(File Photo: Caption for Photo: police car lights at night in city with selective focus and bokeh background blur) Credit for Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto/z1b)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Duquesne, PA) A man from Swissvale is facing charges of aggravated assault and attempted homicide after police confirm he allegedly hit another man with a hammer in Duquesne on Tuesday. This incident occurred at an apartment on the 2600 block of Duquesne Place Drive during an argument at the birthday party of the victim there. The victim wanted to get the group of men he was arguing with outside that apartment. According to police, three people, including thirty-seven-year-old Tyland Lamont Chambers began trying to break down the door of that apartment to get back inside it. According to the victim, Chambers, who said he was trying to get back inside so he could get his belongings, eventually got in. Police also confirm that the victim was hit by Chambers twelve times with a hammer, which was originally in the living room of the apartment. That man was taken to the hospital after getting cut in the head and after he was found by police. August 19th, 2025 will be when Chambers will make an appearance in court. 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Women react outside a destroyed apartment building after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian capital Kyiv observed an official day of mourning Friday, a day after a Russian drone and missile attack on the city killed 31 people, including five children, and injured more than 150, officials said.

The youngest victim in Thursday’s strikes was 2 years old, and 16 of the injured were children, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

It was the highest number of children killed and injured in a single attack on Kyiv since aerial attacks on the city began in October 2022, according to official casualty figures reported by The Associated Press. It was also the deadliest attack on the city since July last year, when 33 were killed.

The death toll rose overnight as emergency crews continued to dig through rubble. The Russian barrage demolished a large part of a nine-story residential building in the city, while more than 100 other buildings were damaged, including homes, schools, kindergartens, medical facilities and universities, officials said.

Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent months, ignoring calls from Western leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump to stop striking civilian areas after more than three years of war. The Russian tactic aims to spread terror and wear down public appetite for the war.

Russian forces are also pressing on with their grinding war of attrition along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where incremental gains over the past year have come at the cost of thousands of soldiers on both sides.

Ukraine wants more sanctions on Russia

Zelenskyy said that in July, Russia launched over 5,100 glide bombs, more than 3,800 Shahed drones, and nearly 260 missiles of various types, 128 of them ballistic, against Ukraine.

He repeated his appeal for countries to impose heavier economic sanctions on Russia to deter the Kremlin, as U.S.-led peace efforts have failed to gain traction.

“No matter how much the Kremlin denies (sanctions’) effectiveness, they are working and must be stronger,” Zelenskyy said.

His comments Friday appeared to be a response to Trump’s remarks the previous day, when the Republican president said the U.S. plans to impose sanctions on Russia but added, “I don’t know that sanctions bother him,” in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In April, Trump urged the Russian leader to “STOP!” after an aerial attack on Kyiv killed 12 in what was the deadliest assault on the city since July 2024. “Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform at the time, but Russia hasn’t eased up on its barrages. Earlier this week, Trump gave Putin until Aug. 8 to stop the fighting.

Those demands haven’t persuaded the Kremlin to change strategy. Putin said Friday the conditions that Moscow set out last year for a long-term ceasefire agreement still stand. Putin has previously made it clear that he will only accept a settlement on his terms and will keep fighting until they’re met.

“Any disappointments arise from excessive expectations,” Putin said of negotiations. He did not mention Trump by name.

Putin said that he regards recent direct talks in Istanbul between delegations from Russia and Ukraine as valuable, even though they made no progress beyond exchanges of prisoners of war, and made no reference to next week’s deadline imposed by Trump.

In what Ukrainians may see as an ominous note, Putin said that Russia has started production of its newest hypersonic missiles. The Oreshnik’s multiple warheads that plunge to a target at speeds up to Mach 10 and cannot be stopped by air defenses, he said.

Ukraine called for an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting to be convened Friday, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, in an effort to push Putin into accepting “a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”

Russian forces bear down on a key eastern Ukrainian city

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are under heavy pressure in the strategic hilltop city of Chasiv Yar, in the eastern Donetsk region where Russia is making a concerted push to break through defenses after some 18 months of fighting.

Zelenskyy said that Russian claims of capturing Chasiv Yar on Thursday were “disinformation.”

“Ukrainian units are holding our positions,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address on Thursday evening. “It is not easy, but it is the defense of Ukrainians’ very right to life.”

