May 21, 2021 1:56 am
GREENSBURG, Pa. — Former Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez was convicted on 15 counts in the sexual assault trial of a then 13-year-old victim Thursday evening. Vazquez was found guilty of statutory sexual assault, indecent sexual assault, sexual abuse of children, unlawful contact with a minor, and corruption of a minor. Vazquez was found not guilty on 10 child porn charges related to video and picture evidence in the case. The jury only deliberated for four hours. Earlier Thursday, Vazquez took the stand as the trial entered its fourth day. He didn’t deny the sexual relationship that he had with the victim, but he did deny knowing that the victim was only 13. He also admitted to lying under oath. The prosecution painted a picture of Vazquez grooming the underage girl and calling her “kid” in texts. The defense said that the former MLB player’s career is over, and they don’t know what was going through the jury’s mind. The case isn’t over as the prosecution has cases in Florida and St. Louis.
May 21, 2021 1:46 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Life Flight was needed after a two vehicle accident in Canton Township Thursday night. Washington County 911 says a two-vehicle accident had traffic stopped just before 10:00 p.m. on Interstate 70 eastbound just before the Jessop Place exit. Reports say one helicopter was deployed to the scene, while a second air unit was dispatched to the Washington Hospital to take a patient to a Pittsburgh facility. There is no word on the identities of the individuals involved, or what caused the accident. State Police led the investigation on scene.
May 21, 2021 1:11 am
Washington County Commissioners on Thursday, approved a resolution, at the request of Washington County Judge John DiSalle, to shift collection duties from the county’s Clerk of Courts Office to the Adult Probation Office. As a result of the move, four employees currently under the supervision of Brenda Davis, will be moved into the Adult Probation Office. County Court Administrator, Patrick Grimm, says they have been looking at the possibility of shifting the collections duties to Adult Probation for several months because that is the way it used to be. Grimm says it’s easier for criminal defendants to take care of all fines and fees in one office. Davis took exception to the move, claiming the commissioners were firing the employees. Commissioners though, reiterated, after a heated dispute with Davis, that no one was getting fired and there would be no change in pay or benefits. The move is expected to take effect June first.
May 20, 2021 5:29 pm
Pennsylvania is firing a company that performed COVID-19 contact tracing and exposed the private medical information of tens of thousands of residents. That’s according to the state health secretary. Employees of Insight Global used unauthorized Google accounts to personal information about residents who had been reached for contact tracing. The state had planned to drop Insight Global once its contract expires at the end of the July, but the Health Department told House Republicans on Thursday that it will terminate the contract early, on June 19.
May 20, 2021 4:58 pm
A Washington man is facing charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats and harassment in connection with an assault early Wednesday at a home along Third Street in Washington. Authorities say 55-year-old Fernando Milan allegedly stabbed a man in the face and neck with a broken bottle. Milan is also charged with assaulting and threatening a witness. Milan was last reported in the Washington County jail on one-hundred-thousand-dollars bond.
May 20, 2021 4:23 pm
The State Police Fire Marshal is investigating a fire Thursday morning along Baird Avenue in North Franklin Township. Authorities say the blaze broke out just after six o’clock in a one-story commercial building listed as Choice Extraction, Inc., a hemp extraction facility. There were no injuries.
May 20, 2021 8:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to 444,000, a new pandemic low and a sign that the job market keeps strengthening as consumers spend freely again, viral infections drop and business restrictions ease. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that applications declined 34,000 from a revised 478,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly jobless claims – a rough measure of the pace of layoffs – has declined steadily since the year began.
May 20, 2021 4:21 am
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) – A Texas man convicted of fatally beating his 83-year-old great aunt more than two decades ago was executed Wednesday evening without media witnesses present because prison agency officials neglected to notify reporters it was time to carry out the punishment. Quintin Jones received the lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the September 1999 killing of Berthena Bryant, agency spokesman Jeremy Desel said about 30 minutes after Jones was pronounced dead. Desel said the execution, the first in Texas in nearly a year, included a number of new personnel who have never participated in the process.
May 20, 2021 4:18 am
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – A woman heard shouting at police to “Bring Nancy Pelosi out” to be hanged during the attack on the U.S. Capitol is among those charged in a new round of arrests stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection. Pauline Bauer of Kane, Pennsylvania, faces the most serious charge in this latest round. She’s among two Pennsylvania residents and five from upstate New York charged Wednesday with being part of a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters who pushed past police officers and broke through windows and doors. Bauer appeared during an online court hearing and was released on bond.
May 20, 2021 4:16 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Attorneys for the state and for three former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd are making oral arguments Thursday before the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Prosecutors will seek to add an additional charge of aiding and abetting third-degree murder to the case. Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao are already charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter. Prosecutors want the new count after the Appeals Court ruled in February that a third-degree murder charge could apply in cases where only one person is endangered. The defense says it’s impossible for someone to aid in third-degree murder, because that crime does not require intent.
