April 26, 2022 4:08 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – The British Defense Ministry says Russian forces have taken the Ukrainian city of Kreminna after days of street-to-street fighting. Moscow also unleashed attacks against rail and fuel installations far from the front lines. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Ukraine against provoking World War III, saying on Russian TV that the threat of a nuclear conflict “should not be underestimated.” The British military did not say how it knew Kreminna in the Lukansk region had fallen. It also described heavy fighting as Russian forces tried to advance toward other cities in Moscow’s new eastern offensive. Lavrov’s comments came after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. wants to see Russia weakened “to the point where it can’t do things like invade Ukraine.”
April 26, 2022 4:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration is seeking the Supreme Court’s go-ahead to end a controversial Trump-era immigration program that forces some people seeking asylum in the U.S. to wait in Mexico for their hearings. The justices are hearing arguments Tuesday in the administration’s appeal of lower-court rulings that require immigration officials to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy. Republican-led states that sued to keep the program in place say it has helped reduce the flow of people into the U.S. President Donald Trump launched Migrant Protection Protocols, as it is formally known, in 2019. President Joe Biden suspended it on his first day in office.
April 26, 2022 3:59 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Coal-related interests are suing to block the centerpiece of Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight climate change, a carbon-pricing policy that will impose a cost for emitting planet-warming carbon dioxide from fossil fuel-fired power plants. The lawsuit filed Monday in Commonwealth Court by owners of coal-fired power plants, owners of coal mines and labor unions say the regulation written by Wolf’s administration is unconstitutional. The regulation took effect Saturday. It made Pennsylvania the first major fossil-fuel state to adopt a carbon-pricing policy. Wolf, a Democrat, is already fighting one lawsuit intended to block the regulation and maintains the state can regulate carbon dioxide under existing air pollution laws.
April 26, 2022 3:58 am
TEXAS – (WPXI) – Professional bodybuilder Shane Post is recovering after being shot by a neighbor over a parking space dispute. Post was born and raised in Claysville, but moved to Texas with his wife several years ago. Ring doorbell video caught the altercation outside the Posts’ townhouse last Tuesday. Shane’s coworker parked in the neighbor’s spot moments before the altercation. Shane’s wife can be seen walking outside to greet them with her 3-month-old baby in her arms. She tells Channel 11 she wanted to introduce the coworker to the infant, but instead witnessed her husband being shot. Police arrested neighbor Nicky Brown. Brown approached the men wearing a bathrobe, pulled out the gun and shot Post at close range. “Shane fell on the ground he as holding his hand on his stomach. He was telling him to stop, asking him to stop. He literally shot him just because of the parking spot,” Irina Post told Channel 11. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with medical expenses and help the family move. Irina says she hopes to pack up their family before her husband is released from the hospital. She says the neighbor who shot him is already out on bail and back living next door.
April 25, 2022 5:22 pm
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power are seeking a rate increase that would add $18.41 to the average monthly residential bill. News outlets cited a statement from Appalachian Power that says the request was submitted on Tuesday to the West Virginia Public Service Commission. If approved, the nearly 12% hike would take effect beginning Sept. 1. Appalachian Power president Chris Beam says the increase is necessary due to the “steep and rapid rise in energy and fuel costs over the past several months.” Kanawha County commissioners are objecting to the request. They say customers are not able to afford constant rate increases.
April 25, 2022 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A coach who crosses himself before a game. A math teacher reads the Bible aloud before the bell rings. A coach who hosts an after-school Christian group in their home.Those were some of the scenarios Supreme Court justices discussed Monday while hearing arguments about a former football coach from Washington state who wanted to kneel and pray on the field after games. The justices were wrestling with how to balance the religious and free speech rights teachers and coaches with the rights of students not to feel pressured into participating.
April 25, 2022 4:22 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Jury selection in the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz must start over after the judge declared her own mistake requires it. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer ruled Monday that she should have questioned potential jurors who said they would not follow the law before she dismissed them. The decision nullifies two weeks of work by lawyers for the prosecution and defense. Jury selection will begin anew on Monday. The jury that is chosen at the end of the process will decide whether Cruz is executed for murdering 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in 2018. (Photo: AP)
April 25, 2022 4:20 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A New York judge has found former President Donald Trump in contempt of court for failing to adequately respond to a subpoena issued by the state’s attorney general as part of a civil investigation into his business dealings. Judge Arthur Engoron on Monday ordered Trump to pay a fine of $10,000 per day. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, had asked the court to hold Trump in contempt after he missed a March 31 court-imposed deadline to turn over documents. Trump, a Republican, has been fighting James in court over her investigation, which he has called a politically motivated “witch hunt.” Trump spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
April 25, 2022 4:20 am
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill to create a police force dedicated to pursuing voter fraud and other election crimes. The Republican governor signed the bill into law Monday. The law creates an Office of Election Crimes and Security under the Florida Department of State to review fraud allegations and conduct preliminary investigations. DeSantis is required to appoint a group of special officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement who would be tasked with pursuing the election law violations. Voter fraud is rare, typically occurs in isolated instances and is generally detected.
April 25, 2022 4:16 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – More than two years after he started work on it, Gov. Tom Wolf is set to enact the centerpiece of his plan to fight climate change. It’ll make Pennsylvania the first major fossil fuel state to adopt a carbon-pricing policy. But it might be a short-lived victory. One lawsuit is already challenging Wolf’s regulation, and the term-limited Democratic governor might be replaced in eight months by a successor who opposes it. On Saturday, a legislative agency is set to publish Wolf’s carbon-pricing rule on power plants. Mark Szybist of the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council says it’s the farthest-reaching step being taken in Pennsylvania to fight climate change.
