June 28, 2024 2:12 am
(WPXI) – A Washington County man is facing charges after he allegedly stole over $130,000 from a club’s game of chance machines. Timothy Hoffman, 63, from California, is charged with several theft by deception charges. According to the criminal complaint, officers were called to a report of a theft at the Young Men’s Club. Club officers told police that Hoffman, who was a member, was in charge of removing the money from the machines and was shorting them. Court documents said Hoffman reportedly stole $53,037 in 2021, $32,329 in 2022, $41,785 in 2023 and $5,898 for one month in 2024. There is a report that before Hoffman was dismissed from his duties, he took $188,249. Of that total, he was to give the club $55,200, meaning he profited $133,249.
June 28, 2024 3:42 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI)-Anthrocon is set to return to Pittsburgh and is expected to have a record-breaking turnout. More than 15,500 furries are expected to take on the Steel City from July 4-7, VisitPITTBURGH announced. The convention is anticipated to result in around $17.4 million in direct visitor spending. “We’re excited to welcome the fursuiters back to Pittsburgh,” said Andy Ortale, Chief Sales Officer at VisitPITTSBURGH. “Each year, we have the privilege of working with the event organizers to establish strong community connections and partnerships that leave a significant and lasting impact on our city, and this year, there are several events on the docket that stand to make Anthrocon 2024 bigger and better.” Last month, VisitPITTSBURGH announced that the original housing block for the event opened with 10,349 total rooms, and attendees purchased every room at every hotel property in a record 12 minutes — a first for event organizers. VisitPITTSBURGH worked with convention leaders and hotel partners to secure an additional 1,894 rooms. Room blocks were expanded at the Omni William Penn and Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh Downtown, and new contracts and rates were established with six other hotels to accommodate even more guests. Currently, attendees are booked across 22 partner hotels, and six shuttle routes will facilitate travel to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Several community events will be held throughout the city during Anthrocon, including a performance in Market Square and a parade through several downtown streets.
June 27, 2024 11:35 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has cleared the way for Idaho hospitals to provide emergency abortions for now in a procedural ruling that leaves key questions unanswered. Thursday’s ruling could mean the issue ends up before the conservative-majority court again soon. The ruling came after an opinion was briefly posted on the court’s website accidentally and quickly taken down, but not before it was obtained by Bloomberg News. The Biden administration had argued doctors must be allowed to provide emergency abortions when a pregnant patient’s health is at serious risk. But Idaho said its law does allow abortions to save the life of a pregnant woman and federal law doesn’t require wider exceptions.
The Supreme Court has rejected a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would’ve shielded Sackler family members who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids but also would’ve provided billions of dollars to combat the epidemic. The justices Thursday blocked an agreement hammered out with state and local governments and victims. The Sacklers would’ve contributed up to $6 billion and relinquished ownership of the company but kept billions more. The agreement provided that the Connecticut-based company would emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used for treatment and prevention. The high court had put the settlement on hold last summer, after the Biden administration objected.
The Supreme Court is putting the Environmental Protection Agency’s air pollution-fighting “good neighbor” plan on hold while legal challenges continue. It’s the conservative-led high court’s latest blow to federal regulations. The justices Thursday rejected arguments by the Biden administration and Democratic-controlled states the plan was cutting air pollution and saving lives in 11 states. The regulation will remain on hold while the federal appeals court in Washington considers a challenge to the plan from industry and Republican-led states. The rule is intended to restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution. Energy-producing states Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia challenged it.
June 27, 2024 4:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s auto industry has grown concerned that Chinese carmakers may be preparing to set up shop in Mexico to exploit North American trade rules. The Chinese could then send ultra-low-priced electric vehicles streaming into the United States, devastating the U.S. auto industry, which envisions American EVs as the core of their business in the coming decades. To defuse the threat, the U.S. does have a range of options that it might be forced to deploy. Whatever steps the U.S. government might take, though, would likely face legal challenges from companies that want to import the Chinese EVs.
June 27, 2024 4:40 am
NOGALES, Mexico (AP) — The Biden administration’s asylum halt that has led to a 40% drop in arrests for illegal border crossings this month falls hardest on nationalities most susceptible to being deported. The asylum halt applies that took effect June 5 to all nationalities. But Mexicans and those Mexico agrees to take back are most likely to be deported. That includes Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. Lack of money for charter flights, sour diplomatic ties and other operational challenges make it more difficult to deport people to many countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says the U.S. is working with countries around the world to accept more of their deported citizens.
June 27, 2024 5:40 pm
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s top education official is ordering public schools to incorporate the Bible into lessons for grades 5 through 12. State Superintendent Ryan Walters issued a memo Thursday to school superintendents across the state. The directive is the latest effort by conservatives to incorporate religion into the classroom. Walters said in the memo that his mandate is compulsory and “immediate and strict compliance is expected.” Walters was elected in 2022. He has embraced culture-war issues and fighting what he says is “woke ideology” in public schools as a central theme of his administration. The directive faced immediate criticism from civil rights groups and others who called it unconstitutional and an abuse of power.
June 27, 2024 4:36 am
ATLANTA (AP) — Both President Joe Biden and his Republican rival, Donald Trump, hope to jolt a campaign that many voters are just beginning to watch. Thursday’s debate in Atlanta offers unparalleled opportunities for both candidates to try to shape the political narrative. For Biden, the debate gives him the chance to reassure voters that, at 81, he’s capable of guiding the U.S. through a range of challenges. The 78-year-old Trump, meanwhile, could use the moment to try to move past his recent felony conviction in New York. Their performances have the potential to alter the trajectory of the election.
June 26, 2024 4:31 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on a major case involving former President Donald Trump, 7 in 10 Americans think its justices are more likely to shape the law to fit their own ideology, rather than serving as neutral arbiters of government authority. That’s according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It found that less than one-third of U.S. adults think the justices are more likely to provide an independent check on other branches of government by being fair and impartial. Confidence in the Supreme Court remains low. Rank-and-file Republicans as well aren’t giving the justices a ringing endorsement.
June 27, 2024 1:49 am
North Strabane Residents that live along North Spring Valley Road have appealed a conditional land use approval granted to Laurel Communities to build a development called the Collective At Peters Lake. Linda Lopez and Matthew and Pamela Maniet have engaged Joshua Ash at the University of Pittsburgh Environmental Law and Policy Clinic to help them with the appeal. Lopez and the Maniets are concerned about their water supply. They currently have wells and worry about impurities from earth moving during the construction phase and future impurities that may result from future fertilizer use. North Strabane has conditioned that the developer run public water lines to their street, but residents on North Spring Valley Extension would need to run their own piping to access the main pipe and pay tap in fees. According to Matt Maniet, early estimates are in the $10,000 to $30,000 range to access public water. They feel that they are being taken for granted because they may be forced into purchasing public water when it was not their wish to do that. The environmental non-profit group Friends of Peters Lake support the residents’ efforts as they wish to maintain the natural environment of Peters Lake Park. North Strabane Township officials referred comment to their solicitor. The solicitor said they just received the large packet of information and have not had time to review it. Additionally, they do not comment on pending litigation. The case is in the early stages and hearings have yet to be scheduled.
June 27, 2024 4:24 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. -(WPXI)- A Washington man has been arrested in connection to a homicide in Braddock Hills. Abdullaah Francken, 23, is charged with criminal homicide after a shooting on June 7. The shooting happened early in the morning in the parking lot of J Cats Bar. William Coffey, 24, was killed. Detectives identified Francken through interviews with witnesses and surveillance video. He was arrested on Wednesday and taken to the Allegheny County Jail.
