November 26, 2019 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge has ordered former White House counsel Donald McGahn to appear before Congress in a setback to President Donald Trump’s effort to keep his top aides from testifying. The outcome could lead to renewed efforts by House Democrats to compel testimony from other high-ranking officials, including former national security adviser John Bolton. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled Monday in a lawsuit filed by the House Judiciary Committee. McGahn was a star witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and Democrats wanted to question McGahn about possible obstruction of justice by Trump. That was months before the House started an impeachment inquiry into Trump’s effort to get Ukraine to announce an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden. An appeal is likely.
November 26, 2019 4:22 am
A SWAT team was called in after a stolen car was found along a road in Washington Monday night. Pennsylvania State Police say a trooper found that the car had been stolen out of Uniontown. Before the trooper could pull the car over, the driver pulled into a driveway on Hayes Avenue. Three people in the car then ran into the back of the building. Police set up a perimeter and took five people out of the building for questioning. Because of the number of people in the building, state police activated the Special Emergency Response Team. Two handguns were found outside the building, according to police. One of the people taken from the building was taken to jail on an outstanding warrant for an unrelated incident. (WPXI)
November 26, 2019 4:09 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania state lawmakers, judges and top executive branch officials will collect another annual salary increase, with the governor passing $200,000 and rank-and-file lawmakers passing $90,000. Increases for 2020 will be 1.9%, a figure tied by law to the year-over-year regional change in consumer inflation. The boost takes effect Dec. 1 for lawmakers and Jan. 1 for judicial and executive branch officials. Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Saylor is highest-paid, pulling down a $4,000 raise to just above $221,000. Gov. Tom Wolf’s salary will rise about $3,800 to almost $202,000, although he donates it to charity. Both are among the nation’s highest. Most lawmakers, the nation’s third-highest paid, will see increases of $1,725 to about $90,300 in base pay. They also receive per diems, pensions and health benefits, while lawmakers in leadership posts will top out at $141,000.
November 26, 2019 4:03 am
Taxes in Peters Township will not be going up in 2020. That is the message from the preliminary budget adopted unanimously by Peters Township Council on Monday night. Council approved a $33 million dollar operating budget for 2020 with anticipated revenues of $23 million dollars. The $10 million dollar difference will be made up by a bond issued earlier in 2019. That bond was floated for the purpose of the development of the new Rolling Hills Park. In 2020 Peters Township will have 3 large scale projects in the park. Rolling Hills Drive will be extended to meet a newly realigned E. McMurray Road. Much of that project will be funded by traffic impact fees paid by developers and by a $500,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development (pictured). Park infrastructure will also be addressed this year. Picnic shelters, parking a restroom and a link to Arrowhead Trail are anticipated this year. Finally, a design for a community aquatics facility will be funded. The pool will not be built this year. This is merely a design phase. Also anticipated is the purchase of land for a third fire station to service the eastern side of the township. The previously mentioned $500,000 grant was presented to Township and School District Officials by State Representative Natalie Mihalek.
November 26, 2019 3:51 am
A Monessen woman is facing multiple charges, including attempted homicide, after a woman was stabbed multiple times with a pocket knife early Monday morning. Thirty-seven-year-old Tiffany Grogan was jailed without bond following the alleged attacks at a home in the 300 block of 10 Street in Monessen just after one-thirty. Authorities allege that Grogan stabbed Haley Aldrich in the head, neck, back, arm and armpit during an argument over money. Police say two other women were also hurt. Tonya Young told police Grogan bit her on the arm when she tried to restrain her and Djuna Tansmore was cut on her hand when she also tried to stop the attack. Both women refused medical treatment. Aldrich was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital where she was reportedly in stable condition. Grogan has also been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and harassment.
November 25, 2019 2:53 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania state lawmakers, judges and top executive branch officials will collect another annual salary increase, with the governor passing $200,000 and rank-and-file lawmakers passing $90,000. Increases for 2020 will be 1.9%, a figure tied by law to the year-over-year regional change in consumer inflation. The boost takes effect Dec. 1 for lawmakers and Jan. 1 for judicial and executive branch officials. Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Saylor is highest-paid, pulling down a $4,000 raise to just above $221,000. Gov. Tom Wolf’s salary will rise about $3,800 to almost $202,000, although he donates it to charity. Both are among the nation’s highest. Most lawmakers, the nation’s third-highest paid, will see increases of $1,725 to about $90,300 in base pay. They also receive per diems, pensions and health benefits, while lawmakers in leadership posts will top out at $141,000.
November 25, 2019 2:51 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Go ahead and rinse your cranberries, potatoes and green beans. But food safety experts say don’t – repeat don’t – wash the turkey before popping it in the oven on Thanksgiving Day. Germs that sicken people can come from all sorts of foods, but a lot of the advice around the country’s biggest eating holiday focuses on how turkeys should be handled. Food safety experts say raw turkeys shouldn’t be washed since that can spread harmful bacteria. Cooking should kill any germs. But bacteria can still spread in other ways, so washing and sanitizing hands and surfaces are still important. To ensure turkeys are properly cooked, experts also say people should use a thermometer to check that the deepest and thickest parts of the bird are 165 degrees…and leftovers should be refrigerated within two hours.
November 25, 2019 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House undertook a confidential review of documents that revealed extensive efforts to generate an after-the-fact justification for President Donald Trump’s decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine. That from the Washington Post on Sunday. The Post, citing three people familiar with the records, said the research was conducted by the White House Counsel’s Office. Among the hundreds of documents found were email exchanges between acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and White House budget officials seeking to provide an explanation for the withholding of nearly $400 million in security assistance. The Post said a person briefed on the records examination said White House lawyers are expressing concern that the review turned up some unflattering and potentially embarrassing exchanges.
November 25, 2019 4:23 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – A Chinese businesswoman could be headed to prison for trespassing at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and lying to federal agents. Prosecutors want Judge Roy Altman to give Yujing Zhang 18 months in prison when he sentences her Monday afternoon. The 33-year-old Shanghai consultant was convicted in September of trespassing at the Florida resort in March and lying to Secret Service agents who confronted her. When Zhang was arrested, she was carrying four cellphones, a computer and an external hard drive, leading to speculation she could be a spy. She was never charged with espionage, though, and text messages presented at trial suggest she is obsessed with Trump. The president was at a golf course when Zhang arrived at Mar-a-Lago.
November 25, 2019 4:22 am
TOKYO (AP) – Pope Francis is denouncing what he called an “epidemic” of bullying that is tormenting young people in Japan and elsewhere. Francis told Japanese students Monday that deep down, “bullies are afraid, and they cover their fear by showing strength.” Francis was responding to testimony from three students who recounted the pressures they face in a hyper-competitive society, their feelings of inadequacy and the cruelty they sometimes face from their classmates that sometimes drives young people to suicide. One, a Filipino, said he had been tormented by a bully because he was a foreigner. Francis told them: “We must all unite against this culture of bullying and learn to say ‘Enough!’ It is an epidemic, and together you can find the best medicine to treat it.”
