January 21, 2020 1:46 pm
New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has signed legislation prohibiting the sale of flavored vaping products. Murphy signed the measure that moved to his desk amid a nationwide scare last year over mysterious illnesses linked to vaping. The ban will take effect in April. Murphy and the bill’s sponsors say the flavors are meant to hook young people, who are using the products in increasing numbers. The New Jersey measure would ban menthol but permit tobacco flavors. The measure also prohibits other flavors, like candy, desserts and fruit, among others.
January 21, 2020 12:41 pm
State Police in Greene County say they are treating the death of a Mt. Morris man as a homicide. Troopers say 43-year-old Roger Grim Jr. was found with multiple gunshot wounds to his body on Fox Hill Road in Perry Township Sunday morning. Authorities say he was likely killed sometime between two and nine a.m. Troopers say their investigation is ongoing.
January 21, 2020 3:34 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The Vatican has ordered an investigation of a sexual abuse allegation against a Brooklyn bishop who was previously named by Pope Francis to investigate the church’s response to clergy sexual abuse in Buffalo. The Archdiocese of New York says Cardinal Timothy Dolan received instructions on Jan. 7 to begin an investigation of allegations that Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio molested a child while he was a priest in New Jersey in the mid-1970s. DiMarzio has denied the allegation. An attorney notified church officials in November that he was preparing a lawsuit on behalf of the alleged victim. Pope Francis tapped DiMarzio in October to investigate the Buffalo Diocese’s response to clergy sexual abuse.
January 21, 2020 3:33 am
BENTLEYVILLE, Pa. — All westbound lanes were closed for a portion of time early Tuesday morning on Interstate 70 near Bentleyville for a truck fire. The tractor trailer, which was carrying juice, caught fire near exit 31 in Kammermer. PennDot issued a tweet saying that the westbound lanes of the highway were closed around 12:30 a.m. Only the trailer was affected by the fire, which was under control before 2:00 a.m. No injuries were reported from the incident.
January 21, 2020 3:18 am
BEIJING (AP) – Heightened precautions are being taken in China and elsewhere as governments strove to control the outbreak of a novel coronavirus that threatens to grow during the Lunar New Year travel rush. Anxieties grew after a Chinese government expert revealed on state television that the virus can be spread between humans. Authorities had previously said there was no evidence of that. The first cases were linked to a seafood market in Wuhan and animal-to-human transmission was suspected. So far, four people have died, and more than 200 have been infected. Most of the illnesses and all of the confirmed deaths have occurred in Wuhan. The cases in other Chinese cities and in Japan, South Korea and Thailand were connected to Wuhan as well.
January 21, 2020 3:17 am
CIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico (AP) – Hundreds of Central American migrants have waded across the Suchiate River into southern Mexico in a new test of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Central America strategy to keep them away from the U.S. border. Some scuffled with national guardsmen on the riverbank Monday while others slipped through Mexican lines and trudged off on a rural highway in small groups. Immigration authorities nabbed more there and chased others into the brush. áMost, however, remain at the river’s edge or standing in its muddy waters trying to decide what to do next, after being blocked from crossing en masse over a border bridge between Guatemala and Mexico.
January 21, 2020 3:16 am
SEATTLE (AP) – The U.S. has its first case of a new virus that was found only last month in China, but health officials say they believe the virus’ overall risk to the American public remains low. A Washington state resident who recently returned from a trip to central China has been diagnosed with the new virus. Health officials said Tuesday that the man returned to the Seattle area in the middle of last week after traveling to the Wuhan area, where the outbreak began. The man is in his 30s and is in good condition at a hospital in Everett, outside Seattle.
January 21, 2020 3:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell abruptly changed his proposed rules for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial after senators objected. He is now offering three days, rather than two, for opening arguments from each side. Democrats objected strongly to rules proposed by the Republican leader for compressed arguments and a speedy trial. Chief Justice John Roberts gaveled in the session. Democrats warned that the rules package could force midnight sessions that would keep most Americans in the dark. Trump said anew that the whole thing was a hoax, and he said he was sure it would “work out fine.”
January 21, 2020 3:09 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) — A gun buyback program at the Holy Cross Episcopal Church held in conjunction with Martin Luther King Jr. Day ran out of money in less than an hour, paying out over $5,000. Program officials said they were offering $100 per gun turned in, with no questions asked. Church leaders were partnering with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and Homewood Ministries to put on the program. Last November, there was a double homicide right outside of the church. Program officials said the doors will be open through the afternoon with the hope they receive more donations in order to buy back more guns. However, they are planning to host another similar event soon. The church is asking for more donations but you cannot donate online. You’d have to go to the church directly.
January 21, 2020 3:07 am
EAST HUNTINGDON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WPXI) — Three workers burned when a business caught fire Friday in East Huntingdon are still recovering from their injuries as officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigate what happened. Three people were burned and two of them are still in a hospital following a huge fire at Fleet Services. Shawn Wilson was one of the victims and his wife told our news partners at Channel 11 he was moved out of the ICU and will need skin grafts. Officials with OSHA are looking into what sparked the massive fire. Leaders with the company were also reportedly making their way to the site to investigate. “The one tanker in the garage has a blow off valve on top. When the pressure gets behind it and the heat, it blew the valves off to release the pressure. It’s meant to do that,” said Chief Brian Kite with the East Huntingdon Fire Department. He said mechanics were doing routine maintenance on tanks containing butane when the fire started. Fire officials said several years ago, they toured the company to become familiar with it in case there was ever an incident there.
