October 2, 2019 8:19 am
ROME (AP) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has confirmed that he was on the telephone call between President Trump and the Ukrainian president that is the subject of an impeachment inquiry. “I was on the phone call,” Pompeo told reporters in Rome Wednesday during a news conference with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio. He did not give information about the contents of the call, saying only that he was well-versed in U.S. policy toward Ukraine. In the July 25 call with the Ukrainian president, Trump prodded him to investigate Trump’s Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Pompeo is under increasing scrutiny from House Democrats leading impeachment proceedings against Trump. On Tuesday, he pushed back on House demands for interviews with State Department officials about the administration’s dealings with Ukraine that are at the center of the inquiry.
October 2, 2019 4:22 am
DALLAS (AP) – A white Dallas police officer has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for fatally shooting her unarmed, black neighbor in his home. The jury sentenced Amber Guyger on Wednesday. Guyger was convicted of murder Tuesday in the September 2018 killing of her upstairs neighbor, Botham Jean. In Texas, a murder sentence can range from five years to life in prison, but the judge also instructed jurors on a so-called sudden passion defense, which carries a range of 2-20 years behind bars. Guyger was still dressed in her police uniform after a long shift when she shot Jean, a 26-year-old accountant from the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia. She was fired from the force and charged with murder. Guyger testified that she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own, which was one floor below, and that she thought he was a burglar in her home.
October 2, 2019 4:18 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Opera star Placido Domingo has resigned as general director of the Los Angeles Opera following multiple allegations of sexual harassment reported by The Associated Press. In a statement Wednesday, Domingo said the allegations have “created an atmosphere in which my ability to serve this company that I so love has been compromised.” The company’s Board of Directors said in a separate statement that he performed more than 300 times in 31 different roles. He has served as general director since 2003.
October 2, 2019 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats have set up closed-door depositions from two former U.S. officials who represented the Trump administration in Ukraine. The plan to draw their testimony Thursday comes in spite of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s effort to delay former and current officials from providing documents and testimony in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. House Democrats warn that blocking congressional access to impeachment witnesses could itself be an impeachable offense. Pompeo said Tuesday the Democrats are trying to “intimidate” and “bully” career officials into appearing and claims it would be “not feasible” as demanded. House investigators counter that it would be illegal for the secretary to try to protect Trump by preventing the officials from talking to Congress. Trump took to Twitter to brand the impeachment inquiry a “coup.”
October 2, 2019 4:15 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. – A man wanted for murder and attempted homicide in West Virginia, as well as attempted homicide in Washington County, is in police custody. Lyon, who was on the run for a week, was arrested with his girlfriend inside of a Belle Vernon hotel. Police said he tried to murder his girlfriend’s brother inside of a Union Township trailer last Monday, stabbing him in the neck, back and chest. Police said the stabbing came after an argument escalated with his girlfriend when she accused him of cheating. Police say that stabbing was only the beginning of his crime spree. They said he then drove a stolen car to West Virginia, where he shot and killed a man, and also shot a woman, who survived. Lyon was wanted by the City of Monongahela Police Department, the Pennsylvania State police in Uniontown, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the United States marshals, officials said. In court Tuesday, Lyon refused to sign the paperwork, saying he was innocent.
October 2, 2019 4:10 am
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – United States Steel Corporation is buying a minority stake in an Arkansas-based steel company for $700 million. Big River Steel of Osceola announced Tuesday it had entered into an agreement with the Pittsburgh-based steel company. Under the agreement, U.S. Steel will hold a 49.9% ownership interest in Big River Steel and will hold an option to acquire the remaining 50.1% within the next four years. Big River Steel began operations at its $1.3 billion mill in Osceola in 2017 and last year announced an expansion of the facility that will add 500 new jobs. The plant was Arkansas’ first “superproject” under a 2004 constitutional amendment that allowed the state to borrow money to help lure major employers.
October 2, 2019 4:09 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration says it’ll start working to bring Pennsylvania into a regional consortium that sets a price and caps on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Administration officials said Wolf will make the formal announcement Thursday that he’s ordering a start to the process of joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a consortium of northeastern and mid-Atlantic states. Wolf’s aides have approached top lawmakers in recent months about passing legislation to authorize the move, without success. However, Wolf’s administration also has maintained that it can write regulations for the cap-and-trade program under its existing authority to regulate air pollution. The Democrat’s move is part of his effort to fight climate change in the nation’s No. 3 electric power state and could mean the worst-polluting power plants must pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the state annually.
October 2, 2019 4:05 am
PITTSBURGH – (WPXI) – The newborn who was taken by his parents after doctors suspected child abuse has been found, according to investigators. Police said 8-week-old Ambrose Klingensmith and his parents — 32-year-old Jeannette Funnen and 23-year-old Daemon Klingensmith — were found about five days after taking off from the hospital. Officials said they were found around 4:30 p.m. in Marshall County, Tenn. Both parents are in custody and are in the process of being extradited back to Pennsylvania. They are facing charges of endangering a child and obstruction.
According to investigators, the week-long search began after a trip to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. West Mifflin police told Channel 11 that 8-week-old Ambrose Klingensmith was taken by his parents on Sept. 26 after the hospital raised concerns that he had been abused. They also had Funnen’s 3-year-old son with them. Doctors determined there were “bruises consistent with finger marks” and that the injuries were “highly concerning with physical abuse.” They requested additional testing to determine how severe the internal injuries were. However, the infant’s parents took off with him from the emergency room before he was examined.
October 1, 2019 4:17 pm
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) – A lawsuit filed against a former West Virginia bishop is the second this year accusing him of sexual harassment. The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register reports the complaint against Michael J. Bransfield was filed in mid-September in Ohio County Circuit Court. Attorney Robert Warner filed the lawsuit on behalf of a recent seminarian in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. The seminarian says he met with Bransfield in 2015. He says the diocese later paid for his schooling and gave him a free vehicle. The seminarian accuses Bransfield of inappropriately touching and kissing him multiple times beginning in December 2017. Diocesan spokesman Tim Bishop says the diocese cannot comment on pending litigation. The Intelligencer says attempts to reach Bransfield were unsuccessful Monday.
October 1, 2019 12:40 pm
DALLAS (AP) – Cheers could be heard in the Dallas County courthouse after a judge announced a guilty verdict in the trial of a former Dallas police officer in the shooting death of her neighbor. Family members of Botham Jean and others embraced shortly after Judge Tammy Kemp announced that Amber Guyger was convicted of murder. She fatally shot Jean, an accountant from the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia, in September 2018. Someone yelled, “Thank you, Jesus” following the verdict. Guyger, who was fired following the fatal shooting, sat alone at the defense table and wept after the verdict announced. The jury is expected to return Tuesday afternoon for the punishment phase of the trial. Guyger faces five to 99 years in prison.
