October 3, 2023 5:05 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s court appearances are no longer distractions from his campaign to return to the White House. They are central to it. The dynamic was on full display Monday as the former president and GOP front-runner went to court in New York for the opening day of a civil fraud trial accusing him of grossly inflating the value of his businesses. Trump was under no obligation to appear, but he nonetheless seized the opportunity to create a media spectacle that put him back in the spotlight and once again portrayed himself as a victim of a politicized justice system.
October 3, 2023 5:04 am
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty in Delaware to three federal firearms charges filed after a plea deal imploded. Biden’s Tuesday plea puts his case on track toward a possible trial as the 2024 election looms. The charges allege the California resident lied about his drug use in 2018 on a form to buy a gun he kept for 11 days. His lawyer says he plans to file a motion to dismiss the case, challenging their constitutionality. Biden acknowledges struggling with a crack cocaine addiction then, but his lawyers say he didn’t break the law. President Joe Biden’s son was indicted weeks after a plea agreement on tax and gun charges collapsed.
October 3, 2023 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been voted out of the job in an extraordinary showdown, a first in U.S. history. The 216-210 vote was forced by a contingent of hard-right conservatives and throws the House and its Republican leadership into chaos. McCarthy’s chief rival, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, brought forward the “motion to vacate,” drawing together more than a handful of conservative Republican critics of the speaker and many Democrats who say he is unworthy of leadership. Next steps are uncertain, but there is no obvious successor to lead the House Republican majority. (Photo: AP)
October 3, 2023 4:59 am
Washington City Council held their agenda meeting Monday evening and committee reports were the highlights of the evening. The agenda that was previewed was largely procedural. Ordinances governing traffic and limiting the business tax privilege abatement will be addressed. From the Washington Business District Authority, Director Shanan Brown announced that the city will have two new businesses by the end of the year and possibly three more in the first quarter of 2024. The Masala House Restaurant is having its ribbon cutting on Tuesday and will be serving lunch immediately following the ribbon cutting. A second business that will be making their announcement shortly is planning to open by December. Mayor Scott Putnam put out an all call for volunteers to join several city boards. Putnam says that the Planning Commission, Zoning Hearing Board and Civil Service Board all currently have vacancies that need to be filled. The Washington East Washington Joint Authority needs volunteers to fill out the board when terms expire. The Washington Business District Authority is also looking for business owners to sit on its board. Applications for all positions may be obtained at the office of the City Clerk or on the city’s website.
October 3, 2023 4:58 am
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Three students at Hempfield Area High School are under investigation after two gun buys happened on campus Monday. According to State police, all of the students under investigation are 15-year-old boys. State police said several students came forward and reported “observing transactions” between students involving guns. Initial interviews with witnesses revealed that one of the students brought two loaded handguns to school. He gave one gun to another teen on the school bus. The same student then met another student in the school’s bathroom and gave him the second gun. Two firearms were recovered in two students’ backpacks by school resources offices. At this time, investigators have no reason to believe the three students were planning any sort of attack, said Trooper Greenfield. The investigation is still active and, so far, no charges have been filed. Students were released from school at normal dismissal time.
October 3, 2023 4:54 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Transportation Security Administration officers stopped another loaded gun at Pittsburgh International Airport. The third in a week. The agency says it stopped a Georgia man with a loaded 9mm handgun at a security checkpoint Friday. The man now faces a federal financial civil penalty of up to $15,000. Last year, 6,542 firearms were caught at 262 out of 430 airport security checkpoints nationwide. So far this year, TSA has stopped more than 4,000 guns at security checkpoints across the country. At Pittsburgh airport, 33 guns have been stopped.TS
October 3, 2023 2:41 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A group of five Pennsylvania inmates have sued over the solitary confinement conditions in a state prison, saying the conditions are unconstitutional, worsening and creating mental illness in those held there. The lawsuit was filed in federal court Tuesday. It accuses the Department of Corrections’ State Correctional Institution at Fayette of placing those incarcerated into confinement based on secret evidence, leaving inmates unable to challenge their placement and subjecting them to “torturous conditions.” A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections declined comment, saying the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
October 2, 2023 5:43 pm
STOCKHOLM (AP) — The MRNA vaccines developed to fight Covid-19 were created through the work of two University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine doctors, The two scientists have won the Nobel Prize in medicine for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 and that could be used to develop other shots in the future. Hungarian-American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman were cited for contributing vaccine development during what the panel that awarded the prize called “one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times.” The panel said the pair changed “our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system.” Simply injecting lab-grown mRNA into the body triggered an inflammatory reaction that usually destroyed it. Karikó and Weissman figured out a tiny modification to the building blocks of RNA that made it stealthy enough to slip past those immune defenses.
October 2, 2023 5:39 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has opened its new term with a case about prison terms for drug dealers and rejections of hundreds of appeals, including one from an attorney who pushed a plan to keep former President Donald Trump in power. The only case argued Monday concerns the meaning of the word “and” in a federal law dealing with prison terms for low-level drug dealers. The length of thousands of sentences a year is at stake. The term is shaping up as an important one for social media as the court grapples with applying older laws and rulings to the digital age.
October 2, 2023 12:30 pm
(WPXI) – More plane troubles for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team’s plane was delayed leaving Houston Sunday due to a mechanical issue after the Steelers’ loss to the Texans, a team spokesman announced. “We were delayed this evening due to a mechanical issue with our charter plane following the game in Houston. We have now been cleared to safely fly back to Pittsburgh,” Burt Lauten, senior director of communications for the Steelers posted on X around 8:40 p.m. The plane trouble comes a week after the team was forced to make an emergency landing in Kansas City due to engine trouble after leaving Las Vegas on September 24th. That delay pushed their expected arrival at Pittsburgh International Airport from around 5:30 a.m. on Monday morning to after noon.
