July 8, 2023 11:48 am
PITTSBURGH (Pa.) — (WPXI)- A man was taken to the hospital after he was hit with an arrow in Pittsburgh’s California-Kirkbride neighborhood late Friday night. According to Pittsburgh police, emergency crews were called to the 800 block of Brightridge Street at 11:45 p.m. Once on scene, first responders found a man behind a privacy fence with an arrow in his right side. The man lost consciousness. He was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition.
July 8, 2023 4:23 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police say no charges will be filed following a brief investigation of the altercation involving pop star Britney Spears, San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama and a member of the player’s security team. Spears said she was struck by a security guard as she tried to approach Wembanyama near a restaurant in a Las Vegas casino complex on Wednesday night. Wembanyama said a person, who he later found out was Spears, grabbed him from behind. Spears filed a police report, alleging battery. But police say surveillance video shows Spears inadvertently hit herself in the face after her hand was pushed off Wembanyama.
July 8, 2023 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican chairmen of three key House committees are joining forces to probe the Justice Department’s handling of charges against Hunter Biden after making sweeping claims about misconduct at the agency. Leaders of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, and Ways and Means committees have opened a joint investigation into whistleblower claims of improper interference in the federal case into President Joe Biden’s youngest son. The Justice Department has denied the claims. The congressional inquiry was opened days after it was announced last month that Hunter Biden will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement with federal prosecutors.
July 8, 2023 4:18 am
ON THE GREAT SALT LAKE (AP) — After years of sailboats being hoisted out of the shrinking Great Salt Lake amid fears they might not return, sailors are back this summer. That’s thanks to an abnormally wet winter that has raised the lake 6 feet from last November’s historic low. Sailors are just one group whose enjoyment of the lake is imperiled by climate change, drought and diversion of water to cities and farms. Bob Derby, a 61-year-old veteran of the lake, and a friend were back on the water in June in their 25-footer. Derby, who is battling cancer, said there’s “no better therapy” than being on the lake. But he warns that its rejuvenation will be just temporary if politicians and people don’t tackle tough conservation measures.
July 8, 2023 4:12 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. —(WPXI)- A former Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student appeared in court on Friday. James Ziegler 41, a former teacher at Pittsburgh Faison, had nothing to say after leaving his preliminary hearing Friday afternoon. Ziegler is accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old fourth-grade student during school last year. The student testified the disturbing details, saying that on multiple occasions he would be alone with Ziegler in his classroom during lunch detention. He said Ziegler would shut the door and the blinds, then threaten and force him to perform sexual acts. The student also said Ziegler was his science and math teacher and the assaults happened four days a week from the start of the school year through December. Ziegler faces several serious charges. The judge held all charges for court.
July 7, 2023 1:55 pm
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A cargo ship burned for a third day and will likely smolder for several more days at a New Jersey port after two firefighters died in the blaze. The fire exposed gaps in the ability of fire crews to respond to emergencies on hulking container ships. Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Frage said Friday that the city has an agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey covering their response to fires and that they continue to have conversations “today and going forward in terms of training.” Crews have been shooting jets of water into the Italian-flagged Grande Costa d’Avorio docked in Newark as flames flared periodically from decks where hundreds of vehicles were loaded.
July 7, 2023 5:02 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter has threatened legal action against Meta over its new, text-based app called Threads, according to a letter obtained by Semafor. In the Wednesday letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter attorney Alex Spiro accused Meta of unlawfully using Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property by hiring former Twitter employees to create a “copycat” app. Threads, which was launched Wednesday night, arrives at a time when many are looking for Twitter alternatives to escape Elon Musk’s raucous oversight of the platform. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone responded to the report of Spiro’s letter on Threads Thursday afternoon, writing, “no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing.”
July 7, 2023 5:01 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Seven weeks before the premiere debate of the 2024 GOP primary, anxiety is building that the event could prove messy and divisive for the party. Some candidates, like former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, are struggling to meet fundraising and polling requirements to make it onstage. He and others are pushing back on a loyalty pledge the Republican Party is insisting candidates sign to participate. And the race’s frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, is flirting with boycotting and holding his own competing event instead. That’s turning what is typically the highly anticipated opener of the election season into a source of uncertainty.
July 7, 2023 5:00 am
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A white gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack on Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart in Texas has been sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences in federal prison. Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty earlier this year to nearly 50 federal hate crime charges in the 2019 mass shooting in the border city of El Paso. The 24-year-old’s sentencing Friday came nearly four years after he drove more than 700 miles from his home near Dallas and targeted Hispanic shoppers with an AK-style rifle inside and outside the store. Texas prosecutors want Crusius to get the death penalty when he stands trial in state court. That trial date has not yet been set.
July 7, 2023 4:58 am
BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has criticized China’s treatment of U.S. companies and new export controls on metals used in semiconductors during a visit to Beijing to try to revive strained relations. Speaking with businesspeople, Yellen defended U.S. controls on technology exports that irk Beijing, saying they’re necessary for national security. She rejected suggestions Washington is trying to decouple the U.S. economy from China’s. Yellen cited what she said was China’s use of subsidies to state-owned industries and barriers for foreign competitors. U.S.-Chinese relations are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes over technology, security, Beijing’s military expansion and other irritants. Treasury officials said no major breakthroughs were expected.
