August 27, 2023 7:16 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — A protest was held Saturday afternoon in support of William Hardison Sr., the man who Pittsburgh Police say barricaded himself in his home and died after a lengthy standoff earlier this week. Protesters marched down Broad Street chanting and carrying signs reading, ‘lies’ and ‘housing issues,’ in solidarity with the 63-year-old. They stopped in front of the house where neighbors told Channel 11 Hardison was squatting. Wednesday morning, deputies were serving Hardison an eviction notice from the courts when authorities said Hardison started shooting at them. Hundreds of bullets were fired back and forth for hours as several neighbors took cover waiting to be evacuated by police. During a media briefing Wednesday, Police Chief Larry Scirotto said Hardison’s death was not the outcome they wanted, but they gave him every chance to end things peacefully. Still, protesters are demanding accountability saying his death could have been avoided. State police are in charge of the investigation. The medical examiner has not yet confirmed if Hardison was killed by police or if his wounds were self-inflicted.
August 27, 2023 7:12 am
CLAIRTON, Pa. (WPXI) — The Allegheny County Police Department’s Homicide Unit is investigating the death of a man in Clairton. Authorities responded to a single-vehicle crash on the 600 block of Miller Avenue Friday around 10:55 p.m. They found a 51-year-old man in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to an area hospital, where he died just after midnight. The homicide unit says detectives think the shooting happened in the 800 block of Miller Avenue. Anyone with information is asked to call the County Police Tip Line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS.
August 26, 2023 11:44 am
MILL RUN, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say an EF-2 tornado brought down trees and damaged homes as well as a resort and campground in southwestern Pennsylvania, injuring at least six people. The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said an EF-2 tornado with peak winds estimated at 120 mph was on the ground for more than two miles in Fayette County shortly after 2:30 a.m. Friday. Trees were uprooted across Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park resort and campground in Mill Run, where several hundred campers were present. Officials said three people were injured by falling trees. The park says it is without power and closed for the weekend. Three more people were injured elsewhere.
August 26, 2023 4:36 am
PELLA, Iowa (AP) — Vivek Ramaswamy has charged back into Iowa after his attention-grabbing performance in the first Republican presidential debate. The charismatic 38-year-old businessman was met Friday by hundreds of GOP activists at breakfast and midday events in small central cities near Des Moines. He has more events planned in the coming days. Iowa Republicans are expressing both curiosity and skepticism about Ramaswamy. Some say they like that he is young and energetic. Others question his position that the U.S. should stop providing arms and funding to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
August 26, 2023 4:32 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tens of thousands of people are expected to gather Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial in the nation’s capital to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. The March on Washington, convened by the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network and members of the King family, is meant to be a rededication to the push for civil rights in the face of a backlash. The original march in 1963 drew as many as 250,000 people and helped till the ground for passage of federal civil rights and voting rights legislation in the next few years.
August 26, 2023 4:28 am
The Wagner Group’s presence extends from Syria to Africa, projecting the Kremlin’s global influence with mercenaries accused of using brutal force and profiting on mineral wealth. But that was under Yevgeny Prigozhin. In what could have been his final video released this week, he boasted that Wagner is “making Russia even greater on all continents and Africa even more free.” On Wednesday, a private jet carrying Prigozhin and his top lieutenants of the mercenary group crashed northwest of Moscow, two months after he led an armed rebellion that weakened the authority of President Vladimir Putin. That crash has raised questions about the future of the Wagner Group without Prigozhin.
August 26, 2023 4:21 am
Governor Josh Shapiro and the Department of Environmental Protection jointly announced that they have secured combustible gas detectors for the Rustic Ridge neighborhood in Plum Borough. This follows a house explosion that killed six and damaged multiple other homes. The detectors will be provided at no cost to the Rustic Ridge Homewners Association. Olympus Energy has provided 250 detectors to be distributed. The origin and cause of the explosion remains undetermined and is under investigation.
August 26, 2023 4:12 am
Power outages continue in Washington County after powerful thuderstorms roared throughout the area. Currently more than 1000 customers are still without power on Saturday morning. Amwell Township is most severely affected with more than 250 outages. According to the West Penn Power website power is expected to be restored by 6:00 pm on Sunday.
August 25, 2023 5:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican and independent support for gun restrictions is slipping a year after Congress passed the most comprehensive firearms safety legislation in decades with bipartisan support. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows the gap between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of guns is widening. Democrats consistently outpace Republicans and independents in their belief gun laws in the U.S. should be strengthened. The poll finds GOP support has dropped even further behind over the past year. Ninety-two percent of Democrats want stronger gun laws. Republican desire for more expansive legislation has dropped to 32% from 49% last summer. Independents’ support declined slightly to 61% from 72%.
August 25, 2023 5:18 am
HONOLULU (AP) — Maui County has sued Hawaiian Electric Company over the fires that devastated Lahaina, saying the utility negligently failed to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions. Witness accounts and video indicated that sparks from power lines ignited fires as utility poles snapped in the winds, which were driven by a passing hurricane. The Aug. 8 fire killed at least 115 people and left an unknown number of others missing. A Hawaiian Electric statement says they’re “very disappointed that Maui County chose this litigious path while the investigation is still unfolding.”
