February 5, 2020 4:05 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Pennsylvania Legislature’s budget reserve for its own operations is continuing to rise, reaching $172 million for the year that ended last June. The Legislative Audit Advisory Commission voted Tuesday to approve what’s an annual spending report for state lawmakers and their staff. The report says the legislative branch spent $362 million over that year, up slightly from $355 million in the 2017-2018 fiscal year. The largest type of expense, by far, is payroll and benefits, which cost slightly over $299 million. Other spending categories include $4 million for transportation, $2.4 million for travel, and $2.5 million for postage. Lawmakers’ budgetary reserve peaked at $215 million in 2006.
February 5, 2020 2:30 am
ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say a school van driver was killed in a collision with a tractor-trailer on a western Pennsylvania road. Officials in Lawrence County said the crash occurred shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday on Route 488 in Perry Township near Ellwood City. Coroner Rich Johnson said the driver was pronounced dead at the scene. His name wasn’t immediately released pending notification of his family. An autopsy was planned to determine the exact cause of death. Johnson said information at the scene indicated that the van driver had just dropped off an adult student at a school in the area and he and the van aide were the only ones in the vehicle. The aide and the truck driver were uninjured. (Photo: WPXI)
February 4, 2020 5:42 am
One person was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital after a car went out of control and crashed into a garage in Charleroi Monday night. Officials say it happened around 8:30 p.m. in the 900 block of Lincoln Avenue. According to reports, three people fled the vehicle on foot after the crash. An unidentified man reportedly suffered a compound leg fracture and was flown to Pittsburgh. There is no word on his condition. Police are now reviewing security cameras in the area to try and determine who was driving the vehicle. The other two individuals involved were also not identified. Police continue to investigate.
February 4, 2020 4:22 am
MOORE, Okla. (AP) – A school official says a second suburban Oklahoma City high school student has died after a group of cross-country runners was struck by a pickup. Authorities say the truck was driven by a man whose son was killed in a weekend traffic crash. Moore Public Schools safety and security director Dustin Horstkoetter said Tuesday that sophomore Yuridia Martinezáhad been hospitalized since the Monday crash, but has since died. Senior Rachel Freeman was killed Monday as the students ran outside the school. Police believe the students were running on a sidewalk. They arrested 57-year-old Max Leroy Townsend. He’s facing charges of manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid.
February 4, 2020 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate is so far cleaving neatly along party lines in advance of Wednesday’s virtually certain votes to acquit President Donald Trump on two impeachment charges, Just two or three undecided senators are even considering breaking with their party. áThe chamber’s top Republican, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, again slammed the impeachment drive of House Democrats as “the most rushed, least fair and least thorough” in history and confirmed that he will vote to acquit Trump. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer accused Republicans of sweeping Trump’s misconduct under the rug. The trial is cruising to impeachment tallies that will fall short of even a majority of the GOP-held Senate, much less the two-thirds required to remove Trump from office.
February 4, 2020 4:18 am
BEIJING (AP) – China says the number of infections from a new virus has surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said “we have launched a people’s war of prevention of the epidemic.” Xi presided over a special meeting of the top Communist Party body, saying the country must race against time to curb the spread of the virus. Hong Kong reported its first death from the illness and shut almost all of its land and sea border crossings with the mainland after medical workers began a strike demanding the border be closed completely. Their union has threatened a bigger walkout Tuesday.
February 4, 2020 4:16 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A key accuser in the New York City rape trial of Harvey Weinstein faced a vigorous cross-examination that drove her to tears. The drama prompted the judge to send the jury home about an hour earlier than usual Monday. While on the stand, the woman answered questions about why she maintained a relationship with Weinstein despite her allegations that the once-powerful movie mogul raped her. The testimony comes at a pivotal moment in the trial of Weinstein, who became one of the #MeToo movement’s top targets. He is charged in New York with the 2013 rape and also sexually assaulting Mimi Haleyi, a former “Project Runway” production assistant, in 2006. He has insisted that any sexual encounters were consensual.
February 4, 2020 4:13 am
Washington City Council is working hard to keep city streets free from blighted structures, both residential and commercial. Council is looking to turn over the building at the corner of North Main Street and Chestnut Street to the Washington County Redevelopment Authority for demolition. Mayor Scott Putnam stated that initial estimates for the demolition are in the range of $250,000 to $350,000. Putnam states that there is money put aside for the project, he just wants to make sure there are no surprises. Council is also in discussion with the Redevelopment Authority about joining the Washington County Land Bank. The land bank is another method that communities can use to rehabilitate properties and get them sold so they can be active on the tax rolls again. Putnam says there are a couple of details that need to be ironed out and an agreement could come in time for council’s regular meeting on Thursday.
February 4, 2020 4:04 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Trial has opened for one man as charges were dismissed against his co-defendant in the slayings of five people and an unborn baby at a western Pennsylvania cookout almost four years ago. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward Borkowski on Monday granted a defense motion to dismiss the case against 31-year-old Robert Thomas in the March 2016 killings in Pittsburgh’s Wilkinsburg suburb. The defense sought dismissal after prosecutors decided against putting a key witness on the stand. Testimony began Monday against 33-year-old Cheron Shelton. Prosecutors say they plan to seek capital punishment in the event of a first-degree murder conviction.
February 3, 2020 3:31 pm
COMMERCE, Texas (AP) – Officials say two women were killed and a child was wounded in a shooting at a dormitory at a university in Texas. A recommendation for students and employees to shelter in place was lifted early Monday afternoon at Texas A&M University-Commerce, and police said there appeared to be no other threats. Officials have not identified the suspected shooter. University police Chief Bryan Vaughn said officers responding to a call at about 10:17 a.m. found two dead women at Pride Rock residence hall. He said a boy about 2 years old was taken to a local hospital. He was in stable condition.
