WEATHER FORECAST FOR MONDAY, APRIL 29TH, 2019

 

TODAY – SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING THIS
AFTERNOON. WARMER. HIGH – 68.

TONIGHT – MORE THUNDERSTORMS. LOW – 56.

TUESDAY – THUNDERSTORMS MORNING AND AFTERNOON.
HIGH – 64.

Police: 7 shot, 1 fatally, in latest Baltimore violence
BALTIMORE (AP) — Authorities say seven people have been shot, at least one fatally, in Baltimore.
Police department spokeswoman Chakia Fennoy said authorities received a call shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday reporting that multiple people had been shot.
Fennoy said one of the victims has died but that she had no information about the conditions of the others.
The shooting happened on a street in the western part of the city.
Fennoy says she has no immediate information on what prompted the shooting or of any suspect or suspects.
According to local media reports, the shooting happened while people were gathered for a cookout.

Leaders struggle to make sense of fatal attack on synagogue
By ELLIOT SPAGAT and DAISY NGUYEN Associated Press
POWAY, Calif. (AP) — The rabbi who led a service on the last day of Passover suffered a gunshot wound to his hands and two others endured shrapnel wounds as political, civic and religious leaders across the country struggled to make sense of another fatal attack on a house of worship six months after a mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue.
John T. Earnest, 19, surrendered to a police after bursting into Chabad of Poway, north of San Diego on Saturday and opening fire with about 100 people inside, killing Lori Kayne, 60, and injuring Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, Noya Dahan, 8, and Almog Peretz, 34, authorities said.
Earnest, who had no previous contact with law enforcement, may be charged with a hate crime in addition to homicide, San Diego County Sheriff William Gore said. Earnest is also being investigated in connection with an arson attack on a mosque in nearby Escondido, California, on March 24.
“Any time somebody goes into a house of worship and shoots the congregants, in my book, that’s a hate crime,” Poway Mayor Steve Vaus said.
There were indications an AR-type assault weapon might have malfunctioned after the gunman fired numerous rounds inside, Gore said. An off-duty Border Patrol agent working as a security guard fired at the shooter as he fled, missing him but striking his getaway vehicle, Gore said.
Shortly after fleeing, Earnest called 911 to report the shooting, San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said. When an officer reached him on a roadway, “the suspect pulled over, jumped out of his car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody,” Nisleit said.
Audrey Jacobs, a friend of the slain woman, said on Facebook that Kane was “taking bullets” for the rabbi to save his life and the rabbi continued to give his sermon after being shot.
Gore said authorities were reviewing copies of Earnest’s social media posts, including what he described as a “manifesto.”
A person identifying themselves as John Earnest posted an anti-Jewish screed online about an hour before the attack. The poster described himself as a nursing school student and praised the suspects accused of carrying out deadly attacks on mosques in New Zealand last month and at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue Oct. 27.
California State University, San Marcos, confirmed Earnest was a student on the dean’s list and said the school was “dismayed and disheartened” that he was suspected in “this despicable act.”
There was no known threat after Earnest was arrested, but authorities boosted patrols at places of worship as a precaution, police said.
Minoo Anvari, a member of the synagogue, said her husband was inside during the shooting. She said he called to tell her the shooter was shouting and cursing.
She called the shooting “unbelievable” in a peaceful and tight-knit community. “We are strong; you can’t break us,” Anvari said.
Rabbi Yonah Fradkin, executive director of Chabad of San Diego County, said that “in the face of senseless hate we commit to live proudly as Jews in this glorious country. We strongly believe that love is exponentially more powerful than hate. We are deeply shaken by the loss of a true woman of valor, Lori Kaye, who lost her life solely for living as a Jew.”
Donny Phonea, who lives across the street from the synagogue, turned off his power drill and heard someone shout, “Police!” Then he heard three or four shots.
The 38-year-old bank auditor looked over his backyard fence facing the synagogue and saw people hiding behind an electrical box in the parking lot of a neighboring church. At that point, he knew something was “very, very wrong,” went inside and closed his doors and garage.
“I’m a little taken aback,” said Phonea, who moved to Poway two weeks ago. “I moved here because safety was a factor. Poway is very safe.”
President Donald Trump offered his sympathies Saturday, saying the shooting “looked like a hate crime.”
“Our entire nation mourns the loss of life, prays for the wounded and stands in solidary with the Jewish community,” Trump said later at a rally in Wisconsin. “We forcefully condemn the evils of anti-Semitism and hate, which must be defeated.”
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said he joins the community in grief.
“No one should have to fear going to their place of worship, and no one should be targeted for practicing the tenets of their faith,” he said.
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Nguyen reported from San Francisco.

