September 4, 2019 1:44 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Sealed court records contain the names of hundreds of third parties who were mentioned in a civil case involving sexual abuse allegations against the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, a federal judge said Wednesday. The unnamed people, including a man identified only as John Doe, will be allowed to object to the release of the documents following a painstaking review of the materials, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska said. “In some of these documents there are literally a thousand people” mentioned, Preska said, referring to a tranche of filings that includes more than two dozen depositions. The records also include hundreds of pages of investigative reports, said Jeff Pagliuca, an attorney for former Epstein girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. “There’s some work involved in this,” he said of the process the attorneys will follow in determining which names to black out. Preska scheduled Wednesday’s hearing after an appeals court in New York ordered her to review the records and release “all documents for which the presumption of public access outweighs any countervailing privacy interests.” It’s not clear who is named in the records, but an attorney for a John Doe warned in court papers Tuesday that the documents may contain “life-changing” disclosures against third parties not directly involved in the litigation. The attorney, Nicholas Lewin, requested the opportunity to be heard on the matter, citing his unnamed client’s “reputational rights.” The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already made public more than 2,000 pages in the since-settled defamation lawsuit filed against Maxwell by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of several dozen women who accused Epstein of sexual abuse. Giuffre accused Maxwell of recruiting young women for Epstein’s sexual pleasure and taking part in the abuse, allegations Maxwell has vehemently denied. Epstein, 66, took his own life last month while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. The first release of court records, unsealed the day before Epstein’s jailhouse suicide in Manhattan, contained graphic claims against Epstein and several of his former associates. Giuffre alleges she was trafficked internationally to have sex with prominent American politicians, business executives and world leaders, some of whom she named in a deposition.
September 4, 2019 12:43 pm
CHICAGO (AP) – A judge has set an April 27 trial date in R. Kelly’s federal case in Chicago that accuses the R&B star of child pornography and obstruction of justice. But the judge said at a Wednesday status hearing the date could be moved since the 52-year-old faces similar cases in three other judicial districts. Kelly stood in court in orange jail clothes, his hands behind his back. Several supporters waved at Kelly as he was led back to jail and he nodded in their direction. Kelly attorney Steve Greenberg told the hearing that having to prepare for four trials is challenging and he wasn’t sure the singer’s legal team could ready by April. Prosecutor Angel Krull estimated a trial would last three weeks. The next hearing is Sept. 18.
September 4, 2019 12:36 pm
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) – A former West Virginia University student has died, a decade after he was beaten into a vegetative state. News outlets report 29-year-old Ryan Diviney was with his family at their West Virginia cabin for the holiday weekend when he began struggling to breathe. Ken Diviney said his son died Saturday as they sped to a hospital in Winchester, Virginia. Authorities have said Ryan Diviney and a friend got into an argument with a group of men outside a convenience store in Morgantown, West Virginia, in 2009. Fellow WVU student Jonathan May then punched Ryan Diviney, sending him tumbling to the ground where Austin Vantrease kicked him in the head. May was sentenced to a year in prison. Vantrease was paroled in 2014.
September 4, 2019 4:23 am
Improvements at several Cecil Township Volunteer Fire Departments took center stage at the Board of Supervisors Meeting Tuesday night. Supervisors signed a letter of support for a proposed new firehouse for the Cecil Township Volunteer Fire Company #3, Millers Run. That fire company is applying for a loan through the USDA Community Facilities Program. D. J. Johnson, Vice President and Building Chairperson for Volunteer Company #3 states that they are looking to build a new 7500 square foot fire station on land that the current fire station exists. The projected price could be anywhere from $1.5 to $2 million dollars. Over in Lawrence, Fire Chief William Cass asked supervisors to act as a co-signer for a loan on a new First-Out Vehicle. Cass states that he would have preferred not to get a loan, but costs rise in the amounts that the department saves each year. Because of that, a loan is the prudent thing to do. The loan will be approximately $400,000. The truck will be paid for by the department and not by the township. It will be a state of the art truck carrying emergency medical, rescue and fire suppression equipment. It is needed because Lawrence Fire and Rescue is responsible for Interstate 79 from Canonsburg to Bridgeville and the new toll road interchange will significantly increase highway traffic. Lastly, supervisors approved a measure allowing the township’s Fire Code Official to assist departments that may need assistance. He will not fight fires full time, just in times when staffing at any of the fire companies may be extremely short handed.
