April 30, 2024 4:56 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Protesters are packing up at Pitt and tents are coming down after a nearly weeklong demonstration at Schenley Plaza. Demonstrators in Oakland say their fight isn’t over, still demanding the university divest from companies profiting from the Israel-Hamas War. “We want Pitt to stop working with any organizations that support Israeli military with weapons, arms and technology,” Elyanna Sharbaji said. Students set up the encampment in Schenley Plaza last week. The movement, sparked by Columbia University, is now happening at college campuses nationwide. Pittsburgh police say these protesters have been peaceful. Protesters say they’ve had some conversations with the university about cutting ties with Israel but haven’t come to an agreement. Until they do, they plan on keeping the pressure on the administration.
April 30, 2024 4:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Late this year, Aurora Innovation Inc. plans to start hauling freight on Interstate 45 between the Dallas and Houston areas with 20 driverless trucks. Within three or four years, Aurora and its competitors expect to put thousands such self-driving trucks on America’s public freeways. The goal is for the trucks, which can run nearly around the clock without any breaks, to speed the flow of goods, accelerating delivery times and perhaps lowering costs. But the vehicles have drawn skepticism from safety advocates, who warn that with almost no federal regulation, it will be mainly up to the companies themselves to determine when the semis are safe enough to operate without humans on board.
April 30, 2024 4:48 am
Washington City Council was visited by Sheila Gombita, Executive Director of Freedom Transit. She was there to encourage the authorization of $110,709 in funding for matching funds provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Each year Freedom Transit is required to provide a funding match of 15% for its transportation funding and they reach out to the city, county and several surrounding communities to reach that goal. Gombita did warn council that this may not be the last time they hear from her this year. Public transportation is funded by a 4.4% portion of state sales taxes. Under a proposal from Governor Josh Shapiro, that portion would increase by 1.75% to 6.15% of state sales tax revenue. If that scenario were to pass the legislature, that would cause Freedom Transit to have to come up with approximately $70,000 in additional match funds to qualify for the more than $450,000 anticipated. Gombita said that she wanted to warn council that she could return to seek additional match funds from the current list of funding partners if necessary. She says Freedom Transit is “one of 5 transit agencies across the Commonwealth that are required to provide 15% local match (which includes PRT and SEPTA). However, our agency, and our agency alone, has meetings scheduled with local legislators to discuss our concern with coming up with these additional funds and for language to assist us with managing the level of local match funding. PRT and SEPTA are not looking to eliminate this discrepancy”. Council will vote on the funding request Thursday.
April 30, 2024 2:12 am
The Washington County Controller will face trial in June on animal cruelty charges. Forty-three-year-old April Sloane of North Strabane Township faces two felony aggravated cruelty to animals charges related to the torture and death of animals and one misdemeanor neglect of animals charge. Sloane is accused of neglecting her dog and allowing it to live in deplorable conditions causing its death. Police were alerted to the situation by the Washington County Humane Society who they said received a call about the dog. North Strabane Township Police then searched Sloane’s home on December 6th and found the dead dog – stashed away in a plastic bag in her garage. Sloane is free on $150,000 unsecured bond. A case status conference was held on Tuesday, during which time her attorney asked that Washington County Judge John DiSalle recuse himself. DiSalle denied the request, saying there was a lack of evidence to honor the motion. A trial date has been set for June 10th.
April 29, 2024 4:59 pm
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that West Virginia and North Carolina’s refusal to cover certain health care for transgender people with government-sponsored insurance is discriminatory. The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-6 in the case involving coverage of gender-affirming care by North Carolina’s state employee health plan and the coverage of gender-affirming surgery by West Virginia Medicaid. Both states appealed separate lower court rulings that found the denial of gender-affirming care to be discriminatory and unconstitutional. Two panels of three Fourth Circuit judges heard arguments in both cases earlier this year before deciding to intertwine the two cases and see them presented before the full court of 15.
April 29, 2024 4:58 pm
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Police in North Carolina say several officers on a task force trying to serve a warrant in Charlotte, North Carolina, have been struck by gunfire. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says officers from the U.S. Marshals Task Force were shot Monday afternoon in a suburban neighborhood. Police said multiple victims were taken to hospitals and a SWAT team was on the scene. Gunfire continued after the officers were struck and a SWAT team was in the neighborhood afterward with police saying the situation remained unsafe hours later. Police urged people to stay away from the area and asked residents of the neighborhood to stay inside their homes.
April 29, 2024 5:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February. An official says the U.S. intelligence community has found “no smoking gun” that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny’s death or directly ordered it. The official says it’s believed Putin was ultimately responsible for the death of Navalny, who endured brutal conditions during his confinement. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. Navalny was Russia’s best-known opposition politician and died while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he called politically motivated. A month later, Putin won reelection.
April 29, 2024 5:07 am
SULPHUR, Okla. (AP) — Small towns in Oklahoma are beginning a long cleanup after tornadoes flattened home and buildings and killed at least four people, including an infant. The damage Monday was extensive in the community of Sulphur, where a weekend tornado crumpled many downtown buildings and sheared the roofs off houses across a 15-block radius. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said hospitals across the state reported about 100 injuries, including people apparently cut or struck by debris. White House officials said President Joe Biden spoke to Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Sunday and offered the full support of the federal government.
April 29, 2024 5:07 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Protesters of the war in Gaza who are encamped at Columbia University have defied a deadline to disband with chants, clapping and drumming. The Ivy League university in Manhattan earlier Monday issued an ultimatum for students to sign a form and leave an encampment by 2 p.m. or face suspension. The move comes as colleges around the country implore student protesters to clear out camps with rising levels of urgency as classes wrap up for the semester and graduation ceremonies approach. Students and others nationwide have been sparring over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll. Many students are demanding their universities cut financial ties with Israel. (Photo: AP)
April 29, 2024 5:05 am
Palestinian health officials say Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah have killed at least 22 people, including six women and five children. One of the children killed in the strikes overnight into Monday was just 5 days old. Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes on Rafah since the start of the war and has threatened to send in ground troops, saying Rafah is the last major Hamas stronghold in the coastal enclave. Over a million Palestinians have sought refuge in the city on the Egyptian border. The U.S. and others have urged Israel not to invade, fearing a humanitarian catastrophe. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday begins his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.
