July 16, 2019 2:54 pm
PennDOT is advising area motorists that beginning the week of July 29, crews will begin to install stop signs at the intersection of Route 136 and Brownlee Road in Somerset Township. The intersection will be fully converted to a 4-way stop by the end of this month.
July 16, 2019 10:39 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal prosecutors won’t bring civil rights charges against a New York City police officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner. That’s according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke Tuesday to The Associated Press. The person wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Officers were attempting to arrest Garner on charges he sold loose, untaxed cigarettes outside a Staten Island convenience store. Garner refused to be handcuffed, and officers took him down. Garner’s dying words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry for police reform activists. A state grand jury refused to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo on criminal charges. Chokeholds are banned under police policy. Pantaleo maintained he used a legal takedown maneuver called the “seatbelt.” The medical examiner found a chokehold contributed to Garner’s death.
July 16, 2019 10:24 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins has returned to the exact spot where he and two other astronauts flew to the moon 50 years ago. At NASA’s invitation, Michael Collins spent the golden anniversary Tuesday morning at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida. He marked the precise moment – 9:32 a.m. on July 16, 1969 – that their Saturn V rocket departed on humanity’s first moon landing. Buzz Aldrin was an unexplained no-show. Mission commander Neil Armstrong – who took the first lunar footsteps – died in 2012. Collins says he wishes Aldrin and Armstrong could have shared the moment Tuesday at the pad. The 88-year-old astronaut was interviewed live on NASA TV. The event kicks off a week of celebrations marking each day of Apollo 11’s eight-day voyage.
July 16, 2019 10:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says his tweets telling four female Democratic lawmakers of color to “go back” to the broken countries from which they came were “NOT Racist.” Trump sought to defend himself Tuesday, a day after saying he wasn’t concerned that critics considered the tweets to be racist. Trump tweeted Tuesday: “Those Tweets were NOT Racist. I don’t have a Racist bone in my body!” Reps. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib are U.S. citizens, and three were born in the U.S. They say Trump made “xenophobic bigoted remarks.” Trump also criticized plans by the House to vote on a resolution condemning his comments. He called Tuesday’s expected vote on the resolution a “Democrat con game” and said Republicans “should not show ‘weakness’ and fall into their trap.” Trump says the vote should instead be on the language used by the congresswomen.
July 16, 2019 5:49 am
EAST HUNTINGDON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Pennsylvania State Police confirm that Derrick Bass, 29, was arrested in Ohio. He was wanted for charges related to the death of his new girlfriend’s infant daughter Saturday night at an apartment complex in East Huntingdon Township. Derrick Bass, 29, is charged with homicide after the 11-month-old girl was found dead in a Pack ‘n Play at the Laurel Hill Apartments on Gurley Drive, investigators said. The baby’s mother told police Bass was supposed to be watching her daughter and his two children. He was also supposed to pick her up from work, but never showed up. When the girl’s mother got home, she noticed her daughter and various electronic items were missing, according to a complaint. She called police shortly after 11 p.m. Police responded to the apartment shortly after 12:30 a.m. after the mother reported finding her daughter unresponsive in the Pack ‘n Play, the complaint said. She did not see her until that time because the baby was covered in blankets. Family identified the girls as 11-month-old Niomie Miller. An autopsy was conducted Sunday morning, and the preliminary cause of death was determined to be drowning, authorities said. (Photo: WPXI)
July 16, 2019 5:44 am
FORT HILL, Pa. – (WPXI) – The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh confirmed to Channel 11 that a 15-year-old boy died after a fall at a wilderness camp in Somerset County. YMCA officials said early Monday afternoon, the teen boy was attending Teen Wilderness Camp through YMCA Camp Kon-O-Kwee Spencer in Beaver County. Campers from that location were on an outing near YMCA Deer Valley Camp in Fort Hill, which is in Somerset County. It was near the Deer Valley Camp where the teen was critically injured. He was airlifted to Conemaugh Meyersdale Medical Center where he died. Camp officials said they have contacted parents of other campers to provide details on when and where they can pick up their children. “We are devastated by this tragic loss and our hearts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time,” the YMCA said in a statement. (Photo: WPXI)
July 16, 2019 5:40 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration says its new regulation barring taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions is taking effect immediately. The Health and Human Services department said Monday it will begin enforcing the ban on abortion referrals, along with a requirement that family planning clinics maintain separate finances from facilities that provide abortions. The rule is widely seen as a blow against Planned Parenthood, which provides taxpayer-funded family planning and basic health care to low-income women, as well as abortions paid for separately. Planned Parenthood and other family-planning providers are suing the Trump administration to overturn the regulations, but HHS says no judicial orders currently prevent it from enforcing the rule. Another requirement that both kinds of facilities cannot be under the same roof takes effect next year.
July 16, 2019 4:30 am
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) – A West Virginia organization is helping to feed hungry pets and provide other necessities with its pet pantry. The Exponent Telegram reports the Progressive Women’s Association in Clarksburg is starting Peppy’s Pet Pantry to help people who have trouble affording their pets. Association Assistant Director Kelli Hagerman says the group wants to make it possible for people to keep their pets, which she says are often loved like children. She says the pantry will have dog and cat food, kitty litter and accessories such as leashes, bowls, collars and toys. The organization’s president, Rosalyn Queen, says she expects the pantry will especially help older people on fixed incomes. Hagerman says the pantry has received items from some local humane societies and individuals, as well as monetary contributions.
July 16, 2019 4:28 am
DETROIT (AP) – The husband of an elected official from Pittsburgh has been acquitted of misdemeanor charges related to a trip to Detroit. The prosecutor’s office says a jury on Monday cleared Khari Mosley of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace at a hotel. Mosley is the husband of Chelsa Wagner, the controller in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Wagner, a Democrat, faces a felony charge of resisting police and a misdemeanor . Her trial starts Nov. 12 in Wayne County court. Wagner and Mosley traveled to Detroit in March to attend a concert. After the show, she went to their room while Mosley went to the bar at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. The dispute with staff and police began when Mosley didn’t have a room key.
July 16, 2019 4:25 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania is joining the short list of states where online casino-style gambling is available. Parx Casino in suburban Philadelphia and Penn National’s Hollywood Casino near Hershey launched online gambling portals to patrons statewide as part of a three-day test watched by state regulators. Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware are the only other states where online casino gambling is legal. A 2017 Pennsylvania law authorized an aggressive expansion of gambling and allowed the state’s casinos to operate a full slate of casino-style gambling on websites and mobile applications for a license fee of $10 million. The two casinos aren’t ready to roll out poker, however. American Gaming Association figures show Pennsylvania is already the nation’s No. 2 state for commercial casino revenue, behind Nevada, at $3.2 billion last year.
