WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (AP) — The mayor of a town near Pittsburgh says a man’s decision to hang a large flag with a swastika on his front porch is nothing but “pure hatred,” yet nothing can be done about it. The man wouldn’t talk to reporters who approached his house in West Mifflin this week to ask him why he put the flag out. He also wouldn’t identify himself.
The large red flag with a black swastika joined a Confederate flag already flying over his front lawn. Neighbors aren’t sure what his intentions are. One plans to counter his message with rainbow and coexist flags. Mayor Chris Kelly told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Wednesday the town has to tolerate it “because of our liberal freedoms” but says “it’s nothing but pure hatred.” He says “we can’t regulate stupidity and hatred.”
HUNTINGDON, Pa. (AP) — A 114-year-old Pennsylvania woman who was the oldest person in the United States has died, according to a funeral home. The Robert D Heath Funeral Home in Mount Union said that Delphine Gibson died Wednesday. Lessie Brown, of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 113, is now believed to be the oldest American, according to the Gerontology Research Group in Sandy Springs, Georgia.
Gibson, who had been living at a Huntingdon nursing home since 2004, when she was 100, attributed her long life to good food, her faith in God and her church. “Frances and I are saddened to hear of the passing of Delphine Gibson, America’s oldest citizen,” said Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. “She was an incredible Pennsylvanian and she will be missed.”
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A nurse intends to plead not guilty in the death of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser’s father at a Philadelphia senior care facility, her lawyer says. Thirty-year-old Christann Shyvin Gainey was charged Thursday with involuntary manslaughter, neglect and records tampering in H.R. McMaster Sr.’s death.
McMaster died April 13, about eight hours after falling and hitting his head at the Cathedral Village retirement community. Gainey’s attorney, Sharon Piper, says she will plead not guilty. The lawyer declined further comment, as did Gainey’s employer, General Healthcare Resources of Plymouth Meeting. McMaster’s son, H.R. McMaster Jr., served as Trump’s national security adviser from February 2017 until he resigned in March.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Features
WASHINGTON (AP) — A White House official reportedly made what some saw as an insensitive comment about ailing Arizona Sen. John McCain at a staff meeting Thursday. Kelly Sadler was discussing McCain’s opposition to President Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel, when she allegedly claimed, “It doesn’t matter” because “he’s dying anyway.”
That’s according to a person in the room who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting. The White House did not dispute the remark, but said in a statement, “we respect Senator McCain’s service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time.” The Hill newspaper first reported the comment.
Sadler is a special assistant to the president. She did not respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, responded with a tweet tagged to Sadler: “May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.” The 81-year-old senator was diagnosed in July with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. He left Washington in December and underwent surgery last month for an infection.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Amal Clooney urged young students at Vanderbilt University to have courage, citing some of the human rights cases she has worked on, because it inspires others and creates rights for future generations. The human rights lawyer spoke Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee, for senior day, a part of the university’s commencement activities. She was given the school’s Nichols-Chancellor’s Medal.
She used examples of courageous people including Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Vanderbilt students who took part in sit-ins during the Civil Rights era to fight for equal rights.
“A hundred years ago there would have been few women here at the Vanderbilt commencement,” Clooney said. “Sixty years ago there would have been no African-American students in the senior day audience. There is still much to do but it is thanks to the courageous people who’ve come before us that we have the rights that we have today including courageous students who were right here on this campus.”
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sony Pictures has acquired the worldwide distribution rights for a film about Gary Hart’s 1988 presidential bid. The studio said Thursday that it will release “The Front Runner” in the fall to coincide with both awards season and the election. Hugh Jackman is starring as Hart in the film from director Jason Reitman.
The film will chronicle the politician’s rise and fall as an extramarital affair with a woman named Donna Rice became tabloid fodder and a national scandal. Reitman says he can’t wait for audiences to see Jackman’s transformation into the complex figure. Reitman calls Jackman’s performance “humanist.” The screenplay is based on journalist Matt Bai’s 2014 book “All the Truth is Out.” It was co-written by Reitman, Bai and former Hillary Clinton press secretary Jay Carson.
