October 9, 2019 7:40 am
Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania State Senator Pam Iovino (D – Allegheny & Washington) says she intends to introduce legislation that would make Pennsylvania schools safer by restoring arrest, detention, and citation powers to school police officers. Act 67 of 2019 had the unintended consequence of stripping those officers of their long-held authorities, preventing them from completely fulfilling their school security mission. As a result, school safety responsibilities have been shifted from on-site SPOs to municipal police. The result is an unnecessary requirement on the municipal authority and a degrading of safety in our schools. “I have heard concerns throughout the 37th Senatorial District regarding the repeal of School Police Officers’ arrest, detention, and citation powers and its negative impact on school safety,” said Senator Pam Iovino. “I am hopeful for strong bi-partisan support for this commonsense school safety legislation.” Senator Iovino’s bill, crafted after months of conversations, contains language that was developed from the input from both the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Republican Caucus as well as the Fraternal Order of Police. The language restores SPO powers as they existed prior to Act 67. Since Act 30 of 1997, SPOs have had the power to exercise certain police powers on school grounds. This power is not absolute – the SPO needs to be granted those powers by a judge in the court of common pleas in which the school is located.
October 9, 2019 6:46 am
New ordinances in North Franklin Township adopted by Supervisors on Tuesday are designed to help residents and the Maintenance Department. Two measures were adopted unanimously. The first is an ordinance requiring vehicles be moved off of streets during a snow storm. Residents that have off street parking will be required to park their cars in their driveway during a snow storm and for 12 hours after. The ordinance was written because road crews had a very difficult time last year navigating some township roads because cars were parked on the street when off street parking was available. The ordinance does not apply to residents that do not have driveways but residents are subject to a ticket if cars are left on the street and a driveway is available. The second measure approved is a “Quality of Life” ordinance. This ordinance does not replace any existing ordinances. It simply is an effort to more efficiently deal with nuisance properties. If a property has grass that has grown out of control or trash is accumulating, code enforcement officers will first warn a property owner that they have 5 days to rectify the problem. If after 5 days the problem still exists, a ticket will be issued and a second 5 day period will be granted to comply. If after that, the problem persists, a second ticket and final 5 day period will be issued. If, after this period expires and nothing has been done, the property owner will be taken to the magistrate. North Franklin Township Director of Planning Erin Dinch looks at this as a way to help residents eliminate problem properties in their neighborhood much more quickly.
October 9, 2019 4:23 am
BEIJING (AP) – China has demanded Washington lift sanctions on Chinese tech companies and warned it will “resolutely safeguard” the country’s interests. The Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday criticized curbs imposed on sales of U.S. technology to a group of Chinese companies as interference in the country’s affairs. U.S. officials say those companies provide technology used to repress Muslim minorities as interference in China’s affairs. The ministry said Beijing will “take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard” the country’s interests but gave no details of possible retaliation. The measure announced Monday restricts sales of U.S. technology to a group of Chinese companies working on facial recognition, artificial intelligence and other advanced products.
October 9, 2019 4:22 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Retirees John and Greta Maltbie say they prepared for a widespread power blackout intended to prevent wildfires in California by buying bottled water, getting cash and filling their car with gas. But the couple in suburban Sacramento forgot to charge their cellphones and were unable to get information on the Pacific Gas and Electric website, which was down after being overloaded with visitors. The Maltbies were among three people at an air-conditioned tent set up by PG&E in the parking lot of a church. They were charging their phones Wednesday and trying to get more information on the outage. The utility says it has set up at least one community center in every county affected by its outages to provide information, water and power for people who need to charge medical or other devices. California’s largest utility says as many as 2 million people will remain without power at least through Thursday as a precaution to protect against wildfires.
October 9, 2019 4:21 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A woman who worked with NBC at the Sochi Olympics claims she was raped by former anchor Matt Lauer at a hotel there, an encounter the former “Today” show host says was consensual. Brooke Nevils makes her claim in Ronan Farrow’s book, “Catch and Kill,” a copy of which was obtained by Variety. Lauer was fired by NBC in 2017 for what it called inappropriate sexual conduct. Nevils says Lauer forced himself upon her after a night of drinking. She said she had not consented to the sexual act, which she called “excruciatingly painful.” Lauer, in a letter provided to Variety, called Nevils “a fully enthusiastic and willing partner” in the sexual encounter. He says he had an extramarital affair with Nevils which continued after the Olympics. The Associated Press typically does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault, unless they step forward publicly as Nevils has done.
October 9, 2019 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats are waiting to see if the Trump administration will block the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from speaking to their investigators. Marie Yovanovitch was recalled from the post and is scheduled to be deposed Friday. Whether Yovanovitch will appear has been thrown into question by the White House’s assertion that it will not cooperate with what it now considers an illegitimate impeachment inquiry of the president. The ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, had been scheduled for an interview Tuesday before a joint House committee taking depositions in the impeachment probe. Hours before his appearance, the administration blocked his testimony. House Democrats then subpoenaed Sondland, setting up another clash between the two branches of government.
October 9, 2019 4:08 am
FAYETTE CO., Pa. – (WPXI) – A person who posted a threat to shoot up Uniontown High School on social media is in police custody, according to investigators. Police said school officials were made aware of a “potential threat” on Tuesday and immediately launched an investigation. The threat, which was initially captured on Snapchat, spread across social media as people tried to figure out what was happening. According to investigators, the person who posted the threat was identified and is in custody. That person’s identity was not released. However, police did confirm the suspect is a student at the high school. Uniontown Area School District officials have notified parents of the incident as well.
October 8, 2019 5:45 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House has notified the House that the Trump administration will not participate in what it is calling Democrats’ “illegitimate” impeachment probe. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone writes in a letter to House Democratic leaders that their inquiry has processed in a “manner that violates fundamental fairness and constitutionally mandated due process”\ and “lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation” or “pretense of fairness.”
October 8, 2019 4:51 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Eagles are planning massive performances of their album “Hotel California” during their 2020 tour. Performances of the band’s 1976 album will include a 46-piece orchestra and a 22-voice choir. Organizers announced Tuesday that in total, 77 musicians are expected to be onstage while Eagles perform hits from the album including “New Kid in Town” and “Life in the Fast Lane.” The band’s 2020 tour will kick off Feb. 7 in Atlanta and end April 18 in Los Angeles. Stops will include New York, Dallas, Houston and San Francisco. The band recently performed the album in its entirety at shows in Las Vegas, the first time in its history that it had played the whole album in concert. Tickets go on sale Friday on Ticketmaster.
October 8, 2019 4:47 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – The parent company of Toys R Us is turning to a rival to restart its e-commerce business ahead of the holiday shopping season. Tru Kids Brands is teaming up with discounter Target Corp. to relaunch Toysrus.com, according to a joint release. The site, which launched Tuesday, features product reviews and directs browsers to a buy button at Target.com to complete the purchase. The moves come as the first two new Toys R Us stores – one in Houston, the other in Paramus, New Jersey – will open in November as part of a small comeback of the defunct iconic toy chain in the U.S. Target.com will also power online sales in the new Toys R Us experiential retail stores.
