September 13, 2019 3:44 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A judge has dismissed two charges against a woman accused of beating her mother and shaving her head because she thought the older woman was listening to a Pittsburgh Steelers’ game too loudly on the radio. A Westmoreland County judge on Wednesday said there wasn’t enough evidence to support charges of conspiracy and making terroristic threats against Delores Amorino. She remains charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment, simple assault and harassment. Lawyers for Amorino have claimed her 19-year-old daughter is responsible for assaulting the 78-year-old woman. Authorities say the two beat Amorino’s mother and held her captive during an August 2017 attack in their Youngwood home. A psychiatrist has testified that the women have a rare delusional disorder, making them believe they’re in romantic relationships with current and former Steelers players. Amorino’s daughter was found incompetent to stand trial.
September 13, 2019 2:40 pm
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (AP) – Swarms of dragonflies are taking over several western Pennsylvania communities and have even showed up on weather radar. WTAE-TV reports that meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Cleveland spotted an unusually large blob on their radar earlier this week. It turned out to be dragonflies. Entomologists say the swarms of dragonflies are quite common, and usually happen when they are migrating south to find warmer weather as winter approaches. The swarms have also been reported in Indiana, Ohio and Virginia. A similar phenomenon occurred earlier this year when a massive bloom of ladybugs was detected by radar in the area of San Diego.
September 13, 2019 12:43 pm
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The family of rock Star Eddie Money says he has died at 70. Money died Friday. The husky-voiced, blue collar performer was known for such hits as “Two Tickets to Paradise” and “Take Me Home Tonight.” In 1987, he received a best rock vocal Grammy nomination for “Take Me Home Tonight,” which featured a cameo from Ronnie Spector.
September 13, 2019 11:51 am
McKEESPORT, Pa. (WPXI) – Police are looking for a man who they say ran from the car of a woman whose body was found Thursday morning at Renziehausen Park in McKeesport. Police are investigating it as a homicide. A man walking his dog found her body shortly before 10 a.m. The woman has not been identified, but she is described as black and was wearing a yellow sundress. Her body showed signs of strangulation based on an initial examination, according to police. Police said the woman might have died elsewhere, and her body then brought to the park in a car. Surveillance video showed a silver 2007 Chevrolet Impala with a sunroof and rear spoiler being driven in the park near where the woman’s body was found, shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday, police said. That car belonged to the victim and was found Thursday night in the parking lot of Walmart in South Strabane Township. Police have arrested Clyde Cox, 27, and Daron Parks, 26 for being in that car, they are not charged in her death. Police are still looking for a man known as ‘Moe’ who they say ran from the car so they can question him further. An autopsy will be conducted Friday to determine the cause and manner of the woman’s death. Anyone with information is asked to call the Allegheny County Police Tipline at 1-833-255-8477.
September 13, 2019 9:33 am
BEIJING (AP) – A Chinese state news agency says Beijing will lift punitive tariffs on U.S. soybeans and pork ahead of trade negotiations. Soybeans were the biggest U.S. export to China before Beijing halted purchases in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes in a fight over trade and technology. The two sides are preparing for talks in October in Washington. Trump earlier postponed an increase in tariffs on Chinese imports.
September 13, 2019 9:21 am
An investigation is underway into an early morning house fire in Washington Friday. Crews were called to the two-hundred block of Allison Avenue just before 4 a.m. It took crews about thirty minutes to bring under control and there were no injuries as the result of the fire. Fire Chief Gerry Coleman says the occupant was not home when crews arrived. The fire was limited to the upper floor of the home. Coleman, however, did say that police had responded to a report of someone shooting fireworks out of a window in that area a short time before the fire broke out. He says it’s unclear whether or not the two incidents are connected.
September 13, 2019 8:55 am
BOSTON (AP) – Actress Felicity Huffman has been sentenced to 14 days in prison for her role in the sweeping college admissions scandal . The “Desperate Housewives” star was sentenced in Boston’s federal court Friday after pleading guilty in May to a single count of conspiracy and fraud. She was also given a $30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year of supervised release. She has admitted to paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to have a proctor correct her daughter’s SAT exam answers in 2017. Prosecutors had recommended a month in prison and a $20,000 fine. Huffman’s lawyers said she should get a year of probation, 250 hours of community service and a $20,000 fine. Huffman said before sentencing that “I am deeply ashamed of what I have done. I have inflicted more damage than I could ever imagine.” She’s the first parent to be sentenced among 34 charged in the scheme. (Photo: CNN)
September 13, 2019 4:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration has begun enforcing radical new restrictions on who qualifies for asylum as tens of thousands of migrants wait on the Mexican border, seeking refuge. The new U.S. policy would effectively deny asylum to nearly all migrants arriving at the southern border who aren’t from Mexico. It would disallow anyone who passes through another country without first seeking and failing to obtain asylum there. The rule will fall most heavily on Central Americans, mainly Hondurans and Guatemalans, because they account for most people arrested or stopped at the border. But it also represents an enormous setback for other asylum seekers, including large numbers of Africans, Haitians and Cubans who try to enter the United States by way of the Mexican border.
September 13, 2019 4:22 am
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has a tentative settlement to thousands of lawsuits alleging it was partly responsible for a national opioid crisis. But that doesn’t mean its court battles are over. More than 20 states and lawyers representing some 2,000 local governments have signed on, pending ironing out some details. But the majority of states have not agreed. And some are promising to continue their legal fights against the company and the Sackler family, which owns it, saying the settlement does not go far enough to hold the company accountable. They say they’re prepared to object to the proposed deal in bankruptcy court, where it heads next. More than 20 states have also filed lawsuits against members of the Sackler family. Several have said they intend to continue those cases.
September 13, 2019 4:21 am
BANGKOK (AP) – Pope Francis will meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Emperor Naruhito when he visits Japan in November. Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Pope Francis will visit Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki during his Nov. 23-26 visit. He said Abe invited Francis to visit Japan when he went to the Vatican in 2014. Suga said, “We welcome the visit as a way to gain understanding of the international community about atomic bombing.” Japan has not had such a visit since St. John Paul II was the first pope to visit Japan, in 1981. Japan, where the main religions are Buddhism and Shintoism, has about 441,000 Catholics, many in Nagasaki. Nagasaki, in southwestern Japan, is rich in the legacy of Christian missionaries dating back to the samurai era, including 26 martyrs killed in 1597. Francis has repeatedly called for a world without nuclear weapons.
