April 20, 2022 11:35 am
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) – Actor Johnny Depp has returned to the stand for testimony in his libel lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard, who he says berated and attacked him constantly during their short-lived marriage. Taking the stand on Wednesday, Depp said Heard would demean him and sometimes slap or shove him. Heard has accused Depp of physically and sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions. Depp has not yet addressed those accusations in detail, beyond dismissing them on Tuesday as false and heinous. He sued Heard after she wrote a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post in which she referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” (Photo: ABC)
April 20, 2022 5:29 am
A man wanted by police in Ohio is last reported in the Washington County Jail following a standoff Tuesday. Police, including SWAT surrounded a home in Claysville after members of the fugitive warrant unit executed a search warrant. Nicholas Geryak was taken into custody without incident. He’s awaiting extradition back to Ohio. He was wanted on robbery and auto theft charges in the Cleveland area. A section of Main Street was temporarily closed as a precaution to ensure the safety of nearby residents.
April 20, 2022 4:18 am
The Justice Department says it will not appeal a federal district judge’s ruling that ended the nation’s federal mask mandate on public transit unless the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes the requirement is still necessary. A judge in Florida on Monday ended the sweeping mandate, which required face coverings on planes and trains and in transit hubs. Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said Tuesday that officials believe the federal mask order was “a valid exercise of the authority Congress has given CDC to protect the public health.” The CDC continues to assess public health conditions, and if the agency determines a mandate is necessary, the Justice Department will file an appeal.
April 20, 2022 4:16 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – An unexpectedly sharp drop in subscribers has Netflix considering changes to its service that it has long resisted: minimizing password sharing and creating a low-cost subscription supported by advertising. The looming changes announced late Tuesday are aimed at helping Netflix regain the momentum it’s lost during the past year as pandemic-driven lockdowns that kept people at home lifted and other services run by deep-pocketed rivals such as Apple and Walt Disney began to chip away at its vast audience. On Tuesday, Netflix suffered its first losses in subscribers in years, an unwelcome surprise that drove its stock down by 25%.
April 20, 2022 4:16 am
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – Winds kicked up a towering wall of flames in rural northern Arizona on Tuesday, tearing through two-dozen structures and forcing the evacuation of more than 700 homes. Coconino County declared an emergency as the fast-moving wildfire on the outskirts of Flagstaff ballooned to over 9 square miles. Forest Service officials say flames as high as 100 feet quickly scorched dry grass, shrubs and Ponderosa pine trees. More than 750 homes and 1,000 animals have been evacuated. Smoke billowed into the air Tuesday in a scene reminiscent of a dozen years ago when a much-larger fire burned in the area. Elsewhere in Arizona, firefighters battled a wildfire in a sparsely populated area of national forest south of Prescott.
April 20, 2022 4:13 am
MOSCOW (AP) – The Russian military says it has successfully performed the first test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, a weapon President Vladimir Putin said would make the West “think twice” before harboring any aggressive intentions against Russia. The test launch of the Sarmat missile comes amid soaring tensions between Moscow and the West over the Russian military action in Ukraine, underlining the Kremlin’s focus on the country’s nuclear forces. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Sarmat ICBM was launched Wednesday from the Plesetsk military launch facility in northern Russia and its practice warheads successfully reached mock targets on the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said that Russia had given the U.S. an advance notice about the launch.
April 20, 2022 4:11 am
Dave McCormick earned more than $22 million last year as CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund – the job he quit to run for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. McCormick filed a financial disclosure form that offered the public its first detailed look at his finances. McCormick is part of a trio of ultrarich candidates, including celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz, to come from out of state to run for the GOP nomination for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat. McCormick and his wife estimated the value of their assets between $116 million and $289 million. That includes a valuable stake in Bridgewater Associates, the company he ran until early January.
April 20, 2022 4:05 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – College sports’ governing body is giving its permission for six state-owned universities in Pennsylvania to continue to compete as separate entities despite merging into two umbrella institutions. The State System of Higher Education announced the decision Wednesday that pertains to sports in Division II at Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, Mansfield, California, Clarion and Edinboro universities. The NCAA has yet to rule on a small number of Division I teams the schools also field. California, Clarion and Edinboro merged last year into Pennsylvania Western University, or PennWest. The others are now Commonwealth University. The schools compete in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
April 19, 2022 5:36 pm
DETROIT (AP) – A Michigan police officer who killed Patrick Lyoya after a traffic stop pressed the gun against the Black man’s head when firing the fatal shot. That’s the opinion of an expert who performed an independent autopsy on Patrick Lyoya. The results were announced Tuesday. Dr. Werner Spitz says he confirmed what was seen last week on video: Lyoya was shot in the back of the head in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on April 4. Attorney Ben Crump says the white officer failed to ease up after a foot chase and physical struggle following a traffic stop. Results of the official autopsy haven’t been publicly released. State police are investigating the shooting.
April 19, 2022 3:53 pm
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) – Actor Johnny Depp took the stand Tuesday in his libel lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard, saying her domestic abuse allegations against him were disturbing, heinous and “not based in any species of truth.” Depp says Heard falsely accused him of domestic abuse when she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post back in 2018. The trial in Fairfax, Virginia, began last week but, prior to Tuesday afternoon, the jury had only seen Depp sitting silently with his team of lawyers. Depp added that he’s concerned for his children and the people who have believed in him. Heard is scheduled to take the stand later in the six-week trial. (Photo: ABC)
