Facebook rolls out tool to block off-Facebook data gathering
SAN FRANCISCO — Soon, you could get fewer familiar ads following you around the internet — or at least on Facebook. Facebook is launching a long-promised tool that lets you block the social network from gathering information about you on outside websites and apps. The company said Tuesday that it...
Ride resembling swastika shut down at German amusement park
Sometimes, looks are everything. That’s certainly true in the case of a ride at an amusement park in Germany. The “Eagle Fly” was added this season to the ranks of rides at Tatzmania, a park in Löffingen. It’s a spinning attraction, where riders hop into cars attached to one of...
Police kill armed man who held bus hostage in Rio
RIO DE JANEIRO — An armed man who took dozens of hostages on a bus in Brazil was shot dead by police following a four-hour standoff on Tuesday, authorities said. All the hostages were freed unharmed during the incident in Rio de Janeiro, state Gov. Wilson Witzel said. The man,...
Lightning kills shepherd, 19 buffaloes in western Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Lightning struck a livestock cage in western Indonesia, killing a shepherd and 19 buffaloes, police said Tuesday. Sitor Habeyahan had been driving the animals into the cage just after sunset on Monday and began to light a bonfire as usual to repel mosquitoes when lightning struck him...
FBI: Truck driver threatened mass shooting at Memphis church
A truck driver has been arrested after saying he would commit a mass shooting at a church in Memphis, Tennessee, authorities say in newly filed court records. Thomas Matthew McVicker was apprehended in Indianapolis before the plan could be carried out, according to court papers filed Monday. It’s the most...
Twitter shuts Chinese accounts targeting Hong Kong protests
WASHINGTON — Twitter said it has suspended more than 200,000 accounts that it believes were part of a Chinese government influence campaign targeting the protest movement in Hong Kong. The company also said Monday it will ban ads from state-backed media companies, expanding a prohibition it first applied in 2017...
Health Happenings – Aug. 20, 2019
Blood drives • American Red Cross will host these blood drives: — 1-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, BPO Elks Lodge 777, 151 Pittsburgh St., Scottdale — 1-5:30 p.m. Friday, North Huntingdon Town House, 11279 Center Highway — 12:30-6 p.m. Friday, Trinity Lutheran Church,
331 Weldon St., Latrobe — 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday,...
On-site pampering glams up HealthPlex mammograms
Although most women understand its importance, scheduling their annual mammogram is not something they anticipate in the way they might a relaxing massage or a soothing paraffin hand treatment. One area hospital is looking to change that. Women who make an appointment for the upcoming HealthPlex Imaging “Mamm & Glamm”...
Will there be a universal flu vaccine?
A better, more effective flu vaccine is a matter of when — not if — says Dr. Gregory Poland, director of Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group. The National Institutes of Health is testing an experimental universal flu vaccine with the goal of providing high-efficacy, long-lasting protection against influenza viruses. “The...
The hazards of ‘Running While Female’
The thrill of hitting the trail at full stride and the exhilaration of the fabled “runner’s high” is often replaced by fear and trepidation for female runners in the area, across the country and around the world. Aug. 21 marks one year since the discovery of the body of 20-year-old...
Mattresses gone with the wind when gusts hit outdoor movie eventVideo
“Gone With the Wind” would have been an appropriate selection for this outdoor movie event. It had the appearance of a choreographed performance when a flock of untethered air mattresses danced across a field. The inflatable beds were intended for moviegoers in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday night but the plot...
White House dismisses payroll tax cuts as slowdown prevention
WASHINGTON — The White House dismissed the idea that the administration is looking to cut payroll taxes as a way to bolster consumer spending, as economic indicators increasingly point to a potential downturn. More tax cuts for individuals are being discussed, but payroll taxes aren’t under consideration at present, a...
North Huntingdon bus driver trekked millions of miles on the road
Driving was a major part of Mark Lazzaro’s life from the time he was a teenager. Whether it was for the Marines or a commercial bus line, Lazzaro took his driving seriously and treated his passengers with care, said his wife, Janice. “He just loved driving ever since he was...
