Former Vice President Joe Biden will join the steelworkers in Pittsburgh’s annual Labor Day parade today.The last time the former vice president marched in the parade was in 2015. Biden will be joined by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. Pittsburgh’s Labor Day parade is billed as one of the largest in the country.
WEATHER FORECAST FOR LABOR DAY, SEPT. 3, 2018
TODAY – PARTLY CLOUDY WITH AFTERNOON SHOWERS OR
THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH NEAR 90.
TONIGHT – SOME CLOUDS. LOW – 67.
TUESDAY – PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES. A SHOWER OR
THUNDERSTORM IS POSSIBLE. HIGH NEAR 90.
The Pirates sent recently acquired shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria and cash to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later or cash. Since the deals were completed before Sept. 1, Hechavarria will be eligible for the postseason.
The Pirates acquired Hechavarria, a slick-fielding but light-hitting shortstop, in a trade with the Rays on Aug. 6. He will be a free agent at the end of the season, so by moving him and designating infielder Sean Rodriguez for assignment earlier this week the Pirates cleared playing time for rookie shortstop Kevin Newman, infielder Adam Frazier and, potentially, infield prospect Kevin Kramer along with veterans Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison.
Dodgers acquire Freese from Pirates for minor leaguer
By BETH HARRIS, AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired third baseman David Freese from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night in exchange for a minor leaguer.
The deal was completed just ahead of the deadline for traded players to be eligible for postseason play. Freese hit .282 with nine homers and 42 RBIs in 94 games for the Pirates.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Freese would be used off the bench against left-handing pitching.
“Veteran presence, offensive, great clubhouse guy,” Roberts said.
Starting third baseman Justin Turner was effusive upon learning of the trade after the Dodgers edged NL West-leading Arizona 3-2.
“Definitely happy to have him,” he said. “He’s a professional hitter. I love watching him take his at-bats.”
In a statement, Pittsburgh general manager Neal Huntington said it was a “difficult decision” to trade Freese. Huntington said the move was made to give Freese an opportunity to pursue a World Series championship while giving opportunities to Pittsburgh’s younger players.
Freese won a World Series title in 2011 with St. Louis. He hit .545 and had 12 hits in the National League Championship Series, earning MVP honors. He was also named World Series MVP.
The move brings him back to Southern California. Freese played two seasons for the Angels in 2014 and ’15.
In exchange for the 35-year-old veteran, the Dodgers sent minor league infielder Jesus Manuel Valdez to the Pirates. Valdez spent his first professional season playing for the Dominican Summer League Dodgers, batting .230.
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WBVP-
Knock-12
Blackhawk-48
WMBA-
Central Valley-0
Quaker Valley-18
Beaver-7
South Fayette-35
Beaver Falls-48
South Park-31
Aliquippa-55
Waynesburg-0
Mohawk-45
New Brighton-0
Neshannock-14
Riverside-45
Cornell-24
Union-0
Sto-Rox-6
ULSH-46
Rochester-26
Laurel-14
Western Beaver-15
South Side-35
Ambridge-0
Belle Vernon-43
Hopewell-21
Mount Pleasant-19
Serra Catholic-24
Ellwood City-14
Moon-13
Mars-23
The opening of the new Blackhawk Stadium preceded the opening drive score! Blackhawk scored nearly everytime they touched the ball. Knock could never turn it on. The first win at the new Blackhawk Stadium was 48-12. Blackhawk improves to 2-0.
WMBA-
Central Valley- Anthony Mendicino
Quaker Valley- Ethan Moore
WBVP
Knoch- Chase Mullen
Blackhawk- Marques Watson – Trent
Tonight’s game on WMBA was between Quaker Valley and Central Valley with Tom Hays and Bruce Frey calling the action from Chuck Knox Stadium in Leetsdale. Quaker Valley took at 12 point lead early in the game with two touchdowns. on both touchdowns they attempted a 2 point conversion but came up short. Quaker Valley then held the score at Quaker Valley 12 Central Valley 0. in the second quarter Quaker Valley put up one more touchdown and missed the extra point. the score then remained the same through the rest of the game. the final score was Quaker Valley 18 central valley 0.
A brief ceremony was held at the end of the first quarter during Friday night’s game honoring the recently departed Chuck Knox, who graduated from Sewickley High School in 1950 and went on to coach the L.A. Rams, Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks.
Photography by Mark Peterson.
The Latest: Trump tells Congress of plan to sign Mexico deal
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — 4:08 p.m.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says President Donald Trump has notified Congress that he plans to sign a trade agreement with Mexico — and Canada, if it is willing — in 90 days.
U.S. trade talks with Canada that were being held in Washington broke up Friday afternoon but will resume Wednesday, Lighthizer says.
The talks are aimed at bringing Canada into a new trade accord that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The flurry of events followed a preliminary agreement that the United States and Mexico reached Monday to replace NAFTA with an arrangement that is intended, among other things, to shift more auto manufacturing to the United States.
