November 9, 2019 4:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania is seeking passage of a measure that’s squarely aimed at several Democratic presidential candidates and designed to prevent a president from banning hydraulic fracturing. Toomey said Friday his new resolution makes it clear that Congress believes a president doesn’t have the authority to ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Toomey’s resolution is in response to an all-out prohibition on the controversial natural gas extraction process that’s backed by two leading Democratic presidential candidates, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. The prospect of banning fracking is dividing Democrats and their traditional allies in organized labor in what’s shaping up as a premier battleground state in next year’s presidential election. Pennsylvania is also the nation’s No. 2 natural gas state, behind Texas.
November 9, 2019 4:05 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – An 88-year-old Roman Catholic priest awaits sentencing after a judge in Pittsburgh convicted him of indecent assault and other charges involving a pre-teen boy. The Rev. Hugh Lang was found guilty Friday of crimes that occurred in 2001 when he was pastor of St. Therese of Lisieux Parish in Munhall. The investigation was launched last year after a report was made to the state’s Childline abuse hotline. Police said in charging documents that during altar boy training, Lang molested and photographed the child. Lang testified he didn’t know the victim and denied abusing him. Lang’s lawyer argued the victim wasn’t credible and noted he’s filed a lawsuit. Lang was also found guilty of unlawful contact with a minor, indecent exposure and corruption of a minor. Sentencing is scheduled for February.
November 9, 2019 3:40 am
The victim of a trench collapse in North Strabane Township has been identified. Washington County Coroner Tim Warco has identified Richard St. John, 49 of Bellaire, Ohio as the man who became trapped when a trench that he was digging collapsed. The cause and manner of death are still pending. The incident occurred on Brehm Road in North Strabane Township at 1:10 p.m. on Friday afternoon. St. John was one of several people trying to tie a sewer line into the public system. It is unclear what caused the collapse and the incident is still being investigated by OSHA and the North Strabane Township Police. (Photo WPXI)
November 8, 2019 5:04 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Medicare says its “Part B” premium for outpatient care will rise to $144.60 a month next year, an increase of $9.10, or nearly 7%. That follows a smaller $1.50 rise this year. The health care cost increase comes after Social Security announced a modest 1.6 percent cost-of-living raise for 2020. The Part B premium is an unofficial yardstick used by beneficiaries to track what health care is costing them. Part B covers doctor visits and outpatient care, while Medicare’s Part A covers hospitalization. Medicare officials said Friday the annual Part B outpatient deductible will increase by $13, to $198 next year. The Part A in-patient deductible will increase by $44, to $1,408 in 2020. Next year’s Social Security increase works out to $24 a month for the average retired worker.
November 8, 2019 4:16 pm
A man in Washington County died Friday afternoon after becoming trapped in a trench that collapsed at a home in the 100 block of Brehm Road in North Strabane Township. Emergency responders were called out just after one o’clock following reports that a man had become trapped at the bottom of what they’re calling a 10-foot-deep trench. Authorities say it appears that the man was working on a sewer line when the hole caved in, but the investigation is still active. (Photo: WPXI)
November 8, 2019 7:49 am
A West Newton man pled guilty and has been sentenced in connection with the brutal assault of a man at the Charleroi Slovak club earlier this year. The Washington County District Attorney’s office says 24 year old Corey Volk, a member of the Pagans motorcycle club, was sentenced to a consecutive term of three-to-six years on charges of aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. His total sentence will be seven-to-14 years in prison. District Attorney Gene Vittone says Volk and several others brutally assaulted Troy Harris back in April. A total of 11 people have been charged in connection with that attack.
November 8, 2019 4:11 am
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. health officials are reporting a breakthrough in their investigation into the cause of an outbreak of vaping illnesses. A government lab found the same chemical compound in lung fluid from 29 patients. The compound – vitamin E acetate – was previously found in vaping fluid used by many of those who got sick. But officials said Friday that this is more direct evidence that the chemical may be to blame. Vitamin E is safe as a vitamin pill or to use on the skin, but inhaling oily droplets can be harmful. It has recently been used as a thickener in vaping fluid, particularly in black market vape cartridges. More than 2,000 Americans who use electronic cigarettes have gotten sick this year, and at least 40 have died.
November 8, 2019 4:09 am
LA MORA, Mexico (AP) – After burying some of the nine American women and children slain in a cartel ambush, residents of this town of about 300 are left to come to grips with the fear the attacks inspired among the tightly knit community. “I do not feel safe here, and I won’t, because the truth is we aren’t safe here as a community,” David Langford said at the funeral for his wife, Dawna Ray Langford. While the sibling community of Colonia Le Baron has been peaceful since the 2009 murder of one of its members and subsequent installation of a security base, La Mora lacks such a presence – at least until Monday’s killings prompted state and federal forces to deploy in the town. How long they stay could be crucial to its future.
November 8, 2019 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, is opening the door to a 2020 presidential campaign. Bloomberg announced earlier this year that he would not seek the Democratic nomination. But in a statement Thursday, his political adviser Howard Wolfson says Bloomberg is worried that the current crop of Democratic presidential candidates is “not well positioned” to defeat President Donald Trump. A Bloomberg adviser says the former mayor has not made a final decision on whether to run. But he is expected to file to get on the ballot in Alabama’s presidential primary.
November 8, 2019 4:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former national security adviser John Bolton has information about “many relevant meetings and conversations” related to Ukraine that House impeachment investigators have not yet heard testimony about. That’s according to a letter that Bolton’s attorney, Charles Cooper, sent Friday to the House that suggests Bolton would appear in the probe only if a court orders him to do so. In the letter, Cooper says there’s a tall barrier to forcing Bolton and his former deputy, Charles Kupperman, to testify because any testimony that they would give would implicate sensitive matters of national security and foreign affairs. Kupperman has sued to request a judge’s guidance on whether he can be forced to appear. The letter says both Bolton and Kupperman are prepared to appear if a federal judge resolved the dispute in Congress’s favor.