BOSTON (AP) — It won’t land him a spot in the Olympics, but a Massachusetts college student has run one of the fastest miles while juggling — an endeavor called “joggling.” Zach Prescott ran a 4 minute, 43.2 second-mile on Tuesday while juggling three lacrosse balls. The junior business student who is on Boston University’s track and cross country squads told The Boston Globe it’s all about focus and rhythm.
Once he gets used to the speed when he’s running, “you’re pretty much just juggling in place.” If verified, his time would beat the previous world record by .6 seconds. A Guinness World Records spokeswoman says the organization is aware of Prescott’s feat and working to determine whether he beat the current record, set in 1986, a process than can take several months.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A mummified monkey that was found in the air ducts of a former department store in downtown Minneapolis last month is going on display. The Star Tribune reports that the Science Museum of Minnesota plans to display the monkey in its St. Paul lobby, which requires no admission fee. The remains were discovered last month in the air ducts of the store.
The store used to be the flagship store for the Dayton’s department store chain, which was owned by Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton’s family. Dayton recalled working at the store in the 1960s when one of the floors was transformed into a rainforest display, complete with live monkeys and birds. He said one monkey got loose and scurried into an air duct. It was not seen again.
FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — As the old saying goes, when man bites dog, that’s news. If that’s true, when dog shoots man, that’s big news. There is big news in Iowa, where a man says his dog shot him. Richard Remme of Fort Dodge says he was roughhousing with his pooch on Wednesday while his gun was in a belly belt. He says he threw Balew off his lap as they were sitting on a couch. He says when the pit bull-Labrador mix bounced back up, he must have disabled the safety on the gun in his belly band — and hit the trigger. Remme was shot in the leg. He was treated at a hospital and released.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Sports, Scores & Skeds
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Vince Velasquez recovered from a slow start to strike out 12 in six innings, Carlos Santana hit a three-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied past the San Francisco Giants 6-3 for a four-game sweep. Odubel Herrera added three hits and drove in two runs. He extended his on-base streak to 39 games. The Phillies improved to 15-5 at home. The Phillies play on 1070AM WKOK, while our normal programming continues on WKOK.com. First pitch tonight is at 7pm.
Here are the scores from yesterday’s sports events:
———
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Boston 5 N-Y Yankees 4
Final Baltimore 11 Kansas City 6
Final Seattle 9 Toronto 3
Final L-A Angels 7 Minnesota 4
———
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 6 San Francisco 3
Final Atlanta 9 Miami 2
Final Milwaukee 5 Colorado 2
Final Washington 2 Arizona 1, 11 Innings
Final St. Louis 2 San Diego 1
Final Cincinnati 4 L-A Dodgers 1
———
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
———
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Winnipeg 5 Nashville 1
TODAY’S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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INTERLEAGUE
Chi White Sox at Chi Cubs 2:20 p.m.
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay at Baltimore 7:05 p.m.
Oakland at N-Y Yankees 7:05 p.m.
Boston at Toronto 7:07 p.m.
Kansas City at Cleveland 7:10 p.m.
Seattle at Detroit 7:10 p.m.
Texas at Houston 8:10 p.m.
Minnesota at L-A Angels 10:07 p.m.
———
NATIONAL LEAGUE
N-Y Mets at Philadelphia 7:05 p.m.
San Francisco at Pittsburgh 7:05 p.m.
Atlanta at Miami 7:10 p.m.
Milwaukee at Colorado 8:40 p.m.
Washington at Arizona 9:40 p.m.
St. Louis at San Diego 10:10 p.m.
Cincinnati at L-A Dodgers 10:10 p.m.
———
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
———
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Washington at Tampa Bay 8:00 p.m.
———
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Atlanta at Connecticut 7:00 p.m.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
