Friday, March 29, 2024

 

Local News

Penn Highlands Mon Valley Hosts Community Event

The Penn Highlands Mon Valley Hospital sponsored an educational event Thursday. The “Breaking Barriers: Understanding Substance Use Disorder, Trauma and Stigma” allowed addiction and recovery experts to weigh in on issues that hinder recovery for addicts. Leading off the discussion was Joey Pagano. He is a licensed social worker and Project Supervisor for SPHS and author of the book “No Addict Left Behind”. Pagano spoke of his experiences in trying to break his addiction and the stigma he faced from not only people in the general public, but from medical personnel that would tell him that he would never get clean. He also spoke of education. He stressed that in 2024, children are much more advanced and prevention education must be integral not only in high schools, but in middle schools as well. Dr. Gopi Vadlamudi is the Medical Director of hospital’s CNX Foundation Substance Recovery Unit. He spoke of to the way substances affect the brain. He stated that it could take up to five years from the first SUD event before someone actually seeks treatment. If that person maintains sobriety, they are still susceptible to relapse for an additional five years. He says that it takes that long for the brain to recover from the damage caused by the abuse of the chosen substance. Adam Gillingham is the Lead Counselor for the Substance Recovery Unit. He says that it is important for the hospital to build a solid base for a patient to recover, but it is equally important for that patient to find appropriate surroundings once they leave to continue their recovery. Rachel Carpenter from the University of Pittsburgh Program Evaluation and Research Unit presented information that reminded the community that addiction is a disease. It is initially set off by some sort of trauma and that stigma about addiction is the main reason that it takes so long for addicts to seek treatment.

Man Charged With Sexually Assaulting Sheriff’s Deputy

GREENSBURG, Pa. — (WPXI) – A Duquesne man sentenced on drug charges Tuesday is behind bars facing additional charges after sheriff’s deputies say he assaulted one of their officers Tuesday after his hearing. Jerome Felton, 22, is accused of assaulting a female Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Deputy as he was being escorted to a holding cell after a plea and sentencing hearing, where he was sentenced to one to two-and-a-half years behind bars on drug charges. According to the criminal complaint, the female deputy was escorting Felton – who was shackled – to the inmate-designated elevator after his hearing. Once inside the elevator, the deputy told investigators Felton looked at her and said, “If I give you a kiss, it can be our secret” The deputy told Felton to face the wall and stop talking to her. The two then got off the elevator, and the deputy walked Felton to the holding cell. According to court documents, the deputy told Felton to stand to the right of the cell as she unlocked the door – which the sheriff’s office says is standard protocol. While she was unlocking the door, the deputy said Felton walked behind her and pushed the top part of his torso into her back. The deputy said Felton grabbed her buttocks and made an explicit comment about his own body. Felton is due back in court to face these charges on April 4.

Congrats To Punxsutawney Phil & Wife Phyliss

(AP) – Now we know what Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who predicts whether an early spring will arrive each Feb. 2, does on the other 364 days.  The Pennsylvania group that handles Phil, and his groundhog wife, Phyliss, says the couple have become parents.  The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club said in a Facebook post Wednesday that Phyliss recently gave birth to two healthy babies. It did not specify their sex or give names for either one.  “We’re pleased to announce that Punxsutawney Phil has had his first children; we believe there are two baby groundhogs and that Phil and Phyllis have started a family,” said Thomas Dunkel, president of a tuxedo-clad group called The Inner Circle that carries on the groundhog tradition each year. “We’re pleased about it, and I talked to Phil with my cane, which lets me speak Groundhogese, and Phil could not be more excited that he started a family.”  Dunkel said a club member discovered the babies Saturday when he came to feed their parents fruit and vegetables.  Phil emerges from his burrow each year the morning of Feb. 2. If he sees his shadow, tradition holds, there will be six more weeks of winter. This year, he did not see his shadow, heralding an early spring.  Although the best known, Phil is far from the only groundhog to try his hand at meteorology. There have been weather-predicting groundhogs in at least 28 U.S. states and Canadian provinces, and less formal celebrations far and wide.  Phil and Phyliss live in climate-controlled quarters at the Punxsutawney Memorial Library.  But like most growing families, they now need larger digs. The club plans to move them to a larger home on the library’s grounds.  Like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, Punxsutawney Phil comes with his own mythology, including the claim that he will live forever, due to imbibing some magic juice called “The Elixir Of Life.” (His wife is not allowed to partake of the elixir, and thus, is not immortal. Where are groundhog suffragettes when they’re truly needed?)

World News

Cranes Arrive To Begin Removing Bridge Wreckage

BALTIMORE (AP) — The largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard is arriving by barge so crews can begin removing the wreckage from the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says the crane can lift up to 1,000 tons. It will be used to clear the channel in order to resume the search for four workers who remain missing and reopen the key shipping route. Another crane is also on the way. Moore says “the best minds in the world” are working on plans to remove the twisted metal and concrete remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge. It was struck early Tuesday by a cargo ship and quickly fell into the river.

Bus Plunges Off Bridge In South Africa Killing 45

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Authorities say a bus carrying worshippers headed to an Easter weekend church gathering plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass and burst into flames in South Africa, killing at least 45 people. The only survivor of Thursday’s crash was an 8-year-old child, who was receiving medical attention. The Limpopo provincial government said the bus veered off the bridge and plunged into a ravine before busting into flames. The victims appeared to be from Botswana. They had been on their way to the town of Moria for a popular Easter pilgrimage that attracts hundreds of thousands of worshippers who follow the Zion Christian Church. This year’s pilgrimage is the first since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poll; Americans More Worried About Legal Immigrants

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are more worried about legal immigrants committing crimes in the U.S. than they were a few years ago, a change driven largely by increased concern among Republicans. That’s according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Democrats continue to see a broad range of benefits from immigration. Overall, about 4 in 10 Americans say that legal immigration to the U.S. is beneficial to the economy and culture, but that sentiment is down since 2017. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say that immigration is an important issue for them personally.

Moscow Concert Massacre Was Major Security Blunder

The Moscow concert hall attack a week ago that left more than 140 people dead was a major blunder for Russia’s law enforcement agencies. While the government register of terrorist and extremist groups in the country includes al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, it also lists LGBTQ+ activists and political opposition groups like that of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. That has raised questions about how Russia’s vast security services evaluate threats to the country and how gunmen could easily kill so many people at a public event. President Vladimir Putin came to power 24 years ago by taking a tough line against what he labeled as terrorism.

UN Top Court Orders Israel To Open More Crossings

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The top United Nations court has ordered Israel to take measures including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies into Gaza to tackle crippling shortages in the war-ravaged enclave. The International Court of Justice issued two new so-called provisional measures in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of acts of genocide in its military campaign launched after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. Israel stringently denies it is committing genocide and says its military campaign is self defense. Thursday’s order came after South Africa sought more provisional measures, including a ceasefire, citing starvation in Gaza. Israel urged the court not to issue new orders.