October 26, 2022 4:18 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator says Russian forces have performed secret work at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. The activity could shed light on Russia’s unsubstantiated claims that Kyiv’s forces are preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device. Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom said Tuesday it “assumes” the Russians are preparing “a terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste” stored at the plant. It says the destruction of containers of spent nuclear fuel would lead to a radiation accident and the contamination of several hundred square kilometers (miles) of adjacent territory. Ukraine has dismissed Moscow’s claim as an attempt to distract attention from the Kremlin’s own alleged plans to detonate a dirty bomb.
October 26, 2022 4:15 am
BEIJING (AP) – The Chinese city of Shanghai has started administering an inhalable COVID-19 vaccine in what appears to be a world first. The vaccine, a mist that is sucked in through the mouth, is being offered for free as a booster dose for previously vaccinated individuals, according to an announcement posted on an official city social media account. Needle-free vaccines may persuade people who don’t like getting a shot to get vaccinated, as well as help expand vaccination in poor countries because they are easier to administer. China doesn’t have vaccine mandates, but wants more people to get booster shots before it relaxes strict pandemic restrictions that are holding back the economy and increasingly out of synch with the rest of the world.
October 26, 2022 4:14 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Police say the 19-year-old gunman who killed a teacher and a 15-year-old girl at a St. Louis high school was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and what appeared to be more than 600 rounds of ammunition. Orlando Harris also left behind a hand-written note offering his explanation for the shooting Monday at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School. Tenth-grader Alexzandria Bell and 61-year-old physical education teacher Jean Kuczka died and seven students were wounded. The attack forced students to barricade doors and huddle in classroom corners, jump from windows and run out of the building to seek safety. Police killed Harris in an exchange of gunfire.
October 26, 2022 4:12 am
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his army mobilization for the war in Ukraine, independent media outlets, human rights activists and draftees themselves have painted a bleak picture. They describe a haphazard, chaotic and ethnically biased effort to round up as many men as possible and push them quickly to the front, regardless of skill or training. The reservists included men without any military experience, some of whom were also unfit for service for medical reasons. There were shortages of gear, with outdated weapons handed out, and squalid living quarters awaited draftees at training camps. One analyst says the hasty call-up will hardly achieve anything other than “slowing down the advances” of Ukrainian troops,
October 26, 2022 4:10 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — More than five months after experiencing a stroke, Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman struggled at times to explain his positions and often spoke haltingly throughout a highly anticipated debate Tuesday against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz as they vie for a critical Senate seat. In the opening minutes of the debate, Fetterman addressed what he called the “elephant in the room.” “I had a stroke. He’s never let me forget that,” Fetterman said of Oz, who has persistently questioned his ability to serve in the Senate. “And I might miss some words during this debate, mush two words together, but it knocked me down and I’m going to keep coming back up.” When pressed to release his medical records later in the debate, he refused to commit. Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon, ignored his opponent’s health challenges throughout the debate, instead seizing on Fetterman’s policies on immigration and crime and his support for President Joe Biden. At one point, Oz said Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, was “trying to get as many murderers out of jail as possible.” “His extreme positions have made him untenable,” he charged. The forum had many of the trappings of a traditional debate, complete with heated exchanges and interruptions. But the impact of the stroke was apparent as Fetterman used closed-captioning posted above the moderator to help him process the words he heard, leading to occasional awkward pauses.
October 26, 2022 4:04 am
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission is a regional planning commission tasked with transportation and economic development planning and forecasts for a ten county region in western Pennsylvania. Tuesday the SPC held a public hearing to update residents on the first four years of the commission’s Long Range Plan. Several subjects discussed included roads, bridges and transportation where intersections in Peters Township are being reconstructed and Rt. 18 Bridges 1 & 2 over Chartiers Creek being replaced. Broadband was not a consideration four years ago but now grants are being finalized to bring broadband to areas underserved and not served at all because the Covid-19 pandemic showed that education and medical needs are severely compromised if facilities are not able to be opened. Economic development was addressed. The SPC’s PREP program helps small businesses with anything from business development, loans and exporting. Grants for non-profits are also available. The SPC was looking for comment on anything in its region to help it guide funding for projects throughout western Pennsylvania. The public may still make comment. Go to their website, www.SPCRegion.org and users will be instructed how to weigh in and have their opinion heard.
October 26, 2022 4:02 am
North Strabane Township Supervisors moved through a lengthy agenda Tuesday night. There were 24 action items to consider, all of them passed with 3-0 votes. Absent from the meeting were supervisors Harold Close and Marcus Staley. The biggest items passed regarded new organization charts for township administration and appointments for new positions. The new Public Safety Department will be headed by Current Public Safety Director Mark Grimm. The new organization calls for Grimm to head the administrative duties of the police and fire departments. Daily operations will be handled by Assistant Fire Chief Richard Yosi and newly appointed Police Captain Matthew Mancini (pictured). Mancini has been with the North Strabane Police Department for more than 20 years. He replaces the recently departed Police Chief Brian Hughes. A new Community Development department was also approved. It will combine the offices of the Planning/Zoning department and the Code Enforcement office. Current Planning and Zoning Director Anthony Asciolla will become head of that department at the beginning of 2023. Supervisors also approved updates to its zoning map and approved changes to zoning ordinances offering updated guidance on the keeping of chickens and bees. Ordinances regulating properties offered for short term rentals that are often found on websites like Airbnb and VRBO were also tightened.
October 25, 2022 5:20 pm
(WPXI) – Police were called to downtown Pittsburgh Tuesday afternoon for reports of shots fired. Authorities say officers and medics were dispatched to the 900 block of Penn Avenue at around 3:30. They say people started shooting in the area and then fled the scene on foot. Two people have been arrested in relation to the incident but no details were released on the reason for the shooting. There were no reported injuries. An official from Pittsburgh Public Schools said Pittsburgh CAPA, Allegheny Traditional Academy, King PreK-8 and a classroom at the Children’s Museum were placed under lockdown for around 20 minutes. Penn Avenue was also shut down but reopened after the situation was deemed under control.
October 25, 2022 10:48 am
MOSCOW (AP) – A Russian court has rejected an appeal by U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner of her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession, a step that could move her closer to a possible high-stakes prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington. The all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medalist was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport. Reflecting pressure on the U.S. administration to do more to bring Griner home, the U.S. secretary of state revealed in July that Washington had made a proposal to get Griner home, along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.
October 25, 2022 9:42 am
LONDON (AP) – Rishi Sunak has become Britain’s third prime minister of the year. He is now tasked with taming an economic crisis that has left the country’s finances in a precarious state and millions of Britons struggling to pay their food and energy bills. Sunak is the U.K.’s first leader of color. He met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. The monarch officially asked the new leader of the governing Conservative Party to form a government. Sunak clinched the leadership position Monday as his party tries to stabilize the economy and its own plunging popularity. That’s after the brief, disastrous term of Liz Truss.
