September 22, 2022 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Federal Reserve delivered its bluntest reckoning Wednesday of what it will take to finally tame painfully high inflation: Slower growth, higher unemployment and potentially a recession. Speaking at a news conference, Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged what many economists have been saying for months: That the Fed’s goal of engineering a “soft landing” – in which it would manage to slow growth enough to curb inflation but not so much as to trigger a recession – looks increasingly unlikely. “The chances of a soft landing,” Powell said, “are likely to diminish” as the Fed steadily raises borrowing costs to slow the worst inflation in four decades.
September 22, 2022 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal appeals court has lifted a judge’s hold on the Justice Department’s ability to use classified records seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate in its ongoing criminal investigation. The ruling Wednesday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta clears the way for investigators to continue scrutinizing the documents as they evaluate whether to bring criminal charges over the storage of top-secret government records at Mar-a-Lago. The court notes that Trump presented no evidence that he had declassified the sensitive records. And it is rejecting the possibility that Trump could have an “individual interest in or need for” the roughly 100 documents marked as classified.
September 22, 2022 4:16 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Ukraine’s president has laid out his case against Russia’s invasion at the United Nations and demanded punishment from world leaders. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech was delivered just hours after Moscow made an extraordinary announcement that it would mobilize some reservists for the war effort. Buoyed by a counteroffensive that has retaken swaths of territory that the Russians had seized, Zelenskyy vowed in a video address that his forces would not stop until they had reclaimed all of Ukraine. Video addresses by Zelenskyy in an olive green T-shirt have become almost commonplace. But this speech was one of the most keenly anticipated at the U.N. General Assembly, where the war has dominated.
September 22, 2022 4:13 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Utah boy who suffered a serious head injury after falling from a bunk bed during last month’s Little League World Series in Pennsylvania has returned home from the hospital and his family is suing the league and the company that made the bed. Easton Oliverson, 12, of Saint George, Utah, suffered a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain in the Aug. 15 fall at a players dormitory in Williamsport. He has since had three operations and battled a staph infection, the family’s lawyer, Ken Fulginiti, said Tuesday. The negligence lawsuit, filed by Jace and Nancy Oliverson on Friday in Philadelphia, said there was no railing on the top bunk. Kevin Fountain, a spokesperson for Little League International, said the league would not comment on the pending suit. Easton, a pitcher and outfielder with the Snow Canyon team from Santa Clara in southwestern Utah, fell in his sleep, Fulginiti said. The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 for the boy’s care, along with punitive damages.
September 22, 2022 4:11 am
ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – After 11 boys between the ages of 10 and 12 years old came forward and accused their baseball coach, 27 year old Eric Fairman, of sexually abusing them, he finally went before a judge. At his preliminary hearing, he and his defense attorney decided to waive the charges against him. This means the case is moving forward to trial. “At the end of the day, it’s going to be, can the commonwealth prove beyond a reasonable doubt the charges of the sexual allegations?” Fairman’s defense attorney, Chuck Porter, said. If the Pleasant Hills man had insisted on having a hearing today, many of the alleged victims would have had to testify. “Eric also didn’t want to have all of these young men come in here and testify. It’s a traumatic thing for them to have to come in and testify, and be subject to cross-examination,” Porter added. Fairman was a math teacher at Mckeesport MIddle School and a youth sports coach. He remains in the Allegheny County Jail.
September 22, 2022 2:36 am
An Ohio man will face trial on charges related to a head on collision that took place on Park Avenue in North Franklin Township back in August. Nathan Boyer, 35 of Hopedale waived amended charges to court. He will face misdemeanor charges of accident involving injury or death instead of the original felony grades of the same charges. Boyer is accused of striking a car driven by Sallie Whitmer head on while driving along Park Avenue near Armour Road. Whitmer and a juvenile travelling in the car were taken to Washington Hospital. Police reports say he overcompensated for a turn and crossed the center line. Boyer fled the scene on foot and was apprehended several hours later. He allegedly provided police with a false name and denied involvement in the crash. The victim was present for the hearing. Boyer will be arraigned on these and other drug possession charges from an unrelated incident on October 27.
September 22, 2022 2:22 am
(WPXI) – Authorities have charged both parents for the murder of a 9-year-old boy found dead in New Kensington in May. Azuree Charles was found dead behind his house and the coroner ruled his death a homicide a short time later. During a press conference on Wednesday, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli announced that both Jean Charles and Luella Elien, Azuree’s parents, were being charged in his death. Ziccarelli said that Azuree died by mechanical strangulation. Jean Charles is charged with first-degree murder, criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, strangulation, tampering with evidence, unlawful restraint of a minor by a parent and concealing the death of a child related to Azuree’s death. Elien is charged with aggravated assault of a victim less than 13 years old, endangering the welfare of a child and hindering the apprehension or prosecution of another.
September 21, 2022 2:58 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Intensifying its fight against high inflation, the Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by a substantial three-quarters of a point for a third straight time and signaled more large rate hikes to come – an aggressive pace that will heighten the risk of an eventual recession. The Fed’s move boosted its benchmark short-term rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, to a range of 3% to 3.25%, the highest level since early 2008. The officials also forecast that they will further raise their benchmark rate to roughly 4.4% by year’s end, a full percentage point higher than they had forecast as recently as June.
September 21, 2022 1:45 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – New York’s attorney general has sued former President Donald Trump and his company, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit was filed Wednesday in state court in New York. It is the culmination of the Democrat’s three-year civil investigation of Trump and the Trump Organization. Three of Trump’s adult children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump, were also named as defendants, along with two longtime company executives, Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney. Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, said the lawsuit is “neither focused on the facts nor the law.”
September 21, 2022 4:25 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Lottery officials say two people who wish to remain anonymous have claimed a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot after a single ticket was sold in a Chicago suburb for a late July drawing, opting to take a lump sum payment of $780.5 million. The Illinois Lottery said Wednesday the prize for the July 29 drawing was claimed by two individuals who agreed to split the prize if they won. The lottery says it is unable to share any information about the winners except to say that they must be “over the moon” with their win. The jackpot-winning ticket was bought at a Speedway gas station and convenience store in Des Plaines. The jackpot was the nation’s third-largest lottery prize.
