February 29, 2020 3:59 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A Maryland man was sentenced Friday to 32 months in prison for filing a phony document in a lawsuit linked to the Bill Cosby sex assault case. Federal investigators said that 48-year-old Joseph Johnson had a phony court document filed in support of Cosby that was purportedly signed by a lawyer for accuser Andrea Constand. Investigators tracked the filing to Johnson and said he had searched for the words “Cosby” and “Constand” online over 10,000 times. A jury convicted him of identity theft and making false statements. Defense lawyer David Clark said Johnson denies being involved in the filing and told the judge Friday that he is innocent.
February 29, 2020 3:57 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The driver of a stolen ambulance has been nabbed after leading police on a chase through Philadelphia that lasted more than an hour. A police spokesman says the man tried to run over an officer who shot him three times before the chase began. The officer was struck and hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Police say the man stole the emergency vehicle as authorities responded to reports of a domestic disturbance requiring medical attention at a motel. His name wasn’t immediately released as he has yet to be charged with a crime. He was taken to a hospital.
February 28, 2020 3:41 pm
DETROIT (AP) – General Motors is adding 1,200 jobs at two Michigan factories to build midsize SUVs and two new luxury sedans. GM says the Lansing Delta Township plant will get a third shift and 800 more workers to build the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave SUVs, which have three rows of seats. The Lansing Grand River plant will get a second shift and 400 more workers to build two new Cadillac sedans, the CT4 and CT5. Spokesman Dan Flores says employees laid off at other GM factories would fill the new jobs first, then workers would be added. He says the company has not determined yet how many new people would be needed. Lansing Delta Township now employs about 2,500 salaried and blue-collar workers, while the Grand River plant has 1,400.
February 28, 2020 3:39 pm
SAN DIEGO (AP) – An federal appeals court has temporarily halted a major Trump administration policy to make asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their cases wind through U.S. immigration courts. A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Friday in a 2-1 vote to put on hold the policy that furthered President Donald Trump’s asylum crackdown. The “Remain in Mexico” policy – known officially as “Migrant Protection Protocols” – took effect in January 2019 in San Diego and has spread across the border. Nearly 60,000 people have been sent back since the policy began. The question before the judges was whether to let the policy take effect during legal challenge.
February 28, 2020 12:40 pm
(WPXI)-Canonsburg Police are asking for help in locating a missing teenager. Fifteen year old Joshua “JJ” Harsh did not come home from Canon McMillan High School on Thursday afternoon. Harsh is 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds. He was last seen wearing black sweat pants and a dark colored hoodie and was carrying a backpack. If anyone has information regarding Harsh’s whereabouts, Canonsburg Police ask that you contact 911 to ensure prompt police response.
February 28, 2020 8:22 am
GENEVA (AP) – The Geneva auto show is being canceled after the Swiss government announced an immediate ban on all public and private events involving more than 1,000 people. It took the measure Friday to halt the spread of the new coronavirus. The move comes into effect immediately and will last until at least March 15. The measure will above all affect the annual Geneva Motor Show, which was due to take place from March 5-15 and draws tens of thousands of visitors every year. Organizers of the auto show confirm that it is canceled out of precaution.
February 28, 2020 5:47 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. —One person is dead, and two suspects are in custody, according to University Police, after an early morning shooting at an apartment complex near West Virginia University’s downtown Morgantown campus. “Multiple agencies responded to support our department at the scene,” said UPD Chief W.P. Chedester. “We appreciate their cooperation and assistance as our investigation continues.” The medical examiner has been called. University Police is not releasing additional information at this time as its investigation is ongoing. Counselors from WVU’s Carruth Center are onsite at College Park to provide support for residents.
February 28, 2020 4:21 am
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey has raised the death toll from a Syrian government airstrike on its forces in northwestern Syria the day before to 33 Turkish troops. The fatalities on Thursday marked the largest death toll for Turkey in a single day since it first intervened in Syria in 2016. The deaths were a serious escalation in the direct conflict between Turkish and Russia-backed Syrian forces that has been waged since early February. The earlier reported death toll was 29 troops. Dozens were also wounded and were being treated in Turkish hospitals. A Turkish official says the situation in Idlib “threatens our national survival.
February 28, 2020 4:20 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence’s handling of a health crisis when he was governor of Indiana is getting a fresh look. This comes after President Donald Trump tasked him with overseeing the U.S. response to the new coronavirus threat. Critics say he mishandled the 2015 HIV outbreak in southern Indiana. Pence delayed allowing a program to provide clean needles to intravenous drug users in one rural county where nearly 200 people eventually tested positive for HIV. Foundation for AIDS Research official Greg Millett says the outbreak would have been “entirely preventable” if Pence had acted earlier. Pence was worried that needle exchange programs enabled illegal drug abuse.
February 28, 2020 4:19 am
BANGKOK (AP) – Saudi Arabia cut travel to Islam’s holiest sites, South Korea toughened penalties for those breaking quarantines and airports looked for signs of sick passengers as a new virus troubled more places. With the number of sick and dead rising, the crisis gave way to political and diplomatic rows and a sense that no part of the world was immune. South Korea reported a jump in new cases that pushed its total past 2,000. The hardest-hit country by far remains China, though its daily increases are continuing a downward trend. It reported 327 new cases and 44 deaths Friday, raising its totals to 78,824 with 2,788 deaths.
