October 6, 2019 6:23 am
CANONSBURG, Pa. — State Department of Health officials and medical professionals from the area will hold a public meeting about the large number of Ewing Sarcoma and childhood cancers in the Canon-McMillan School District. The meeting on October 7 will take place in the auditorium at Canon-McMillan High School. Medical Professionals from UPMC Children’s Hospital will discuss Ewing Sarcoma and other cancers. The Department of Health will discuss data collection and cancer incidence reporting methods. Six cases of Ewing Sarcoma have been diagnosed since 2008 in the Canon-McMillan School District. Several other students have been diagnosed with other forms of cancer in that same time frame. State Representatives Tim O’Neal, R-South Strabane and Jason Ortitay, R-South Fayette are the sponsors of the meeting.
October 6, 2019 6:21 am
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (AP) – A judge has ordered the defense to turn over to prosecutors background material on a man charged in the shooting death of a western Pennsylvania police officer almost two years ago. The Tribune-Review reports that defense attorneys had argued that their case would be damaged if prosecutors were given the report detailing reasons why the life of 31-year-old Rahmael Sal Holt should be spared should he be convicted in the November 2017 slaying of New Kensington officer Brian Shaw. Attorney Tim Dawson said the report concluded that Holt has no mental health or intellectual disabilities, but aspects of his life and upbringing could persuade jurors to impose a life term. Holt says he wasn’t the one who fired the shots that killed Shaw following a traffic stop in New Kensington.
October 5, 2019 4:17 am
SMITHFIELD, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania state police say a groom-to-be sexually assaulted one of his guests two days before his wedding. Prosecutors say Daniel Carney is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of an unconscious person and indecent assault. It wasn’t known Friday if the 28-year-old Stroudsburg man has retained an attorney.Authorities say the victim, a 29-year-old Oregon woman, said she was sexually assaulted at a hotel in Smithfield on Aug. 30. The woman told police she was in town to attend Carney’s Sept. 1 wedding and said the assault occurred in a downstairs men’s locker room.
October 5, 2019 4:12 am
A lawyer for members of the Sackler family says the amount the family received from OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma was not as big as it seems. Court papers filed Friday by state and local governments cited a Purdue consultant who said that family members made $12 billion to $13 billion from the company they own. But Daniel Connolly, a lawyer for one branch of the family, said that figure does not reflect taxes or the amount the family reinvested in businesses. Purdue is asking a judge to halt all lawsuits against family members as part of a settlement of litigation across the country seeking to hold the company accountable for the opioid crisis. That’s made the wealthy family’s finances subject of legal filings.
October 5, 2019 4:09 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Bernie Sanders says he’s feeling “much better” after having a heart attack and being released from a hospital. Sanders posted a video on Twitter Friday where he’s smiling and standing with his wife in a Las Vegas park. In the brief video, the Vermont senator said he “just got out of the hospital a few hours ago,” and added, “I’m feeling so much better.”
He and his wife thanked everyone for their love and warm wishes. Sanders signed off by saying, “see you soon on the campaign trail.”
October 5, 2019 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida tells reporters he thinks Trump was just kidding when he publicly asked China to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.
“I don’t think it’s a real request,” Rubio told reporters on Friday. “I think he did it to get you guys. I think he did it to provoke you to ask me and others and get outraged by it.”
Trump’s public request to China Thursday was similar to one he privately made to Ukraine that triggered a House Democratic impeachment inquiry.
October 5, 2019 4:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The impeachment inquiry is reaching directly into the White House, with Democrats subpoenaing officials about contacts with Ukraine and President Donald Trump signaling his administration will not cooperate. The demand for documents Friday capped a tumultuous week that widened the constitutional battle between the executive branch and Congress and heightened the political standoff with more witnesses, testimony and documents to come. Trump acknowledges that Democrats “have the votes” to proceed, but predicts they will “pay a tremendous price at the polls.” But Democrats are accusing Trump of speeding down “a path of defiance, obstruction and cover-up” and warning that defying the House subpoena would in itself be considered “evidence of obstruction” and a potentially an impeachable offense.
October 4, 2019 4:54 pm
An inmate at the State Correctional Institution in Greene County has been found dead. Superintendent Robert D. Gilmore says employees were conducting security rounds on a housing unit on Friday morning when an officer discovered inmate Julian Boyer, 41, unresponsive in his cell at approximately 6:15 AM. Staff and medical personnel immediately responded to the scene. The inmate was pronounced dead by the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel. In accordance with state policy, Gilmore says State Police were notified and will conduct an investigation. The official cause of death will be determined by the Greene County Coroner’s Office. Boyer was serving a life sentence for 2nd degree murder out of Allegheny County. He was committed to the Department of Corrections on June 9, 1998, and had been at SCI Greene since January 3, 2017.
October 4, 2019 1:37 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Diahann Carroll, the Oscar-nominated actress and singer who won critical acclaim as the first black woman to star in a non-servant role in a TV series as “Julia,” has died. She was 84. Carroll’s daughter, Susan Kay, told The Associated Press her mother died Friday in Los Angeles of cancer. Carroll played Julia Baker, a nurse whose husband had been killed in Vietnam, in the groundbreaking situation comedy that aired from 1968 to 1971. During her long career, Carroll earned a Tony Award for the musical “No Strings” and an Academy Award nomination for “Claudine.”
October 4, 2019 1:19 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Pennsylvania Health Department says one person in the state has died from lung injuries associated with vaping and it’s investigating dozens of other suspected or confirmed cases. The state’s health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, announced the death Friday and said Pennsylvania has also reported nine confirmed cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Health Department reported the death on Thursday to the federal agency. State officials aren’t disclosing publicly any other details about the death, such as where or when it occurred. Pennsylvania is also reporting 12 probable cases of vaping-related injury and looking into 63 other cases. The patients have suffered serious lung injuries and most have required hospitalization. Levine is reiterating a recommendation that people do not vape, particularly products that contain THC.
