October 14, 2019 4:18 am
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) – A Pennsylvania judge has declined to bar consideration of the death penalty in the case of a man charged with having killed a toddler last year. The (Altoona) Mirror reports that the Blair County judge said last week that attorneys for 20-year-old Drue Burd could repeat their objections to capital punishment after prosecutors finish presenting their evidence. Burd is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, strangulation and related charges in the May 2018 death of 16-month-old Angela Beard. Prosecutors allege that he told investigators he put his hand over the child’s mouth and nose to make her fall asleep. They call the death penalty warranted because of the child’s age and another felony count. Prosecutors also argue that torture was involved, but defense attorneys say there’s no evidence of that.
October 14, 2019 4:17 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – An internal review of Pennsylvania’s parole system spurred by five parolees getting charged in quick succession with homicide is, in theory, acknowledging a long-standing complaint of parole agents. It asks lawmakers to update a 2012 law and add a trigger for an automatic six-month to one-year jail sentence for a parolee who continually ignores parole conditions, such as going to treatment or counseling. The 2012 law already has five such triggers, including threatening behavior or possession of a weapon. Law enforcement groups largely welcomed the acknowledgement from the state Department of Corrections. The county district attorneys association calls it a “significant recognition.” Parole agents, however, were skeptical it’ll change a system that, they say, has stripped them of discretion to pull a potentially dangerous parolee off the street.
October 14, 2019 3:01 am
A repair crew sparked a small roof fire at Joe’s Bakery on North Main Street Sunday morning, causing what Washington City Fire Chief Gerry Coleman called “minimal damage.” Owner Joe Vucic was awakened by the smell of smoke late Sunday morning. Part of the rubber roof repair included using a torch to cure new adhesive which ignited. Fire crews quickly put out the fire but Coleman indicated that some water damage occurred in the area of the original roof leak. No one was injured but the 100 block of North Main Street was closed for nearly an hour. Vucic said that he expects to be open for normal operations Tuesday morning.
October 13, 2019 8:07 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Los Angeles County Fire Department says the wildfire in the San Fernando Valley is now 33% contained. The wildfire covers 12 square miles (31 square kilometers.) The department says Saturday night that winds and temperatures have fallen to normal levels after the Santa Ana winds passed through the region. A man went into cardiac arrest and died at the scene of a wildfire that broke out late Thursday.
October 13, 2019 8:06 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis is canonizing Cardinal John Henry Newman, the 19th-century Anglican convert who became an immensely influential, unifying figure in both the Anglican and Catholic churches. Francis presided over Mass on Sunday in a packed St. Peter’s Square to declare Newman and four women saints. Among the luminaries on hand was Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, who penned a remarkable ode to Newman that was published in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. Newman is admired by Catholics and Anglicans alike because he followed his conscience at great personal cost. When he defected from the Church of England to the Catholic Church in 1845, he lost friends, work and even family ties, believing the truth he was searching for could only be found in the Catholic faith.
October 13, 2019 8:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says he’s an “island of one” for removing U.S. forces from northeastern Syria. Trump’s decision drew swift bipartisan criticism in the U.S. and abroad that he was endangering regional stability and risking the lives of Syrian Kurdish allies who helped the U.S. bring down the Islamic State group in Syria. But Turkey views those Kurdish fighters as terrorists and a threat to its security and has launched a military operation against them. Trump defended his actions during a speech Saturday to social conservative activists, saying “it’s time” to bring U.S. troops home from fighting “endless wars.” He sought to portray the Middle East as a hopeless cause, saying it’s less safe, secure and stable despite American involvement “and they fight. That’s what they do. They fight.”
October 13, 2019 8:03 am
TOKYO (AP) – Kyodo News service has reported 19 people are dead and 16 are missing after Typhoon Hagibis caused massive flooding in Japan. Kyodo’s tally, which compiled various local reports, says about 100 people have been injured. Government rescue teams have dispatched helicopters and boats to reach people stranded in flooded homes Sunday, part of a major rescue effort in wide areas of the country, including Tokyo and surrounding areas. The casualty numbers continue to grow, and the Kyodo report is considerably higher than what the government spokesman gave earlier in the day. Experts have warned from the start that assessing the damage is difficult because the flooding has struck about a dozen rivers, causing some of them to spill out in more than one spot.
October 13, 2019 8:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is standing by his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, amid reports that federal prosecutors are looking into Giuliani for possible lobbying violations. Trump tweeted Saturday that Giuliani is the victim of what the president calls “a one sided Witch Hunt.” The New York Times reported Friday, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the inquiry, that the investigation is linked to Giuliani’s efforts to undermine the former the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. However, some aides and advisers to the president tell The Associated Press they wish he would cut ties with Giuliani. Giuliani’s efforts on behalf of Trump led Giuliani to Ukraine, which now entangles the former federal prosecutor and mayor in legal jeopardy and is central to the danger threatening the presidency he labored to protect.
October 13, 2019 7:57 am
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (WPXI) – Charges were filed Friday against the son of a woman whose body was found in August inside her New Kensington home months after her death. According to a criminal complaint, Robert Hawk’s mother, 68-year-old Marcia Smock, was found dead inside a room that had been duct-taped shut. Officials with the Department of Aging tried to do a welfare check on Smock in early August but were stopped by Hawk. He initially told police his mother was staying with a friend before admitting she was dead inside. Hawk told investigators his mother died about two months prior. He didn’t report her death and continued cashing her social security checks, according to police. Dozens of animals were rescued from the home, including 19 cats, officials said. Hawk is facing more than 60 counts for charges, including abuse of a corpse, theft and aggravated cruelty to animals. However, none of the charges are linked to her death.
October 13, 2019 7:56 am
MONESSEN, Pa. (WPXI) — A well-known chiropractor in Westmoreland County is facing felony animal cruelty charges after police say he shot at a dog seven times. Monessen police said Dr. James Scirotto was at a birthday party on Marion Avenue several houses down from where the dog lives. According to court documents, the dog was running around and barking at people. In response, Scirotto allegedly pulled out a gun that had been stuffed down the front of his pants and fired several shots at the dog. He then allegedly chased the dog to where it lived on Hillcrest Avenue and shot the dog in its yard. The dog, a 5-year-old named Honda, is now recovering at home after undergoing surgery for a wound from a bullet that went through his back leg.
