August 9, 2019 4:29 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Newly released court documents show that financier Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly declined to answer questions about sex abuse as part of a lawsuit. A partial transcript of the September 2016 deposition was included in hundreds of pages of documents placed in a public file Friday by a federal appeals court in New York. The 66-year-old Epstein has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges after his July 6 arrest. Epstein was asked in the videotaped deposition whether it was standard operating procedure for his former girlfriend to bring underage girls to him to sexually abuse. Epstein replied “Fifth,” citing the constitutional amendment protecting people against incriminating themselves.
August 9, 2019 4:25 pm
AKRON, Ohio (AP) – An Ohio-based energy company says it’s closing its last coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania nearly two years earlier than expected. FirstEnergy Solutions said Friday that its plant in Shippingport will be idled Nov. 7. The company had previously said the Bruce Mansfield plant would be shut down in June 2021. FirstEnergy, which is going through bankruptcy reorganization, blamed “a lack of economic viability in current market conditions.” The company has said it can’t compete in regional wholesale markets as coal and nuclear lose out to cheaper energy sources such as natural gas and renewables. FirstEnergy announced last year that it would shut down the Pennsylvania plant and its last three coal-fired plants in Ohio. President Donald Trump has vowed to take steps to prevent struggling coal-fired and nuclear power plants from closing
August 9, 2019 3:37 pm
EL PASO, Texas (AP) – Authorities say the 21-year-old man accused of carrying out the deadly mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart confessed after surrendering and said he had been targeting Mexicans. El Paso Detective Adrian Garcia said in an arrest warrant affidavit that Patrick Crusius emerged with his hands up from a vehicle stopped at an intersection shortly after last Saturday’s attack and told officers, “I’m the shooter.” He says Crusius later waived his Miranda Rights and agreed to speak with detectives, telling them he was targeting Mexicans during his attack. Twenty-two people were killed in the attack and about two dozen others were wounded. Many of the dead had Latino last names and eight of them were Mexican nationals. El Paso sits on the border with Mexico. (Photo: CNN)
August 9, 2019 2:49 pm
Over 5000 volunteer hours, spread out over 4 years culminated Friday with a ribbon cutting. The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum dedicated their new Fairgrounds Platform Project, which tripled the size of the previous platform that was upgraded due to age. It accommodates two trolleys on each of the two tracks. The project cost more than $800,000 and was funded through SPC SMART Transportation grant funds, Washington County Local Share funds, Washington County Act 13 Greenways Funds and fairgrounds gas lease monies. The Port Authority of Allegheny County also got involved by donating signal equipment and allowing the use of their specialized bucket truck. The dedication was set to coincide with the opening of the Washington County Agricultural Fair on August 11.Local officials on hand for the dedication included Washington County Commissioners Larry Maggi, Diana Irey Vaughn and Harlan Shober. Scott Becker, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum along with State Senator Camera Bartolotta and representatives for Congressman Tim O’Neal were also on hand. For information about Park ‘N Ride tickets to the fair, go to www.patrolley.org .
August 9, 2019 1:41 pm
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (AP) – A western Pennsylvania amusement park says its newest and biggest attraction is back up and running after a brief shutdown. A spokesman for Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh says the Steel Curtain roller coaster reopened Wednesday afternoon and has been operating smoothly ever since. It had been closed on Aug. 3 so workers could make some “adjustments.” The 4,000-foot-long coaster contains nine inversions, which park officials say is the most in North America, and the world’s tallest inversion at 197 feet. The park says “stoppages and periodic closures” will remain possible due to the “newness, complexity and record-breaking nature” of the ride. The park is located in West Mifflin, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of downtown Pittsburgh.
August 9, 2019 9:10 am
An audit by the Washington County Controllers office has uncovered a backlog in processing filing fees in the Prothonotary’s office. The review found the backlog, related to liens filed by the Clerk of Courts office against criminal defendants who were assessed fines and costs, totalled more than $101,000 at the end of 2018. Prothonotary Joy Schury Ranko tells WJPA News that total has already been reduced to $40,679. According to Schury Ranko, they have stream-lined the process and she expects to be completely caught up by the end of the year. Officials say the audit found that no money is missing. This all comes as a State Police investigation continues into some $96,000 is missing money discovered in an audit of the Clerk of Courts office.
August 9, 2019 4:23 am
AGAT, Guam (AP) – Long after clergy sex abuse erupted into scandal in the United States, it remained a secret on the American island of Guam, spanning generations and reaching to the very top of the Catholic hierarchy. For decades, abusers held the power in a culture of impunity led by an archbishop who was among those accused. Anthony Apuron was suspended in 2016 and later convicted in a secret Vatican trial. More than 220 former altar boys, students and Scouts are now suing Guam’s archdiocese over sexual assaults by 35 clergy, teachers and scoutmasters. The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. Survivors have until August 15 to file for a financial settlement. Seven men have accused Apuron of sexual assaults they endured as children, including his own nephew. Heádenies the allegations.
August 9, 2019 4:21 am
BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – Joe Biden is anchoring his presidential campaign around questions of character – both his and President Donald Trump’s. The recent back-to-back mass killings in Texas and Ohio have given Biden new traction for his arguments. Biden has spent the past three months largely on defense over a long policy record that draws fire from Democratic Party’s most progressive corners. But he reasserted himself this week with a blistering takedown of Trump’s racist language and the ways in which some of the president’s anti-immigrant outbursts could have inspired one of the shootings. In Iowa, Biden weaved between hushed disappointment and incredulous fury over a president who offers “no moral leadership.”
August 9, 2019 4:20 am
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – Across the early primary states, Democratic voters have seen a parade of more than two dozen presidential candidates march through their states for months. Some are starting to get exhausted with the primary field and are anxious to take on Donald Trump. Iowans treasure the national attention that shines on them every four years when presidential candidates descend on the state, whose caucuses mark the beginning of an election year. But as virtually every Democratic contender swings through Iowa this weekend to participate in the famed state fair, even some die-hard Democratic activists are getting restless. They’re worried the historically massive field isn’t shrinking fast enough and the debate stages are too crowded.
August 9, 2019 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The top two congressional Democrats say President Donald Trump has assured them he will review a House-passed bill that expands federal background checks for gun sales. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer say they spoke separately to Trump on Thursday. Trump called the leaders individually after Pelosi sent him a letter asking him to order the Senate back to Washington immediately to consider gun violence measures. In a joint statement, Schumer and Pelosi say they told Trump the best way to address gun violence is for the Senate to take up and pass the House-passed bill. They say Trump “gave us his assurances that he would review the bipartisan House-passed legislation and understood our interest in moving as quickly as possible to help save lives.”
