January 12, 2020 8:00 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Lower prices for natural gas last year will mean a 21% drop in drilling fee revenue for Pennsylvania’s state programs and county and municipal governments even as production grew from exploration in the vast Marcellus Shale reservoir, according to new state estimates. The Independent Fiscal Office projected Wednesday that impact fee collections for 2019 will be $198 million, a nearly $54 million drop from 2018, but still above 2016′s low point of $173 million. Payments are due by July 1, and the money largely stays in drilling communities. The drop breaks two straight years of rising revenue in Pennsylvania, the nation’s No. 2 natural gas state behind Texas. The Independent Fiscal Office said the decrease is largely due to the average annual price of natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropping below $3, which triggered a $5,000 per-well decrease in fees. About 600 new wells were started in 2019, the second-lowest total in a decade other than 2016, when the average annual price also dropped below $3. With 2019 production in Pennsylvania headed to a record 6.8 trillion cubic feet last year, the effective tax rate of the fee fell from 2.2% to 2.1% last year, the Independent Fiscal Office said. The per-well “impact fee” was enacted in 2012.
January 12, 2020 7:57 am
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania woman on trial on a criminal homicide charge in the stabbing death of her boyfriend on Christmas Day in 2018 has taken the stand to assert that she acted in self-defense. The (Uniontown) Herald- Standard reports that 28-year-old Dominique Jones alleged on the stand Friday that the stabbing at the Holiday Inn Express in Uniontown followed years of abuse by 25-year-old Tre Montel McCargo. Jones said an argument that day turned physical and she grabbed a kitchen knife and swung it to defend herself, ultimately stabbing him in the neck. But she said “I was just trying to get him off of me. I wasn’t trying to kill him.” Fayette County prosecutors, however, earlier characterized her as a jealous and angry woman. Assistant District Attorney Wendy O’Brien said Jones believed McCargo was cheating on her after she looked at his cellphone while he slept on Christmas Day. Jurors were expected to return to court to hear closing arguments and begin deliberations.
January 12, 2020 3:15 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Two people have been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals and other offenses. They are accused of kicking a wounded deer in the head and neck and pulling off its antler during a videotaped attack. The Pennsylvania Game Commission filed charges Friday against 18-year-old Alexander Brock Smith and an unnamed 17-year-old male. The attack during the state’s hunting season in November is characterized in an arrest warrant as the torture of the buck that the 17-year-old had shot and wounded. Calls were left for both defendants’ lawyers.
January 11, 2020 9:22 am
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – A magnitude 6.0 quake has shaken Puerto Rico, causing further damage along the island’s southern coast, where previous recent quakes have toppled homes and schools. The U.S. Geological Survey says the Saturday morning quake quake hit 8 miles (13 kilometers) south of Indios at a shallow depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers). There are no immediate reports of the extent of damage or injury. It was the strongest shake yet since a magnitude 6.4 quake struck before dawn on Tuesday, knocking out power across the island and leaving many without water. More than 2,000 people remain in shelters, many fearful of returning to their homes, and others unable to because of extensive damage.
January 11, 2020 9:18 am
DALLAS (AP) – Authorities in Louisiana say three people have died after severe storms swept across parts of the Gulf Coast and Southeast U.S. One of the victims was a man who was killed when a tree fell on his home. The Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office said the bodies of an elderly couple were found near their demolished trailer by firefighters early Saturday. Tornadoes have destroyed homes in Arkansas and Missouri and also caused damage in Oklahoma amid severe storms. The storms also unleashed downpours that caused widespread flash flooding.áDallas police say one person died Friday night when a car flipped into a creek.
January 11, 2020 9:12 am
BALDWIN, Pa.(WPXI)- A head-on crash had all lanes of Route 51 shut down throughout the morning. The Baldwin Borough police chief told Channel 11 five people were taken to the hospital. One of those people was in critical condition. Officials said the crash happened at about 5 a.m. in the area near Streets Run Road in Baldwin. One pickup truck had just the driver while the other truck had four people in it. By 11 a.m., all lanes were back open.
January 11, 2020 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House is considering dramatically expanding its much-litigated travel ban to additional countries amid a renewed election-year focus by President Donald Trump on immigration issues. That’s according to a half-dozen people familiar with the deliberations. Two of the people said a document circulating in the White House outlines the plans, but the countries that would be affected were blacked out. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the measure has yet to be finalized. The expanded ban could include several countries that were initially included in the ban but later removed from the list.
January 11, 2020 4:18 am
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran says its forces accidentally shot down the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed earlier this week, killing all 176 aboard. The government had repeatedly denied Western accusations that it was responsible for the crash. The plane was hit hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on two military bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of its top general. A military statement says the plane was mistaken for a “hostile target” after it turned toward a “sensitive military center” of the Revolutionary Guard. The acknowledgement is an embarrassment for the armed forces and was likely to anger the Iranian public.
January 11, 2020 4:14 am
FAYETTE CO., Pa.(WPXI) — A Fayette County man is facing several charges after state police say he had four people fire shots into a home while the victims were sleeping. According to a criminal complaint, Colby Umbel solicited the help of four others to shoot the home on Iris Street in Connellsville Township around 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 29.Investigators said there were four people inside the home sleeping when the shots were fired: two men (ages 23 and 50), a 47-year-old woman and a 1-year-old girl. None of them were injured in the shooting, but two bullets came within feet of hitting them. Troopers said Umbel, 23, is an acquaintance of the 1-year-old girl’s mother. The girl’s father was inside the home during the incident. Six shots were fired into the home, and investigators said more charges could be forthcoming. The four people who helped Umbel were not identified. Umbel is being charged with Solicitation – Criminal Homicide, Attempt – Criminal Homicide, Discharge of a Firearm into an Occupied Structure, Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Aggravated Assault, Terroristic Threats and Criminal Mischief
January 11, 2020 4:09 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Someone looking out of the 48th floor of the U.S. Steel Tower called authorities after they said they saw an oily sheen on the Allegheny River. Police said the call came in just before 1 p.m. Friday and River Rescue personnel were dispatched to investigate. Officers said the sheen was detected on the left bank of the Allegheny River and was heading downstream. The sheen was described as splotchy, rather than a constant click and it was spotted from around the Sixth Street Bridge up to about a quarter-mile past the 62nd Street Bridge where it began to dissipate. The River Rescue boat turned back around at the 62nd Street Bridge as the water became too shallow to continue the search for a source. Police said they will report their findings to the U.S. Coast Guard and EPA.
