August 20, 2019 4:22 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says the police commissioner’s firing of the officer whose chokehold contributed to the death of an unarmed black man means that “justice was served.” De Blasio said Monday he hopes Commissioner James O’Neill’s decision to fire Officer Daniel Pantaleo “brings some small measure of closure” to the family of Eric Garner. Garner’s death in 2014 after Pantaleo tried to arrest him was captured on a cellphone video that caused widespread outrage. But the head of Pantaleo’s union criticized the officer’s firing and said the decision would change the way officers did their jobs and make them less safe. De Blasio, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, was grilled about Garner’s death at the last Democratic debate and was heckled by protesters shouting “Fire Pantaleo.”
August 20, 2019 4:21 am
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is calling on other members of Congress to visit Israel while she and Rep. Rashida Tlaib cannot. Israel last week blocked the two Democratic House members from a planned trip to that country over their support for a Palestinian-led boycott movement. At a news conference in Minnesota, Omar says she and Tlaib are being prevented from carrying out their duties as members of Congress. She is calling on her colleagues to “meet with the people we were going to meet with, see the things we were going to see, hear the stories we were going to hear.” Omar says President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot succeed “in hiding the cruel reality of the occupation from us.”
August 20, 2019 4:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New court records show Jeffrey Epstein signed a will just two days before he killed himself in the Manhattan federal jail. A law firm representing Epstein’s estate confirmed Monday that the papers were filed last week in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The records put the estate at more than $577 million but list no details of any beneficiaries. A copy of the will was first published by the New York Post. Epstein killed himself this month while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors dismissed those charges Monday but are considering charging others in the case. Several of Epstein’s alleged victims have said they will go after his assets for damages. Attorney William Blum said in a statement that any claims against the estate will be “fairly administered.”
August 20, 2019 4:16 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A federal judge in Philadelphia is weighing whether to approve the nation’s first supervised drug injection center. U.S. Attorney WIlliam McSwain opposes the plan. The appointee of President Donald Trump says it violates federal drug laws. Safehouse supporters include three prominent Democrats in Philadelphia: Mayor Jim Kenney, District Attorney Larry Krasner and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. They believe they can reduce overdose deaths by having people use drugs under medical supervision. Philadelphia had 1,100 overdose deaths last year, more than three times the number of homicides. U.S. District Judge Gerald McHugh Jr. must decide whether to let the site open. He did not indicate when he might rule.
August 20, 2019 4:15 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf is urging the passage of a law in Pennsylvania requiring gun owners to report stolen or lost firearms, suggesting it could have prevented last week’s wounding of six Philadelphia police officers during a long standoff. Wolf made the comments Tuesday during his regular appearance on KDKA-AM radio in Pittsburgh. He says Pennsylvania needs a stolen or lost guns reporting requirement so that people like the accused shooter in Philadelphia can’t illegally get a hold of a long gun. Maurice Hill is charged with attempted murder, assault and other counts. He’s accused of shooting at officers who were serving a drug warrant Wednesday and then keeping police at bay while he fired from inside a house. The six officers were released after being treated at hospitals.
August 20, 2019 4:13 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Authorities say a boy playing with matches in a laundry room caused a fire over the weekend that injured two firefighters and displaced dozens of people. Police said Monday the 6-year-old admitted he started the fire in an apartment building in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. The boy wasn’t identified and isn’t expected to face any criminal charges. The Red Cross is helping some of the roughly 70 people who weren’t able to return to their homes after the Saturday afternoon blaze. One firefighter suffered smoke inhalation, while the other firefighter’s injury wasn’t specified.
August 20, 2019 4:08 am
In what was initially an injunction filed by the Washington County District Attorney, no hearing took place but 3.5 hours of negotiation provided a solution. District Attorney Gene Vittone was concerned about a move of his office to the newly acquired Caldwell Building. President Judge Katherine Emery brought the Board of Commissioners and the District Attorney together to work out a solution. Vittone was concerned about safety issues for his new location. He was satisfied that he and the commissioners were able to come to an agreement offering the same safety measures in the new building that his staff relies on in the courthouse. Solicitor Mary Lyn Drewitz, speaking for the commissioners echoed their satisfaction with the agreement emphasizing that employee safety is always a concern for the commissioners. The move is being precipitated by the assignment of new Common Pleas Judge Traci McDonald Kemp. The vacating of Vittone’s current office will set off a flurry of moves to allow McDonald Kemp to have office space in the courthouse. Timetables for all of the moves are still up in the air, But McDonald Kemp will be sworn in on August 30 as scheduled.
August 19, 2019 5:22 pm
ASHTABULA, Ohio (AP) – Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources says the search continues for the body of a man who died when a boat he was on capsized in Lake Erie. The department said Monday that four people were on the boat when it began taking on water and capsized shortly after 9:30 a.m. Saturday near Conneaut (KAW’-nee-awt) in northeast Ohio’s Ashtabula County. Department officials say someone on a commercial fishing vessel rescued the other three boaters. The department identified the man who died as 58-year-old Raymond Burns of New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Officials say two men were taken to a hospital and the other person on the boat didn’t require medical attention. The conditions of those taken to a hospital weren’t immediately available. The state agency is leading the investigation and recovery effort.New
August 19, 2019 4:57 pm
Authorities at the State Correctional Institution in Greene County are reporting the death of an inmate. Superintendent Robert Gilmore says employees were conducting security rounds on a housing unit Sunday night around eleven-thirty, when an officer discovered an inmate, 51-year-old Jake Wesley, unresponsive in his cell. Gilmore says State Police are conducting an investigation and the official cause of death will be determined by the Greene County Coroner’s Office. Wesley was serving a life sentence for first degree murder out of Allegheny County. He was committed to the prison in 1996.
August 19, 2019 3:17 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Planned Parenthood says it’s pulling out of the federal family planning program rather than abide by a new Trump administration rule prohibiting participants from referring patients for abortions. Planned Parenthood’s acting president and CEO says the organization’s nationwide network of health centers will remain open and strive to make up for the loss of federal money. But Alexis McGill Johnson predicts that many low-income women who rely on Planned Parenthood services will “delay or go without care.” About 4 million women are served nationwide under the Title X program, which distributes $260 million in grants to clinics. Planned Parenthood says it has served about 40% of patients. A federal appeals court is weighing a lawsuit to overturn the rule but has allowed the administration to begin enforcement.
