July 27, 2019 7:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A narrowly divided U.S. Supreme court has ruled that the Trump administration can use Pentagon funds to replace sections of a border wall with Mexico. The court voted 5-4 to lift a freeze on the money put in place by a lower court. The ruling, opposed by the court’s four liberals, means work can begin on four contracts awarded by the administration. Approximately $4.5 billion in Department of Defense funds can now be accessed.
July 27, 2019 7:17 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Erie County’s top judge says he’s working on a way to unwind improperly filed criminal cases, a day after a report was released concerning a former district judge’s practice of handling civil debt collection as theft. President Judge John Trucilla said Friday “the numbers were somewhat staggering” in the report by the auditor general’s office into the actions by former Corry District Judge Brenda Williams Nichols Trucilla says he wants to act quickly but isn’t yet sure how the problem will be fixed. He says it may be handled through an administrative order, so defendants don’t have to hire lawyers to file expungement requests. The auditor general’s report says Nichols misclassified more than 800 civil claims as theft of services violations while serving in office from 2014 through 2017.
July 27, 2019 4:11 am
A Charleroi man is in custody on accusations he assaulted two police officers who accompanied Children and Youth employees when they removed two girls from his residence Thursday. James Stuart Deshong, 53, was placed in Washington County Jail by District Judge Gary Havelka. Court records show Deshong was charged with aggravated assault and other charges and is held on $20,000 bond. Police accuse him of punching officer Brandon Zuraw in the left side of his face about 7:15 p.m. before striking Lt. Mike Polinski, causing a laceration to his jaw that required three stitches, court records indicate. Deshong was treated for his injuries at Mon Valley Hospital.
July 27, 2019 3:52 am
(AP) – Prosecutors set to defend Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction in appeals court next month say the accusations from other women are no coincidence, but “the culmination of a decades-long pattern of behavior.” The 82-year-old comic actor is the first celebrity convicted and sent to prison in the #MeToo era. His appeal challenges the trial testimony of five other accusers. But Montgomery County prosecutors in a filing late Thursday say that’s allowed when it points to a “signature” crime.
July 27, 2019 3:47 am
(WPXI) CARNEGIE, Pa. – A woman was injured when her Jeep ended up on its roof after a hit-and-run on Cubbage Street in Carnegie on Friday evening. Andrea Prohaska said she was two cars behind the Jeep. “I was concerned because I didn’t know who was in the car or how bad she was hurt,” Prohaska said. Neighbors ran out of their homes when they heard the piercing sound of metal on metal. Witnesses told police they saw a red pickup truck try to pass the Jeep on the very narrow street, but a car was coming up the hill at the same time. They said the truck had nowhere to go. “Pushed her over into the parked car. And I don’t know how it happened, she went upwards and flipped backwards,” Prohaska said. Neighbors said the red pickup truck drove off in reverse down two streets. “He flew around me backwards all the way down here and went all the way up the hill backwards in the truck,” Prohaska said. “He was gone. He just couldn’t get out of here quick enough. Witnesses said that, as that truck sped off, people ran to the crash scene to help. “We all jumped into action, got her out of the car,” William Hoffman said. Hoffman said he is trained in CPR and that he and two men worked to pull out the women trapped. “It’s just instinct. You can’t take too long to think in case the car engulfs in flame,” Hoffman said. The woman was taken to a local hospital. Police said this is still an open investigation.
July 26, 2019 4:53 pm
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – President Donald Trump is vowing to slap tariffs on Apple’s Mac Pros if the company shifts production of the computer from Texas to China. The pledge made in a Friday tweet rebuffs Apple’s attempt to shield its products from taxes being imposed on goods made in China as part of Trump administration’s trade war with the world’s most populous country. Apple recently sent a letter to the Trump administration warning that the U.S. economy and its ability to compete will hurt if its products are hit with the tariffs. The Cupertino, California, company has been assembling its Mac Pros in Austin, Texas since 2013, but a report surfaced last month that Apple plans to shift production to a factory near Shanghai. Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
July 26, 2019 4:29 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – T-Mobile CEO John Legere says he’s hoping to engage with state attorneys general who have sued to block its $26.5 billion takeover of Sprint. Legere says he believes the deal can close by the end of the year. The Justice Department approved the deal on Friday, clearing a major hurdle for a deal set to transform the telecom industry. To win approval, T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to sell some prepaid businesses and airwave rights for wireless service to satellite-TV company Dish. But many critics say that’s not good enough. Democratic attorneys general from 13 states have sued to stop the takeover, citing consumer harm. New York Attorney General Letitia James says having Dish as a smaller rival “will not address the merger’s harm to consumers, workers, and innovation.”
July 26, 2019 1:04 pm
The Washington County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force, Washington Regional SWAT and the East Washington Police executed a search warrant at six a.m. at 102 South Wade in East Washington, closing a multi-month investigation into suspected drug trafficking. Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone says the raid was in response to the suspected sale of crack cocaine. Vittone says when authorities arrived they found numerous people staying in the house. Two people were arrested on probation violation warrants and another was picked-up on a outstanding Pennsylvania State Police criminal warrant.
July 26, 2019 12:35 pm
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WPXI) – The tram system at Pittsburgh International Airport was down for about an hour late Thursday night, creating a backlog for people getting off their flights. According to an airport spokesperson, the south train was out of service for regularly scheduled maintenance when the north train unexpectedly went down. The outage, which officials believe was caused by a mechanical or electrical problem, lasted from about 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. “Per airport protocol, the airport bussed passengers between terminals for that hour. Additionally, the pedestrian tunnel was opened for passengers who chose to walk. Airport staff were on hand to direct passengers,” the spokesperson said in a statement. Video shows people walking shoulder to shoulder, filling a hallway as they make their way to the tunnel.
July 26, 2019 4:17 am
SEATTLE (AP) – There’s a rise in cyberbullying nationwide, with three times as many girls reporting being harassed online or by text message than boys. That comes from the latest survey released this month by the National Center for Education Statistics. It shows an uptick in online abuse, though the overall number of students who report being bullied stayed the same. The survey says about one in five students reported being bullied, ranging from rumors or being excluded to threats and physical attacks in the 2016-17 school year. That’s unchanged from the previous survey, done in 2014-15. In that two-year span, cyberbullying increased from 11.5% to 15.3%, with 21% of girls reporting being bullied online or by text, compared with less than 7% of boys.
In the earlier survey, about 16% of girls said they were bullied online.
