Western PA News

OKLAHOMA CITY —

Oklahoma City police identified a woman accused of firing shots inside a McDonald’s restaurant after being told by employees that the dining room was closed due to coronavirus restrictions.

According to police, officers responded just before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to a report of a shooting at McDonald’s near Southwest 89^th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Police said original reports indicated there were two suspects. However, they later determined there was only one suspect involved.

According to police, the suspect entered the restaurant and was told by employees the dining area was closed. She was asked to leave but refused, and police said a physical altercation ensued between the suspect and an employee.

Police said the suspect was then forced out of the restaurant by employees. She reentered the restaurant with a handgun and fired about three rounds in the restaurant, according to police.

Source: MCDONALD’S SHOOTING: Police identify woman accused of firing shots at McDonald’s after she was told dining room was closed

Washington, DC (CNN)Miami-Dade County bus driver Miakeya Rolle says she hasn’t had a good night’s rest since a passenger intentionally spit on her.

On the afternoon of April 19, a homeless woman boarded Rolle’s bus and began coughing on passengers, according to a police report. Rolle told her she needed to wear a mask. The woman spat on Rolle and fled the bus.

Miami, like many transit systems, requires passengers to wear masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rolle cleaned herself off with Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer as she waited for police to respond. She was later tested at a hospital. When she returned home, she undressed outside and threw her uniform in the garbage.

Rolle has yet to return to driving a bus.

Source: A bus driver told a rider to wear a mask. Then the passenger spit on her. – CNN

The Justice Department dropped its criminal case against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who admitted to lying to FBI agents about his conversation with a Russian diplomat.

• The Justice Department is dropping its prosecution of former national security advisor Michael Flynn, according to a court filing Thursday.
• The move comes more than two years after Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about his discussions with Russia’s ambassador to the United States in the weeks before President Donald Trump took office.
• The Justice Department said it is abandoning the prosecution of the retired Army general after “a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information.”

Source: Michael Flynn criminal case dropped by Justice Department

LONDON (Reuters) – Black people and those of Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnicity have a significantly higher chance of dying from COVID-19 than white people, even when adjusting for deprivation, the British statistics office said on Thursday.

Using models that adjusted for a range of socio-economic factors, the statistics office said it was clear that there were significant differences in the risk of COVID-19 among different ethnic groups.

“The risk of death involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) among some ethnic groups is significantly higher than that of those of white ethnicity,” the Office for National Statistics said.

“People of Bangladeshi and Pakistani, Indian, and Mixed ethnicities also had statistically significant raised risk of death involving COVID-19 compared with those of white ethnicity.”

Scientists studying the novel coronavirus caution that there were vast holes in their knowledge and cite striking differences in the death rates based on age, sex and ethnicity.

Source: Black and Pakistani people more likely to die from COVID-19: UK data – Reuters

A Beaver County police officer has been arrested after allegedly harassing and physically assaulting his wife. Matthew Stephen Straub, 29, of Chippewa Township, is facing charges of misdemeanor simple assault and summary harassment. Straub serves as a full-time lieutenant with the Franklin Twp. police department, and as a part-time officer with the South Beaver and […]

Source: Beaver County Police Officer Arrested On Assault And Harassment Charges – BeaverCountian.com

Temperatures will climb into the low 60s later today

Source: Chilly Thursday morning: Freeze warning in effect until 9 a.m.

Six people have died from a gas leak at a major Indian chemical plant, with another 200 hospitalized and hundreds more potentially affected, said Indian authorities today.

Source: Gas leak in India’s LG Polymers plant leaves at least six dead and 200 hospitalized

Someone’s caseload just got a lot lighter …

A US Supreme Court argument showed Wednesday that it’s not just office workers who sometimes have difficulty finding the “mute” button during a conference call.

In the middle of oral arguments in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, an unexpected sound projected clearly across the court’s live audio stream: Someone flushed a toilet.

The stunning display of doo process came as attorney Roman Martinez told justices — over the phone due to the coronavirus pandemic — that the right to robocall is protected by the First Amendment.

Martinez was mid-sentence during a highly technical part of his delivery.

