October 6, 2019 6:34 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis is opening a divisive meeting on preserving the Amazon and ministering to its indigenous peoples, as he fends off attacks from conservatives who are opposed to his ecological agenda. Francis was to celebrate an opening Mass on Sunday with global attention newly focused on the forest fires that are devouring the rainforest, which scientists say is a crucial bulwark against global warming. On hand are more than 180 cardinals, bishops and priests from the region who have gathered at the Vatican for three weeks of debate. Among the most contentious proposals on the agenda is whether married elders could be ordained priests to address the chronic priest shortages in the region. Currently indigenous Catholics in remote parts of the Amazon can go months without seeing a priest or having a proper Mass.
October 6, 2019 6:33 am
DALLAS (AP) – Authorities say a witness in the murder trial of a white Dallas police officer who fatally shot her black neighbor has been killed in a shooting. The Dallas Morning News reports that authorities said Joshua Brown, who lived in the same apartment complex as Officer Amber Guyger and her neighbor Botham Jean, was fatally shot Friday. Police would not confirm to The Associated Press that it was Brown who was shot, pending family notification. They said police responded to the shooting shortly after 10:30 p.m. Friday. They said several witnesses flagged officers down and directed them to an apartment parking lot where the man who was shot was lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds. The man was taken to a hospital where he died. The 28-year-old Brown testified in Guyger’s trial about the night that Jean was killed. Guyger was convicted Tuesday and sentenced the next day to 10 years in prison. Guyger said she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own and thought he was an intruder when she fatally shot him in September 2018.
October 6, 2019 6:32 am
HONG KONG (AP) – Shouting “Wearing mask is not a crime,” thousands of protesters are braving the rain to march in central Hong Kong as a court rejected a second legal attempt to block a mask ban at pro-democracy rallies. The ban took force Saturday, triggering more violence over the last two days. A teen protester was shot Friday night in the thigh after an off-duty police officer fired his pistol in self-defense. Lawmaker Dennis Kwok says the High Court on Sunday refused to grant an injunction on the mask ban, but it will hear later this month an application by 24 legislators against Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s use of emergency powers to impose the measure by circumventing the legislature. Lam said the mask ban was needed to stop the violence.
October 6, 2019 6:31 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the State Department intends to follow the law as House Democrats seek documents and other information about President Donald Trump’s efforts to press Ukraine to investigate a political opponent. What the law requires of the Trump administration in terms of meeting Democrats’ demands has been a subject of dispute. In remarks to reporters, Pompeo made clear that the State Department has yet to turn over any documents but intends to follow a proper review. Pompeo has become a key figure in the Democrats’ investigation. He was on the line during the July phone call in which Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, despite no evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens.
October 6, 2019 6:29 am
ALLEGHENY CO., Pa. (WPXI) – An Allegheny County 911 dispatcher has been suspended after he was charged with assaulting his 2-month-old son. Michael Koban, 34, is facing charges of aggravated assault and endangering welfare of children after investigators said he caused multiple the baby to have skull and rib fractures. According to a police criminal complaint, emergency responders first were called to his home on Bower Hill Road in Scott Township on Sept. 3 around noon. Koban was watching two of his sons — 2-months and 17-months-old, respectively — and then texted his wife saying the youngest child was hurt. Koban initially told police that his 2-month-old son had fallen from his swing in the living room and hit his head, causing a large bump. However, when doctors evaluated the baby, he was found to have a skull fracture, “underlying intracranial hemorrhage, and healing rib fractures.” The rib fractures were between two and five weeks old, and doctors told investigators those injuries more than likely were caused by a “squeeze or possible strike.”
October 6, 2019 6:26 am
HANOVER Twp. — Washington County Coroner Tim Warco has provided and update to the person killed in an accident Thursday on Rt. 22 in Hanover Township. Jerry Sargas was the driver who lost control of a vehicle that crossed a median into the westbound lanes of Rt. 22 and was struck by a westbound vehicle. Sargas was not wearing a seatbelt. The accident is still under investigation by State Police. The cause and manner of death are still pending.
October 6, 2019 6:24 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A Pennsylvania law is ending a requirement that telephone customers who want to remain on the state’s do-not-call registry have had to renew their listing every five years. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday signed changes to the Telemarketer Registration Act that also allow business phone customers to sign up for the do-not-call list. The legislation requires that robocalls start with a clear way for recipients to opt out of them and that telemarketing voicemails must include a phone number to prevent future calls. It bans telephone solicitation on legal holidays in the state.Lawmakers voted unanimously for the legislation. It takes effect in two months.
October 6, 2019 6:23 am
CANONSBURG, Pa. — State Department of Health officials and medical professionals from the area will hold a public meeting about the large number of Ewing Sarcoma and childhood cancers in the Canon-McMillan School District. The meeting on October 7 will take place in the auditorium at Canon-McMillan High School. Medical Professionals from UPMC Children’s Hospital will discuss Ewing Sarcoma and other cancers. The Department of Health will discuss data collection and cancer incidence reporting methods. Six cases of Ewing Sarcoma have been diagnosed since 2008 in the Canon-McMillan School District. Several other students have been diagnosed with other forms of cancer in that same time frame. State Representatives Tim O’Neal, R-South Strabane and Jason Ortitay, R-South Fayette are the sponsors of the meeting.
October 6, 2019 6:21 am
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (AP) – A judge has ordered the defense to turn over to prosecutors background material on a man charged in the shooting death of a western Pennsylvania police officer almost two years ago. The Tribune-Review reports that defense attorneys had argued that their case would be damaged if prosecutors were given the report detailing reasons why the life of 31-year-old Rahmael Sal Holt should be spared should he be convicted in the November 2017 slaying of New Kensington officer Brian Shaw. Attorney Tim Dawson said the report concluded that Holt has no mental health or intellectual disabilities, but aspects of his life and upbringing could persuade jurors to impose a life term. Holt says he wasn’t the one who fired the shots that killed Shaw following a traffic stop in New Kensington.
October 5, 2019 4:17 am
SMITHFIELD, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania state police say a groom-to-be sexually assaulted one of his guests two days before his wedding. Prosecutors say Daniel Carney is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of an unconscious person and indecent assault. It wasn’t known Friday if the 28-year-old Stroudsburg man has retained an attorney.Authorities say the victim, a 29-year-old Oregon woman, said she was sexually assaulted at a hotel in Smithfield on Aug. 30. The woman told police she was in town to attend Carney’s Sept. 1 wedding and said the assault occurred in a downstairs men’s locker room.
