September 29, 2019 7:31 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) – It’s been more than 24 hours since 7-week-old Ambrose Klingensmith was taken by his parents from UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and family members are hoping he’s returned safely soon. His parents, 32-year-old Jeannette Funnen and 23-year-old Daemon Klingensmith, took off with him Thursday night after the hospital raised concerns he had been abused. They also have Funnen’s 3-year-old son Makias Palmer with them, investigators said. The FBI is now involved, and as the search continues for the wanted parents, the infant’s concerned grandparents are speaking out. According to court documents, doctors saw bruises on the baby consistent with child abuse and called police. However, Ambrose’s grandparents told our news partners at Channel 11 that Funnen and Klingensmith have been “massaging” the baby’s belly to help him go to the bathroom and that they would never hurt their children. The grandparents said the couple had every right to leave and stayed in town overnight, before taking off in a 2001 Buick Century with license plate LBD-6681. Ambrose’s grandparents said CYS was at their house Friday night to help them start the process of fostering both children. They are begging the couple to turn themselves in for the sake of their children. Family said Palmer is with the couple. He was in the care of CYS at one time but was returned to the mother. They said Funnen is extremely paranoid her children will be taken away from her again, and it’s possible she is in need of medication.
September 29, 2019 7:26 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) – Severe storms rolled through Western Pennsylvania Saturday evening, and they caused damage and injuries throughout the region. Emergency responders confirmed a pop-up tent blew away and hit people during the storms in the 6000 block of Beighley Road. One person was taken to the hospital. Wind gusts were up to 60 mph with quarter-sized hail in Westmoreland County, and multiple viewers told our news partners at Channel 11 they spotted damage caused by the storms in there and in the South Hills. Large hail was seen coming down in Bridgeville Saturday evening. Viewers reported trees and wires down in Murrysville, Bethel Park and South Park, three areas where the storms hit particularly hard. There are also more than 2,000 Duquesne Light customers without power in Monroeville, though it is unclear if those were caused by the severe storms.
September 29, 2019 7:22 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The last victim compensation funds at Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses are closing as lawmakers plunge back into a years-old fight over whether to let long-ago victims of child sexual abuse sue perpetrators and institutions. It’s more than a year after a landmark grand jury report accused church officials of hushing up abuse. Victim compensation funds in Philadelphia, Allentown, Scranton and Pittsburgh will close Monday to applications. The Senate will hold a hearing Wednesday with testimony from victims, constitutional scholars and others. Based on partial information available from the dioceses so far, fund administrators have offered or paid more than $35 million to roughly 240 people. Ben Andreozzi, a Harrisburg-based lawyer, says that’s far less than what dioceses would have paid if faced with the threat of a lawsuit.
September 29, 2019 7:20 am
ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. (WPXI) – Allegheny County police have made an arrest in connection with a homicide that happened earlier this month. David Sumney, 30, is accused of murdering and robbing his parents on September 2nd. According to a release from investigators, officers initially found the victim – who was not identified – dead inside a home in the 100 block of Olde Orchard Drive in South Fayette. The next day, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner ruled that the cause of death was “blunt force trauma,” and the manner was homicide. During the ensuing investigation, police said Sumney was developed as a suspect. On September 4th, Sumney was charged with receiving stolen property after detectives found jewelry belonging to his mother in his possession. However, he was not yet charged in connection with the victim’s murder. Sumney was charged Saturday with criminal homicide, robbery, theft and abuse of a corpse. Four years ago, Sumney was arrested after police said he beat his 71-year-old father during a confrontation at their home. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call police, and the investigation is ongoing.
September 28, 2019 10:46 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The last victim compensation funds at Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses are closing as lawmakers plunge back into a years-old fight over whether to let long-ago victims of child sexual abuse sue perpetrators and institutions. It’s more than a year after a landmark grand jury report accused church officials of hushing up abuse. Victim compensation funds in Philadelphia, Allentown, Scranton and Pittsburgh will close Monday to applications. The Senate will hold a hearing Wednesday with testimony from victims, constitutional scholars and others.
Based on partial information available from the dioceses so far, fund administrators have offered or paid more than $35 million to roughly 240 people. Ben Andreozzi, a Harrisburg-based lawyer, says that’s far less than what dioceses would have paid if faced with the threat of a lawsuit.
September 28, 2019 7:47 am
Several area men were formally arraigned with attempted homicide charges in Washington County Court. The arraignment in front of Judge John DiSalle was in connection with an assault by alleged members of the Pagan Motorcycle Club. The assault occurred on April 18 at the Slovak Club in Charleroi. Troy Harris was the victim and suffered severe head trauma causing a stroke and cognitive problems. Arraigned before DiSalle were Matthew James Vasquez, 30 of Monessen; Joseph Olinsky, 46 of McKeesport; Corey Adam Volk, 24 of West Newton; Paul Corcoran, 54 of Charleroi; John Sadvary, 39 of Penn Hills; Joshua Pagliei, 43 of Monongahela and Jason Huff, 40 of Plum. All are charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault and other related conspiracies. Brian Keruskin, 57 of Charleroi is facing charges of conspiracy to attempt homicide, conspiracy to commit both simple and aggravated assault and solicitation to tamper or fabricate evidence. Arraigned earlier this month with charges of conspiracy were Zachary Yagnich, 27 a Slovak Club Officer and Jamie Granato, 28 of Monessen who was Vasquez’s fiancé at the time of the attack. The Judge set December 9 as the date for jury selection.
September 28, 2019 4:26 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A U.S. judge says she will block Trump administration rules for the detention of immigrant children, calling them inconsistent with a longstanding agreement that lays out conditions for their custody. The decision came Friday after a hearing where attorneys for detained immigrant children said the rules would let the U.S. government keep kids locked up indefinitely and in facilities that aren’t licensed by the state. The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles said the Flores settlement reached in 1997 remains in place and she will issue an injunction blocking the new rules from taking effect. The longstanding settlement governs the detention conditions for immigrant children caught on the Mexico border.
September 28, 2019 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO caught in the middle of a whistleblower complaint over President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, has resigned from his post as special envoy to the Eastern European nation. A U.S. official says Volker told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday of his decision to leave the job, following disclosures that he had connected Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani with Ukrainian officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his family over allegedly corrupt business dealings. The official was not authorized to discuss the resignation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The State Department had no immediate comment on Volker’s resignation and has said only that he put Giuliani in touch with an aide to Ukraine’s president.
September 28, 2019 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats have taken their first concrete steps in the impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump, issuing subpoenas demanding documents from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and scheduling legal depositions for other State Department officials. At the end of a stormy week of revelation and recrimination, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi framed the impeachment inquiry as a somber moment for a divided nation. Trump, for his part, insisted anew that his actions and words have been “perfect” and the whistleblower’s complaint about his comments to the leader of Ukraine might well be the work of “a partisan operative.”
September 28, 2019 4:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement officer is joining several other top state Democratic officials in backing the legalization of marijuana for recreational use by adults.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a Friday statement on Twitter that he changed his mind after months of internal research and discussions with law enforcement colleagues. Shapiro’s announcement comes two days after Gov. Tom Wolf made a similar announcement that he supports it. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, both Democrats, have long supported the idea, too. However, leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature have pushed back forcefully and said they oppose it. Only two state legislatures, in Vermont and Illinois, have passed bills to legalize marijuana. Voters in nine other states legalized marijuana through referendum, an avenue that Pennsylvania law doesn’t allow.
