September 18, 2019 8:50 am
More developments in regards to the Washington County Clerk of Courts office and some $96,000 in missing money. Washington County President Judge Katherine Emery, Tuesday, issued an order setting specific policies for the office to follow when it comes to daily bank deposits. The County Finance Director offered such policies after a Controller’s office audit discovered the missing money and questioned office actions in regards to such deposits. According to reports, the order directs the Clerk of Courts to stick with guidelines for handling such transactions and verifying collections as recommended by the Controller, Finance Director and Court Administrator. The State Police investigation that resulted from that June audit continues. Democrat Frank Scandale is seeking a second term as Clerk of Courts but is being challenged by Republican Brenda Davis.
September 18, 2019 5:56 am
DETROIT (AP) – A 34-year-old man has been arraigned in the slayings of four women whose bodies were found in vacant houses in Detroit. Deangelo Martin’s case went before a 36th District Court magistrate Wednesday afternoon. Hours earlier, the Wayne County prosecutor’s office announced he is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of felony murder. The bodies were found from February 2018 to June this year. The victims were in their 50s. Police have characterized the deaths as the work of a serial killer. Martin was arrested in June. He’s also charged in the stabbing and sexual assault of a woman and the kidnapping and assault of another. A probable cause conference on the murder charges is scheduled for Oct. 2. A preliminary examination follows on Oct. 9.
September 18, 2019 5:54 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea has gone through with plans to drop Japan from a list of countries receiving fast-track approvals in trade in a tit-for-tat reaction to a similar move by Tokyo to downgrade Seoul’s trade status amid a tense diplomatic dispute. South Korea’ trade ministry says Japan’s removal from a 29-member “white list” of nations enjoying minimum trade restrictions went into effect Wednesday. The move comes a week after South Korea initiated a complaint to the World Trade Organization over a separate Japanese move to tighten export controls on key chemicals South Korean companies use to manufacture semiconductors and displays.
September 18, 2019 4:22 am
Township growth means expansion of emergency services and North Strabane Supervisors are on top of that expansion with the continued development of the fire department’s substation #2. North Strabane Township Manager Andrew Walz explains that a new substation is needed in the Eighty Four area of North Strabane Township because their insurance carrier determined that response times needed to improve in that area. That coupled with the fact that the area is beginning to be developed and Walz expects development to continue for several decades, a new substation is in order. Supervisors expect to award the bids next week and ground will be broken shortly after. If no significant delays are encountered, Walz expects to have the new substation operating in late spring of 2020.
September 18, 2019 4:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A new report shows that the number and rate of abortions across the U.S. have plunged to their lowest levels since the procedure became legal nationwide in 1973. The report from the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, counted 862,000 abortions in the U.S. in 2017. That’s down from 926,000 tallied in the group’s previous report for 2014. One reason for the decline is that fewer women are becoming pregnant. The Guttmacher Institute noted that the birth rate, as well as the abortion rate, declined during the years covered by the new report. Guttmacher is the only entity that strives to count all abortions in the U.S., making inquiries of individual providers. Federal data excludes California, Maryland and New Hampshire.
September 18, 2019 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House Judiciary Committee’s first impeachment hearing against President Donald Trump has concluded on a combative note after six hours of testimony from Corey Lewandowski. Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York gaveled the proceedings closed Tuesday after Republicans refused to offer up a staff member to question Trump’s former campaign chairman. Ranking Republican Doug Collins started to do so, but Nadler noted that Collins is a member of Congress, not a staff member. The proceedings ended with Collins refusing to yield to a staff questioner and vowing to “litigate” the GOP’s case in other ways. The closing squabble came after committee counsel Barry H. Berke sharply challenged Lewandowski on why he did not carry out Trump’s directive to deliver a message to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to encourage him to reverse himself and oversee the Russia investigation.
September 18, 2019 4:17 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says U.N. experts have already left for Saudi Arabia to investigate attacks on key Saudi oil installations. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday it would “invite U.N. and international experts to view the situation on the ground and to participate in the investigations.” Guterres told reporters Wednesday the experts were sent under the U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers. It requires the secretary-general to report every six months on the implementation of the nuclear agreement, which includes restrictions on arms-related transfers to and from Iran. U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the experts sent to Saudi Arabia contribute to those reports and monitor sanctions against Yemen. Guterres again condemned Saturday’s attacks, calling them “a dramatic escalation in the Gulf” that must be halted. “We absolutely need to create the conditions to avoid a major confrontation in the Gulf,” he said. “As we have seen by the immediate impact on oil markets, if there would be a major confrontation in the Gulf it would have devastating consequences for the region and globally.”
September 18, 2019 4:15 am
JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel’s two main political parties are deadlocked after national elections, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing an uphill battle to keep his job. Seeming kingmaker Avigdor Lieberman says Wednesday he’ll insist upon a secular unity government between Netanyahu’s Likud and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White parties, who are currently tied. Lieberman says that is the “one and only option” on the table. Without Lieberman’s endorsement, both parties appear to have fallen well short of securing a parliamentary majority with ideological allies. Gantz, a former military chief, has ruled out sitting with a Netanyahu-led Likud at a time when the prime minister is expected to be indicted on corruption charges in the coming weeks. That could spell the end of Netanyahu’s lengthy rule. However, final results could still swing toward Netanyahu.
September 18, 2019 4:09 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia officials say a 40-year-old coal mine electrician has died in an accident. The West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training says Steven Vernon Keeney of Sylvester died of injuries from an apparent electrical shock. The accident happened at 12:18 a.m. Tuesday at the Panther Creek Mining American Eagle Mine in the Kanawha County community of Cabin Creek. Keeney was a certified electrician at the mine. The agency’s inspectors are investigating. It is the third coal mining fatality in West Virginia this year and the 10th nationwide. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration says four have occurred in Kentucky, two in Pennsylvania and one in Illinois.
September 18, 2019 4:08 am
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (AP) – The death of a Bloomsburg University student who fell over a ledge along a walking trail has been ruled accidental. An autopsy on Monday found 18-year-old Justin King died as a result of blunt force trauma consistent with a fall. A passerby found the freshman’s body along the Bloomsburg Walking Trail early Saturday. Authorities are trying to determine what King was doing in the area. The Gilbertsville resident had graduated from Boyertown Area Senior High School in June.