Even so, the Institute for the Study of War said that Ukraine’s hold on the key city is weakening.

“Russian forces will likely complete the seizure of Chasiv Yar in the coming days, which will open several possible avenues for Russian forces to attack Ukraine’s fortress belt — a series of fortified cities that form the backbone of Ukraine’s defensive positions” in the Donetsk region, the Washington-based think tank said.

Ukraine has tried to pressure the Russian army by striking rear areas with long-range drones that target rail networks, oil depots and arsenals.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that air defenses shot down 60 Ukrainian drones overnight. More than half were destroyed over Russia’s Belgorod region on the country’s border with Ukraine, it said. Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said that one person was injured.

The Ukrainian air force, meanwhile, said Friday it downed 44 out of 72 Russian drones fired overnight. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

File Photo: Source for Photo: New York Police officers salute as the hearse carrying the casket of NYPD officer Didarul Islam passes after his funeral, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

NEW YORK (AP) — Mourners packed a New York mosque on Thursday to honor a Bangladesh-born police officer who embraced the job of protecting his adopted city and gave his life for it when a gunman opened fire in an office building this week.

Officer Didarul Islam “did believe in the American dream, not as something handed down but as something built with your own hands,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told Islam’s family and friends as his fellow officers lined up rows deep outside the Bronx house of worship.

Dignitaries and members of the New York’s thriving Bangladeshi community also paid tribute to the fallen officer during a memorial that emphasized the importance he placed on his family, background and service to the city.

A married father of two with a third child on the way, the 36-year-old was working a New York Police Department-approved private security detail, in uniform, when he and three other people were killed Monday at the Manhattan skyscraper that houses the NFL’s headquarters and other corporate offices.

“To our family, he was our world. To the city, he was a proud NYPD officer who served with compassion and integrity. He lived to help others,” Islam’s widow said in a statement that a relative read on her behalf at the service at the Parkchester Jame Masjid mosque.

With officers stationed on surrounding rooftops for security, fire trucks used their ladders to hold a huge American flag over a nearby street. A flatbed truck carried a digital billboard showing photos of Islam and a commemorative message from his union.

White House sends condolences

After coming to the United States, Islam began building a career in the nation’s largest police force. He described policing as “a blanket of the community, there to provide comfort and care,” the police commissioner said.

Islam served as a school safety agent before becoming a patrol officer less than four years ago, and he was promoted posthumously Thursday to detective.

“He could have gone into any other occupation he wanted, but he wanted to put on that uniform, and he wanted to protect fellow New Yorkers. And he wanted to let us know that he believed in what this city and what this country stood for,” Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, told the gathering. “That’s the greatest symbol of what we know we are as a country.”

In Washington, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt began her daily briefing by expressing President Donald Trump’s condolences to Islam’s family, saying he “made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of his fellow New Yorkers.”

A ‘humble, steady, and reliable’ officer

Like others who spoke, Imam Zakir Ahmed highlighted the officer’s immigrant background and Muslim faith. But said Islam “lived at a time when people like him are too often feared, vilified and made to feel like outsiders.”

“It’s time for New York and America to give back — to see us, to hear us, to protect our dignity, the way Officer Islam protected yours,” Ahmed said.

The eldest of several siblings, Islam supported his parents in Bangladesh, as well as his wife and two young sons in the Bronx, the imam said. The police commissioner said Islam worked a long day at a parade Sunday, then picked up private security hours Monday at the office building.

Deputy Inspector Muhammad Ashraf, the commander of the busy Bronx precinct where Islam worked, said he was a “humble, steady and reliable” officer.

“He knew what it meant to protect the place that gave him a new beginning, and in return, he gave everything back,” Ashraf said at Thursday’s service.

After the service, the streets filled with people, mostly men, kneeling in prayer. Some Muslim officers took part, as colleagues stood in formation behind them and looked on.

Later, officers saluted as Islam’s casket, draped in U.S. and NYPD flags, was brought to a hearse for burial at a cemetery in Totowa, New Jersey.

Other shooting victims laid to rest

Mourners also gathered Thursday for the funeral of investment firm executive Wesley LePatner, 43, a married mother of two who was shot in the building’s lobby.

“There’s a huge gaping Mount Everest-size hole in my life right now,” her husband, Evan LePatner, said during his eulogy at Central Synagogue in Manhattan.

