February 19, 2020 2:36 am
One of two people charged in connection with a murder that led to an amber alert being issued Tuesday for a sixteen-year-old boy says he did not kidnap the teenager. Authorities in Fayette County charged 31-year-old Keith Bradshaw of Everson and 37-year-old Marjorie Jay of Connellsville, with criminal homicide in the death of 52-year-old William Stewart, who was shot multiple times on the back porch of his East Fairview Avenue home in Connellsville. Bradshaw told reporters today that he did not kidnap the teenager. Police say Stewart “had an ongoing problem” with Bradshaw and Jay but they did not specify the nature of the problem. They did say, however, that Stewart had reported it to police. Police also did not specify the relationship between Bradshaw and Jay, but said the two conspired to “talk” to the teen, who is described as being the son of Stewart’s girlfriend.
February 18, 2020 4:53 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has gone on a clemency blitz, commuting the 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and a long list of others. In addition to Blagojevich, Trump pardoned former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik, who served three years for tax fraud, and and financier Michael Milken, who pleaded guilty for violating U.S. securities laws. Trump also pardoned, among others, a technology entrepreneur who accessed a computer without authorization, a construction company owner who underpaid his taxes; and an author who served a six-month home sentence for her role in a stolen vehicle ring.
February 18, 2020 12:54 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has pardoned Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former San Francisco 49ers owner convicted in a gambling fraud scandal. DeBartolo Jr. built the San Francisco 49ers’ 1980s-1990s dynasty. He was involved in one of the biggest owners’ scandals in the sport’s history. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony when he paid $400,000 to former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards in exchange for a riverboat gambling license. The White House announced the surprise decision to reporters on Tuesday. NFL great Jerry Rice played on three of DeBartolo’s Super Bowl-winning teams and says DeBartolo “was like that 12th man” of the great 49ers teams. In addition to the 49ers, the family also owned the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League before selling the team in 1991. (Photo: CNN)
February 18, 2020 8:38 am
Emergency crews were busy in Fallowfield Township Tuesday morning. Crews were called to a two vehicle crash involving a dump truck and a passenger vehicle along Interstate 70 eastbound around 5:30a.m. near the Monongahela exit. That crash initially closed both eastbound lanes of the highway. Washington County 9-1-1 says one person was transported from the scene by ambulance but no other information was available. A second crash then occurred in the northbound lanes of the Mon Fayette Expressway at mile-marker 36 near the Charleroi interchange. It happened just after 7:30 a.m. and two vehicles were involved. There were reports that two people were being transported to Mon Valley Hospital.
February 18, 2020 5:42 am
UNDATED (AP) – Billionaire Mike Bloomberg has qualified for the next Democratic presidential debate. A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll published Tuesday shows Bloomberg with 19% support nationally. It’s the first time Bloomberg will stand alongside the rivals he has so far avoided by bypassing the early voting states and using his personal fortune to define himself through television ads. The former New York mayor will appear Wednesday in Las Vegas alongside Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg. His campaign says he’s “looking forward” to it. The Democratic National Committee recently changed its rules for how a candidate qualifies for the debate, opening the door for Bloomberg. Tom Steyer hopes to qualify.
February 18, 2020 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge has refused to delay sentencing for Roger Stone on his witness tampering and lying to Congress conviction. Her decision Tuesday came as President Donald Trump kept up his unrelenting defense of his longtime confidant and said he wouldn’t be quieted on social media even if it’s making things harder for his attorney general. That sets up a crossroads moment later this week in an extraordinary case marked by a mini-revolt inside the Justice Department and allegations of interference by Trump. Stone was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering in connection with the House investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. He’s scheduled to be sentenced Thursday.
February 18, 2020 4:12 am
BEIJING (AP) – China reported 1,886 new virus cases and 98 more deaths in its update on a disease outbreak that has caused milder illness in most people, an assessment that promoted guarded optimism from global health authorities. The update raised the number of deaths in mainland China to 1,868 and the total confirmed cases to 72,436. China may postpone its biggest political meeting of the year to avoid having people travel to Beijing while the virus is still spreading. One of the automotive industry’s biggest events, China’s biannual auto show, is being postponed, and many sports and entertainment events have been delayed or canceled.
February 18, 2020 4:12 am
The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy protection as it faces a barrage of new sex-abuse lawsuits. The filing Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware, is an attempt to work out a potentially mammoth compensation plan for abuse victims that will allow the 110-year-old organization to carry on. It could be one of the biggest, most complex bankruptcies ever seen. Scores of lawyers are seeking settlements on behalf of several thousand men who say they were molested as boys by scout leaders decades ago. The organization could be forced to sell off some of its vast property holdings to raise money for a compensation fund that could surpass $1 billion.
February 18, 2020 4:11 am
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Authorities in South Carolina say a 6-year-old girl who disappeared from her front yard after school was strangled by a neighbor who then killed himself. Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher told reporters Tuesday that Faye Marie Swetlik died just a few hours after she was abducted. Her body was found in the woods nearby moments before 30-year-old neighbor Coty Scott Taylor was found dead in his home. Investigators found clues about her disappearance Thursday in Taylor’s trash can. By then, three days had passed since the girl disappeared. A public memorial for Faye will be held Friday evening at Trinity Baptist Church in Cayce.
February 18, 2020 4:09 am
RED LION, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say five firefighters were injured battling a blaze at an apartment building in Pennsylvania. York County emergency dispatchers said crews were called to the Hilltop Apartments in Red Lion at about 11:45 p.m. Saturday. They quickly extinguished a basement fire but found the flames had spread to upper floors. County public information officer Mark Walters says firefighters entered an apartment at about the same time as “an explosion of superheated gases and fire.” Five were taken to a hospital and one remained hospitalized Sunday. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
