March 15, 2022 2:37 pm
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – A new law enforcement report says fractures around Bob Saget’s eye sockets and bleeding around his brain were possibly caused by the comedian hitting “something hard, covered by something soft,” such as a carpeted floor. The report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office was released Tuesday. It includes a description of the medical examiner’s conclusions after performing an autopsy on Sagat’s body in January. The comedian was found by a hotel security officer on his hotel bed at the Ritz Carlton in Orlando on Jan. 9. His death has been ruled accidental.
March 15, 2022 12:44 pm
(WPXI) – The Three Rivers Arts Festival is moving to the Cultural District after decades of having been held in Point State Park. The announcement about the free festival, which will be held this year from June 3-12, was made Tuesday by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. “Due to new usage rules and regulations issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for Point State Park, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is no longer able to utilize the site for its ten-day celebration of the arts. The festival will move entirely to the Cultural District in 2022, centered around a pop-up park and stage at Eighth and Penn,” a news release from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust said. This year’s festival will feature more than 400 local, regional and national artists. (Photo courtesy of visitpittsburgh.com)
March 15, 2022 12:38 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Labrador retrievers are still tugging hardest on U.S. dog lovers’ heartstrings, but poodles just strutted back into the American Kennel Club’s top five most popular dog breeds for the first time since 1997. The club’s annual popularity rankings come out Tuesday. They’re drawn from more than 800,000 purebred puppies and older pooches that joined the nation’s oldest canine registry last year. Labs have been No. 1 for an unprecedented 31 straight years. Rounding out the top five are French bulldogs, golden retrievers, German shepherds and poodles. After that come bulldogs, beagles, Rottweilers, German shorthaired pointers and dachshunds. (Photo: ABC News)
March 15, 2022 4:35 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A live evening news program on Russia’s state television was interrupted Monday by a person who walked into the studio holding a poster protesting the war in Ukraine. An anchor was speaking during the newscast when a woman appeared on camera behind her holding a sign with the headline “no war” scrawled in English across the top. A message in Russian below calls on people not to believe Russian propaganda. The protester was identified as an employee of the station and spoke out against the war in a video posted by a group that monitors political arrests. The group said the woman was taken into police custody.
March 15, 2022 4:34 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden will travel to Europe next week for face-to-face talks with European leaders about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Tuesday. Biden will meet with NATO and European leaders in Brussels on March 24. The trip follows on Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to eastern flank NATO countries of Poland and Romania last week to discuss the growing refugee crisis in eastern Europe sparked by the Russian invasion and underscore the Biden administration’s support for NATO allies. Poland’s foreign minister says a visit by Biden to Poland was “very probable” when he comes to Europe. But Psaki said she had no details on whether that would happen.
March 15, 2022 4:32 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea had its deadliest day yet of the pandemic on Tuesday, with 293 deaths reported in the latest 24 hours. The country is grappling with a record surge in coronavirus infections driven by the fast-moving omicron variant. The 1,196 virus patients in serious or critical conditions were also a new high. Health officials said the country’s medical response remains stable with more than 30% of intensive care units designated for COVID-19 treatment still available. But the strain on the hospital system is expected to increase in coming weeks. The country’s caseload is now over 7.2 million, with 6.4 million added since February.
March 15, 2022 4:31 am
BEIJING (AP) – China has reported a more than doubling of new COVID-19 cases as it faces by far its biggest outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. The National Health Commission said Tuesday that 3,507 new locally spread cases had been identified in the latest 24-hour period, up from 1,337 a day earlier. A fast-spreading variant known as “stealth omicron” is testing China’s zero-tolerance strategy, which has largely kept the virus at bay after a deadly initial outbreak in early 2020. Most of the new cases were in northeast China’s Jilin province, where 2,601 were reported. Smaller outbreaks have broken out around the country.
March 15, 2022 4:31 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine says Russia seemed to adopt a more constructive tone in the latest round of talks aimed at halting fighting. However, Russian troops continued to bombard Kyiv on Tuesday with long range fire. Ukrainian presidential aide Ihor Zhovkva said the talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives over video have become more constructive, and Russia has stopped airing its previous demands for Ukraine to surrender. Zhovkva said that Ukrainian representatives feel “moderately optimistic” after the talks. The conversations came as the leaders of three European Union countries – including Poland, a NATO member on Ukraine’s doorstep – visited the embattled capital in a bold show of support.
March 15, 2022 4:26 am
The Washington School District has its new Superintendent and they didn’t have to look far. George Lammay, who has served as the interim Superintendent since December 1 was unanimously approved by the school board during Monday’s meeting. The removal of the interim tag will be official on April 1. Lammay agreed to a deal that runs through June of 2025 at an annual salary of $130,000. He was named interim Superintendent following the resignation of Dr. James Konrad who left the district in November to take the Superintendent’s job at Pleasant Valley School District in eastern Pennsylvania. Lammay has spent more than thirty years in education and actually retired as the Assistant Superintendent in the Bentworth School District last July.
March 15, 2022 4:16 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Port Authority employees are calling off just before the agency’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate goes into effect. Over the weekend and again on Monday, dozens of routes were canceled, including those during the morning and evening rush. The Port Authority is asking riders to consider another method of transportation, but for some, it’s not that easy. The agency says 500 employees aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 despite a mandate going into effect Tuesday. Employees who do not comply will be held off with pay until disciplinary meetings later in the week. The Port Authority says the courts ruled on their side of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. “Human resources is telling them not to report to work,” ATU Local 85 president Ross Nicotero says. “So, we have people who want to come to work, and they’re being told to go home.” The Port Authority says they expect disruptions for the next several weeks.
