July 17, 2019 4:42 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI/WJPA) – A local doctor accused in a pill mill scheme was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Pittsburgh. Dr. Madhu Aggarwal surrendered her medical license last year after she pleaded guilty to charges connected to her illegally prescribing suboxone while working at Redirections Treatment Advocates in Washington, Pennsylvania. Aggarwal, a gynecologist, was sentenced to six months home detention and three years probaton. She was also sentenced to do 100 hours of community service and pay fines. Aggarwal broke down several times in court as she admitted to signing blank prescriptions for suboxone. “For the last 14 months, not a day has gone by that I haven’t cried. Enjoyment is gone from my life,” Aggarwal said in court. Aggarwal surrendered her medical license. She said her actions came from a good place. She told the judge she saw “over time how opioids were destroying the community.” She was treating mothers addicted to opioids. Babies were coming out addicted, as well.
July 17, 2019 2:52 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – Off-duty police officer Calvin Hall, who was shot early Saturday morning in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood, has died, officials confirmed Wednesday. Hall, 36, was at a house on Monticello Street visiting friends when he was shot three times in the back, according to investigators. He died Wednesday at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. Hall was stationed in Northview Heights for the last two years. Police said he was assigned there because of his positive attitude and ability to relate to people. Officials said Hall previously worked for Braddock Police and had also worked as a police officer for Point Park University. Hall will receive full burial honors, police said. Hall’s death is being investigated as a homicide. No arrests have been made in the shooting.
July 17, 2019 2:36 pm
GENEVA (AP) – The World Health Organization says the deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo is now an international health emergency after the virus spread this week to a city of 2 million people. A WHO expert committee declined on three previous occasions to advise the United Nations health agency to make the declaration, but other experts say the outbreak has long met the conditions. More than 1,600 people have died since August in the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, which is unfolding in a region described as a war zone. This week the first Ebola case was confirmed in Goma, a major regional crossroads on the Rwandan border with an international airport. Experts have feared this for months. A declaration of a global health emergency often brings greater international attention and aid.
July 17, 2019 7:57 am
A water main break has left some two dozen customers without water Wednesday morning in Canonsburg. Pennsylvania American Water says crews are working to make repairs but it could take six to eight hours to complete. The break involved a four-inch water line along Blaine Avenue. At least one home reportedly did get water in its basement as a result of the break. The break occurred just after 5 a.m. in the 400 block of Blaine.
July 17, 2019 7:52 am
OREM, Utah (AP) – Authorities say a 6-year-old Utah girl has died after her father accidentally hit her with a golf ball. Police say the ball struck the girl in the back of the head on Monday morning, while the father and daughter were golfing at Sleepy Ridge Golf Course in Orem. The ball collided with the base of her neck. Lt. Trent Colledge with the Orem Police Department says she was flown to a hospital in Salt Lake City in critical condition. She died from her injuries later that evening. Colledge said police are investigating but are not planning to pursue charges because it appears to have been a tragic accident. Police have not released the names of the girl or her father.
July 17, 2019 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – John Paul Stevens, who served on the Supreme Court for nearly 35 years and became its leading liberal, has died. He was 99. Stevens’ influence was felt on issues including abortion rights, protecting consumers and placing limits on the death penalty. He led the high court’s decision to allow terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay to plead for their freedom in U.S. courts. As a federal appeals court judge in Chicago, Stevens was considered a moderate when Republican President Gerald Ford nominated him. On the Supreme Court he became known as an independent thinker and a voice for ordinary people against powerful interests. He retired in June 2010 at age 90, the second oldest justice in the court’s history.
July 17, 2019 4:17 am
CLEVELAND (AP) – Newly public federal data shows how drug companies increased shipments of opioid painkillers across the U.S. as a national addiction crisis accelerated from 2006 to 2012. The data reported Tuesday by The Washington Post shows that companies distributed 8.4 billion hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to commercial pharmacies in 2006 and 12.6 billion in 2012. Over that seven-year period, 76 billion bills were distributed in all and prescription opioids contributed to more than 100,000 deaths in the U.S. The data was released as part of lawsuits by local governments seeking to hold drug companies accountable for the crisis. The Post and HD Media, which owns newspapers in West Virginia, sued for the information. It has not yet been released to the public or other media outlets.
July 17, 2019 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Immigrant advocates are suing the Trump administration over its move to end asylum protections for most migrants who cross the southern U.S. border. The American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center and Center for Constitutional Rights sued Tuesday in federal court in Northern California. The Trump administration proposal would prevent most migrants from seeking protection as refugees if they have passed through another country first. It targets the tens of thousands of Central American families who cross into the U.S. through Mexico. But it would also affect people from Africa, Asia and South America who also seek refuge at the southern border. Immigrant advocates say the plan is illegal because it circumvents the process Congress has established for asylum.
July 17, 2019 4:14 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A lawyer says New York Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo (pan-tuh-LAY’-oh) is “gratified” that the Justice Department carefully reviewed his case rather than what he calls the “lies and inaccuracies” surrounding it. The government announced Tuesday that it had decided not to bring civil rights charges against Pantaleo in connection with Eric Garner’s 2014 death.
Attorney Stuart London says Pantaleo used techniques approved by the New York Police Department while arresting Garner, who died after uttering “I can’t breathe.” London added that a loss of life is “always a tragedy.” Meanwhile, a chant of “No justice, no peace!” erupted as Garner’s family and their supporters gathered outside City Hall. Cousin Michael Garner stressed that the family has the “utmost respect” for law enforcement when it is “applied fairly.” However, he said officers who were “there and did nothing” should be fired.
July 17, 2019 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats have issued a remarkable rebuke against President Donald Trump, passing a resolution condemning what they called Trump’s “racist comments” aimed at four liberal congresswomen of color. Four moderate Republicans joined Democrats in Tuesday night’s 240-187 vote in spite of lobbying by Trump and Republican leaders trying to keep the vote along party lines. GOP leaders insist Trump’s comments were not racist and accused Democrats of political game-playing. Trump himself continued to claim that his exhortations against the congresswomen were not racist and repeated his challenge that they leave the U.S. if they aren’t happy. He originally urged the women to return to their home countries, though three of them are native-born Americans and all are citizens.
