August 7, 2022 4:36 am
CARMICHAELS, Pa. — A Greene County man has been sentenced in federal court to 37 months’ imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release on his convictions for cyberstalking and communication of threats to injure according to United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung. U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan imposed the sentence on Kaleb Levicky, 23, formerly of Carmichaels, Pennsylvania. According to information presented in court, from November 3rd through November 30, 2020, Levicky sent numerous messages via Instagram and multiple telephone numbers to an unnamed person, her friend and her boyfriend. In these messages, Levicky threatened to cause serious bodily injury and death to the unnamed victim. Subsequently, in December that year, Levicky sent a text message to the friend, threatening to “kill hundreds of innocent people” with firearms. Investigators with the Federal Bureau of investigation confirmed that Levicky previously purchased these firearms, and investigators ultimately seized these firearms from Levicky.
August 7, 2022 4:07 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The developer of a major pipeline system has pleaded no contest to criminal charges that it systematically polluted waterways and residential water wells across hundreds of miles in Pennsylvania. Dallas-based Energy Transfer Operating agreed Friday to independent testing of homeowners’ water and promised to remediate contamination. The settlement involves two separate criminal cases brought by the Pennsylvania attorney general. Under a plea deal, the company will pay $10 million to restore watersheds and streams along the Mariner East pipeline network. Mariner East has been one of the most penalized projects in Pennsylvania history. Energy Transfer had no immediate comment.
August 6, 2022 4:52 am
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli jets pounded militant targets in Gaza as rockets rained on southern Israel, hours after a wave of Israeli airstrikes on the coastal enclave killed at least 11 people, including a senior militant and a 5-year-old girl. The fighting began with Israel’s dramatic targeted killing of a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad continued into the morning Saturday, drawing the sides closer to an all-out war. But the territory’s Hamas rulers appeared to stay on the sidelines of the conflict, keeping its intensity somewhat contained, for now. Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers have fought four wars and several smaller battles over the last 15 years.
August 6, 2022 4:49 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana has become the first state in the nation to pass new legislation restricting access to abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June that overturned Roe v. Wade. Indiana lawmakers on Friday approved the near-total abortion ban with some exceptions, including in cases of rape, incest, and to protect the life and physical health of the mother. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb immediately signed the bill. Indiana was among the first Republican-run state legislatures to debate tighter abortion laws after the Supreme Court ruling that removed constitutional protections for the procedure.
August 6, 2022 4:48 am
TOKYO (AP) — Hiroshima is remembering the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing as officials, including the United Nations chief, warn against nuclear weapons buildup and as fears grow of another such attack amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Saturday that nuclear weapons “guarantee no safety — only death and destruction.” Hiroshima Mayor Kazimi Matsui criticized nuclear powers for not taking more concrete steps toward a nuclear-free world. The Aug. 6, 1945 U.S. atomic bombing on Hiroshima killed 140,000. Another nuclear attack on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more.
August 6, 2022 4:47 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says Democrats have made changes in their giant economic bill that include paring part of their proposed minimum tax on huge corporations. Schumer described some of the revisions Friday as Democrats lined up the votes needed to deliver a campaign-season victory to President Joe Biden on his domestic agenda. Schumer also said bargainers dropped a proposed tax boost on hedge fund executives after pivotal centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said she would otherwise vote “no.” Schumer said the package would instead levy new taxes on companies that buy back their own stock.
August 6, 2022 4:46 am
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says China should not hold talks on important global matters such as the climate crisis “hostage,” after Beijing cut off contacts with Washington in retaliation for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan earlier this week. Blinken also said in a news conference Saturday in Manila that the U.S. aims to deescalate tensions, which have flared after China launched war drills just off Taiwan and took other retaliatory steps. Pelosi’s trip to the self-governed island outraged China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary. Blinken says China’s shutting down cooperation on climate change “doesn’t punish the United States — it punishes the world.”
August 6, 2022 4:45 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas jury has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages to the parents of a child who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, adding to the $4.1 million he has to pay for the suffering he put them through by claiming for years that the nation’s deadliest school shooting was a hoax. The parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis say they were tormented by the Infowars host’s false claims that the worst classroom shooting in U.S. history was orchestrated by the government to tighten gun laws. The total of nearly $50 million marks the first time Jones has been held financially liable for peddling lies about the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut.
August 6, 2022 4:26 am
BEALLSVILLE, Pa. — Flash flooding became a concern Friday evening in Southwestern Pennsylvania due to storms rolling through the area. A flash flood warning was in effect for Waynesburg in Greene County along with Bentleyville and Centerville in Washington County between 6:15 and 9:15 p.m. Flooding was reported in Washington County around 6:45 p.m. in both Beallsville (pictured) and Richeyville. Waters covered the intersection of Beallsville Road and Main Street according to the National Weather Service. At the same time, a landslide was reported along with more flooding in Richeyville along Sunset Drive near Hickory Road. The NWS says heavy rock and debris covered the roadway in that incident. Portions of Westmoreland and Allegheny Counties experienced flood issues as well. In Latrobe, the American Red Cross was called in to help residents displaced by flood waters. Other communities hit hard included Aspinwall and Munhall.
August 6, 2022 4:11 am
MASONTOWN, Pa. (WPXI) — A Fayette County man came home Wednesday to find his Masontown house ransacked, windows broken and a complete mess inside — allegedly at the hands of several children. Justin Fenton says his windows were shattered, his trampoline was destroyed, food was thrown into piles on the floor and furniture was flipped. “[It was] like a tornado went through. I had a change jar, they threw it everywhere. They took Desitin, Bengay … smeared it all over the floor, the bed,” Fenton described. Those intruders: a 10-year-old and two 6-year-olds. Justin Fenton called for his neighbor and his relatives rushed to the house, as he called police. The Fentons say officers drove the kids home. Masontown Police says they contacted the district attorney’s office and juvenile probation that night and everything has been turned over to CYS. While police do not expect anything criminal to come out of this, it remains an open investigation. The Fentons said they would like to see some kind of reimbursement for what was lost or an apology, but it’s unclear if that will happen.