More than 500 people attended the funeral, the New York Post reported. LePatner was one of Blackstone’s top executives, specializing in real estate.

Another victim, real estate firm worker Julia Hyman, 27, was mourned at an emotional service Wednesday at the same synagogue located just blocks from where the shooting happened.

Funeral arrangements for the fourth shooting victim, security guard Aland Etienne, have not yet been finalized.

Governor praises officer for saving lives

Police identified the gunman as Shane Tamura, a 27-year old former high school football player who most recently worked in a Las Vegas casino’s surveillance department. Authorities say he believed he had a brain disease linked to contact sports and accused the NFL of hiding the dangers of playing football.

On Thursday, police said they found more than 800 rounds of ammunition in Tamura’s car and had recovered 47 shell casings in the building’s lobby and the office floor where Hyman was killed.

Police said Tamura had a history of mental illness, but they haven’t elaborated other than to say they found psychiatric medication prescribed to him at his residence in Las Vegas.

Officials said he was heading for the NFL’s office but took the wrong elevator and went by mistake to another floor. The gunfire seriously injured an NFL employee in the lobby.

Islam “saved lives. He was out front,” Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said at Thursday’s service. “Others may be alive today because he was the barrier.”

(FIle Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Rain falls as Irene Valdez visits a make-shift memorial for flood victims along the Guadalupe River, Sunday, July 13, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Two top leaders in a rural Texas county were asleep and a third was out of town in the initial hours of a catastrophic flood that came barreling through the region, causing widespread destruction and killing more than 130 people earlier this month.

Kerr County’s sheriff and its emergency management director both acknowledged Thursday during a legislative hearing that they were asleep in the early morning hours of July 4, even after emergency calls were coming into county dispatchers and it became apparent that a major flood event was unfolding. Moreover, Judge Rob Kelly, the top executive of Kerr County, was out of town on the day of the flood.

Their testimony, which came during a joint House and Senate panel of lawmakers who visited the hard-hit Texas Hill Country, was the first indication of the whereabouts of the trio of men who were charged with preparing for the impending weather and dispatching resources to rescue those affected. It also revealed a lack of on-duty leadership in the key initial moments of the flooding that killed at least 136 people, including 27 youths and counselors at an all-girls camp.

Public records requested by The Associated Press seeking their communications, schedules and other materials that could shed light on the flooding response have been rejected or remain pending, and the three have not replied to repeated interview requests.

County leaders were asleep, out of town

William “Dub” Thomas, Kerr County’s emergency management coordinator, told lawmakers that he was sick the day before the flooding occurred and missed two calls with Texas Emergency Management officials. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha and Thomas both acknowledged being asleep as a crisis was unfolding.

Kelly, who holds a position in Texas that functions as the county’s chief executive officer, testified that he was out of town at Lake Travis, located near Austin about 100 miles (160 kilometers) away, on the morning of the flood and woke up around 5:30 a.m.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick expressed his frustration.

“I’m not pointing a finger. I’m not blaming you. I just want to set the record straight,” he said in comments directed toward Kelly, prompting applause from those in the audience. “Everyone was here that day working their ass off, and you were nowhere to be found.”

Thomas said that on the morning of July 4, he was first awakened by his wife around 5:30 a.m., about two hours after emergency rescue operations were underway, and quickly drove to the sheriff’s office.

“There was no visible flooding on my drive into the office, but it quickly became clear that the situation was escalating,” he said.

Officials say better warning needed

In other testimony, local officials said they needed but lacked an updated warning system, when flash flooding swept away homes and vehicles and left families begging for rescue on the roofs of their homes earlier this month.

Others who testified Thursday before an audience of hundreds of people — some who wore green ribbons in memory of the victims — called for urgent improvements for better flood warnings and flood mitigation.

Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system, repeatedly failing to secure roughly $1 million for a project to better protect those who spend time along the Guadalupe River, the AP previously reported. The plan, which would have installed flood-monitoring equipment near Camp Mystic, cost about as much as the county spends on courthouse security every two years, or 1.5% of its annual budget.

Kelly said residents had virtually no warning of the impending weather catastrophe until it was too late.

“We need stronger communications and better broadband so we can communicate better,” he said, adding that poor cell service did not help those along the river. “What we experienced on July 4 was sudden, violent and overwhelming.”