Ohio man pleads not guilty in Jewish center video threatVideo
STRUTHERS, Ohio — A 20-year-old man pleaded not guilty Monday to threatening a Jewish community center in a video that authorities say showed him shooting a semi-automatic rifle. A judge near Youngstown set bond at $250,000 for James Reardon, ordered a mental health evaluation and told him to stay away...
Cal State Fullerton consultant killed in campus stabbing
FULLERTON, Calif. — A retired administrator working as a consultant to California State University, Fullerton was fatally stabbed in a campus parking lot Monday in what police called a targeted attack, though they were not sure of a motive. The victim was in his late 50s and worked in international...
U.S. prisons chief removed from position as a result of Jeffrey Epstein’s death
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr removed the acting director of the Bureau of Prisons from his position Monday, more than a week after millionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein took his own life while in federal custody. Hugh Hurwitz’s reassignment comes amid mounting evidence that guards at the chronically understaffed Metropolitan...
Planned Parenthood will stop taking Title X funding rather than comply with abortion ‘gag rule’Video
NEW YORK — Planned Parenthood said Monday it’s pulling out of the federal family planning program rather than abide by a new Trump administration rule prohibiting clinics from referring women for abortions. Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood’s acting president and CEO, said the organization’s nationwide network of health centers would...
Florida woman upset over her dog being dyed by groomer
LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — A Florida woman got a colorful but unwanted surprise when she picked up her dog from a grooming session. The Palm Beach Post reports Graziella Puleo’s Goldendoodle named Lola was scheduled for a buzz cut and teeth cleaning recently at a Lake Worth grooming center....
Texas man who killed boy to make room in house gets life
LUFKIN, Texas — Prosecutors say a Texas man who told police he drowned a 3-year-old boy because his girlfriend was pregnant and they needed room in the home has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Authorities say Bobby Woods Jr. told police that his girlfriend, Billie Jean Cuttler,...
Adnan Syed’s attorneys ask U.S. Supreme Court to hear ‘Serial’ case
BALTIMORE — Attorneys for Adnan Syed, the subject of the “Serial” podcast, are trying to take his case to the Supreme Court. The petition, filed Monday after an extended deadline, asks the justices to reverse a ruling by Maryland’s highest court. It had refused to grant a new trial to...
Jury selection begins for man accused of murder, cannibalism
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — A murder trial is getting under way for a southern Indiana man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and eating parts of her body. Attorneys for 38-year-old Joseph Oberhansley and Clark County prosecutors began selecting jurors Monday in suburban Indianapolis, in the Hamilton County seat of Noblesville. Oberhansley’s...
NYPD fires officer for death of Eric Garner
NEW YORK — After five years of investigations and protests, New York City’s police commissioner on Monday fired an officer involved in the 2014 chokehold death of an unarmed black man whose dying cries of “I can’t breathe” fueled a national debate over race and police use of force. Police...
19-year-old accused of threating abortion clinic via iFunny
CHICAGO — A federal complaint accuses a Chicago 19-year-old of posting messages through a social media site typically used to produce humorous memes to threaten a deadly attack on an abortion clinic in the city. The document unsealed Monday says Farhan Sheikh wrote on his iFunny page last week that...
Detained immigrants sue over conditions, medical care
LOS ANGELES — Immigrants held in U.S. detention facilities filed a lawsuit Monday demanding adequate medical care and treatment and accommodations for disabilities. In the suit filed by disability and civil rights advocates in U.S. District Court, immigrants said they’re placed in isolation as punishment and denied recommended medical treatment...
Woman charged with aiding white supremacist’s jail escape
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas woman has been charged with helping the leader of a white supremacist gang and another inmate escape from jail last month. A federal grand jury indicted 27-year-old Kennan Gililland on Aug. 8 on charges alleging that she helped Wesley Gullett and Christopher Sanderson escape...
