October 8, 2019 4:12 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A new judge is in place to handle the child sexual abuse resentencing hearing for former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday issued an order appointing Judge Maureen Skerda to take over the case. The previous jurist, Judge John Foradora of Jefferson County, recused himself last month. A prosecutor and Sandusky’s defense lawyer agreed in a court document that Foradora needed to step aside because of what they called an action in August by the attorney general’s office that was “separate, distinct and wholly unrelated” to the Sandusky case. The 75-year-old Sandusky’s serving a 45-count conviction, but an appeals court ruled in February that mandatory minimums had been improperly applied. Skerda is a judge in Warren and Forest counties.
October 8, 2019 4:09 am
The Pennsylvania Department of Health held a public meeting at Canon McMillan High School to address their findings on what seem to be elevated levels of childhood cancers in the area. Approximately 200 residents came to the auditorium to find out just what several departments had to say about a study done in the spring of 2019. Wendy Aldinger, Manager of the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry led off by describing the data collected by her department and how long it takes to have that data collected. Residents were not pleased that research data compiled seemed to be very bare bones, not taking into account environmental surroundings, lifestyle choices or even physical attributes. Dr. Sharon Watkins, Director of the Bureau of Epidemiology was not received well either. Watkins gave a detailed analysis of the data compiled from 1985 until 2016, but audience members were audibly upset because the data used came from the PA Cancer Registry and was very limited in detail. The only panel member to be warmly accepted was Dr. Kelly Bailey of UPMC Children’s Hospital. She was able to give insight into how research has changed over the years looking into all types of cancer. She described her research and clinical practices and added insight as to why it is not easy to make connections to cancer causes by just connecting dots. Audience members were quite upset when the meeting was abruptly halted at 7:30 and panel members left the room using the rear exit.
October 7, 2019 5:18 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Two major retailers say they will no longer sell e-cigarettes in the U.S. amid mounting health questions surrounding vaping. Supermarket chain Kroger and drugstore chain Walgreen announced Monday they would discontinue sales of e-cigarettes at their stores nationwide, citing an uncertain regulatory environment. The vaping industry has come under scrutiny after hundreds of people have fallen ill and at least eight have died after using vaping devices. Walmart announced last month that it would stop selling e-cigarettes at its stores nationwide. Kroger said it would stop selling e-cigarettes as soon at its current inventory runs out at its more than 2,700 stores and 1,500 fuel centers. The Cincinnati-based company operates the Ralphs, Harris Teeter and other stores. Walgreens, based in Deerfield, Illinois, operates more than 9,500 stores in the U.S.
October 7, 2019 4:24 pm
FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) – The student body president of a West Virginia university has been charged with felony strangulation. News outlets report 21-year-old Tyler Keller was arrested by Fairmont police on Friday. Keller is the president of the Student Government Association at Fairmont State University. The Times West Virginian reports a complaint states Keller choked a man with both hands and then the man struck Keller in the head with a glass wine bottle to get free. The complaint also states Keller struck the man in the left ear so hard the victim sustained hearing loss. Court papers say Keller had accused the man of taking his cell phone. Jail records show Keller is out on bond. It’s unclear whether he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
October 7, 2019 1:19 pm
ABINGTON, Mass. (AP) – Authorities say two adults and three children have been found dead in a Massachusetts home. Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz says the bodies were found in the Abington condo on Monday morning. Cruz says it appears they died of gunshot wounds. Police say there is no threat to the public. Abington, a town of about 16,000 people, is about 20 miles south of Boston.
October 7, 2019 11:56 am
(WPXI) – Concerns over cases of a rare cancer in the Canon-McMillan School District will be discussed Monday night during a public hearing. A Pennsylvania Department of Health report released in April found no evidence of a cluster of Ewings Sarcoma, even though there had been six reported cases in the past ten years, but it had to be verified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before a public meeting could be held to discuss the findings. Monday night, concerned families will have a chance to address their concerns. Affected parents and concerned groups will hold a news conference ahead of the Department of Health’s community meeting to discuss childhood cancers in southwestern Pennsylvania. During the news conference, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Canon-McMillan High School, the parents and concerned groups will call on Gov. Tom Wolf and the DOH to take “immediate action to investigate childhood cancers in the region and take steps to protect residents from health impacts that may be associated with local industrial activities.”
October 7, 2019 9:19 am
NEW YORK (AP) – An appeals court has temporarily blocked the release of President Donald Trump’s tax returns to New York state investigators. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan Monday granted the delay requested by Trump’s lawyers until the appeals court could consider the issue expeditiously. It came as Trump tweeted that “Radical Left Democrats” were pushing local and state “Democrat prosecutors to go get President Trump.” The action froze the effect of a ruling by Judge Victor Marrero that concluded Trump could not stop his accounting firm from complying with a subpoena seeking his tax returns. The returns were sought in a criminal probe of the Trump Organization’s involvement in buying the silence of two women who claimed to have had affairs with the president.
October 7, 2019 5:29 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Rip Taylor, the mustached comedian with a fondness for confetti-throwing who became a television game show mainstay in the 1970s, has died. He was 84. Publicist Harlan Boll said Taylor died Sunday in Beverly Hills. An army veteran who served in the Korean War, Taylor’s showbiz ascent started with spots on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” where he was known as the “crying comedian.” He’d go on to make over 2,000 guest appearances on shows like “Hollywood Squares” and “The Gong Show” and host the beauty pageant spoof “The $1.98 Beauty Show.” He also played himself in “Wayne’s World 2” and the “Jackass” movies, appeared on stage in “Sugar Babies” and “Oliver!” and performed an autobiographical one-man play “It Ain’t All Confetti.” Taylor is survived by his longtime partner Robert Fortney
October 7, 2019 4:20 am
DETROIT (AP) – The top negotiator in contract talks between General Motors and the United Auto Workers says bargaining has hit a big snag. In an email to union members, UAW Vice President Terry Dittes (DIT-ez) casts doubt on whether there will be a settlement soon in a dispute that’s led to a 21-day strike by 49,000 union members. Dittes’ letter says the union presented a proposal to the company Saturday. He says GM responded Sunday by reverting back to an offer that had been rejected and made few changes. He says the company isn’t willing to fairly compensate workers. GM says it continues to negotiate in good faith “with very good proposals.” The strike has shut down GM’s U.S. production since Sept. 16 and hampered manufacturing in Mexico and Canada.
October 7, 2019 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is opposing President Donald Trump’s plan to pull U.S. troops from northern Syria. It’s a rare policy split between the Senate’s top Republican and Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is also against Trump’s decision. But the California Democrat is using far stronger language than McConnell. McConnell says an early U.S. withdrawal “would only benefit Russia, Iran” and Syrian President Bashar Assad, who’s waged an eight-year civil war against Syrian opposition forces. The Kentucky Republican says it would make it easier for ISIS to rebuild. McConnell says U.S. interests are not well served by “retreat or withdrawal.” Pelosi says a withdrawal is “reckless” and would “betray” Kurds who have helped fight ISIS. She calls it “a foolish attempt to appease an authoritarian strongman” – a seeming reference to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Photo: CNN)
