December 12, 2019 1:38 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Ten former NFL players have been charged with defrauding the league’s healthcare benefit program. They include five who played on the Washington Redskins, including Clinton Portis and Carlos Rogers. Prosecutors allege the players targeted the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account Plan, which was established as part of a collective bargaining agreement in 2006. It provides tax-free reimbursement of out-of-pocket medical care expenses that were not covered by insurance and that were incurred by former players, their spouses and dependents.
December 12, 2019 12:47 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. regulators are setting up a new three-digit number to reach a suicide prevention hotline in order to make it easier to seek help and reduce the stigma associated with mental health. Similar to 911 for emergencies, people will just need to dial 988 to seek help – once it’s implemented. Currently, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline uses a 10-digit number, 800-273 TALK. Callers are routed to one of 163 crisis centers. Thursday’s vote by the Federal Communications Commission starts the months-long process to set up 988. The next step is a comment period before the FCC moves to an order.
December 12, 2019 6:42 am
A tentative settlement has U.S. Steel paying $2 million to Clairton residents who have complained of air quality issues near the Clairton Coke Works for years. The tentative settlement in a 2017 class-action lawsuit also has U.S. Steel investing $6.5 million to upgrade equipment at its Clairton Coke Works facility, according to reports. If the settlement is approved, the Clairton Coke Works would have to improve air quality within one year. That includes installing air coolers and battery machinery.
December 12, 2019 4:48 am
A Monongahela teenager has died following a dirt bike crash Wednesday afternoon. The Washington County Coroner’s office says 17 year old Tyler Garrity was pronounced dead at Monongahela Valley Hospital around 6 p.m. Monongahela Police are investigating. The crash occurred around 4:30 p.m. along Carroll Lane in the city when he crashed his bike into a utility pole and tree . Police say Garrity was wearing a helmet. A cause and manner of death are pending. Officials in the Ringgold School District issued the following statement Thursday: “We are saddened to learn about the untimely passing of Tyler Garrity, an eleventh grade RHS student, yesterday. We extend our condolences to the family. The Ringgold School District will have a Crisis Response Team available on Thursday, December 12th and Friday, December 13th along with next week for staff and students.”
December 12, 2019 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House Judiciary Committee is arguing through a marathon session ahead of voting to send impeachment charges against President Donald Trump to the full House. It’s the latest big step as the politically split Congress debates whether to remove Trump from office. The Judiciary panel debated for nearly three hours Thursday before rejecting a Republican amendment to simply delete the first of two articles of impeachment. That vote was 23-17, along party lines, and later votes were expected to be the same. Democrats called Trump’s actions a “constitutional crime spree.” Republicans decried what they called the “hot garbage” impeachment.
December 12, 2019 4:07 am
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) – Fears that a deadly shooting at a Jewish market in Jersey City, New Jersey, was an anti-Semitic attack are mounting, as authorities describe how a man and woman deliberately pulled up to the place in a stolen rental van and got out firing. Six people were killed on Tuesday – the attackers, a police officer and three people who were in the store.áState and federal law enforcement officials warn they don’t have a motive. But a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity tells The AP that investigators are looking into possible connections between the attackers and the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, some of whose members have railed against whites and Jews.
December 12, 2019 4:07 am
WHAKATANE, New Zealand (AP) – New Zealand police and military specialists have launched a risky operation to recover the bodies of eight victims of a volcanic eruption. Two helicopters have landed Friday on White Island, where eight others were killed in the eruption Monday. Eight military specialists wearing protective clothing and using breathing apparatuses are trying to recover the bodies. Scientists have warned that gases on the island are so toxic and corrosive that a single inhalation could be fatal. They also say volcanic activity has increased in recent days and the island is “highly volatile.” That’s delayed recovering the bodies until now and is making the operation dangerous.
December 12, 2019 4:03 am
LATROBE, Pa. (WPXI) — A former Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputy has been arrested after a lengthy police investigation into allegations that he was sexually inappropriate with female inmates while he was on duty, officials said. Daniel Gradischek, 32, is accused of bribing the inmates with tobacco products in exchange for sexual related favors. State police said he also allegedly allowed the inmates to “intimately touch him above his uniform” while handcuffing them and during transports and prison security details. The investigation revealed that this became a pattern for Gradischekin at various court facilities within the county, officials said. Gradischek is facing several charges, including sexual assault and bribery.
December 12, 2019 4:02 am
ALLEGHENY CO., Pa. — (WPXI)- New data shows a surge in flu cases in Allegheny County. The state of Pennsylvania has seen about 4,400 cases already this season. And Allegheny County makes up 28% of those cases – the most of any county in the state. Doctors said flu season has started early here and everywhere else, but they won’t know exactly why our area is seeing so many cases until after the flu season ends. “We begin to see almost sometime a November rise, but this particular year we’re starting to see Influenza cases in numbers that we would typically see in January,” said Joe Suyama, chief of emergency services at UPMC Magee. Of the confirmed cases in Pennsylvania – Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties account for 2,338 (or 53%).
December 12, 2019 2:00 am
Officials with the Washington City Mission say they have long had the dream of being able to offer residents and the surrounding community access to primary healthcare on a regular basis. Wednesday, that dream came true as the City Mission and Centerville Clinics teamed up to make that dream a reality when the ribbon was cut on the new facility. City Mission President and CEO Dean Gartland says he is very happy with what the collaboration brings. He says that for the first time, City Mission residents and the community will be able to access primary healthcare for children, adults and seniors. The collaboration between the two parties began in November. Barry Niccolai, Executive Director of the Centerville Clinics looks at the partnership as one that fulfills both organizations primary goals, health care to those who find it difficult to obtain. Gartland explains that this will give residents a health care opportunity that many have not been able to obtain for many years. Centerville Clinics will staff the facility with staff twenty hours per week. The staff consists of a primary care physician, primary care nurse practitioner and a pediatric nurse practitioner. Both organizations say they look forward to expanding services in the future. (Pictured: Dr. Kyle Duff, one of the doctors from Centerville Clinics who will be on-site at City Mission twice a week to provide medical services.)
