SELMA, Ala. (AP) — An emboldened Joe Biden is casting himself as the clear moderate alternative to polarizing progressive Bernie Sanders as the Democrats’ shrinking presidential field races toward Super Tuesday. On Sunday, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race. Biden pressed his case during a round of national television interviews that reflected a stark reality a day after his resounding primary victory in South Carolina. Biden is being forced to rely upon free media coverage because he is understaffed, underfunded and almost out of time as he fights to transform his sole win into a national movement.

UNDATED (AP) — Amy Klobuchar is ending her Democratic presidential campaign and is set to endorse Joe Biden. The Minnesota senator announced the decision Monday, calling it quits after a bid that broke briefly into the top tier with a third-place finish in New Hampshire but failed to sustain that energy further into the Democratic nomination fight. The three-term senator launched her campaign in a Minnesota snowstorm last February, touting her “grit” and Midwestern sensibilities. But she couldn’t compete with her rivals in early fundraising, and her effort to own the primary’s moderate lane got tougher when Biden and another Midwesterner, Pete Buttigieg of Indiana, got in. Buttigieg dropped out Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Mark Esper says he has given the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan the go-ahead to begin the initial withdrawal of U.S. troops. Esper said he was not sure whether it began Monday but said Gen. Scott Miller in Kabul has the authority to begin now. Speaking alongside Esper at the Pentagon Monday, the U.S. military’s top general said there’s no expectation that violence in Afghanistan will “go to zero” quickly, following the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement announced on Saturday. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it would be unrealistic to think that violence would stop immediately.

MCKEESPORT, Pa. (AP) — A shooter opened fire on a vehicle carrying three people in a western Pennsylvania community, leaving one passenger hospitalized in critical condition. Authorities say the shooting in McKeesport occurred around 2:45 p.m. Sunday, though it’s still not clear what sparked the gunfire. The driver continued on for several streets before stopping the vehicle. Witnesses say the victim, a 19-year-old man whose name was not released, then got out the vehicle and started screaming for help. The 20-year-old male driver and a 13-year-old who was sitting in the back seat were not injured. Authorities say the victim was shot multiple times. The shooter apparently fled the scene on foot and remained at large Monday.

(Photos of Senator Elder L. Vogel, State Representatives Jim Marshall and Josh Kail unveiling the bridge sign, Lt. Colonel Matt Allen and Lt. Colonel Craig Minnick…
all taken by Sandy Giordano)

A ceremony renaming the Vanport Bridge was held at the Rochester VFW on Saturday. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano was there. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

Investigators are looking into the cause of two house fires in New Brighton over the weekend. The first fire was reported at an abandoned home along Sixth Avenue. Officials say that the home was fully engulfed. Firefighters had to call for extra help to fight the blaze and keep it from spreading to a home next door. Beaver County Emergency Services tells Beaver County Radio News this morning that crews were called to another fire in New Brighton, less than a mile away on 6th Street, a short time later. Firefighters arrived to find flames on the porch of another abandoned home. The fire marshal is looking into the cause of both fires and whether they were intentionally set. No injuries were reported.

 

The first-ever Primanti Bros. Restautant and Bar in Beaver County will open its doors on Wednesday. The restaurant is located near the Walmart on Brodhead Road in Monaca. The new location will give away free sandwiches for a year to the first 100 customers through the door. The restaurant will also have an opening celebration tailgate beginning at 5:30 a.m. Doors open to the first 100 tailgaters around 10 a.m. with the restaurant opening to the public at 11 a.m.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Prosecutors in western Pennsylvania have withdrawn charges against five men charged in a shooting at a neighborhood vigil in Pittsburgh 4 1/2 years ago that wounded three people, two of them children. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the action by the Allegheny County district attorney’s office Friday came 10 days before jury selection was scheduled in the case. A prosecutor cited “the murder of a commonwealth witness, subsequent lack of cooperation of witness and other evidentiary issues.” The September 2015 gunfire occurred at a vigil in the Homewood neighborhood to mark the two-year anniversary of a young man’s shooting death nearby.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR MONDAY, MARCH 2ND, 2020

 

TODAY – RAIN SHOWERS THIS MORNING WILL EVOLVE INTO
A MORE STEADY RAIN FOR THE AFTERNOON.
HIGH – 54.

TONIGHT – OVERCAST WITH RAIN SHOWERS AT TIMES.
LOW – 43.

TUESDAY – STEADY LIGHT RAIN IN THE MORNING.
SHOWERS CONTINUING IN THE AFTERNOON.
HIGH – 54.