October 26, 2023 5:04 am
The new speaker of the U.S. House had a key role in trying to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win. Republican Rep. Mike Johnson spearheaded a legal brief in support of an unsuccessful lawsuit trying to overturn the results. He repeated baseless conspiracy theories about the election and voted against certifying its outcome after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. His role is significant because he is now second in the line of presidential succession and because the House in January 2025 will have a key role in certifying the winner of next year’s presidential election.
October 26, 2023 5:03 am
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops and tanks launched an hourslong ground raid into northern Gaza overnight. The military said troops struck several militant targets in Thursday’s raid in order to “prepare the battlefield” ahead of a widely expected ground invasion. The raid came after the U.N. warned it is on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts in the besieged territory. Hospitals in Gaza are struggling to treat masses of wounded with dwindling resources. The war, sparked by Hamas’ bloody incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7, is already the deadliest of five fought between Israel and Hamas in the last 15 years.
October 26, 2023 5:02 am
LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Authorities have launched a multistate search on land and water for a U.S. Army reservist who they say fatally shot 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar in Maine. The shootings in the city of Lewiston on Wednesday night sent panicked patrons scrambling under tables and behind bowling pins. Police identified the suspect as 40-year-old Robert Card. He was still at large Thursday afternoon, sparking a massive search and prompting schools and businesses to shut down and residents to shelter in place. A U.S. official told The Associated Press that Card was taken by police for a mental evaluation in July after he was acting erratically during training. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the information and spoke on condition of anonymity.
October 26, 2023 4:58 am
MCDONALD, Pa. — (WPXI) – A bullet was found at Cecil Intermediate School in McDonald on Tuesday. According to a letter sent to parents, multiple students reported that a bullet was brought to school by another student. When leaders investigated, they found the student had a bullet in their possession. “I would like to give credit, and my thanks, to the students who reported this to staff members at Cecil Intermediate. As always, we encourage our students that when they see or hear something, they should say something. That’s just what these students did in this situation,” Principal Robert Kleinhans said in a letter to parents.
October 26, 2023 2:52 am
A candidate for borough council in East Washington will face trial on juvenile sexual assault charges. Anthony Dinch, 28 of East Washington faced his preliminary hearing on Wednesday and waived involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a minor, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors felony charges along with several others to court. According to police, In July, Dinch was accused by a 15 year old of at least 25 sexual assaults over several years in Dinch’s apartment. He is also accused of furnishing alcohol to the minor. Dinch is a candidate for borough council in East Washington for a four year term and a two year term. He won those primary races to appear as a Republican candidate via write in campaigns. Dinch is unopposed in the two year term race. Dinch is currently free on a $250,000 unsecured bond. He will be arraigned on November 30.
October 26, 2023 2:31 am
Washington County Coroner Tim Warco has presented his findings from a coroner inquest into the fatal police involved shooting of Eduardo Hoover, Jr. of Coraopolis. Warco recommends that Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh file criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter against Mt.Pleasant Police Officer Tyler Evans. Warco further recommends that if Walsh does not file charges, The Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General step in and prosecute the case. Earlier in the year, Walsh determined that Evans’ shooting of Hoover was a justifiable homicide. The case revolves around an April 2, 2023 incident that began in Burgettstown as a car chase with Hoover that wound up being 10 miles in length with speeds reaching 80 miles per hour. The incident ended in the 1000 block of Jefferson Avenue in Washington where traffic slowed Hoover’s pick up truck allowing police to block him in. Hoover tried to escape by ramming his truck into Evans’ police cruiser. Video evidence played in the inquest showed an officer from Smith Township firing his weapon into the engine compartment of Hoover’s vehicle. Upon the impact of Hoover’s truck on Evans’ cruiser, Evans jumped out of the cruiser and fired into the rear of Hoover’s truck striking him and killing him. District Attorney Jason Walsh will hold a press conference on Friday to address the findings of the inquest.
October 25, 2023 4:51 pm
DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union appears to be edging closer to a tentative contract agreement with Ford that would be critical to ending the union’s 6-week-old strikes against the three major Detroit automakers. That’s according to two people with knowledge of the talks. The people said Wednesday that the union has made a counter-offer to Ford that proposes a 25% general wage increase over the life of a new four-year contract and that negotiations on Tuesday extended well into Wednesday morning. Previously Ford, Stellantis and General Motors had all offered 23% pay increases.
October 25, 2023 3:44 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial has fined the former president $10,000. The judge says Trump violated a limited gag order barring personal attacks on court staffers. The fine was issued Wednesday after Trump complained outside court about what he called “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside” the judge in the case, Arthur Engoron. Weeks ago, Engoron ordered all participants in the case not to comment publicly about his staff. The Oct. 3. gag order came after Trump made a social media post maligning the judge’s principal law clerk, who sits beside him in court. Trump said his comment Wednesday was about witness Michael Cohen. Engoron said Trump’s claim was “not credible.”
October 25, 2023 3:41 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard Roundtree, the trailblazing actor for Black filmmakers who starred as the ultra-smooth private detective in the 1971 action movie “Shaft” and several sequels, has died. He was 81. Roundtree’s longtime manager, Patrick McMinn, says the actor had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died at his Los Angeles home on Tuesday. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 and underwent a double mastectomy. Roundtree was considered as the “first Black action hero” and became one of the leading actors in the blaxploitation genre through his New York street smart John Shaft character in the Gordon Parks-directed film. At age 28, it was Roundtree’s feature film debut after starting his career as a model. (Photo: AP
October 25, 2023 6:20 am
Supervisors in North Strabane Township authorized the advertisement for changes to two ordinances. One change will alter the way sewerage bills are paid. Currently the North Strabane Township Municipal Authority bills its customers quarterly. Changes by their board will now have residents pay their sewerage bills monthly. Another ordinance change affects fines for parking on township streets. Currently, the fine for that violation is $15 and is reduced to $5 if paid in two days. The new ordinance will increase the penalty to $50 with a discount to $25 if paid in two days. Both measures will be voted on at the November legislative meeting. Additionally, Supervisors approved scheduling the continuation of a conditional use hearing for the Summit at Woodlawn development. The meeting will be held on November 21 at 6:00 pm.
