June 19, 2023 5:12 am
Detroit (AP) — Americans across the country are observing the relatively new Juneteenth federal holiday with festivals, parades, cookouts and other gatherings. On a long holiday weekend seen by many as a reason for a party, others are urging quiet reflection about the end of slavery and the treatment of Black Americans throughout U.S. history. Although end-of-slavery celebrations are new in many areas, in Memphis, where the slave trade once thrived, the Juneteenth holiday has been celebrated since long before it became a designated federal holiday in 2021. This year, Tennessee lawmakers approved it as a state holiday as well. Schools and federal buildings will be closed Monday to observe the holiday.
June 19, 2023 5:10 am
BEIJING (AP) — The United States and China have pledged to stabilize their badly deteriorated ties during a critical visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi pronounced himself satisfied with progress made during talks Monday in Beijing. But Blinken says China refused to resume military-to-military communications, a U.S. priority. It remains to be seen whether the countries can resolve their most important disagreements, many of which have international implications. After meeting with Blinken, Xi said he was pleased with the outcome and said the sides agreed to resume a program of understandings he and President Joe Biden agreed to at a meeting in Bali last year.
June 19, 2023 5:08 am
CAMRBRIA COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Two people are dead after a twin-engine plane crashed in Cambria County. According to reports, the plane was a Piper PA-30. It crashed into the woods at around 4 p.m. on Sunday. The Cambria County Coroner’s Office said two people were on the plane when it crashed and both were pronounced dead at the scene. The Federal Aviation Association and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
June 19, 2023 5:04 am
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A bus driver has been arrested on a charge of driving under the influence while transporting the Pittsburgh Pirates from Chicago to Milwaukee for their weekend series with the Brewers. Illinois State Police says the driver was traveling away from officers seeking to escort the bus on its trip to Milwaukee late Thursday. Troopers said they observed more erratic driving and eventually stopped the bus on the right shoulder of Interstate 94 in Chicago. The driver isn’t a Pirates employee but was contracted to drive the team to Milwaukee after the completion of their series with the Cubs.
June 19, 2023 5:03 am
MIFFLINTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Officials are expressing shock and sadness at the death of one state trooper and the serious wounding of another hours apart in central Pennsylvania over the weekend. Police in Juniata County said a man fired shots into patrol vehicles at a barracks in Juniata County about 11 a.m. Saturday, then wounded 45-year-old Lt. James Wagner at 12:45 p.m. in Mifflintown and later shot and killed 29-year-old Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr in Walker Township. The gunman, 38-year-old Brandon Stine, was later shot and killed, police said. Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris told reporters Sunday afternoon that “at this point there are no clear motives we can point to.”
June 19, 2023 5:01 am
(AP) – About 1.5 million people have lost Medicaid coverage in more than two dozen states as a post-pandemic purge of the rolls gets underway. Data analyzed by The Associated Press show some states have dropped coverage for more than half the people whose eligibility cases were decided in April or May. States were prohibited from removing people from Medicaid during the pandemic. But that ban was lifted in April. President Joe Biden’s administration is urging states to slow down because of fears that some eligible people are getting dropped for not filling out paperwork.
June 19, 2023 5:00 am
(AP) – A spate of mass shootings and violence across the U.S. over the weekend killed at least six people including a Pennsylvania state trooper and left dozens injured. The shootings follow a surge in homicides and other violence over the past several years that experts say accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic. They happened in suburban Chicago, Washington state, central Pennsylvania, St. Louis, Southern California and Baltimore. Experts disagree over causes of the increased violence. It could be due to the prevalence of guns in America, less aggressive police tactics or a decline in prosecutions for misdemeanor weapon offenses.
June 19, 2023 2:43 am
West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has resigned following a drunken driving arrest. The university announced his resignation Saturday night. Huggins was charged with driving under the influence on Friday night after his SUV had stopped in the middle of traffic in Pittsburgh with a shredded tire. According to a criminal complaint, a breath test determined Huggins’ blood alcohol content was 0.21%, more than twice the legal limit. Last month the university had suspended Huggins three games for using an anti-gay slur while also denigrating Catholics during a radio interview. Huggins entered the Basketball Hall of Fame last September and was the third winningest coach all-time in Division I.
June 18, 2023 8:08 am
GARDNERVILLE, Nevada (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis condemned Walt Disney World and the U.S. Justice Department — not his chief Republican rival, Donald Trump — as he courted Nevada Republicans deep in the heart of Trump country. He spoke to Nevada voters on Saturday for the first time as a presidential candidate. He cast himself as willing to fight any and all rivals. But DeSantis made no direct mention of the federal indictment of Trump, who is facing dozens of felony counts for mishandling classified documents. The appearance come as the GOP’s crowded 2024 presidential class grapples with how to respond to Trump’s recent indictment. Some Republicans have raised serious concerns, but DeSantis has touched on it only generally by attacking the Justice Department.
June 18, 2023 8:07 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Joe Biden struck an economic populist message during the first rally of his reelection campaign. The president told an exuberant crowd of union members in Philadelphia that his policies had created jobs and lifted the middle class. Now, he said, is the time for the wealthy to “pay their fair share” in taxes. His choice of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania – and a friendly union audience — for the campaign venue reflects their crucial role in his reelection effort. The city was the site of his campaign headquarters in 2020 and the state was one of a handful that had voted for Republican Donald Trump in 2016 but flipped back to Democrats four years later.
