February 21, 2021 8:19 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A tentative settlement has been reached in a lawsuit that alleged James Franco intimidated students at an acting and film school he founded into gratuitous and exploitative sexual situations, attorneys for the plaintiffs said Saturday. The two sides filed a joint status report in Los Angeles Superior Court telling a judge a settlement had been reached in the class-action lawsuit brought by former students at the now-defunct school, Studio 4, though elements of the lawsuit may live on. The document was filed on Feb. 11, but the settlement has not previously been reported. Actresses and ex-students Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, who first filed the lawsuit in 2019, have agreed to drop their individual claims under the agreement, according to the court filing. Their lawsuit said Franco pushed his students into performing in increasingly explicit sex scenes on camera in an “orgy type setting” that went far beyond those acceptable on Hollywood film sets. It alleged that Franco “sought to create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education,” and that students were led to believe roles in Franco’s films would be available to those who went along. The lawsuit said the incidents occurred in a master class on sex scenes that Franco taught at Studio 4, which opened in 2014 and closed in 2017.
February 21, 2021 8:16 am
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — A person entered a gun store and shooting range in a New Orleans suburb and fatally shot two people Saturday, prompting customers and staff to open fire on the shooter, a sheriff said. The shooter also died. The shooting happened around 2:50 p.m. at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in the suburb of Metairie, according to a release from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said the shooter initially struck two people inside, and then several other people — whether employees or store customers — opened fire on the shooter, both inside and outside of the building. Outside the building a man could be seen afterward behind yellow police tape yelling “Where is my son?” Guns and ammunition are sold in the front of the outlet that faces a main thoroughfare through Jefferson Parish. Customers who want to frequent the gun range generally go around to the side entrance of the building. Staff who work there often wear a sidearm. Lopinto said two other people also were hit by gunfire and were hospitalized in stable condition. He said there were multiple shooters. None of the dead or wounded were immediately identified and details remained unclear.
February 21, 2021 8:08 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration has begun drafting a regulation that would require automakers to offer electric cars for sale in Pennsylvania as a way to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants that cause lung problems, it said Friday. At least 12 states already have a requirement for the zero-emission electric vehicles, including neighbors Maryland, New Jersey and New York. Drafting a regulation and shepherding it through the approval process often takes a year or more. The rule would help ensure that automakers offer new zero emissions electric vehicle models for sale in Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection said. Right now, opportunities to test drive and buy electric vehicles in Pennsylvania are limited, it said. The department was unable to say what sort of percentage requirement it will propose, since the regulation hasn’t been drafted yet. Citing data from Atlas EV Hub, the department said electric vehicles were 1.15% of Pennsylvania light-duty vehicle sales in the third quarter of 2020, the most recent data available. It would not impose specific percentages of electric vehicles at each car dealership, but rather would apply to auto manufacturers and all vehicles delivered for sale in Pennsylvania, the department said. Programs in other states do not typically apply to smaller manufacturers and medium-sized and larger manufacturers can comply with the requirement through a credit system, in which they earn credits based on the kind of vehicles they deliver.
February 21, 2021 2:00 am
Washington City Councilman Matt Staniszewski will remain in the Washington County Jail for the foreseeable future, following his arrest on Wednesday for a probation violation. Staniszewski’s attorney, Sean Logue, tells WJPA News that the legal proceedings regarding Staniszewski’s case have begun. Logue says a probation hearing was held on Wednesday and Staniszewski at that time, admitted there was a probation violation and he was held over for a second hearing next month. Logue says it is likely that until that hearing, Staniszewski will remain in jail. As for what the violation was, Logue said that at this time, he was not at liberty to say. Logue did say that the arrest did not take place at Staniszewski’s home. Staniszewski was arrested Wednesday afternoon on a bench warrant for a probation violation and authorities at the jail say the 44 year old was highly intoxicated and resistant at the time of his arrest. Logue has denied that, saying Staniszewski “self-reported’ his parole violation. As for what he “self-reported,” Logue did not offer an explanation. Last year, Staniszewski entered an open plea and was sentenced to six-months probation and a fine after pleading guilty to a first-offense driving under the influence charge. At that time, he was given credit for 31 days spent at an inpatient treatment facility. That arrest was actually his fourth DUI arrest since 2004, but was considered a first-offense, because, under Pennsylvania law, it had been ten years since his last conviction. Staniszewski is up for reelection to city council this year. Washington Mayor Scott Putnam told WJPA News that “At this time they are gathering information on the incident and other than that, I have no comment.”
