January 25, 2020 3:45 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania has paid off $2.8 billion in bonds it issued in 2012 to retire a post-recession unemployment compensation debt that businesses owed to the federal government. State officials said this week that the last installment was paid Jan. 1. That completed the repayment on one of the largest bond issuances in the state’s history, if not the largest. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration says the total debt service was $3.4 billion and saved employers approximately $57 million. With the bond debt repaid, businesses will no longer pay a 1.1% interest factor assessed on their unemployment compensation taxes.
January 24, 2020 12:48 pm
A preliminary hearing for a Vestaburg woman accused of keeping her dependent sister in a wooden cage was held Friday in front of District Justice Joshua Kanalis. Fifty-one-year old Leona Biser faced one felony charge of neglect for the care of a dependent person and three misdemeanor charges of recklessly endangering another person, false imprisonment and unlawful restraint with bodily injury. Officials from the office of Adult Protective Services found that Biser was keeping her sister, 53-year-old Loretta Lancaster, in a wooden cage with a dirty mattress. Biser was charged on January 15th, by the state Attorney General’s Office. Deputy Attorney General Patrick Schulte stated that “The point of this prosecution is to show that if the vulnerable among us are neglected and no one is going to act, including their own family members, the Attorney General’s Office will.” Biser was not represented by an attorney. She waived her right to the preliminary hearing and her next court date will be on February 27th.
January 24, 2020 3:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump vowed to stand with anti-abortion activists Friday as he became the first sitting president to speak at the March for Life. Trump called it his “profound honor” to appear at the event, which is one of the movement’s highest profile and most symbolic events. He told a crowd of thousands that, “Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House.” He also used his speech to attack Democrats as embracing “radical and extreme positions.” Trump once described himself as “pro-choice in every respect.” But on Friday, he was hailed by speakers and on signs as “the most pro-life” president in American history.
January 24, 2020 3:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democratic House prosecutors are making their final arguments at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, arguing the president’s destructive abuse of power will not end unless Congress intervenes to remove him from office. The Democrats also insisted the president only released congressionally approved military money to Ukraine because he had “gotten caught” withholding it. The president’s legal team is preparing its defense, expected to start Saturday. Trump bemoaned the schedule in a morning tweet, saying it “looks like my lawyers will be forced to start on Saturday, which is called Death Valley in T.V.”
January 24, 2020 3:19 am
BEIJING (AP) – China has moved to lock down at least three big cities in an unprecedented effort to contain the deadly new virus that has sickened hundreds of people and spread to other parts of the world. The open-ended lockdowns are unmatched in size, and their potential for success is uncertain. China’s National Health Commission confirmed 830 cases of the new coronavirus with 25 deaths. The first death has also been confirmed outside the central province of Hubei. The health commission in Hebei, a northern province bordering Beijing, said an 80-year-old man died after returning from a stay in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.
January 24, 2020 3:08 am
MCKEESPORT, Pa. (WPXI) — McKeesport police are asking for the public’s help in finding a missing 14-year-old girl who went missing three days ago. Daisha Reyes-Burgos, 14, was last seen Jan. 20 around 6 p.m. at her home on 6th Street, according to investigators. She was described as 4-foot-8 runaway and does take medication. Police said she doesn’t have her medication with her. Anyone with information is asked to call police.
January 24, 2020 3:07 am
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. (WPXI) — A local 22-year-old man is accused of assaulting a teenage girl at Westmoreland Mall last month. Police say he choked the 16-year-old and slammed her to the ground. After dozens of tips, police say they have their suspect: Tyler Zidek. According to investigators, Zidek made a derogatory cat call to the girl as she passed him. She questioned what he said, and police said that led to the assault. Zidek claims the girl swung at him, missed and then fell to the ground, but witnesses told police a different story. A family that turned around because they heard the thud of her hitting the ground saw people with Zidek who were laughing when it happened. That girl did need medical attention, and the two teen boys who were with Zidek are not facing charges from state police at this time.
January 24, 2020 3:00 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – NFL free agent Antonio Brown was released on bail Friday after spending the night in a Florida jail. The wide receiver had to pay a bond of $110,000, surrender his passport, wear a monitor, and agree to a mental health evaluation and random drug tests. He also can’t have guns. Brown is accused of attacking the driver of a moving truck that carried some of his possessions from California. Hollywood police say Brown didn’t want to pay the $4,000 bill. Brown played nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before being traded. Off-the-field incidents derailed his attempts to play for the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots. (Photo: CNN)
January 23, 2020 3:44 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A host of the nightly PBS “NewsHour” that for decades offered a thoughtful take on current events has died. PBS says Jim Lehrer died Thursday. He was 85. Like longtime partner Robert MacNeil, Lehrer saw broadcast journalism as a service, its main goal to help the public understand events and issues. The two began the nightly reports on PBS in 1975, and the program was later expanded to an hour. The show featured detailed reports and discussions of politics, international relations and even the arts. MacNeil stepped down from the show in 1995. Lehrer was also a frequent moderator of presidential debates. PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff says Lehrer was a mentor.
January 23, 2020 3:43 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration is ending federal protection for many of the nation’s millions of miles of streams, arroyos and wetlands. It’s a sweeping environmental rollback that could leave the waterways more vulnerable to pollution from development, industry and farms. The new rule narrows the types of waterways that qualify for federal protection under the half-century-old Clean Water Act. The Trump administration says it’s providing “regulatory certainty and predictability for American farmers, landowners and businesses.” But environmental advocates and public health officials say the change will make it harder to maintain a clean water supply for the American public.
