February 21, 2020 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump, has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for obstructing a congressional investigation in a case that has sparked fears about presidential interference in the justice system Soon after Judge Amy Berman Jackson pronounced sentence on Thursday, Trump publicly decried Stone’s conviction as unfair. But Trump says he isn’t ready to act just yet on a pardon. Trump had denounced as a “miscarriage of justice” the initial Justice Department recommendation that Stone receive at least seven years in prison. Attorney General William Barr backed off that recommendation, prompting four prosecutors to quit Stone’s case.
February 21, 2020 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Intelligence officials have warned lawmakers that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election campaign to help President Donald Trump get reelected. That’s according to three officials familiar with the closed-door briefing. The disclosure raises questions about the integrity of the presidential campaign and whether Trump’s administration is taking the proper steps to combat the kind of interference that the U.S. saw in 2016. The warning was first reported by The New York Times and The Washington Post. A senior administration official said it infuriated Trump, who complained that Democrats would use the information against him. (Photo: CNN)
February 21, 2020 4:19 am
The start of deer rifle season is a time honored tradition that saw a huge change last hunting season. The Pennsylvania Game Commission moved the traditional start date of deer rifle season from the Monday after Thanksgiving to the Saturday after Thanksgiving in order to try to increase the sales of hunting licenses and allow younger hunters that may be in school the opportunity to enjoy the sport. Representative Bud Cook hosted a public hearing of the state house’s Game and Fisheries Committee and tried to gain insight on the subject. Cook tells us that each start date has positive and negative consequences. Families with young hunters liked the new date. Hunters that have camps do not like the move because it eliminates set up time that normally went on over the weekend before opening day. Testimony from the game commission pointed to gains in license sales as a positive. Dennis Fredricks stated that the move may have eliminated an excuse hunters used to hunt in Ohio and New York with weekend hunting now available in Pennsylvania. Testimony from Randy Santucci, Southwest Regional Director of the group Unified Sportsmen showed evidence of economic disaster. A poll of 10 retailers in northern Pennsylvania reported a combined loss of more than $360,000 in the two days lost due to the moving of opening day. Public comment on the subject of opening day is welcomed by the Game commission until April 7.
February 21, 2020 4:15 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A defense attorney for a sheriff accused of corruption has told Pennsylvania appeals court judges that his client should not be tried again after his first case ended in a mistrial. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Tuesday that former Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held’s lawyer says there is not enough evidence from the first trial to warrant a second. Held is accused of instructing on-duty staffers to participate in reelection campaign activities. The first trial was declared a mistrial in December 2018 after a jury failed to reach a verdict. The Superior Courtájudges will rule at a later date.
February 21, 2020 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The notion of banning fracking is dividing the Democrats running for president and increasingly dividing Democrats in the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania. The divide was clear, again, on Wednesday night’s debate stage in Las Vegas during questioning about climate change. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says moving to energy efficiency and sustainable energy will create up to 20 million new jobs. Other Democrats on stage preferred to refer to natural gas as a “transition fuel” to non-fossil fuels and talked about getting tough on methane emissions. Pennsylvania’s top Democrats have tried to discourage talk of a fracking ban, while labor leaders point to thousands of building trades members working in the industry.
February 21, 2020 2:30 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — (WPXI)- Police have announced that a missing teen has been located in the City of Pittsburgh. Bethel Park police had asked for the public’s help in finding the 19-year-old with autism. According to police, Nathyn Hoffman had last seen around 7 a.m. Thursday at the Fairfield Inn on Neville Island. Police said he left Bethel Park Wednesday evening without his medication. He has autism and is bipolar, according to investigators.
February 21, 2020 2:16 am
MIDLOTHIAN, Va. (AP) – Federal documents filed in Virginia show a firefighter from Pennsylvania has been charged with trying to arrange a meeting for sex with a 10-year-old girl. News outlets report that 50-year-old Brian Kosanovich of Pittsburgh was arrested at a Midlothian restaurant on Tuesday by agents with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. A federal complaint alleges the man had traveled there to meet and have sex with a woman he met online and her 10-year-old daughter. The woman was actually an undercover FBI agent. Kosanovich was charged with coercion and taking indecent liberties with children, among other counts. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney who can comment on his behalf.
February 20, 2020 2:00 pm
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – A West Virginia city has voted to change its ordinance for marijuana possession. News outlets report Morgantown City County members voted unanimously Tuesday to modify the city’s law on possession of up to 15 grams of the drug. Officials said the change gives the Morgantown Police Department the discretion to forgo arresting someone caught with 15 grams or less and instead issue a fine of up to $15. Deputy Mayor Rachel Fetty said the change does not decriminalize marijuana and those in possession of the drug can still be charged with a misdemeanor. The ordinance applies only to the Morgantown Police Department.
February 20, 2020 12:40 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Roger Stone, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, has been sentenced to 40 months in prison on his convictions for witness tampering and lying to Congress. Thursday’s action in federal court comes amid Trump’s unrelenting defense of his longtime confidant that has led to a mini-revolt inside the Justice Department and allegations the president has interfered in the case. Trump has denounced as a “miscarriage of justice” the initial recommendation by Justice Department prosecutors that Stone receive at least seven years in prison. Attorney General William Barr then backed off that recommendation, prompting four prosecutors to quit Stone’s case. Stone chose not to address the court at his sentencing. (Photo: CNN)
February 20, 2020 11:48 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Hair Club for Men founder Sy Sperling has died in Florida. Sperling became famous in the 1980s for his ubiquitous commercials featuring before and after photos of his clients, ending with him proclaiming “I’m not only the Hair Club president but I’m also a client” as he showed a photo of his previously bald self. Sperling began his business in New York City before taking it national. His commercials were even spoofed on the “Tonight” show and on “Saturday Night Live.” He sold the business for $45 million in 2000. Sperling was 78 when he died Wednesday in Boca Raton.
