July 18, 2019 4:04 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s highest court is overturning lower court decisions and ruling that Pittsburgh has the authority to require paid sick leave for workers. Wednesday’s ruling by the state Supreme Court lets the city’s 2015 ordinance stand. Mayor William Peduto is calling the decision a huge win for people who live and work in Pittsburgh. He says people shouldn’t be forced into deciding between staying home sick and missing a day’s pay, or going to work and spreading germs. Business organizations had sued over the rule and won twice in lower courts.
Under the ordinance, employers with 15 or more employees must give them up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year. Employers with fewer than 15 employees must provide up to 24 hours of paid sick leave per year.
July 18, 2019 3:20 am
A criminal investigation has been launched after an audit of the Washington County Clerk of Courts Office revealed that some 96-thousand-dollars was missing. Washington County Controller Mike Namie says the annual audit uncovered twenty-four missing deposits totaling $96,716 dollars dating back to the start of 2018. Washington County Commissioners announced the finding prior to Wednesday’s agenda meeting, saying that the court and the Pennsylvania State Police were contacted and that a complete criminal investigation of the matter is underway. Clerk of Courts Frank Scandale is on vacation this week, but WJPA News reached out to him via Facebook Messenger and he replied with this statement: “I try to run the office like an efficient business and sometimes best practices must be revised and revisited; however, I categorically deny that any wrong-doing was committed in this matter. I welcome any investigation that may take place and I intend to fully cooperate with the same.” Namie says his audit also shows that the Clerk of Courts Office made incorrect deposits to bank accounts and did not always make the deposits on a daily basis. Namie says there is no timetable for the investigation, but did emphasize that everyone who completed a transaction with the Clerk of Courts Office during the audit period was credited. Scandale, a Democrat, who is seeking a second term in office and who ran unopposed on the Democratic ticket in the May Primary Election told WJPA News that reports of his plans to withdraw his name from the November General Election are not true and that he will continue to seek re-election.
July 17, 2019 5:21 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – The notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been sentenced to life behind bars in a U.S. prison. A federal judge in Brooklyn handed down the sentence Wednesday. Guzman was convicted in February in an epic drug-trafficking case that triggered a mandatory sentence of life without parole. He spoke briefly before he was sentenced, saying he was denied a fair trial.
July 17, 2019 5:16 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – A Republican senator has blocked a bipartisan bill that would ensure a victims’ compensation fund for the Sept. 11 attacks never runs out of money. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul questions the bill’s 70-year time frame and notes the government faces a $22 trillion debt. He says any new spending should be offset by cuts. Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is criticizing Paul for playing what she calls “political games.” The bill has 73 co-sponsors in the Senate and easily passed the House last week.
July 17, 2019 4:42 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI/WJPA) – A local doctor accused in a pill mill scheme was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Pittsburgh. Dr. Madhu Aggarwal surrendered her medical license last year after she pleaded guilty to charges connected to her illegally prescribing suboxone while working at Redirections Treatment Advocates in Washington, Pennsylvania. Aggarwal, a gynecologist, was sentenced to six months home detention and three years probaton. She was also sentenced to do 100 hours of community service and pay fines. Aggarwal broke down several times in court as she admitted to signing blank prescriptions for suboxone. “For the last 14 months, not a day has gone by that I haven’t cried. Enjoyment is gone from my life,” Aggarwal said in court. Aggarwal surrendered her medical license. She said her actions came from a good place. She told the judge she saw “over time how opioids were destroying the community.” She was treating mothers addicted to opioids. Babies were coming out addicted, as well.
July 17, 2019 2:52 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – Off-duty police officer Calvin Hall, who was shot early Saturday morning in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood, has died, officials confirmed Wednesday. Hall, 36, was at a house on Monticello Street visiting friends when he was shot three times in the back, according to investigators. He died Wednesday at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. Hall was stationed in Northview Heights for the last two years. Police said he was assigned there because of his positive attitude and ability to relate to people. Officials said Hall previously worked for Braddock Police and had also worked as a police officer for Point Park University. Hall will receive full burial honors, police said. Hall’s death is being investigated as a homicide. No arrests have been made in the shooting.
July 17, 2019 2:36 pm
GENEVA (AP) – The World Health Organization says the deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo is now an international health emergency after the virus spread this week to a city of 2 million people. A WHO expert committee declined on three previous occasions to advise the United Nations health agency to make the declaration, but other experts say the outbreak has long met the conditions. More than 1,600 people have died since August in the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, which is unfolding in a region described as a war zone. This week the first Ebola case was confirmed in Goma, a major regional crossroads on the Rwandan border with an international airport. Experts have feared this for months. A declaration of a global health emergency often brings greater international attention and aid.
July 17, 2019 7:57 am
A water main break has left some two dozen customers without water Wednesday morning in Canonsburg. Pennsylvania American Water says crews are working to make repairs but it could take six to eight hours to complete. The break involved a four-inch water line along Blaine Avenue. At least one home reportedly did get water in its basement as a result of the break. The break occurred just after 5 a.m. in the 400 block of Blaine.
July 17, 2019 7:52 am
OREM, Utah (AP) – Authorities say a 6-year-old Utah girl has died after her father accidentally hit her with a golf ball. Police say the ball struck the girl in the back of the head on Monday morning, while the father and daughter were golfing at Sleepy Ridge Golf Course in Orem. The ball collided with the base of her neck. Lt. Trent Colledge with the Orem Police Department says she was flown to a hospital in Salt Lake City in critical condition. She died from her injuries later that evening. Colledge said police are investigating but are not planning to pursue charges because it appears to have been a tragic accident. Police have not released the names of the girl or her father.
July 17, 2019 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – John Paul Stevens, who served on the Supreme Court for nearly 35 years and became its leading liberal, has died. He was 99. Stevens’ influence was felt on issues including abortion rights, protecting consumers and placing limits on the death penalty. He led the high court’s decision to allow terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay to plead for their freedom in U.S. courts. As a federal appeals court judge in Chicago, Stevens was considered a moderate when Republican President Gerald Ford nominated him. On the Supreme Court he became known as an independent thinker and a voice for ordinary people against powerful interests. He retired in June 2010 at age 90, the second oldest justice in the court’s history.
