August 14, 2019 4:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A person familiar with the probe of Jeffrey Epstein’s death at a federal jail says guards are suspected of falsifying log entries to show they were checking on inmates in his unit every half hour, when they actually weren’t. Epstein is believed to have killed himself early Saturday at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where he was awaiting trial in a sex trafficking case. Surveillance video reviewed after the death showed guards never made some of the checks noted in the log, according to the person familiar with the investigation.
August 14, 2019 4:16 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A federal appeals court says high tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike don’t violate the right of truckers and other motorists to travel between states, upholding a lower-court dismissal of their lawsuit against state agencies and officials. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Pennsylvania’s use of turnpike tolls to pay other costs was authorized by Congress and therefore doesn’t violate the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause. The ruling upholds a federal judge’s decision in April to dismiss the lawsuit by the Missouri-based Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and others. A lawyer for the association says it’s considering options for further review of the decision. The state uses toll income to fund payments under a 2007 state law designed to pump money into highways and transit.
August 14, 2019 4:14 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – A spokeswoman for Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services says it does not regulate smoke detectors in state-licensed home day care facilities. Ali Fogarty said Tuesday that current regulations do not allow for citing a child care facility for compliance with fire safety codes including having working smoke detectors. A blaze ripped through a home day care center Sunday morning in Erie, killing five children. The youngest was 8 months old. Erie’s fire chief said there were not enough working smoke detectors at the Harris Family Daycare. State Sen. Daniel Laughlin said he plans to introduce a bill that would require the Department to include inspection of all smoke detectors in their annual inspection of child day care facilities. Fogarty said the department is committed to amending its existing regulations.
August 14, 2019 4:09 am
Nearly 150 North Franklin Township Residents attended a special meeting called by township supervisors to address concerns residents may have after a July 31 explosion leveled a township home. The mood was cautious as Columbia Gas Company Officials described how repairs are being handled. Michael Huwar, President of Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania insisted that Columbia Gas will work hand in hand with township supervisors to “Make the Township whole” once again. The mood was subdued and cautious, but the most emotional statement came from Amberia Kaempf. She was renting a home near the explosion and now must move because her home has been condemned. She spoke of hoping to find housing so her daughter can begin school as normal. She described the stress she is experiencing with Columbia Gas when trying to have her problem rectified. Huwar intended to get started on a solution for her immediately as staff was on hand to handle all questions residents had. At the end of the meeting, Columbia Gas officials promised to work closely with township officials during the clean up and on all future work that will occur in the township. Supervisors lifted their cease and desist order allowing Columbia Gas to resume normal operations.
August 14, 2019 3:28 am
An Allegheny County church has canceled its annual festival because of a disturbing message. According to a news release from the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, Our Lady of Grace parish in Scott Township received a handwritten letter in late July that read, in part: “Cancel August 14-17 Festival Security Problem is Huge.” Tuesday, the festival for the upcoming week was canceled, even though there was no direct threat. With recent mass shootings, organizers did not want to take the risk. The sender still hasn’t been identified.
August 14, 2019 3:01 am
MONACA, Pennsylvania (AP) – President Donald Trump is telling workers at Shell’s soon-to-be completed Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex that the largest investment in the state’s history would have never happened without me and us.” That’s despite the fact that Shell announced its plans to build the complex in 2012, when President Barack Obama was in office. Trump is speaking in Monaca to highlighting his support for manufacturing as he tries to hold support in the Rust Belt towns that helped him win in 2016, The plant is part of a growing effort to capitalize on western Pennsylvania’s natural gas deposits by turning gas into plastics But Trump told reporters earlier that he’s not worried about producing more plastics in the U.S. He says, “Plastics are fine” and the problem is what’s “floating across the ocean from other places, including China.”
August 13, 2019 5:21 pm
Three people were taken to area hospitals Tuesday morning after a two vehicle crash on Waynesburg Road in Amwell Township. Authorities say an SUV crashed into a UPS truck that was parked in a driveway. Authorities say a sport-utility vehicle was traveling south when it veered off the road and plowed into the truck. Two women inside the SUV were taken to Pittsburgh for treatment while a worker in the passenger side of the truck was taken to Canonsburg Hospital. There was no word on how severely the three were hurt.
August 13, 2019 4:13 pm
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) – Police investigating the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, say the gunman’s sister was among the first people he shot, but investigators are divided on whether he intentionally killed her. Chief Richard Biehl says evidence is so far inconclusive on whether 24-year-old Connor Betts targeted his 22-year-old sister Megan two hours after they arrived at the city’s Oregon entertainment district together with a male companion. Biehl says Betts was very familiar with the district and its night spots and had been there the night before. He says it’s apparent he had a plan for the mass shooting, although why he chose that place at that time is still be investigated. The FBI is probing the influence of violent ideology on Betts, who police say was obsessed with violence and fixated on mass shootings. Video made public Tuesday shows him in the Ned Peppers bar, likely casing it. A bouncer is credited with helping keep him out when he returned as a shooter.
August 13, 2019 3:25 pm
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) – A South Carolina woman is recovering after being bitten by an alligator near her home in Hilton Head Island. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources spokesman David Lucas tells news outlets that it happened in the Sun City retirement community on Monday night. Lucas says a 68-year-old woman was walking her dog about 10 p.m. near her house, which is also near several ponds. He says the 8-to-9-foot-long (2.4-to-2.7-meter-long) gator bit the woman on the wrist and leg. She was treated at the scene and later transported to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia. The dog ran way during the attack and was not harmed. An alligator control agent was called in and the gator was captured and euthanized.
August 13, 2019 3:18 pm
HONG KONG (AP) – President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that U.S. intelligence believes that the Chinese government is moving troops to its border with Hong Kong. Trump also tweeted that “Everyone should be calm and safe!” He provided no additional details. Riot police briefly clashed with pro-democracy protesters outside the Hong Kong Airport for the second day on Tuesday though calm returned to the airport in the early hours of Wednesday. The airport disruptions are an escalation of a summer of demonstrations against what some in Hong Kong see as an increasing erosion of freedoms. The protests have in recent weeks turned to focus on police brutality against demonstrators. Earlier Tuesday, Trump called the Hong Kong protests a “very tricky situation,” saying he hopes no one is injured or killed.
