May 1, 2024 2:50 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives is advancing legislation long sought by counties seeking help to manage huge influxes of mail-in ballots during elections in the presidential battleground state. The bill passed on party lines Wednesday, 102-99, as Democrats backed it and Republicans opposed it, warning that it would open the door to fraud. Under the bill, county election workers could start processing ballots up to seven days before election day. Nearly every state allows time before Election Day for workers to process mail-in ballots. Currently, Pennsylvania doesn’t let counties begin before Election Day. It faces long odds in the Senate, where the GOP majority insists that Pennsylvania first toughen voter identification requirements.
May 1, 2024 2:15 am
Police from all over the area gathered Wednesday morning at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 47 to honor Pennsylvania State Troopers and all other police officers that were killed in the line of duty. The ceremony, hosted by Pennsylvania State Police Troop B also commemorated the founding of the Pennsylvania State Police on May 2, 1919. According to Troop B Commander, Captain Jeremy Barni, in the 115 year history of the Pennsylvania State Polce, 104 members of the state police have tragically lost their lives. Of that 104 total, 13 have come from Troop B. Guest Speaker, Retired Captain Roger Waters of Troop B offered his thoughts of being a state police trooper and his feelings when he got two phone calls as commander alerting him to the deaths of two of his troopers. Troopers were honored with a rifle firing salute, the playing of taps and a walk off honor of bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace”. Troops were further honored with a helicopter flyover by Aviation Patrol Unit 5 from Latrobe.
May 1, 2024 2:01 am
In just a couple of days – Reggie will be famous – or – almost famous. Reggie is a four and a half-year-old Springer Spaniel owned by Judy and Dennis Krivacek of North Strabane Township and on Sunday night, he’ll be making his television debut on American’s Funniest Home Videos. Dennis Krivacek tells WJPA that Reggie became infatuated with a stair-lift chair in their home and would jump on the seat, waiting for a ride up or down the stairs. Dennis says it was cute and funny at first, as they would send him up or down the stairs for a ride, but after a while, he said it was like, enough is enough, no more rides. That wasn’t good enough for Reggie, who wanted more rides. So, somehow, Reggie learned how to operate the stair-life chair himself and they found him putting the seat down on the device and using his nose to get it moving – so he can enjoy a ride whenever he feels like it. Dennis tells us his wife suggested filming Reggie’s rides and sending it to America’s Funniest Home Videos. Much to their surprise, he says they were contacted and told that Reggie had made it into the final three and was in line to win several thousand dollars, depending on the final outcome. The final show will air at Sunday evening at seven o’clock on WTAE. Dennis tells us they have a big watch party planned so family and friends can enjoy the outcome. Dennis says they already know how it turns out for Reggie, but they are not allowed to reveal the results.. The episode is called, “Doggy Don’t Do Stairs.”
April 30, 2024 2:11 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country. The DEA’s proposal still must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget. It would recognize the medical use cannabis and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. However, it would not legalize marijuana. The agency’s move was confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday by five people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive regulatory review. (Photo: AP)
April 30, 2024 11:49 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has been held in contempt of court and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. The judge warned that Trump could be jailed. Prosecutors had alleged 10 violations, but New York Judge Juan M. Merchan found there were nine. Still, the decision Tuesday is a rebuke for the Republican former president, who had insisted he was exercising his free speech rights. The ruling came at the start of the second week of testimony in the historic case.
April 30, 2024 5:16 am
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — One of the winners of a $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot this month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week. Cheng “Charlie” Saephan told a news conference held by the Oregon Lottery on Monday that he and his wife would take half the money, and the other half would go to a friend who chipped in $100 to buy a batch of tickets with them. Saephan said he’d buy a house and find a good doctor for himself. Saephan said he was born in Laos and moved to Thailand in 1987, before immigrating to the U.S. in 1994.
April 30, 2024 5:12 am
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Four officers trying to serve a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and four other officers were wounded in a shootout in North Carolina. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said the officers killed the suspect outside the Charlotte home Monday after he fired on them. Jennings says officers who rushed to rescue the downed officers were themselves wounded by a second shooter firing from inside the home. Armored vehicles smashed into the home, tearing down doors and shattering windows. A woman and a 17-year-old male were taken away for questioning after the three-hour standoff ended. Police also say a high-powered rifle was seized from the home.
April 30, 2024 5:07 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Standoffs between pro-Palestinian protesters and U.S. college administrators appear to be coming to a head. Columbia University in New York limited campus access after protesters took over a building early Tuesday. The school promised that they would face expulsion. Police moved to clear an encampment at Yale University in Connecticut. But at Northwestern University, near Chicago, school officials and protesters have reached agreement to allow demonstrations through the end of spring classes. Protesters on campuses nationwide are angry about the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll. Cease-fire negotiations appear to be gaining steam, but it’s unclear if that could inspire protesters to ease their efforts.
April 30, 2024 5:05 am
Officials from Hamas have left Cairo after talks with Egyptian officials on a new proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza. Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News satellite channel said Tuesday that a Hamas delegation will return to Cairo with a written response to the cease-fire proposal, without saying when. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected in Israel in his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began. The conflict was sparked Oct. 7 by a raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. The war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities, and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.
April 30, 2024 5:00 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Stranded on the tracks, a Pittsburgh-bound train was stopped for hours late Sunday night. One of the many passengers on the trail told WPXI that he didn’t arrive at Union Station until after 12:30 a.m. John Ayers told Channel 11 News that he boarded his train at noon in Philadelphia and said he, along with others, were stuck inside the train while it sat for more than six hours unable to move. Ayers, along with nearly 200 other Amtrak passengers traveling from New York or Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, were stranded near Greensburg, miles away from their destination. “What [the conductor] was saying was that something happened up ahead on the tracks. He told us the tracks had overheated, and we were going to be really delayed, but he wasn’t sure how long it would be before we got to Pittsburgh,” Ayers explained. It would be more than six hours before help would arrive in the form of busses. But as Ayers and others waited on those busses, he said things on the train seemed to be out of sorts; first, the power went out, and then the motor blew. Channel 11 News reached out to both Norfolk Southern and Amtrak and they confirmed it was not the tracks, but a mechanical issue with the train. Ayers was scheduled to get in around 8 p.m. but didn’t arrive home until nearly 3 a.m. “I haven’t heard from them haven’t called texted nothing no apology,” he said. Ayers told us he isn’t surprised he hasn’t received any compensation because, during that entire ordeal, they only handed out a 4 oz bottle of water and a bag of cookies.
