April 27, 2022 4:24 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Deputies protecting Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz had to pull him aside and surround him after members of a jury pool became potentially threatening. Judge Elizabeth Scherer said a potential juror had to be removed by bailiffs after he began mouthing possible threats toward Cruz. Others also started acting threatening, so deputies moved in to protect Cruz. The entire 70-person panel was then dismissed. Scherer said they became belligerent in the hallway. Cruz is facing a possible death sentence for murdering 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland four years ago.
April 27, 2022 4:22 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin have met one-on-one for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine. And the United Nations says they agreed on arranging evacuations from a besieged steel plant in the battered Ukrainian city of Mariupol. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric says the Russian leader and U.N. chief discussed evacuations from conflict zones and agreed in principle Tuesday that the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross should be involved in the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant where Ukrainian defenders are making a dogged stand in Mariupol, a southeastern city surrounded by Russian forces.
April 27, 2022 4:20 am
POKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) – The U.S. defense chief has urged Ukraine’s allies to “move at the speed of war” to get more and heavier weapons to Kyiv while Russia cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the remarks Tuesday as Russian forces rained fire on eastern and southern Ukraine amid new fears that the fighting could spill over the country’s borders. On Tuesday, explosions rocked the separatist region of Trans-Dniester in neighboring Moldova. Just across the border in Russia, the Belgorod regional governor says an ammunition depot was on fire early Wednesday after several explosions were heard. Poland and Bulgaria say the Kremlin is cutting off natural gas supplies starting Wednesday, the first such actions of the war.
April 27, 2022 4:16 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – State lawmakers are moving toward hundreds of billions of dollars in business tax cuts. The state House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday for a cut in the corporate net income tax rate from 10% to 9%. If the state’s revenues are sufficient, the rate would fall again to 8% by 2025. The House vote to send the bill to the Senate was 195 to 8. Pennsylvania state revenues are exceptionally strong this fiscal year. The most recent Revenue Department figures show the year-to-date general fund collections are about $2.7 billion above projections through March. That amounts to about 8%.
April 27, 2022 4:15 am
BELLE VERNON, Pa. — (WPXI) – Students and employees of Rostraver Elementary School had a twist in their day when a student found a small starter gun buried behind the building. According to a press release from the Belle Vernon Area School District, a student found what appeared to be a small handgun buried in the mud while on a class break. The student notified a teacher, and the gun was taken into possession by Rostraver Township Police. Local authorities determined that the gun was a starter pistol, similar to what is used at school in interscholastic track meets. The weapon was incapable of functioning, and fell apart as it was cleaned. The school’s principal and a member of the Rostraver Township Police Department visited classrooms throughout the day to explain the situation to students. Parents were also notified of the incident.
April 26, 2022 12:53 pm
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AP) – An Air Force major general in Ohio who was convicted on one of three specifications of abusive sexual contact allegations has been told he will receive a reprimand and must forfeit $10,910 of monthly pay for five months. Maj. Gen. William Cooley was found guilty Saturday in what was the first-ever military trial of an Air Force general. The weeklong court-martial at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio had three specifications, one accusing Cooley of a forcible kiss and two alleging forcible touching in 2018. The 56-year-old Cooley was convicted of the forcible kissing specification but acquitted of the other two. (Photo: AP)
April 26, 2022 12:45 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, the White House announced. That’s underscoring the persistence of the highly contagious virus even as the U.S. eases restrictions in a bid to revert to pre-pandemic normalcy. The White House said Tuesday that Harris tested positive on both rapid and a PCR tests, and said she “has exhibited no symptoms.” Harris will isolate at her residence but continue to work remotely, and would only return to the White House once she tests negative for the virus. (Photo; AP)
April 26, 2022 12:28 pm
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A 3-month-old baby who was kidnapped from his San Francisco Bay Area home was found Tuesday and three suspects were detained, police said. The baby, Brandon Cuellar, was unharmed but was taken to a hospital as a precaution, San Jose Police Department officials said during a news conference. “This incident is a parents’ worst nightmare. We are fortunate it resulted in a positive outcome,” San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata said, declining to release details on where the baby was found or the identities of the three people who were detained. The child was taken Monday from his apartment in San Jose by a man who was seen on video walking away with the baby in a carrier. Police believe they have apprehended the man in the video, who was one of the three taken into custody, said San Jose Assistant Police Chief Paul Joseph. Also detained was a woman who was with the child’s grandmother before the abduction, San Jose Police spokesman Sgt. Christian Camarillo told reporters. (Photo: AP)
April 26, 2022 4:38 am
Peters Township Council began their meeting Monday with a public hearing that would consider changes to the township’s Mixed Use Activity Center. If approved, one change would eliminate a 36 unit maximum per structure limit. Another change would alter the way the Floor Area Ratio is determined and the final change would eliminate the need for half of all parking for multi-family residential developments be provided covered parking. Action on the ordinance is scheduled for the May 9 meeting. In other business, the Peters Township Fire Department was recognized by the Office of the State Fire Commissioner for having 100% of fire fighting personnel trained to national standards. Peters Township is one of only 37 fire departments in Pennsylvania to achieve this recognition. Finally, the township adopted a strategic plan for the Peters Township Library to foster growth and development over the next five years.
April 26, 2022 4:10 am
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Firefighters across the country are battling multiple wildfires as tinder-dry conditions and high winds whip up flames from Arizona to Florida. That includes a prairie fire in rural southwestern Nebraska that officials say has killed one person, injured at least 15 firefighters and destroyed at least six homes. A break in the Midwestern weather allowed crews to make significant progress on that blaze Monday along the Nebraska-Kansas line. But hotter, windier weather is forecast Tuesday. More than 1,350 square miles have burned in wildfires across the country so far this year. Officials say that’s outpacing the 10-year average by about 30%.