Presidents, pop stars join in epic farewell to Queen of Soul
By JEFF KAROUB, Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — Former presidents and preachers joined a parade of pop stars Friday in a singing, hip-swaying, piano-pounding farewell to Aretha Franklin, remembering the Queen of Soul as a powerful force for musical and political change and a steadfast friend.
In a send-off both grand and personal, an all-star lineup of mourners filled the same Detroit church that hosted Rosa Parks’ funeral and offered prayers, songs and dozens of tributes. Guests included former President Bill Clinton, former first lady Hillary Clinton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson.
Robinson, the Motown great, remembered first hearing Franklin play piano when he was just 8 and remained close to her for the rest of her life, talking for hours at a time. “You’re so special,” he said, before crooning a few lines from his song “Really Gonna Miss You,” with the line “really gonna be different without you.”
Bill Clinton described himself as an Aretha Franklin “groupie” whom he had loved since college days. He traced her life’s journey, praising her as someone who “lived with courage, not without fear, but overcoming her fears.”
He remembered attending her last public performance, at Elton John’s AIDS Foundation benefit in November in New York. She looked “desperately ill” but managed to greet him by standing and saying, “How you doin,’ baby?”
Clinton ended by noting that her career spanned from vinyl records to cellphones. He held the microphone near his iPhone and played a snippet of Franklin’s classic “Think,” the audience clapping along.
“It’s the key to freedom!” Clinton said.
Expected to last several hours, the service encompassed many elements, emotions and grand entrances that were hallmarks of her more than six decades on sacred and secular stages.
Ariana Grande sang one of the Queen’s biggest hits, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and Faith Hill performed “What a Friend We Have In Jesus.” The Aretha Franklin Orchestra performed a medley featuring “I Say a Little Prayer,” ”Angel” and other songs she was known for, along with such gospel numbers as “I Love the Lord” and “Walk in the Light.”
Barbara Sampson read a statement from former President George W. Bush, saying that Franklin would continue to inspire future generations. The Rev. Al Sharpton read a statement from former President Barack Obama, who wrote that Franklin’s “work reflected the very best of the American story.”
Sharpton received loud cheers when he criticized President Donald Trump for saying that the singer “worked for” him as he responded to her death. “She performed for you,” Sharpton said of Franklin, who had sung at Trump-owned venues. “She worked for us.”
“She gave us pride. She gave us a regal bar to reach. She represented the best in our community,” Sharpton said.
Many noted her longtime commitment to civil rights and lasting concern for the poor. Her friend Greg Mathis, the award-winning reality show host and retired Michigan judge, recalled his last conversation with her. They talked about the tainted water supply in Flint. “You go up there and sock it to ’em,” she urged Mathis, paraphrasing the “sock it to me” refrain from “Respect.”
Franklin died Aug. 16 at age 76.
Her body arrived early Friday in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle hearse. She wore a shimmering gold dress, with sequined heels — the fourth outfit Franklin was clothed in during a week of events leading up to her funeral.
The casket was carried to the church that also took Franklin’s father, the renowned minister C.L. Franklin, to his and Parks’ final resting place at Woodlawn Cemetery, where the singer will join them. Pink Cadillacs filled the street outside the church, a reference to a Franklin hit from the 1980s, “Freeway of Love.”
Program covers showed a young Franklin, with a slight smile and sunglasses perched on her nose, and the caption “A Celebration Fit For The Queen.” Large bouquets of pink, lavender, yellow and white flowers flanked her casket.
Floral arrangements from singers such as Barbra Streisand and Tony Bennett and from the family of the late Otis Redding, whose “Respect” Franklin transformed and made her signature song, were set up in a hallway outside the sanctuary.
Detroit plans to honor one of its most famous residents. Mayor Mike Duggan announced during the service that the city would rename the riverfront amphitheater Chene Park to “Aretha Franklin Park.”
Bishop Charles Ellis III of Greater Grace knows well the boldface guest list and surrounding pomp and circumstance, but he has a higher mission in mind.
“It is my goal and my aim to ensure that people leave here with some kind of spiritual awakening,” Ellis said. “This is not a concert, this is not a show, this is not an awards production. This is a real life that has been lived, that a person regardless of how famous she became, no matter how many people she touched around the world, she still could not escape death.”
Family members, among them granddaughter Victorie Franklin and niece Cristal Franklin, spoke with awe and affection as they remembered a world-famous performer who also loved gossip and kept pictures of loved ones on her piano.
Grandson Jordan directed his remarks directly to Franklin, frequently stopping to fight back tears.
“I’m sad today, because I’m losing my friend. But I know the imprint she left on this world can never be removed. You showed the world God’s love, and there’s nothing more honorable.”
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Associated Press writers Josh Replogle and Kristin M. Hall contributed to this report.
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Follow Jeff Karoub on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jeffkaroub and find more of his work at https://apnews.com/search/jeff%20karoub .
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For more, visit https://apnews.com/tag/ArethaFranklin
