May 3, 2024 5:08 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Former longtime Donald Trump adviser Hope Hicks is recounting how his 2016 presidential campaign became embroiled in a political firestorm over a tape in which he boasted about grabbing women without their permission. The infamous “Access Hollywood” tape is central to the case. Prosecutors say it hastened his then-lawyer Michael Cohen’s hush money deal with porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump years earlier. Hicks testified that after learning of the tape’s existence, she knew it was a “damaging development.”
May 3, 2024 5:07 am
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as local election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a U.K. general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years. Labour won control of councils in England it hasn’t held for decades and was successful in a special by-election for Parliament. With a general election looming, the results will be viewed through a national prism.
May 3, 2024 5:06 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police have arrested nearly 2,200 people during pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the United States in recent weeks. They have sometimes used riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash-bang devices to clear tent encampments and occupied buildings. At Columbia University, one officer accidentally discharged his gun inside an administration building while clearing out protesters camped inside. That’s according to the NYPD. No one was injured by the officer’s actions. A tally by The Associated Press recorded at least 56 incidents of arrests at 43 different U.S. colleges or universities since April 18 stemming from recent campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war.
May 3, 2024 5:04 am
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ signing of the repeal of a Civil War-era ban on nearly all abortions was a stirring occasion for the women working to ensure the 19th century law remains in the past. Current and former state lawmakers and reproductive rights advocates crowded into the 9th floor rotunda outside Hobbs’ office at the Capitol on Thursday afternoon, hugging and taking selfies to capture the moment. Hobbs says the move is just the beginning of a fight to protect reproductive health care in Arizona. A repeal won’t take effect until 90 days after the current legislative session ends.
May 3, 2024 5:02 am
HONOLULU (AP) — Maui County is suing major cellular carriers for failing to properly inform police of widespread service outages during the height of last summer’s deadly wildfire. The county is suing Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA, Spectrum Mobile and AT&T. The county says it sent at least 14 alert messages to cellphones, warning residents to evacuate. But the county didn’t know those messages weren’t received because of cell tower failures across the island. The lawsuit says the county would have used other warning methods if the carriers reported the service outages as required by federal law.
May 3, 2024 5:00 am
HOUSTON BOROUGH, Pa. — (WPXI) – The Pittsburgh Pirates jumped in to help save the season for the Chartiers-Houston Girls Softball Association after a series of floods put it in doubt. President of the association James Hollenbach said he was at a loss for words when he saw the flooding on April 9. It was the second time in a week that heavy rains forced a nearby creek to overflow and flood the nearby softball field. The season for the girl’s softball program was set to begin in only a few weeks, but at the time, that felt like an unreachable goal. Everyone rushed to help. Parents, local businesses and even the Pirates pitched in. The Pirates’ Fields For Kids program specializes in renovating community fields. Team president Travis Williams told Channel 11 that the organization jumped in to help as soon as they saw the photos of the flooding. Hollenbach added that without the community’s help, they still may not have a season. Instead, they were able to start on time last week. The Pirates and the Chartiers-Houston Girls Softball Association celebrated the renovation ahead of a game on the field Thursday. Players and coaches will also attend a Pirates game on Saturday to celebrate a job well done.
May 3, 2024 2:36 am
A big weekend is on tap in the city of Washington (rain or shine). On Saturday, the Main Street Pavilion will feature agricultural exhibits, educational displays, a children’s area, and craft vendors. The day will also showcase local downtown businesses with a breakfast crawl and a kitchen clash, and will culminate with the Running of the Wools. where champion sheep will take on Main Street. Running of the Wools is a relatively new event in downtown Washington that highlights the close relationship the city and region has had with the farming and sheep industry and is a way want to show appreciation for the county’s farmers and all they do for us! The event continues through Sunday when the weekend wraps-up with a community blessing service at the pavilion.
May 3, 2024 2:11 am
Washington County Commissioners met Thursday and what began as a very run of the mill meeting, took a sudden turn during public comment. Washington County Controller April Sloane took the microphone and announced results of her audit of county spending for the first quarter of this year. Sloane indicated troubling results from last year and the beginning of this year. According to Sloane, the county jail was just over $1 million over budget in 2023. The county is already exceeding its 2024 budget by approximately $1 million. Sloane alleges that the ransom paid to rectify a cyber attack earlier this year was illegally funded by funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). She further questioned some payroll usage of ARPA funds. She also stated that nearly $46,000 in hotel taxes were not collected in 2022. Most recently Sloane stated that a salary request from Chief of Staff Daryl Price was sent back for review before being presented to the salary board. That review of numbers saved taxpayers $12,000 in annual salary for one position. Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman says that Sloane’s statement is inaccurate. Spending is up because of the use of the $98 million the county received through ARPA and that all expenditures are legal under the act. He further stated that if anyone has a dispute with the spending of those funds, they can file a complaint with the District Attorney. Sherman says that he and his colleagues will do everything in their power to keep that ARPA money in Washington County.
May 2, 2024 4:22 pm
A Pennsylvania man who authorities say killed his girlfriend in a Nevada desert has been convicted. A jury in U.S. District Court in Nevada on Wednesday found John Matthew Chapman, 44, guilty of one count of kidnapping resulting in death, for the death of 33-year-old Jaime Feden of Bethel Park. He faces life in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled for August 2nd. They say that after killing Feden in September 2019, Chapman pretended to be her on her Facebook messenger account and lived at her residence. The woman’s neighbors in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, became suspicious when they hadn’t seen her or her vehicle for months but saw Chapman around the house, prosecutors said. Police conducted a welfare check and found identification cards with Chapman’s name and photo, the victim’s cellphone, zip ties and a roll of duct tape, they said. (Photo: WPXI)
May 2, 2024 6:26 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Duane Eddy, a pioneering guitar hero whose reverberating electric sound on instrumentals such as “Rebel Rouser,” “Forty Miles of Bad Road” and “Cannonball” helped put the twang in early rock ‘n’ roll and influenced George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen and countless other musicians, has died at age 86. With his raucous rhythms, and backing hollers and hand claps, Eddy sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and mastered a distinctive sound based on the premise that a guitar’s bass strings sounded better on tape than the high ones.