February 20, 2021 4:16 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Detectives say they are investigating allegations of domestic violence against rocker Marilyn Manson involving incidents that occurred about a decade ago in West Hollywood. Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. John Adams says Friday that the Special Victims Bureau opened the investigation after a woman approached authorities to report the allegations. Word of the investigation came less than three weeks after actor Evan Rachel Wood publicly accused Manson, her ex-fiancé, of sexual and other physical abuse, alleging she was “manipulated into submission” during their relationship. The 52-year-old Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, has denied Wood’s allegations as “horrible distortions of reality.” áHis lawyer could not be reached for further comment Friday.
February 20, 2021 4:15 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A Manhattan judge has thrown out a defamation lawsuit U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes brought against CNN. The lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages was rejected Friday by U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain. The California Republican had alleged the cable news company intentionally published a false news article and engaged in a conspiracy to defame him. The lawsuit said CNN in November 2019 published a report containing false claims that Nunes was involved in efforts to get “dirt” on then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. In court papers, CNN lawyers said Nunes never denied the report before it was published nor requested a timely retraction.
February 20, 2021 4:13 am
DENVER (AP) – The inspector general for the Department of Defense is investigating the Trump administration’s last-minute decision to relocate U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama. President Donald Trump initially placed the command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. It was seen as a coup by Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, who was up for reelection. But Gardner lost in November, and Colorado overwhelmingly rejected Trump. The Trump administration then announced on Jan. 13 that the command would move to Alabama, a decisively pro-Trump state. The inspector general’s office will see if it complied with government policies.
February 20, 2021 4:13 am
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – An activist who participated in protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha has been charged with a felony for allegedly kicking in a door at the public safety building and making a comment about breaking a police officer’s fingers. Sixty-two-year-old Clyde McLemore of Zion, Illinois, was charged Friday with attempted battery to a law enforcement officer. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. McLemore was active in many of the Black Lives Matter protests after Blake’s shooting. He told the Kenosha News on Friday that he had just learned of the charges, saying the county charged him, but refused to charge the officer who shot Blake.
February 20, 2021 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States has returned to the Paris climate accord. President Joe Biden told a virtual gathering of European leaders Friday that the world “can no longer delay or do the bare minimum to address climate change.” Global leaders applauded the United States’ formal return to the mostly voluntary 2015 agreement. They say they expect the U.S. to show leadership in the fight against warming by setting strong targets for carbon pollution cuts by 2030. Trump said soon after he took office that he would start the process of pulling the U.S. from the Paris accord, but it didn’t take effect until Nov. 4, 2020.
February 20, 2021 4:07 am
BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. (WPXI) — You might soon have to pay a toll to cross some bridges in Pennsylvania, including one in Bridgeville on I-79. This comes as reconstruction and rehabilitation of bridges in Pennsylvania can be accelerated after a new program was approved, according to the state’s Department of Transportation. Thursday, PennDOT announced the nine bridges in Pennsylvania that they are suggesting tolls be added to in order to help with transportation funding in the state. In a news release, PennDOT officials called the new tolling program “a viable near-term solution” and stated that the bridges under consideration are fairly large. They would require “significant funds to rehabilitate or replace.” PennDOT said the tolling would be entirely electronic, using E-ZPass or license plate billing. The money collected at each bridge would be used only for the construction, maintenance and operation of that bridge. The tolling would be installed for both directions of travel and cost between $1.00 and $2.00. The current budget for highway and bridge maintenance in Pennsylvania is about $6.9 billion per year, which PennDOT said is less than half of what’s needed to keep the roads and bridges in good condition. In Pennsylvania, the average bridge is over 50 years old. These bridge projects and the associated tolling will be looked at over the next year before any final decisions are made.