“I think we’re going to be saying, ‘Hey, call your congressman and change these laws that apply to banks’ and what the FCC has said is that when the subject matter of the call ranges to the topics, then the call is transformed and it’s a call that would have been allowed and is no longer allowed,” he said.

It was unclear which other lines were unmuted, and nobody on the line acknowledged the noise.

Source: Mystery swirls after toilet flush heard on Supreme Court conference call

As the president toured the Arizona facility the song blasted – and many couldn’t help but notice a metaphor

Source: Live and Let Die plays as Trump visits mask factory without a mask | US news | The Guardian

The Dow and S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday as investors weighed the potential of the U.S. economy reopening amid more dismal employment data.

Source: Here’s what happened to the stock market on Wednesday

County leaders across Southwestern Pennsylvania are trying to convince Gov. Tom Wolf to allow them to begin reopening as soon as possible — regardless of what is going on in Allegheny, the most populated area of the region, which also has its highest number of coronavirus cases.

On Monday, 37 county commissioners and state lawmakers representing the nine counties surrounding Allegheny County met in an online Zoom call to discuss strategies to persuade Wolf. They followed up with letters to the governor.

Commissioners from Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington said they are so frustrated by the lack of communication from Harrisburg and inconsistencies in its actions that they are prepared to support legal action against the state by their residents and business owners.

Source: Counties in Pittsburgh region plead with Gov. Wolf to reopen — soon | TribLIVE.com

In a Facebook Live with customers on Tuesday, Charley Family Shop’n Save co-owner Tom Charley set the record straight about meat supply challenges during the time of coronavirus.

“To call it what it is there are going to be some items when you come in and we’re just not going to have it,” said Charley during the Facebook Live.

“You shop like you’re shopping to have food from today until the next time you shop, we’ll be in a much better place.”

Source: Local Shop’n Save owner shares plan to combat meat supply challenges

Officials say program will be ready by mid-May

Source: Pennsylvania still not paying extended unemployment benefits

Bader was treated at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore and is resting comfortably and plans to take part in Wednesday’s teleconference arguments, the court said.

Source: Supreme Court says Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent ‘non-surgical’ treatment for gallbladder condition

 Flight resumed Sunday at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Westmoreland County, but extra precautions will continue to keep passengers and employees safe.

Spirit Airlines is back up and running after suspending all flights about a month ago.

The sole commercial carrier at the airport stopped service after bookings dropped dramatically, causing the airport to lay off 60 of its employees.

Source: Arnold Palmer Regional Airport reopens with extra precautions in place

GREENSBURG, Pa. —

With one month to go before Pennsylvania’s rescheduled primary election, Westmoreland County officials said they are in need of poll workers at numerous locations throughout the county.

Westmoreland County Director of Elections Beth Lechman said a large number of the county’s usual workers are opting out due to concerns regarding COVID-19.

“We’re looking for younger members of the population, college students, high school students, that would be willing to work the polls along with our experienced workers,” Lechman said

Lechman said the county has been told all polling locations will be eligible to open, something that will help cut down on potential lines and delays.

“It’s a trickle-down effect on the whole process,” County Commissioner Sean Kertes said. “We’re trying to do our due diligence to protect the voters and protect the poll workers as much as possible.”

Source: COMMITMENT 2020: Westmoreland County in need of poll workers for Pennsylvania primary

PA State Rep. Cris Dush (R-Jefferson) criticized the transparency of Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to re-open Pennsylvania during the coronavirus pandemic. While many Republicans have criticized Wolf over his plan, Dush took it a step further and said the governor has “refused all sorts of information” and compared that to the governments of Nazi Germany and the former U.S.S.R.

“More and more I go back to the German Democratic Nationalist Socialist Party, the Nazi party. I go to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the USSR,” Dush said. “This is a socialist playbook.”

Source: Western Pa. State Rep compares Gov. Wolf’s office to Nazis; Pittsburgh’s Jewish Rep condemns | News | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper

Long before the insects found their way to American shores, some Japanese prized them for their numbing crunch and the venomous buzz they add to liquor.

Source: In Japan, the ‘Murder Hornet’ Is Both a Lethal Threat and a Tasty Treat