Sheriff lays out timeline

Leitha presented a timeline of events to lawmakers and said emergency responders realized they had an “all-hands-on-deck” situation as early as 3:30 a.m., when dispatchers received a call from a family stranded on their roof requesting air evacuation. But Leitha acknowledged that he was not alerted of the flooding until about an hour later, at around 4:20 a.m.

Rep. Ann Johnson, a Democrat from Houston, asked Leitha whether the county should have a protocol in place for when three of the top county officials are not available during an emergency.

“Yes, ma’am, we can look at that real hard,” Leitha said. “Yes, I can look and maybe they can call me earlier.”

Local residents caught off guard

Residents along the Guadalupe River have said they were caught off guard and had no warning when rainfall struck. Kerr County does not have a warning system along the river after several missed opportunities by state and local agencies to finance one.

The hearing comes as authorities have begun publicly releasing records and audio — including 911 calls — that have provided new glimpses into the escalating danger and chaos in the early hours of the July Fourth holiday. They include panicked and confused messages from residents caught in trees as well as families fleeing with children from homes with water creeping up to the knees.

“People are dying,” one woman tells a 911 operator in call logs released by nearby Kendall County. She says she had a young relative at a church camp in Kerr County who was stranded along with his classmates because of the high waters.

“I don’t want them to get stuck in a low-water crossing. And what are they going to do? They have like 30 kids,” the woman says.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: President Donald Trump arrives to sign the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act into law in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that set new tariffs on a wide swath of U.S. trading partners to go into effect on Aug. 7 — the next step in his trade agenda that will test the global economy and sturdiness of American alliances built up over decades. 

The order was issued shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday. It came after a flurry of tariff-related activity in the last several days, as the White House announced agreements with various nations and blocs ahead of the president’s self-imposed Friday deadline. The tariffs are being implemented at a later date in order for the rates schedule to be harmonized, according to a senior administration official who spoke to reporters on a call on the condition of anonymity. 

After initially threatening the African nation of Lesotho with a 50% tariff, the country’s goods will now be taxed at 15%. Taiwan will have tariffs set at 20%, Pakistan at 19% and Israel, Iceland, Norway, Fiji, Ghana, Guyana and Ecuador among the countries with imported goods taxed at 15%. Switzerland would be tariffed at 39%. 

Trump had announced a 50% tariff on goods from Brazil, but the order was only 10% as the other 40% were part of a separate measure approved by Trump on Wednesday. 

The order capped off a hectic Thursday as nations sought to continue negotiating with Trump. It set the rates for 66 countries, the 27-member European Union, Taiwan and the Falkland Islands, with a baseline 10% rate to be charged on countries not listed in the order. The senior administration official said the rates were based on trade imbalance with the U.S. and regional economic profiles. 

On Thursday morning, Trump engaged in a phone conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on trade. As a result of the conversation, the U.S. president said he would enter into a 90-day negotiating period with Mexico, one of the nation’s largest trading partners. The current 25% tariff rates are staying in place, down from the 30% he had threatened earlier. 

“We avoided the tariff increase announced for tomorrow and we got 90 days to build a long-term agreement through dialogue,” Sheinbaum wrote on X after a call with Trump that he referred to as “very successful” in terms of the leaders getting to know each other better. 

The unknowns created a sense of drama that has defined Trump’s rollout of tariffs over several months. However, the one consistency is his desire to levy the import taxes that most economists say will ultimately be borne to some degree by U.S. consumers and businesses. 

“We have made a few deals today that are excellent deals for the country,” Trump told reporters on Thursday afternoon, without detailing the terms of those agreements or the nations involved. The senior administration official declined to reveal the nations that have new deals during the call with reporters. 

Trump said that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had called ahead of 35% tariffs being imposed on many of his nation’s goods, but “we haven’t spoken to Canada today.” Trump separately on Thursday amended a previous order to raise the fentanyl-related tariff on Canada from 25% to 35%. 

Trump imposed the Friday deadline after his previous “Liberation Day” tariffs in April resulted in a stock market panic. His unusually high tariff rates, unveiled in April, led to recession fears — prompting Trump to impose a 90-day negotiating period. When he was unable to create enough trade deals with other countries, he extended the timeline and sent out letters to world leaders that simply listed rates, prompting a slew of hasty deals. 