‘Terrifying’: Crane falls on busy Seattle street, killing 4
By LISA BAUMANN Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — A construction crane fell from a building on Google’s new Seattle campus during a storm that brought wind gusts, crashing down onto one of the city’s busiest streets and killing four people.
One female and three males had died by the time firefighters had arrived Saturday afternoon, Fire Chief Harold Scoggins said. Two of the dead were ironworkers who had been inside the crane while the other two were people who were inside cars, Fire Department spokesman Lance Garland said.
A 25-year-old mother and her 4-month-old daughter were in a car that was smashed by the crane on its passenger side, and both managed to escape with only minor injuries, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said, calling it a miracle. They and a 28-year-old man were taken to Harborview Medical Center. A fourth person also was injured and treated at the scene.
The crane collapsed near the often-congested intersection of Mercer and Fairview Avenue just north of downtown in the South Lake Union neighborhood shortly before 3:30 p.m., Scoggins said.
The deadly collapse is sure to bring scrutiny about the safety of the dozens of cranes that dot the city’s skyscape. With Amazon, Google and other tech companies increasing their hiring in Seattle, the city has more cranes building office towers and apartment buildings than any other in the United States. As of January, there were about 60 construction cranes in Seattle.
Durkan said the city had a good track record with crane safety but that officials would conduct a review. “It’s a horrible day in Seattle when something like this happens. But it’s a time when we come together because Seattle is a city that rallies around each other,” she said.
Officials do not yet know the cause of the collapse. Police and the state Department of Labor and Industries were investigating, which Durkan said could take months.
Daren Konopaski, the business manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302, which represents heavy-equipment operators, told The Seattle Times he understood the crane was being dismantled when high winds moved through the area.
“We don’t know, but that’s what seems to have happened here,” he said. “We are in the process of trying to get information.”
Durkan confirmed that people were actively working on top of the building Saturday, but she didn’t say whether the crane was being dismantled.
A line of showers moved over Seattle just about the time the crane fell, the National Weather Service said. An observation station on nearby Lake Union showed winds kicked up with gusts of up to 23 mph at 3:28 p.m., just about the time the crane fell.
“It was terrifying,” witness Esther Nelson, a biotech researcher who was working in a building nearby, told the Times.
“The wind was blowing really strong,” she said, and added that the crane appeared to break in half. “Half of it was flying down sideways on the building,” she said. “The other half fell down on the street, crossing both lanes of traffic.”
The office building the crane fell from was badly damaged, with several of its windows smashed.
A Google spokesperson said in a statement that the company was saddened to learn of the accident and that they were in communication with Vulcan, the real estate firm that is managing the site and working with authorities.
Harborview spokeswoman Susan Gregg said Saturday night that the mother and baby had been discharged, while the man injured was in satisfactory condition.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office said it would not release names of people who died until Monday.
A crane collapsed in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue in 2006, damaging three neighboring buildings and killing a Microsoft attorney who was sitting in his living room. The state Department of Labor and Industries cited two companies for workplace-safety violations after an investigation that found a flawed design for the crane’s base.
“Trudi and I join all Washingtonians in extending our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the four people who died in this afternoon’s tragic accident,” Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement. Inslee also said he hoped for a speedy and full recovery for those injured, thanked first responders and urged people to stay clear of the accident scene.
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Geranios reported from Spokane, Washington.

Washington, D.C. (AP) – The National Rifle Association is no longer the dominant force it was when it played a pivotal role in President Donald Trump’s victory in 2016. Three years later, it’s limping toward the next election divided and diminished. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will headline the NRA’s annual convention in Indianapolis on Friday.

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — The Amish population in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County is continuing to grow each year, despite the encroachment of urban sprawl on their communities. The U.S. Census Bureau says the county added about 2,500 people in 2018. LNP reports that about 1,000 of them were Amish. Elizabethtown College researchers say Lancaster County’s Amish population reached 33,143 in 2018, up 3.2% from the previous year.

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS’ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN WILL HOLD AN ORGANIZING KICK-OFF EVENT IN AMBRIDGE TOMORROW. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS A PREVIEW. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

ALIQUIPPA COUNCIL HAS ADOPTED THE ‘RESTORE PA’ RESOLUTION. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS MORE. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

The American Lung Association is again giving Pittsburgh a failing grade for air quality.  In their annual report, the Lung Association ranked Pittsburgh as having the seventh worst year-round particle pollution and more unhealthy days of high ozone compared to last year.  Pittsburgh went the wrong way when it comes to particle pollution compared to last year while most other cities showed their best progress in that area.

HERITAGE VALLEY HEALTH SYSTEM WILL HOST A WALK WITH A DOC EVENT AT 9:00 TOMORROW MORNING ON THE TRACK AT QUAKER VALLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL. THE WALK WITH A DOC PROGRAM BRING DOCTORS AND PATIENTS TOGETHER TO WALK AND BE MORE ACTIVE. HERITAGE VALLEY WILL HOST AT LEAST FOUR MORE WALK WITH A DOC EVENTS THROUGHOUT ALLEGHENY AND BEAVER COUNTIES. THEY ARE:

MAY 7TH AT SEWICKLEY VALLEY YMCA

MAY 9TH AT THE BEAVER COUNTY YMCA

MAY 22ND AT THE BEAVER VALLEY MALL

JUNE 13TH AT THE BEAVER COUNTY YMCA.

WALKS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO ANYONE.