friday morning. Police say while the men were sitting inside the room, Parson pulled out a pistol from a storage box and shot Tucker twice. The men were taken to a nearby hospital, where Tucker was pronounced deceased. Parson was treated and released for incarceration. Police say Parson is facing a criminal homicide charge and several other unspecified criminal offenses. The shooting remains under investigation.
May 26, 2024 7:06 am
Severe thunderstorms and strong winds rolled through the Pittsburgh area on Saturday. Crews have spent hours working on restoring power to areas that experienced hundreds of outages during storms on Saturday. Washington County power outages were scattered and there were no reported serious injuries. Strong winds in Beaver County left a busy road closed in both directions Saturday afternoon after trees and wires were knocked over. Crews worked for hours but have been able to reopen the road with some restrictions in place. (Photo: WPXI)
May 25, 2024 4:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors have asked the judge overseeing the classified documents case against Donald Trump to bar the former president from public statements that “pose a significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger to law enforcement agents” participating in the prosecution. The request to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon follows a distorted claim by Trump earlier this week that the FBI agents who searched his home in August 2022 were “authorized to shoot me” and were “locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger.” An attorney for Trump didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment Friday night.
May 25, 2024 3:59 am
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s federal firearms charges trial agreed Friday to block prosecutors from telling jurors about some other unflattering episodes from his personal life, but left the door open to allowing them in if the president’s son testifies. Prosecutors and defense attorneys sparred over evidence Friday during the final hearing before trial on June 3, including the authenticity of data from a laptop he allegedly dropped off at a Delaware repair shop. President Joe Biden’s son is charged with lying about his drug use in 2018 on a form to buy a gun. Hunter Biden has acknowledged a past addiction to crack cocaine but his lawyers say he didn’t break the law.
May 25, 2024 3:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has undergone a medical procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and has resumed duty after temporarily transferring power. He is continuing to deal with bladder issues that arose in December following his treatment for prostate cancer. The Pentagon says the procedure Friday was successful, elective and minimally invasive, “is not related to his cancer diagnosis and has had no effect on his excellent cancer prognosis.” Austin has returned home, and the Pentagon says no changes in his official schedule are anticipated, including his participation in Memorial Day events.
