July 14, 2020 3:59 am
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) – The U.S. has carried out the first federal execution in nearly two decades, putting to death a man who was convicted of killing an Arkansas family in the 1990s in a plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. Forty-seven-year-old Daniel Lewis Lee, of Yukon, Oklahoma, died Tuesday after receiving a lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Lee said before his execution that he was innocent. His the first death row inmate to be executed since 2003. Lee’s execution came over the objection of the victims’ family and following a series of legal challenges related to the raging coronavirus pandemic.
July 14, 2020 3:48 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The first bills passed by Pennsylvania’s Legislature in response to widespread protests over police brutality and the killing of George Floyd are now law with Gov. Tom Wolf’s signature. In a news conference Tuesday in Harrisburg, Wolf, a Democrat, characterized the two bills he signed as small, but important steps toward making society fair. The two bills passed the House and Senate unanimously last month. They are designed to prevent problematic officers from continuing to find employment in police departments, provide officers with more cultural sensitivity training and provide officers with more mental health screening.
July 14, 2020 3:47 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf’s top health official says Pennsylvania’s hospital system is not challenged at the moment by a recent rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, and the Department of Health isn’t considering any new restrictions at the moment. Dr. Rachel Levine, Wolf’s health secretary, said Monday that the department decided to hold off on imposing restrictions in southwestern counties while it watches the day-to-day case counts. Still, Levine warned that a cycle previously seen is now repeating in Pennsylvania: a growing proportion of people infected with the coronavirus are younger, a step that preceded the virus getting into congregate care settings, like nursing homes.
July 14, 2020 3:44 am
Peters Township Council was hit with upsetting news right at the beginning of its meeting on Monday night. Township Manager Paul Lauer relayed to council that Councilman James Berquist is suffering with Covid-19. Lauer stated that no matter how seriously one takes the virus, everyone is susceptible to contracting it. Berquist is recovering and hopes to be back for the next meeting in two weeks. Emergency Management Coordinator and Fire Chief Michael McLaughlin drove that point home by relaying numbers of Covid-19 cases in the two primary zip codes of Peters Township. Since June 22, the 15317 zip code has had an increase of 88 cases and the 15367 zip code has had an increase of 16 new cases. Most of these cases are occurring in the age group 25-49. McLaughlin also reported $12,200 in expenses related to Covid-19 and Lauer added an additional $7400 in costs from staff expenditures. Much of this expense will be refunded through the federal CARES Act. Traffic items were addressed as well. The realignment of E. McMurray Road to meet with the new Rolling Hills Drive is underway, and staff requested a report from their traffic engineer on the intersection of Center Church Road and Route 19. That intersection has been involved with two recent accidents, one of them causing a fatality. Staff is concerned that with the opening of the new high school, that intersection will be the site of more accidents because students will use Center Church Road as an alternate exit from the school. Michael Mudry of Traffic Planning and Design indicated that by PennDot Standards, nothing is called for. He did suggest traffic studies of the intersection now and once the new high school is open. Until then, options are temporary and very limited.
July 14, 2020 2:16 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend has been denied bail and will remain behind bars on charges she recruited girls and women for the financier to sexually abuse more than two decades ago. British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell appeared in a video court hearing in Manhattan, where she pleaded not guilty. Maxwell, 58, has been held without bail since her July 2 arrest at her million-dollar New Hampshire estate. She was charged with recruiting at least three girls, one as young as 14, for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 1997. An indictment alleged that she helped groom the victims to endure sexual abuse and was sometimes there when Epstein abused them. Epstein killed himself in August 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges.
July 13, 2020 7:41 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The son of Lisa Marie Presley has died. He was 27. Presley’s representative Roger Widynowski said in a statement Sunday to The Associated Press that she was “completely heartbroken” after learning about the death of her son Benjamin Keough. He is the grandson of the late Elvis Presley. TMZ reports that Keough died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday in Calabasas, California. Keough is also survived by his sister, actress Riley Keough.
July 13, 2020 4:24 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom has extended the closure of bars and indoor dining statewide and has ordered gyms, churches and hair salons closed in most places as coronavirus cases keep rising. On July 1, Newsom ordered many counties to close bars and indoor operations at restaurants, wineries, zoos and family entertainment centers like bowling alleys and miniature golf. On Monday, Newsom extended that order statewide and closed additional parts of the world’s fifth-largest economy, including indoor malls and offices for noncritical industries. California confirmed 8,358 new coronavirus cases on Sunday. Hospitalizations have increased 28% over the past two weeks.
July 13, 2020 4:22 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Twenty-one people have suffered minor injuries in an explosion and fire Sunday on board a ship at Naval Base San Diego. The blaze was called in shortly before 9 a.m. on the USS Bonhomme Richard. The cause is under investigation. Officials don’t immediately know where on the 840-foot amphibious assault vessel the fire was sparked. San Diego is the Bonhomme Richard’s home port, and it was undergoing routine maintenance at the time of the fire. Officials said about 160 sailors and officers were on board – far fewer than the thousand typically on the ship when it’s on active duty.
July 13, 2020 4:20 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Actor Kelly Preston has died at age 57. John Travolta, Preston’s husband of 28 years, confirmed late Sunday that his wife had died after a two-year battle with breast cancer. Preston enjoyed a lengthy career in film and television, appearing in “Jerry Maguire,” “Twins” and at times starring with her husband in films like “Battlefield Earth” and “Gotti.” The couple was married in 1991 in Paris after meeting on a film set, and had three children together. They experienced tragedy in 2009 when their son Jett died after a seizure in the Bahamas.
July 13, 2020 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge is demanding more information about President Donald Trump’s decision to commute the prison sentence of longtime ally Roger Stone. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered that the parties provide her by Tuesday with a copy of the executive order that commuted Stone’s sentence. She also asked for clarity about the scope of the clemency, including whether it covers just his prison sentence or also the two-year period of supervised release that was part of his sentence. Trump commuted Stone’s 40-month prison sentence on Friday evening, just days before he was to report to prison.
