January 13, 2020 2:30 pm
(WPXI) – A video of a 2-year-old boy using a vaping device while being babysat was posted on social media, and now charges are pending against two teenagers, Pennsylvania State Police said. The video was posted on Snapchat, and State Police in Indiana County were alerted to it Sunday by a Safe2Say Something tip, authorities said. Investigators said the toddler was being babysat Jan. 9 by a 17-year-old girl at a home in St. Clair Township, Westmoreland County, when he took the vaping device from a nightstand and began to use it. The 17-year-old and an 18-year-old woman who was also at the home allowed the boy to inhale from the vaping device while taking the video, police said. According to police, the vaping device is believed to have contained 3 percent nicotine, but no THC. The boy could be seen in the video coughing, but there were no other visible effects from inhaling from the vaping device, police said. There is no family relationship between the boy and the two teenagers, authorities said.
January 13, 2020 12:43 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A former librarian and a bookseller have pleaded guilty in the theft of rare books from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in a years-long scheme. Sixty-three-year-old Gregory Priore (left), former manager of the rare books room, pleaded guilty Monday to theft and receiving stolen property. Fifty-six-year-old John Schulman, the owner of Caliban Book Shop, pleaded guilty to theft by deception, receiving stolen property and forgery. Allegheny County prosecutors said some charges were withdrawn in exchange for the pleas, but the deal contains no agreement on sentencing, which is scheduled for April 17 for both defendants. (Photo: WPXI)
January 13, 2020 12:25 pm
SANDRINGHAM, England (AP) – Queen Elizabeth II says she has agreed to grant Prince Harry and Meghan their wish for a more independent life that will see them move part-time to Canada. The British monarch says in a statement that a summit of senior royals on Monday was “constructive.” She said it had been “agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexs will spend time in Canada and the UK.” The queen says there are still issues to be resolved but she wants it done within days.
January 13, 2020 10:00 am
UNDATED (AP) – Todd Phillips’ much-debated supervillain origin story and R-rated box-office smash “Joker” topped all films with 11 Academy Awards nominations on Monday, while Martin Scorsese’s elegiac crime epic “The Irishman,” Quentin Tarantino’s 1960s Los Angeles fairy tale “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and Sam Mendes’ World War I tale “1917” all trailed close behind with 10 nods apiece. áThe nominations will bring about endless speculation about who will win, and who should win. Who wins will be revealed on Feb. 9, when the Oscars are held in Los Angeles. They’ll need all the star power they can get – the show will go hostless for its second straight year.
January 13, 2020 4:20 am
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – An Australian man who was injured in a volcanic eruption in New Zealand more than a month ago has died, becoming the 20th victim of the disaster. Paul Browitt and his two daughters were caught in the Dec. 9 eruption on White Island. One daughter was killed in the eruption and Browitt and the other daughter were injured and transferred to Alfred Hospital in their hometown of Melbourne three days after the disaster. A police statement confirmed Paul Browitt died on Sunday night as a result of injuries from the eruption. The surviving daughter remains hospitalized.
January 13, 2020 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States is preparing to remove more than a dozen Saudi military students from a training program after an investigation into a deadly shooting by a Saudi aviation student at a Florida navy base last month. That’s according to a U.S. official who spoke to The Associated Press on Sunday. The 21-year-old Saudi Air Force officer, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, opened fire at the naval base in Pensacola, killing three U.S. sailors and injuring eight other people. The Justice Department has been investigating the incident as an act of terrorism.
January 13, 2020 4:17 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Democrat Cory Booker has dropped out of the presidential race after failing to qualify for the December primary debate. Booker announced Monday that he was ending a campaign whose message of unity and love failed to gain traction in a political era marked by chaos and anxiety. The U.S. senator from New Jersey had struggled in polling and fundraising since launching his bid last February. Booker was unable to hit 5% support in a single qualifying poll required to make it on the January debate stage. Booker’s departure leaves a field that was once the most diverse in history with just one remaining African American candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
January 13, 2020 4:15 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Online videos purport to show Iranian police and security forces firing both tear gas and live rounds to disperse demonstrators who are protesting against the Islamic Republic’s initial denial that it shot down a Ukrainian jetliner. The videos obtained by The Associated Press on Monday show protesters gathered near Tehran’s Azadi, or Freedom, Square on Sunday night. Videos show tear gas being fired on what appears to be a peaceful crowd, which then turns to run away. Gunfire can be heard in the background. Another clip shows a woman being carried away as a crowd shouts that she’s been shot. Iranian state media did not immediately report on the incident.
January 13, 2020 4:14 am
(WPXI) – The former promoter for the Three Rivers Regatta who is the subject of a criminal investigation failed to show up to a second bankruptcy court hearing on Monday. Derek Webber, who ran LionHeart Event Group, was accused of falsifying documents, not securing the necessary permits and owing tens of thousands of dollars. Court documents said LionHeart owed money to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office and Starfire Entertainment, among others. Neither Webber nor his attorney showed up to the scheduled court hearing on Monday. The event was cancelled just days before it was supposed to start once board members learned of the issues.
January 13, 2020 4:12 am
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Closing arguments are scheduled Monday in the homicide trial of a western Pennsylvania woman charged in the stabbing death of her boyfriend on Christmas Day in 2018. Twenty-eight-year-old Dominique Jones took the stand Friday and alleged that the stabbing at the Holiday Inn Express in Uniontown followed years of abuse. She said she wasn’t trying to kill 25-year-old Tre Montel McCargo but “was just trying to get him off of me.” Fayette County prosecutors, however, say Jones believed McCargo was cheating on her. The (Uniontown) Herald-Standard reports that testimony was to continue Saturday, but prosecutors opted not to call rebuttal witnesses.
