April 22, 2022 4:11 am
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – Firefighters battling a half-dozen wildfires in the Southwest are bracing for the return of ferocious winds. More than 500 firefighters are manning fire lines in Arizona and New Mexico and more help is on the way. The largest type of management team plans to take command of resources Friday at one of the biggest, most dangerous fires near Flagstaff. A brief break in the weather allowed crews to launch aerial attacks on some of the fires Thursday. But that’s unlikely Friday. Forest Service officials in New Mexico say there’s “high confidence” a widespread extreme and catastrophic fire weather event will occur with sustained winds up to 50 mph.
April 22, 2022 4:09 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A Republican seeking his party’s nomination for Pennsylvania lieutenant governor in next month’s primary is telling one of his eight opponents that he plans to confront him in person over a Facebook post raising questions about his background because it merely mentioned his wife. The back-and-forth between two candidates in a statewide contest that has been largely overshadowed this spring by nominating races for governor and U.S. Senate occurred last week. State Rep. Russ Diamond of Lebanon County and opponent Teddy Daniels both posted Facebook videos attacking each other. Daniels is objecting to Diamond mentioning Daniels’ wife in his video, telling Diamond he’s “going to have to answer for that.”
April 22, 2022 4:08 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The leading candidates for the Democratic nomination for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat held their first live-televised prime-time debate. John Fetterman is the state’s lieutenant governor, and has led polls and fundraising. He took the brunt of the attacks from state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia and U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb of suburban Pittsburgh. Perhaps the sharpest exchange in Thursday night’s debate centered on a 2013 incident when, shotgun in hand, Fetterman confronted someone he believed was involved with gunfire on a nearby street in Braddock, where Fetterman was mayor. The debate also exposed differences over suspending the federal gas tax and opposing new natural gas drilling leases.
April 22, 2022 4:06 am
(AP) – Philadelphia health officials say they’re ending the city’s indoor mask mandate, abruptly reversing course just days after people in the city had to start wearing masks again amid a sharp increase in infections. The Board of Health voted Thursday to rescind the mandate. That’s according to the Philadelphia health department, which released a statement that cited “decreasing hospitalizations and a leveling of case counts.” The health department did not release data to back up its reversal on masking, saying more information would be provided Friday. Philadelphia became the first major U.S. city to reinstate its indoor mask mandate, but faced fierce blowback as well as a legal effort to get the mandate thrown out.
April 22, 2022 2:38 am
(WPXI) – A North Dakota man has been indicted by a grand jury on child pornography and sex exploitation of a Peters Township girl. 27-year-old Nicholas Nesdahl, a diesel mechanic, pretended to be a 15-year-old boy on the app Omegle – an app that boasts about connecting strangers. Police say Nesdahl asked a 13-year-old girl to sexually assault a six-year-old child and send him those videos. Authorities say the case began in October when police in Peters Township got a complaint from the mother of the 13-year-old, who discovered the videos on her daughter’s phone. Nesdahl is facing six counts of production and receipt of child porn and is being held in North Dakota, pending extradition to Pittsburgh. Police say the 13-year-old has also been arrested. The six-year-old is not facing any charges.
April 21, 2022 5:17 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – The NFL is telling a judge there are multiple reasons why a lawsuit brought against it by three Black coaches who allege racist hiring practices should fail. The league said in a letter in advance of an initial hearing before a Manhattan federal judge that it will either ask that the claims of Brian Flores and two other coaches be forced into arbitration or be dismissed without a trial because they lack legal merit. The letter was prepared jointly by lawyers for the coaches and the NFL to notify the judge of each side’s positions in advance of an April 29 hearing.
April 21, 2022 3:07 pm
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – The Florida House of Representatives has given final passage to a bill to dissolve a private government that Walt Disney World has been allowed to operate on its properties for more than five decades. House lawmakers approved the measure on Thursday. The passage is a victory for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. He has been feuding with the entertainment giant after it publicly declared its opposition to a new law backed by the governor that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” The Disney bill would eliminate the self-governed districts by June 2023. But it would allow the districts to be reestablished in the future, leaving the door open for further negotiations. (Photo: AP)
April 21, 2022 2:50 pm
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A stinky but handsome and widely popular landscape tree has become an aggressive invader. Callery pears create dense thickets that overwhelm native plants and bear four-inch spikes that can flatten tractor tires. Bradford pears and other ornamental Callery pears were cultivated from an import that saved pear orchards from a deadly fungus. And for decades, the decorative trees seemed near perfect, aside from a tendency to fall apart after about 15 years – and their stench. But they cross pollinated with other ornamental varieties. Invasive stands now have been reported in more than 30 states. Fourteen states have formally listed the trees as invasive. (Photo: wikipedia)
April 21, 2022 12:47 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Federal Aviation Administration’s failure to notify Capitol Police about a parachute stunt at a nearby baseball stadium led to an alert and urgent evacuation of the U.S. Capitol, a law enforcement official says. The FAA is reviewing the communications breakdown, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is promising a congressional review. The communications lapse led police to think an aircraft carrying military parachutists for a baseball stadium stunt was “a probable threat,” prompting the alert Wednesday evening to evacuate the complex. Many people who work at the Capitol still are on edge more than a year after the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.
April 21, 2022 10:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Applications for unemployment benefits inched down last week as the total number of Americans collecting aid fell to its lowest level in more than 50 years. Jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 184,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which levels out week-to-week volatility, rose by 4,500 to 177,250. About 1.42 million Americans were collecting traditional unemployment benefits in the week of April 9, the fewest since February 21, 1970. Two years after the coronavirus pandemic plunged the economy into a brief but devastating recession, American workers are enjoying extraordinary job security.
