March 30, 2024 4:55 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Pennsylvania judge has overturned the convictions of three men imprisoned for decades in the 1997 slaying of a 70-year-old woman even though their DNA never matched what was found at the scene. They will remain in prison while a prosecutor decides whether to appeal. The Delaware County judge on Thursday ordered new trials for Derrick Chappell, who was 15 at the time of his arrest, and cousins Morton Johnson and Sam Grasty. The legal director of the nonprofit group Centurion says the three should have never been charged. A bail hearing is set for May.
March 29, 2024 9:58 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries “Roots,” has died. He was 87. Gossett always thought of his early career as a reverse Cinderella story, with success finding him from an early age and propelling him forward, toward his Academy Award for “An Officer and a Gentleman.” He also was a star on Broadway, replacing Billy Daniels in “Golden Boy” with Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964 and recently played an obstinate patriarch in the 2023 remake of “The Color Purple.”
March 29, 2024 8:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A measure of inflation that is closely tracked by the Federal Reserve slipped last month in a sign that price pressures continue to ease. The government reported that prices rose 0.3% from January to February, decelerating from a 0.4% increase the previous month in a potentially encouraging trend for President Joe Biden’s re-election bid. Compared with 12 months earlier, though, prices rose 2.5% in February, up slightly from a 2.4% year-over-year gain in January. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core prices rose 0.3% from January to February, down from 0.5% in the previous month. Core prices rose 2.8% from a year earlier last month, down from a revised 2.9% in January.
March 29, 2024 8:45 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and some big names from the entertainment world have delivered a rousing New York embrace of President Joe Biden at a campaign fundraiser that hauled in a record-setting $26 million-plus for the incumbent’s reelection campaign. The mood at Radio City Music Hall on Thursday night was electric as Obama said he was offering a “positive case” for someone who’s been an outstanding president. Clinton urged people to “stay with what works” in this election. Democrat Biden has a significant fundraising advantage over Republican rival Donald Trump, with more than four times as much cash on hand at the end of February.
March 29, 2024 5:11 am
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The top United Nations court has ordered Israel to take measures including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies into Gaza to tackle crippling shortages in the war-ravaged enclave. The International Court of Justice issued two new so-called provisional measures in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of acts of genocide in its military campaign launched after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. Israel stringently denies it is committing genocide and says its military campaign is self defense. Thursday’s order came after South Africa sought more provisional measures, including a ceasefire, citing starvation in Gaza. Israel urged the court not to issue new orders.
March 29, 2024 5:10 am
The Moscow concert hall attack a week ago that left more than 140 people dead was a major blunder for Russia’s law enforcement agencies. While the government register of terrorist and extremist groups in the country includes al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, it also lists LGBTQ+ activists and political opposition groups like that of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. That has raised questions about how Russia’s vast security services evaluate threats to the country and how gunmen could easily kill so many people at a public event. President Vladimir Putin came to power 24 years ago by taking a tough line against what he labeled as terrorism.
March 29, 2024 5:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are more worried about legal immigrants committing crimes in the U.S. than they were a few years ago, a change driven largely by increased concern among Republicans. That’s according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Democrats continue to see a broad range of benefits from immigration. Overall, about 4 in 10 Americans say that legal immigration to the U.S. is beneficial to the economy and culture, but that sentiment is down since 2017. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say that immigration is an important issue for them personally.
March 29, 2024 5:05 am
BALTIMORE (AP) — The largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard is arriving by barge so crews can begin removing the wreckage from the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says the crane can lift up to 1,000 tons. It will be used to clear the channel in order to resume the search for four workers who remain missing and reopen the key shipping route. Another crane is also on the way. Moore says “the best minds in the world” are working on plans to remove the twisted metal and concrete remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge. It was struck early Tuesday by a cargo ship and quickly fell into the river.
March 29, 2024 5:03 am
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Authorities say a bus carrying worshippers headed to an Easter weekend church gathering plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass and burst into flames in South Africa, killing at least 45 people. The only survivor of Thursday’s crash was an 8-year-old child, who was receiving medical attention. The Limpopo provincial government said the bus veered off the bridge and plunged into a ravine before busting into flames. The victims appeared to be from Botswana. They had been on their way to the town of Moria for a popular Easter pilgrimage that attracts hundreds of thousands of worshippers who follow the Zion Christian Church. This year’s pilgrimage is the first since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 29, 2024 4:59 am
GREENSBURG, Pa. — (WPXI) – A Duquesne man sentenced on drug charges Tuesday is behind bars facing additional charges after sheriff’s deputies say he assaulted one of their officers Tuesday after his hearing. Jerome Felton, 22, is accused of assaulting a female Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Deputy as he was being escorted to a holding cell after a plea and sentencing hearing, where he was sentenced to one to two-and-a-half years behind bars on drug charges. According to the criminal complaint, the female deputy was escorting Felton – who was shackled – to the inmate-designated elevator after his hearing. Once inside the elevator, the deputy told investigators Felton looked at her and said, “If I give you a kiss, it can be our secret” The deputy told Felton to face the wall and stop talking to her. The two then got off the elevator, and the deputy walked Felton to the holding cell. According to court documents, the deputy told Felton to stand to the right of the cell as she unlocked the door – which the sheriff’s office says is standard protocol. While she was unlocking the door, the deputy said Felton walked behind her and pushed the top part of his torso into her back. The deputy said Felton grabbed her buttocks and made an explicit comment about his own body. Felton is due back in court to face these charges on April 4.
