June 4, 2019 2:17 am
Cecil Township Supervisors have approved a plan put forth by Traditions of America to develop a 191 acre tract of land on Hahn Rd. The development is an age restricted development that when completed will have 352 single family detached homes. The plan will be built in seven phases and phase one was granted approval. In audience commentary after the business meeting, N. Depaoli Rd. resident Michelle Stonemark expressed her continuing concerns about a Range Resources well pad proposed 600 feet from her home. Stonemark brought to the attention of supervisors a case decided on May 31, 2019 allowing testimony from neighboring communities as pertinent evidence when considering the allowance of a gas well pad as a permitted use. The well pad in question off Depaoli Rd is the Augustine Pad and will be operated by Range Resources.
June 4, 2019 2:17 am
A Washington County Court Judge has lifted an injunction that prevented the publication of a settlement agreement between Range Resources and a group of Amwell Township residents over claims that their operations damaged their health. The terms of the settlement, made in August of 2018, were revealed Tuesday after Range Resources agreed to make its portion of the agreement public. President Judge Katherine Emery then vacated her temporary injunction that had barred publication of the agreement terms that were mistakenly made available to WESA reporter Reid Frazier because of a computer glitch in the Washington County Prothonotary’ s office. David Strassburger, Frazier’s attorney, said he was pleased with the outcome of the hearing, calling it a victory for first amendment rights for the media. The document revealed that Range Resources and ten other companies involved in developing the Jager shale gas well site in Amwell Township paid Stacy Haney and her neighbors three-million-dollars to settle their claims that the well damaged their health.
June 4, 2019 2:16 am
A Washington man is facing a prison sentence of thirty-five and a half to ninety years for his role in the attempted execution –type shooting of another Washington area man two years ago. Twenty-eight-year-old Keith Rosario was found guilty of kidnapping and beating 32-year-old Marcus Stancik in the city’s West End and then shooting him during a botched execution. The shooting occurred on Cove Road, along the shore of a former reservoir in South Franklin Township. Rosario shot Stancik in the base of his head but when the gun jammed as he attempted to shoot Stancik again, Stancik was able to go into the water and a nearby neighbor, who heard screaming, called 911. Authorities say the kidnapping stemmed from the alleged theft of a firearm two days earlier. Stancik has denied taking the gun. Rosario’s co-defendant in the case, 25-year-old Richard Lacks, testified for the prosecution during the trial and in exchange for his testimony, he received a four to eight year prison term. He pled guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.
May 14, 2019 6:47 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Tim Conway, the stellar second banana to Carol Burnett who won four Emmy Awards on her TV variety show, has died, according to his publicist. He was 85. Conway died Tuesday morning after a long illness in Los Angeles, according to Howard Bragman, who heads LaBrea Media. “The Carol Burnett Show” aired on CBS from 1967-1978. The ensemble cast included Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner. Conway joined the cast as a regular in 1975 after being a frequent guest. Besides his four Emmys with Burnett, Conway got two more for guest appearances on “Coach” and “30 Rock.” Conway also had a modest but steady movie career, appearing in such films as “The Apple Dumpling Gang.”
May 14, 2019 6:46 pm
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A team of federal accident investigators is expected to arrive in Alaska Tuesday to try to piece together what caused a deadly midair collision between two sightseeing planes. The Coast Guard says four people were killed after the floatplanes carrying cruise ship tourists collided Monday near the southeast Alaska town of Ketchikan. Two others are missing. The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigative team for major accidents is expected to arrive in Ketchikan Tuesday afternoon.
May 14, 2019 6:46 pm
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Five victims of sex abuse by Catholic priests plan to sue the Vatican and are demanding to know the names of thousands of predator priests they say have been kept secret. Attorney Jeff Anderson plans to file his lawsuit on Tuesday. The plaintiffs include three brothers who were abused by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer as recently as 2012 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Wehmeyer pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct and child pornography in connection with his contact with two of the boys, who were 12 and 14. The brothers plan to speak about the case at a Tuesday news conference. Wehmeyer’s arrest led prosecutors to charge the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for failing to protect children. It also led to the forced resignation of then-Archbishop John Nienstedt.
May 14, 2019 6:46 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – President Donald Trump is coming to Pennsylvania for a rally the day before voters in a congressional district in the northcentral part of the state pick a new representative to go to Washington. Trump’s rally is next Monday at hangar by Williamsport Regional Airport in Montoursville. His campaign says Trump was last there in 2015. Republican Fred Keller and Democrat Marc Friedenberg are vying to fill an open seat created by Republican Tom Marino’s resignation in January. The district is heavily Republican and voters there backed Trump in 2016’s presidential election by better than 2 to 1 over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump beat Clinton in Pennsylvania, by less than 1 percentage point, and the state is part of his likeliest path to winning a second term.
May 14, 2019 6:45 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General William Barr has appointed a U.S. attorney to examine the origins of the Russia investigation and determine if intelligence collection involving the Trump campaign was “lawful and appropriate.” That’s according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on Monday. The person couldn’t discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The person said Barr has appointed John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to conduct the inquiry. The inquiry will focus on whether the government’s methods to collect intelligence relating to the Trump campaign were lawful and appropriate. Durham has previously investigated law enforcement corruption, the destruction of CIA videotapes and the Boston FBI office’s relationship with mobsters. He will continue to serve as the chief federal prosecutor in Connecticut.
May 14, 2019 6:44 pm
PITTSBURGH – (WPXI) – “We were about maybe 2 miles from home. Get out of the car. Run around to the passenger side. She had already had the baby and was holding it in her arms. He was very blue. We couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not,” said Kyle and Vicky Blizzard. The Blizzards’ new baby was born in a gas station parking lot on Mother’s Day. The parents were in a panic because the child was not breathing. But first responders were not far away. The Blizzards said their baby’s birth caught them completely by surprise. They said he was 10 weeks early. It was not the Mother’s Day either of the new parents expected. Surveillance cameras captured the moment Sunday morning as the Shaler couple were on their way to the hospital. They pulled into a BP gas station in Millvale. “She said, ‘No the baby is coming now. Pull over. I’m delivering the baby in the car,” Kyle Blizzard said. It happened before he could even get to the other side of the car. The child was not breathing, and the 911 dispatcher was able to walk Kyle Blizzard through CPR. The boy was OK because he was still attached to the umbilical cord. Police and paramedics arrived quickly and took over. The newborn is in the neonatal intensive care unit at West Penn Hospital, where he’ll have to stay for six to eight weeks.
May 14, 2019 6:44 pm
BROWNSVILLE, Pa. – The man killed in a fire at an apartment building in Fayette County early Sunday morning has now been identified. He is 34 year old Vernon Pratt Sr. The chief of the South Brownsville Fire Department says the blaze broke out in the man’s top floor apartment on Second Street. All of the other tenants managed to get out safely. The Red Cross is helping about 10 people. Brownsville Fire Chief Ron Barry said it was a tough fire to get under control because of the heavy smoke, heats and flames. “Very, very difficult fire. Very stubborn fire. And again, the layout of the building and the age of the building. There were a lot of spaces where the fire had a good head start before we got there,” Barry said. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. (Photo: WPXI)
