May 15, 2022 8:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Abortion rights supporters demonstrating at hundreds of marches and rallies Saturday expressed their outrage that the Supreme Court appears prepared to scrap the constitutional right to abortion that has endured for nearly a half-century and their fear about what that could mean for women’s reproductive choices. Incensed after a leaked draft opinion suggested the court’s conservative majority would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, activists spoke of the need to mobilize quickly because Republican-led states are poised to enact tighter restrictions. In the nation’s capital, thousands gathered in drizzly weather at the Washington Monument to listen to fiery speeches before marching to the Supreme Court, which was surrounded by two layers of security fences. The mood was one of anger and defiance, three days after the Senate failed to muster enough votes to codify Roe v. Wade.
May 15, 2022 8:10 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Almost three months after Russia shocked the world by invading Ukraine, its military faced a bogged-down war, the prospect of a bigger NATO and a defending country buoyed by its win in a hugely popular pan-European music competition Sunday. Top NATO diplomats, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, gathered Sunday in Berlin as Finland announced it would apply to join the Western alliance. Sweden’s governing party plans to announce its position on seeking NATO membership later Sunday. The two nonaligned Nordic nations becoming part of the alliance would pose an affront to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has justified the war in Ukraine by claiming it was a response to NATO’s expansion in Eastern Europe. Western military officials said Sunday that Moscow’s campaign in Ukraine, believed to have been launched with the goal of seizing Kyiv and toppling the Ukrainian government, had slowed to a snail’s pace. They said the invading Russian army had lost up to one-third of its combat strength since February.
May 15, 2022 8:08 am
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A white 18-year-old wearing military gear and livestreaming with a helmet camera opened fire with a rifle at a supermarket in Buffalo, killing 10 people and wounding three others Saturday in what authorities described as “racially motivated violent extremism.” Police said he shot 11 Black and two white victims before surrendering to authorities in a rampage he broadcast live on the streaming platform Twitch. Later, he appeared before a judge in a paper medical gown and was arraigned on a murder charge. “It is my sincere hope that this individual, this white supremacist who just perpetrated a hate crime on an innocent community, will spend the rest of his days behind bars. And heaven help him in the next world as well,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul, speaking near the scene of the attack. The massacre sent shockwaves through an unsettled nation gripped with racial tensions, gun violence and a spate of hate crimes. In the day prior to the shooting, Dallas police said they were investigating a series of shootings in Koreatown as hate crimes. The Buffalo attack came just one month after another mass shooting on a Brooklyn subway train wounded 10 people. The suspected gunman in Saturday’s attack on Tops Friendly Market was identified as Payton Gendron, of Conklin, New York, about 200 miles southeast of Buffalo.
May 15, 2022 7:59 am
MCKEESPORT, Pa. (WPXI) — A man was killed after being hit by a car in McKeesport. Just after 11 p.m. Saturday night, police were called to the intersection of 5th Avenue and Lincoln Way for an incident. According to the Medical Examiner’s Office, 22-year-old John May was killed after he was hit by a car at that intersection. He died just after 11:30 p.m. at UPMC McKeesport. There’s no word on if the driver is in custody or if charges are pending or filed.
May 15, 2022 7:56 am
BEALLSVILLE, Pa. — The National Weather Service called for a flash flood warning Saturday night for areas in Washington and Fayette counties. Main flood damage occurred in Beallsville, where 2-3 inches of rain fell around 8:00 p.m. according to reports. Route 40 with the intersection of Maiden Street was closed due to the high waters. The Historic National Hotel and Padiddle Donuts and Coffee were reportedly two building directly in the flood zone. No injuries were reported. (Photo: Kelly Appel – Facebook)
May 15, 2022 1:56 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Donald Trump has endorsed Doug Mastriano in the Republican primary for governor in Pennsylvania. The former president is casting aside hand-wringing by party insiders who fear that the far-right candidate will be able to win the nomination in Tuesday’s vote, but will lose in the general election in November. Mastriano is a prominent peddler of conspiracy theories, including Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that widespread fraud marred the 2020 election and resulted in his loss in Pennsylvania. Trump had been torn on the primary decision, with some allies urging him to instead back a former congressman, Lou Barletta, the party’s Trump-endorsed nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018.
May 15, 2022 1:07 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — (WPXI) -The car allegedly used by two men in a Tuesday afternoon drive-shooting in the city of Washington has been found. Around 5pm on Friday, police confirmed that they have brought in the car allegedly involved in that shooting. The car was found in Mt. Pleasant Township. A Washington woman was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting around 5 p.m. on Tuesday. An arrest warrant was just issued for the men police say are responsible. According to court documents, 30-year-old Brandon Ronald Allen and 27-year-old Javarr Thomas are wanted by police for shooting Kristin Barfield. Allen is described as a white man, he is 5’10” and weighs 200 pounds. Thomas is described as a Black man, he is 5’4″ and weighs 130 pounds. The suspects could be seen driving a 2006 Chrysler 300. A witness nearby the residence at the time of the shooting told police that they saw a Chrysler 300 pull away from the area of the shooting. The witness said they saw Allen in the backseat of the vehicle and Thomas driving. A criminal history check was conducted, and police found that Allen was convicted of aggravated assault back in 2018, which makes him ineligible to legally possess a firearm. Washington Mayor Scott Putnam says “The City of Washington police department is actively investigating the recent attacks in the city. Our hearts go out to the family of the victim. We pray for an end to these senseless and violent attacks.”
May 14, 2022 10:43 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea has reported 21 new deaths and 174,440 more people with fever symptoms as the country scrambles to slow the spread of COVID-19 across its unvaccinated population. The deaths and cases, which were from Friday, increased total numbers to 27 deaths and 524,440 illnesses amid a rapid spread of fever since late April. State media didn’t specify how many of the fever cases and deaths were confirmed as COVID-19 infections. The country imposed nationwide lockdowns Thursday after confirming its first COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. Despite the outbreak, commercial satellite images from recent weeks indicate that North Korea has resumed construction at a long-dormant nuclear reactor.
May 14, 2022 10:34 am
WEISSENHAUS, Germany (AP) – The Group of Seven leading economies have warned that the war in Ukraine is stoking a global food and energy crisis that threatens poor countries. They said urgent measures are needed to unblock stores of grain that Russia is preventing from leaving Ukraine. In a statement released Saturday at the end of a three-day meeting on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, the G-7 nations also called on China not to help Russia. They said this included any moves by Beijing that could undermine international sanctions against Russia or justify Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. In a series of closing statements, the G-7 nations also addressed a wide range of global problems from the situation in Afghanistan to tackling climate change.
May 14, 2022 10:33 am
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Authorities say 20 people were injured in two shootings in downtown Milwaukee near an entertainment district where thousands of people were watching the Bucks play the Celtics in the NBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals. None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening. The first shooting Friday night, involving three victims, occurred adjacent to the Deer District – an entertainment district with numerous bars and restaurants. The Milwaukee Fire Department said authorities took two people to a hospital, a 30-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl, and a third person drove to a hospital. Police said a 29-year-old man is in custody. The second shooting involving 17 victims occurred about two hours later and several blocks away.
