December 30, 2019 4:50 pm
The State Supreme Court has suspended an Allegheny County attorney after he entered a guilty plea of criminal solicitation of sexual abuse of children. Authorities say Rosendo Dacal, of McCandless township, who was 73-years-old at the time of his arrest, has been placed on temporary leave. Dacal entered the guilty plea to criminal solicitation of sexual abuse of children and criminal use of a communication facility in Washington County Court. Dacal, who also served as a deacon in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, was arrested last year by police in North Strabane township. Authorities say Dacal was charged after he made contact with who he thought was a fourteen-year-old North Strabane boy, but was actually an undercover officer. His suspension will be in place on January 29, 2020.
December 30, 2019 7:38 am
UNIONTOWN, Pa. — (WPXI) – One person was taken to the hospital after a police incident early Monday outside a bar in Fayette County. It happened about 2 a.m. at McPatton’s Pub on North Gallitan Avenue in Uniontown, emergency dispatchers said. Police taped off the area while they investigated. Police haven’t released the condition of the person hurt. State police and Uniontown police and Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the incident.
December 30, 2019 7:36 am
MOSCOW (AP) – The Kremlin says the Russian president spoke with President Donald Trump to thank him for information that helped Russia foil terrorist attacks over the New Year’s holiday. The Russian security forces say they detained two Russians suspected of preparing to carry out attacks in St. Petersburg during the upcoming holiday. Russia’s Federal Security Service says it obtained the information from its “American partners.” There is no immediate comment from the White House.
December 30, 2019 4:28 am
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. — (WPXI) – A man was being treated for gunshot wounds at a local hospital after police said he was shot outside a local bar. Allegheny County Police said the shooting occurred outside the Homeville Trolley Stop bar in West Mifflin. Investigators said the victim was being treated at UPMC Presbyterian hospital after he was shot in the leg and hip. He was listed in stable condition. Police said they do not have any suspects at this point and they are still investigating.
December 30, 2019 4:22 am
MONSEY, N.Y. (AP) – Authorities say they have found handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic references in the home of a man charged with federal hate crimes in the stabbing of five people celebrating Hanukkah in a rabbi’s house north of New York City. Federal criminal charges were filed Monday. Grafton E. Thomas was expected to appear in federal court in White Plains to face five counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by attempting to kill with a dangerous weapon and causing injuries. The attack occurred amid a series of violent attacks targeting Jews in the region. On Sunday, Thomas pleaded not guilty to five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary. (Photo: CNN)
December 30, 2019 4:21 am
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas (AP) – A man who trained others in his Texas church to use firearms to protect the congregation fatally shot a gunman seconds after he opened fire during a service. Jack Wilson fired a single shot, quickly ending the attack that killed two people at the West Freeway Church of Christáin the Fort Worth-area town of White Settlement. More than 240 congregants were in the church at the time. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton identified Wilson on Monday. Paxton also hailed the state’s gun laws, which allow weapons in places of worship. Authorities identified the gunman Monday as 43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen of the small nearby city of River Oaks.
December 30, 2019 4:20 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for his military and diplomats to prepare unspecified “offensive measures” to protect the country’s security and sovereignty as he nears his end-of-year deadline for the Trump administration to make major concessions to salvage a fragile nuclear diplomacy. North Korea’s state media says Kim during the ruling Workers’ Party meeting also stressed improvements in national efforts to rebuild the North’s moribund economy. A South Korean analyst says Kim urgent needs to make policy changes in the face of international sanctions and pressure such as a crackdown on North Korean workers abroad.
December 30, 2019 4:20 am
MIAMI (AP) – Authorities say three children have died in a house fire in South Florida. Miami Fire Rescue officials tell local media that firefighters found four children, ages 1 to 12, trapped inside the Miami home Monday as the fire was raging Monday. All four children were unresponsive and firefighters began performing CPR on some of them. They were then taken to a hospital where three of the children died.
December 30, 2019 4:15 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Authorities are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found along the shoreline in a northwestern Pennsylvania park.State police in Erie County say a duck hunter found the body floating in brush near the East Pier at Presque Isle State Park at about 9 a.m. Saturday.Coroner Lyell Cook told the Erie Times-News that there were no signs of trauma on the body, so it’s unclear whether an autopsy would reveal anything.áHe said officials were more concerned about establishing the woman’s identity, since there was no identification on the body.
December 30, 2019 4:14 am
Authorities say a suspect has been charged in the slaying of a 90-year-old man shot and killed outside a Pittsburgh cemetery. Police in Allegheny County say 27-year-old Anthony Miller of White Oak is charged with homicide, robbery and weapons crimes. Authorities said 90-year-old Samuel Rende was in a truck at the entrance to Calvary Cemetery when he was shot in the head at about 9:45 a.m. Saturday. Authorities said they believe the victim was “targeted.”áCourt documents don’t list a defense attorney and a listed number for Miller couldn’t be found Sunday.
