January 24, 2023 4:24 am
(AP) – A five-hour police delay in alerting the public that the California dance hall killer was on the run is throwing a spotlight on the nation’s flawed, patchwork system for warnings of mass shooters at large. Experts say an alert should have been sent out immediately after police responded to the shooting in Monterey Park that left 11 dead on Saturday. During the delay, the gunman walked into another nearby dance club brandishing his weapon, but was disarmed. A proposed law last year creating an Amber alert-like system was passed by the U.S. House, but died in the Senate.
January 24, 2023 4:23 am
LYIV, Ukraine (AP) – The deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office has quit, after the president pledged a staff shake-up amid high-level corruption allegations during the war with Russia. Kyrylo Tymoshenko asked to be relieved of his duties, according to an online copy of a decree signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Tymoshenko’s own social media posts. Neither gave a reason for the resignation. Deputy Defense Minister Viacheslav Shapovalov also resigned, local media reported, alleging his departure was linked to a scandal involving the purchase of food for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Symonenko also quit.
January 24, 2023 4:22 am
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) – The suspect in two shootings at Northern California farms that left seven dead was an employee at one of the locations, authorities said. San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said Tuesday that 67-year-old Chunli Zhao was an employee at Mountain Mushroom Farm. She says the only known connection between the shooter and his victims is that “they may have been coworkers.” Four people were found dead at the farm, and three at another farm nearby. The sheriff’s office says seven of the victims were men and one was a woman. Some were Asian and others were Hispanic, and some were migrant workers.
January 24, 2023 4:19 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The refusal thus far of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro to disclose who paid for his inaugural party has exposed the gap in state law that lets governors in Pennsylvania escape the kind of transparency sometimes required elsewhere. Presidential inaugural committees are required by federal law to disclose donors who give over $200 to inaugural celebrations. States like Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey have such laws, as does Philadelphia. Many other states have no such disclosure laws, and millions of dollars can be given secretly by donors who seek favorable treatment under state regulations. Critics say that raises serious concerns about conflicts of interest.
January 24, 2023 4:14 am
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – When you first see it, it’s hard to find words. A mail truck heading down the interstate going in the wrong direction. “It’s surreal. All those cliches hit you, your life flashes in front of your eyes and I was scared. I was having a calm trip then all of a sudden, I’m like whoop,” Daniel Freeman said. Freeman was living it. Driving home from a weekend away, he’s approaching Waynesburg going northbound on I-79 when he sees state troopers and flashing lights on both sides of the interstate. “People started pulling over on the shoulder and I was going to go around the truck in front of me and as I’m going around, I see a mail truck coming up the center of the highway at me.” Moon Township Police say a USPS employee refused to return the truck Sunday afternoon. That employee is 35-year-old Tyler Floro and troopers found him in Waynesburg where they tried pulling him over in the southbound lanes of I-79. But he went through the median and started going south in the northbound lanes for over two miles when he was captured on this video. Troopers tried multiple maneuvers before finally getting Floro off the road and into custody. He’s now in the Greene County Prison facing charges out of Greene and Allegheny Counties “It was determined that he was under the influence of drugs and was in possession of drug paraphernalia. While in police custody he did assault an officer and was charged with aggravated assault for that, fleeing and eluding and multiple other charges related to his offenses,” said Trooper Kalee Barnhart with PSP. (PHOTO: Daniel Freeman dash cam/WPXI)
January 24, 2023 4:07 am
Peters Township Council had one agenda item that had all resident’s attention and a second discussion topic that concerned a few at their meeting Monday night. In an anticipated vote, council unanimously rejected all bids for construction of an aquatic center at Rolling Hills Park. Bids for the revised project came in at $17.8 million and above. That is after bids of $13 million were rejected two years ago and the project was scaled back to try and get it into the approved $10.8 million budget amount. The unanimous vote to reject did not match the views of several council members about the project. Council Chairman Frank Kosir has been an aquatic center supporter citing resident survey support of the project but he says it is difficult to see the project being built any time soon. Councilman Gary Stiegel who has never supported the project indicated his relief at the aquatic center’s demise stating that the township has other needs that should be addressed before a pool is built. A second discussion issue at the beginning of the meeting found several residents of Druid Dr. upset with a recent installation of a cellular tower by Verizon on an existing First Energy electric tower. Residents are not happy with the visual aesthetics of the new tower and would like a large cable run on the electrical tower better located to provide better visual appeal. Residents were also upset about the notification of the project. All of them indicated that no notice was given that the installation would occur and that their road would be closed for several days. Residents are calling for better communication about projects between the utilities, the township and residents regarding future projects.
January 24, 2023 2:53 am
An Amity man who is charged with setting a car on fire pleaded guilty to an amended misdemeanor charge of failure to control or report a dangerous fire. Richard Bishop, 55 was admitted to the ARD program that will sentence him to 12 months of probation. Police records indicate that Bishop pulled his car from his garage and doused it with gasoline and set it on fire in June of 2022. When police arrived, firefighters were tending to the blaze and Bishop admitted to them that he set the car on fire. Along with the probationary sentence Bishop will need to complete a mental health evaluation. Bishop was facing felony charges of arson and reckless burning.
January 23, 2023 5:39 pm
(AP) – The family of a student who died from alcohol poisoning while pledging a fraternity will receive nearly $3 million from Bowling Green State University to settle its hazing-related lawsuit. A copy of the agreement announced Monday says the family of Stone Foltz and the university will work together to eliminate hazing on college campuses. A university investigation found that Foltz died of alcohol poisoning in March 2021 after a fraternity event where there was a tradition of new members attempting to finish a bottle of alcohol. Both sides say the settlement will allow them to focus on ending hazing.
January 23, 2023 5:36 pm
EASTON, Pa. (AP) – A Roman Catholic priest accused of collecting thousands of child pornography images while serving overseas and then bringing them with him when he returned to the United States has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison. The Rev. William McCandless was sentenced Monday in Easton to 37 months in prison on a conviction of having used his cellphone to try to access pornography featuring underage boys. Other charges were dropped in a plea deal. The former DeSales University counselor apologized to his family, friends and religious order, saying “words cannot express the depths of my remorse.”
January 23, 2023 1:49 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. health officials want to make COVID-19 vaccinations more like the annual flu shot. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday proposed a simplified approach so that most adults and children would get a once-a-year shot. Americans would no longer have to keep track of how many shots they’ve received or when. The proposal comes as boosters have become a hard sell. The FDA is asking a panel of outside vaccine experts to weigh in on the new approach at a meeting Thursday. The agency will present data suggesting most Americans have enough protection to move to a once-a-year shots.