Trump reached a deal with South Korea on Wednesday, and earlier with the European Union, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. His commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” that there were agreements with Cambodia and Thailand after they had agreed to a ceasefire to their border conflict. 

Going into Thursday, wealthy Switzerland and Norway were still uncertain about their tariff rates. EU officials were waiting to complete a crucial document outlining how the framework to tax imported autos and other goods from the 27-member state bloc would operate. Trump had announced a deal on Sunday while he was in Scotland. 

Trump said as part of the agreement with Mexico that goods imported into the U.S. would continue to face a 25% tariff that he has ostensibly linked to fentanyl trafficking. He said autos would face a 25% tariff, while copper, aluminum and steel would be taxed at 50% during the negotiating period. 

He said Mexico would end its “Non Tariff Trade Barriers,” but he didn’t provide specifics. 

Some goods continue to be protected from the tariffs by the 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which Trump negotiated during his first term. 

But Trump appeared to have soured on that deal, which is up for renegotiation next year. One of his first significant moves as president was to impose tariffs on goods from both Mexico and Canada earlier this year. 

U.S. Census Bureau figures show that the U.S. ran a $171.5 billion trade deficit with Mexico last year. That means the U.S. bought more goods from Mexico than it sold to the country. 

The imbalance with Mexico has grown in the aftermath of the USMCA, as it was only $63.3 billion in 2016, the year before Trump started his first term in office. 

(File Photo of a Top of a School Bus) 

 Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Midland, PA) The Midland Innovation and Technology Charter School made an announcement on its website on Wednesday that its closure will be discussed by its board of trustees at that school on Tuesday, August 5th at 6 p.m. did not give out any information yet about why they are closing. However, Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School will be holding some events for former students of the Midland Innovation and Technology Charter School. One is a special seminar for admissions at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 4th on Zoom and another is an exclusive tour of Lincoln Park on Monday, August 11th at 5 p.m., which will be conducted by Lincoln Park staff. Families and students of the Midland Innovation and Technology Charter School need to go to lppacs.org and finish the Admissions Inquiry form. A link for those interested in the seminar will be sent to the Zoom meeting on Monday, August 4th. For more information, contact 724 643-9004, extension 3000 or email admissions@lppacs.org. You can also use that email to RSVP for the exclusive tour of Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School on Monday, August 11th. 

(File Photo of Handcuffs)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Twenty-seven-year-old Robert Howard got accused of stealing a truck of a male delivery driver, then dragging him around 100 yards on the South Side of Pittsburgh recently. The charges for Howard include fleeing from police, robbery, theft by unlawful taking, aggravated assault and more. The victim let police know that he was making a delivery to a house on South 21st Street and Howard was seen in his truck when he came out of that house. According to the criminal complaint, the victim said Howard hit the gas as he grabbed one of the door handles and was dragged roughly 100 yards. Howard is in the Allegheny County Jail and was not able to post bond after he was arrested at gunpoint in the South Side Slopea on Saint Thomas Street. Police used surveillance cameras to track the truck that Howard was driving before he was apprehended.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – In this Sept. 16, 2017, file photo, a person uses a smart phone in Chicago. Nearly all Americans agree that the rampant spread of misinformation is a problem. Most also think individual users, along with social media companies, bear a good deal of blame for the situation. That’s according to a new poll from The Pearson Institute and the Associated Press—NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (AP Photo/File)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(New Castle, PA) Lawmakers in Pennsylvania are considering banning cellphones in schools, but one school district has something in place to help with the overwhelming phone usage by students. Laurel School District lets students either use a caddy for their phones or put it in a slot. State Senator Devlin Robinson says that the cellphone ban in classrooms would bring focus back to students and studies confirm that the change improves mental health. However, Laurel students in 9th through 12th grades can use their cellphones at lunch time. If this legislation is to pass, Pennsylvania would also be among almost thirty other states that have already banned cellphones in schools. 

(File Photo of Police Siren Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Homewood, PA) Pittsburgh Police are holding an ongoing investigation into a shooting that occurred in Homewood early this morning. According to police, officers were called to the area of North Murtland Street just before 2:15 a.m. on Friday after receiving shooting reports where a man outside a home there was found shot in the back. Police confirm that the shooting occurred inside that house. A suspect of this shooting escaped before police arrived and police note that the male victim got taken to the hospital and was listed last in stable condition.