July 19, 2023 1:40 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Democratic lawmaker is quitting the Pennsylvania House of Representatives amid a budget stalemate. Pittsburgh Rep. Sara Innamorato’s resignation Wednesday tilts the razor-thin majority her party has claimed in the chamber to a tie. A special election for her seat is scheduled for Sept. 19, a week before the House is expected to return to session. In November, Democrats flipped the precise number of districts needed to control the House at the start of the session. It was their first claim to the majority in 12 years, with a 102 to 101 margin. With Innamorato’s resignation, membership stands at 101 Democrats and 101 Republicans. (Photo: Facebook)
July 18, 2023 12:47 pm
(AP) – Federal safety investigators say they’ve determined that natural gas was leaking from a defective fitting at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory where a powerful explosion killed seven people. The National Transportation Safety Board, which has yet to determine the cause of the March 24 blast, said Tuesday that the leak at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in West Reading was traced to a gas fitting installed in 1982. Investigators say the fitting had a known tendency to crack. Investigators also found a small leak on a gas fitting installed in 2021. Factory employees have told federal investigators they could smell gas before the explosion.
July 18, 2023 9:46 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.S. officials say an American soldier who fled across the heavily armed border from South Korea into North Korea had been facing military disciplinary actions. Two U.S. officials say Private 2nd Class Travis King had just been released from a South Korean prison where he’d been held on assault charges and was facing military disciplinary actions in the U.S. King was escorted to the airport to be returned to Fort Bliss, Texas, but left and joined a tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom, where he ran across the border. At a Pentagon press conference, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did not name King, but confirmed that a U.S. service member was likely in North Korean custody.
July 18, 2023 9:45 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has received a letter informing him that he is a target of the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump made the claim in a post on his Truth Social platform. He said he received the target letter on Sunday night. Such a letter can precede an indictment; Trump got one ahead of being charged last month in a separate investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.
July 18, 2023 5:12 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces have shot down 25 exploding drones and six cruise missiles from a pre-dawn Russian attack on the port of Odesa. The attack came a day after Moscow broke off a deal that had allowed Kyiv to ship vital grain supplies from the Black Sea city during the war. Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday the Russians first sought to wear down Ukraine’s air defenses with the drones and then targeted Odesa with six Kalibr cruise missiles. Ukrainian military’s Southern Command says all six missiles were shot down by air defenses but their debris and shock waves damaged some port facilities and a few residential buildings, injuring an elderly man at his home.
July 18, 2023 5:09 am
ST. JOSEPH. Mo. (AP) — The Powerball jackpot rose yet again to an estimated $1 billion after no winning ticket was sold for the latest drawing. No ticket for Monday’s drawing matched the white balls 5, 8, 9, 17, 41 and red Powerball 21. The estimated jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing would be the third highest in U.S. history. Ticket buyers have a chance at either $1 billion paid out in yearly increments or a $516.8 million one-time lump sum before taxes. The last time someone won the Powerball jackpot was April 19 for a top prize of nearly $253 million. Since then, no one has won the grand prize in the past 38 consecutive drawings.
July 18, 2023 5:06 am
PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix’s relentless streak of dangerously hot days is finally poised to smash a record for major U.S. cities on Tuesday, the 19th straight day the desert city is to see temperatures soar to 110 degrees Fahrenheit or more. Nighttime has offered little relief from the brutal temperatures. Phoenix’s low of 95 on Monday was its highest overnight low ever, toppling the previous record of 93 set in 2009. It was the eighth straight day of temperatures not falling below 90, another record. The length of Phoenix’s heat wave is notable even during a summer in which much of the southern United States and the world as a whole has been cooking in record temperatures.
July 18, 2023 5:01 am
WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. (AP) — Extreme weather conditions enveloped the U.S. Monday as the East Coast recovered from flooding, sizzling temperatures beset the West and several northern states contended with unsafe air quality from Canadian wildfires. In Pennsylvania, emergency crews are still searching for a missing 9-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sister, whose family car was swept away in a weekend deluge. Meanwhile, Death Valley in California is flirting with record-high temperatures that could reach a staggering 125 degrees Monday. And finally, the Environmental Protection Agency says extensive swaths of the northern United States are experiencing unhealthy air quality as smoke from Canada’s wildfires pushes the air quality index into the red zone.
July 18, 2023 4:58 am
NORTH UNION TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – State Police have released new information about a fatal bicycle accident in Fayette County last week. According to Police, the crash happened on July 12 at 3:14 p.m. at the intersection of Pittsburgh and Hickory roads in North Union Township. Prevail Hall, 36, was riding her bike on Hickory Road when she tried to cross Pittsburgh Road without yielding to oncoming traffic, state police said. A 2014 Buick Verano hit Hall. The driver did stop. Hall was taken to Uniontown Hospital by EMS where she was pronounced dead, police said.
July 18, 2023 4:53 am
SCOTTDALE, Pa. — (WPXI) – Flames ripped through a garage in Scottdale on Monday evening, causing the roof to collapse. According to Westmoreland County 911, first responders were called to the Keystone Autoworx garage in the 90 block of Orchard Avenue at 7:57 p.m. Most of the fire was knocked down before 9 p.m., but as of 10 p.m., crews remained on scene working on extinguishing hot spots. No injuries have been reported.
