January 19, 2020 7:41 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s legal team issued a fiery response Saturday ahead of opening arguments in his impeachment trial, while House Democrats laid out their case in forceful fashion, saying the president betrayed public trust with behavior that was the “worst nightmare” of the founding fathers. The dueling filings previewed arguments both sides intend to make once Trump’s impeachment trial begins in earnest Tuesday in the Senate. Their challenge will be to make a case that appeals to the 100 senators who will render the verdict and for an American public bracing for a presidential election in 10 months. “President Donald J. Trump used his official powers to pressure a foreign government to interfere in a United States election for his personal political gain,” the House prosecutors wrote, “and then attempted to cover up his scheme by obstructing Congress’s investigation into his misconduct.” Trump’s legal team, responding to the Senate’s official summons for the trial, said the president “categorically and unequivocally” denies the charges of abuse and obstruction against him. “This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election, now just months away,” the president’s filing states.
January 19, 2020 7:37 am
State transportation officials have reduced speeds and imposed other restrictions on several Pennsylvania roadways amid the winter storm expected to bring several inches of snow to parts of the commonwealth. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said the severity of Saturday’s storm prompted a temporary reduction of speeds to 45 mph on highways including Interstate 78 in Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties, Interstate 80 in Monroe and Carbon counties, Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County and Interstate 380 in Monroe County. Speeds were also reduced on other roads. PennDOT also imposed but later removed reduced speed limits and limits on certain trucks and other vehicles on Interstate 86 and 90 in northwestern Pennsylvania. Officials on Sunday evening also lifted a 45-mph speed limit imposed on Interstate 79 from Interstate 80 to Lake Erie. PennDOT urged motorists to avoid unnecessary travel during the storm. The National Weather Service earlier told motorists to “plan on slippery road conditions. Officials said snow, sleet and a bit of ice was expected but warmer air would later change the mixed precipitation into all rain.
January 19, 2020 2:39 am
A former county official is in more legal trouble. Former Washington County District Attorney Steven Toprani has been named in a sixth federal lawsuit involving a company called Alternative Energy Holdings, LLC. Jack Levin, 51 of North Strabane Township filed a lawsuit Friday against the company and three of its principals. Named in the case are Jonathan Freeze, Robert Irey and Kevin Carney along with Steven Toprani. Levin’s lawsuit is the latest to be filed by investigators since July, claiming that he never saw double digit returns promised to him in the venture when he invested 3 years ago. Also named in the case is the law firm Dodaro, Matta and Cambest. Toprani worked for the firm until earlier in 2019. Levin’s lawsuit states that he was approached in 2017 to invest in AEH to build an alternative energy plant in Greenville, South Carolina. Levin and none of the other plaintiffs have been paid. The company is listed in Florida and is classified as in “administrative dissolution”. Toprani was District Attorney from 2008-2012. He ran for a seat in the State House and lost to Representative Bud Cook by 11 votes.
January 18, 2020 9:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. health officials have announced they will begin screening airline passengers from central China for a new virus that is making people sick. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday it would begin the screening immediately. People traveling from Wuhan, China, will have their temperature checked and be asked about symptoms. The CDC said it’s part of an effort to better detect and prevent a newly identified virus that emerged in China last month and has sickened dozens of people and been tied to two deaths. The CDC started a similar screening program at U.S. airports in 2014 during a large outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.
January 18, 2020 9:16 am
MOSCOW (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced what many see as a strategy for staying in power well past the end of his term in 2024. The proposed constitutional reforms might allow him to remain in charge as prime minister or as head of a body known as the State Council. Putin also executed a swift, unexpected reshuffle of the Russian leadership, replacing his long-serving prime minister with a low-profile official. Still, those moves didn’t elicit much public outrage. That’s very different from 2011-2012, when efforts to engineer Putin’s return to the presidency crushed Russian hopes for political reform and sparked massive protests in Moscow.
January 18, 2020 9:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The star power of President Donald Trump’s legal team just went up. Bringing in experience both in constitutional law and the politics of impeachment, he’s adding retired law professor Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton. The team will include Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump personal lawyer Jay Sekulow are expected to have lead roles for the defense. Trump faces charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress, stemming from his pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democratic rivals as he was withholding aid. from the country.
January 18, 2020 4:54 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf says he’ll follow through on his plan to close another state prison. Wolf’s administration made the announcement Friday after it carried out the required hearings on its plan. The move was announced originally in August as a cost-cutting step amid a declining inmate population and rising prison costs. The plan was criticized by the corrections’ officers union and state lawmakers whose districts surround Retreat state prison in northeastern Pennsylvania. Retreat, about 10 miles west of Wilkes-Barre, has about 400 employees and about 940 inmates. The administration says the closing could occur in four months at an annual savings of $40 million.
January 18, 2020 4:51 am
The Department of Education awarded $350,000 dollars in grants to local schools to expand computer science programs for students. State Senator Camera Bartolotta (R-46) announced that 10 local schools will receive $35,000 each to support the introduction and expansion of computer science programming and provide training for educators to teach computer science to students from pre-kindergarten through high school. The grants were awarded through the PAsmart Targeted grant program. The local schools receiving grant monies are the Carmichaels, Avella, Beth Center, Brownsville, Charleroi, Ringgold, Trinity School Districts and the Mon Valley Career and Technology Center. A total of 163 schools statewide received grants.
January 17, 2020 5:20 pm
At least two medical helicopters were called Friday afternoon after a massive explosion near the town of Hunker in Westmoreland County. Massive flames and smoke could be seen for several miles after an explosion at a commercial garage in East Huntington Township. The garage is located at 1500 New Stanton Ruffsdale Road. Initial reports are that a tanker truck might have exploded and started the blaze. The business is believed to be Fleet Services. (Photo: WPXI)
January 17, 2020 4:55 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – JetBlue is raising bag fees again. The airline is adding $5 to the charge for checking one bag – that’s now $35 – and a second bag now costs $40. That’s for flights within the U.S. Passengers can save $5 if they pay for up to two bags at least 24 hours before their flight. The changes took effect for tickets bought on Thursday and were posted on the airline’s website. JetBlue last raised the fees in 2018, and other airlines quickly followed at the time.