September 4, 2019 4:17 am
FREEPORT, Bahamas (AP) – Hurricane Dorian has strengthened a little as it tracks up the Southeast seaboard off Georgia. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Dorian’s top sustained winds are back up to 110 mph. Dorian is a Category 2 hurricane with its eye located about 150 miles south of Charleston, South Carolina. The storm is moving to the north-northwest at 8 mph. Forecasters say a tropical storm warning has been issued from North Carolina and the Virginia border to Chincoteague, Virginia, and for Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point southward. Dorian slammed into the northern Bahamas earlier this week as a Category 5 storm, the strongest hurricane on record ever to hit the islands. At least seven deaths in the Bahamas have been reported by authorities, but they leave little doubt the toll will rise further amid scenes of wide devastation on some of the islands.
September 4, 2019 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A total of 127 military construction projects are being sidelined by a Pentagon decision to shift $3.6 billion to build part of President Donald Trump’s border wall. Defense Secretary Mark Esper approved the transfer of funds on Tuesday. Officials say details about the projects losing their funding will be released after Congress is notified. The Pentagon comptroller says the projects are being “deferred” and not cancelled, though there is no guarantee the funding will be restored by Congress. The money is to be used to build 175 miles of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Congress approved $1.375 billion for wall construction in this year’s budget, same as the previous year but far less than the $5.7 billion that the White House sought.
September 4, 2019 4:14 am
LONDON (AP) – Defiant British lawmakers are moving to bar a weakened Prime Minister Boris Johnson from pursuing a “no-deal” departure from the European Union. In retaliation, the new leader plans to call an early general election that would put his own future, and that of his Conservative Party, on the line in a bid for a new Parliament that would back his Brexit policy. Johnson enjoyed a brief honeymoon after taking power in July. That came to an abrupt end Tuesday night as rebellious lawmakers voted 328 to 301 to seize control of the Brexit agenda. But the course ahead remains unpredictable and there is still great uncertainty about how – or even if – Britain will ultimately leave the prosperous EU bloc.
September 4, 2019 4:13 am
FREEPORT, Bahamas (AP) – Bahamians are rescuing victims of Hurricane Dorian with jet skis and a bulldozer as the U.S. Coast Guard, Britain’s Royal Navy and a handful of aid groups try to get food and medicine to survivors. Airports are flooded and roads impassable after the most powerful storm to hit the Bahamas in recorded history parked over Abaco and Grand Bahama islands and pounded them with winds up to 185 mph (295 kph) and torrential rain before finally moving into open waters on a course toward Florida. People on the U.S. coast are making final preparations for a storm with winds at a still-dangerous 110 mph (175 kph). At least seven deaths have been reported in the Bahamas, with the full scope of the disaster still unknown.
September 4, 2019 4:11 am
WHITEHALL, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say a 2-year-old boy was hospitalized after accidentally shooting himself in eastern Pennsylvania, but the wound isn’t considered life-threatening. Whitehall Township police say officers were dispatched shortly after 11 a.m. Monday on a report of a child who was the victim of an accidental shooting. The boy was reported in stable condition. Chief Michael Marks says the investigation is in the early stages and police can’t “confirm ownership of the gun at this time.” Detectives are also investigating how many people were in the Whitehall Township home at the time. Marks didn’t specify what type of gun was involved. He said authorities haven’t determined whether any charges will be filed.
September 4, 2019 4:08 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A man has been convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a western Pennsylvania motel owner more than three years ago. Jurors in Allegheny County deliberated for just over two hours before convicting 63-year-old Derrick Gallaway, who now faces a mandatory life prison term without possibility of parole. Seventy-eight-year-old Dehnad Taiedi was shot to death in May 2016 as he worked behind the front desk of the Jefferson Hills Motel, where Gallaway had stayed repeatedly. Authorities said the victim was killed during a robbery and blood found on a wall matched the defendant’s DNA. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that defense attorney Elbert Gray Jr. said his client bled walking into the crime scene – not walking out.
