August 4, 2022 9:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – More Americans applied for jobless benefits last week as the number of unemployed continues to rise modestly, though the labor market remains one of the strongest parts of the U.S. economy. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 30 rose by 6,000 to 260,000 from the previous week’s 254,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications generally reflect layoffs. The four-week average for claims, which evens out the weekly ups and downs, also rose from the previous week, to 254,750. The Labor Department’s jobs report for July, due out Friday, is expected to show that employers added 250,000 jobs last month.
August 4, 2022 4:22 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A Texas jury has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay more than $4 million in compensatory damages to the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre over the conspiracy theorist’s repeated public claims that the attack was a hoax. The jury’s decision Thursday marks the first time the Infowars host has been held financially liable for falsely claiming that the attack that killed 20 children and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, was staged. It might not be the last such judgment against him, as a judge in Connecticut has already ruled against him in a similar lawsuit. The Texas jury must still decide how much to award in punitive damages.
August 4, 2022 4:20 am
KHIMKI, Russia (AP) – A judge in Russia has convicted and sentenced American basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling. Judge Anna áSotnikova said the time Griner has served in custody since her arrest in February would count toward the sentence. Griner reacted to the sentence with little emotion. Under Russian law, the 31-year-old Griner faced up to 10 years in prison, but judges have considerable latitude on sentencing. Attention now turns to the possibility of the U.S. and Russian agreeing to a high-stakes prisoner swap that would free the two-time Olympic gold medalist. (Photo: ABC News)
August 4, 2022 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. officials believe Russia is working to fabricate evidence concerning last week’s deadly strike on a facility housing prisoners of war in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine. U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia is looking to plant false evidence to make it appear that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the July 29 attack on Olenivka Prison that left 53 dead and wounded dozens more, a U.S. official familiar with the intelligence finding told The Associated Press. Russia has claimed that Ukraine’s military used U.S.-supplied rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk People’s Republic. The Ukrainian military denied making any rocket or artillery strikes in Olenivka.
August 4, 2022 4:18 am
BEIJING (AP) – China says it has conducted “precision missile strikes” in the Taiwan Strait as part of military exercises by its navy, air force and other departments in six zones surrounding the island. The drills were prompted by a visit to the island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week. They are intended to advertise China’s threat to attack the self-governing island republic in response to moves to solidify its de-facto independence from Chinese rule. China’s official Xinhua News Agency said the exercises were joint operations focused on “blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, and airspace control.” Taiwan has put its military on alert and staged civil defense drills, while the U.S. has numerous naval assets in the area.
August 4, 2022 4:15 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Health officials said they are investigating after several people developed a flu-like illness after working closely with pigs that exhibited respiratory symptoms and fever at a county fair. The state Department of Health and Human Resources says the H3N2v strain of influenza A was confirmed on at least one human test Tuesday. The sample has been forwarded to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for Confirmation. The illnesses occurred at the Jackson County Fair. Dr. Ayne Amjad, the state’s health officer, says symptoms such as fever, runny nose, sore throat, cough or congestion usually show up one to three days after exposure to infected animal livestock.
August 4, 2022 4:11 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Pittsburgh police are searching for a missing 13-year-old girl. According to a release, Ashlynn Southerland is 5’1″ and weighs 115 pounds. She has black hair and blue eyes, and has a scar under her right eye. She was last seen by her family on July 30. Her last known potential location was a movie theater in Bridgeville on Tuesday. Police said Ashlynn is known to spend time in Brookline, Beechview and Dormont. She could possibly be in Mt. Lebanon. According to police, her phone is turned off. She could be in the company of adult males. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call police at (412)323-7141 or (412)323-7800.
August 4, 2022 4:08 am
ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – A male victim was killed in a fatal motorcycle crash in Pleasant Hills on Wednesday. Allegheny County 911 confirmed police, fire and EMS crews were called to the 1000 Block of Route 51 at 8:38 p.m. A car and a motorcycle were involved in the crash. Our news partners at Channel 11 confirmed that the operator of the motorcycle was killed in the crash. The airbags of the car deployed during the crash. No other injuries have been reported.
August 4, 2022 3:16 am
The United States Attorney out of Pittsburgh announced on Thursday that a resident of Washington and Duncansville, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court for three counts of production and attempted production of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor. United States District Judge Robert J. Colville sentenced 29-year-old Jacob Kolonis, a former Washington & Jefferson College intern coach, to 240 months’ imprisonment (20 years) followed by 10 years of supervised release and ordered that he pay restitution totaling $9,000 to his minor victims. During Kolonis’ plea hearing on February 9, 2022, Kolonis admitted to threatening seven minor females with the intent to extort them for nude and sexually explicit images. On three of these occasions, Kolonis threatened the minors to create and send videos of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct over Snapchat. He also admitted to extorting the minors for his own sexual gratification. Prior to imposing sentence, the judge acknowledged that Kolonis had engaged in exceptionally serious conduct and recognized the immense impact of Kolonis’ crime on his victims.
August 3, 2022 4:22 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order aimed in part at making it easier for women seeking abortions to travel between states to obtain access to the procedure. One of the directives will allow states that have not outlawed abortion to apply for Medicaid waivers that would help them treat women who’ve traveled from out of state. The order will also call on health care providers to comply with federal nondiscrimination laws and streamline the collection of key maternal health data. The order falls short of what many Democratic lawmakers and abortion advocates have demanded of Biden since the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe vs. Wade.
