Upper St. Clair To Change Start Time For Students

April 26, 2023 4:11 am

UPPER ST. CLAIR, Pa. — (WPXI) – The Upper St. Clair School District is planning to push school start times back starting in the 2023-24 school year. The motivation stems from research that shows students, specifically in high school, do better with later start times. The start time will be pushed back thirty minutes. High school students will now start at 8 a.m., elementary students at 8:35 a.m. and middle school students at 8:55 a.m. The plans were laid out in detail during the school districts meeting Monday night. Tuesday, parents across the district found out about the planned change when the superintendent sent out an email. The district has asked parents for input via an online form. The final recommendation for the change to school start times will be presented for approval at the May school board meeting.

Canton Township Man Takes Plea For Firing Rifle

April 26, 2023 4:07 am

A Canton Township man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to misdemeanor charges surrounding a scene where he was found to be firing a rifle. Richard Bedillion, 49  was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to simple assault and reckless endangerment charges. Back in December,  Bedillion’s girlfriend called county 9-1-1 to report that Bedillion was armed with an AR-style rifle and was threatening her son. Pennsylvania State Police arrived and heard gunshots and found Bedillion in his back yard with the AR-style rifle pointed to the sky. Bedillion agreed to two probation terms and will spend the next four years on probation.

Vehicular Charges Dropped Against Washington Man

April 26, 2023 2:22 am

A Washington man who was accused of hitting a child with his vehicle will not face charges. Kenneth Reed, 37 was accused by witnesses of driving at a high rate of speed and hitting a child in their yard on Sycamore Street in November of last year. Felony charges of aggravated assault and accidents involving death or injury plus three other traffic summary offenses were dismissed when the victim’s parent failed to appear as a witness at the preliminary hearing on Wednesday. Reed was being held in the Washington County Jail unable to post a $20,000 bond.

Trial Opens In Rape Claim Against Trump

April 25, 2023 4:49 pm

NEW YORK (AP) — A former advice columnist’s nearly 30-year-old rape claim against Donald Trump has gone to trial. The six-man, three-woman jury in E. Jean Carroll’s federal civil case got its first look Tuesday at her allegation that Trump raped her in 1996 in a luxury department store dressing room. The former president says nothing happened between them. Carroll says a chance encounter with Trump turned violent two decades before he became president. Trump says she fabricated the claim to sell a 2019 memoir. Trump wasn’t in court Tuesday and isn’t likely to testify, but his lawyers have not ruled it out.

Child Luring Suspects Arrested In Missouri

April 25, 2023 4:48 pm

(WPXI) – Two men are in custody after a 15-year-old boy from Butler County was found in Missouri over the weekend after chatting with strangers online, according to Adams Township police. Nicholas Padgett and Nathaniel Archer, both of Arkansas, are awaiting extradition to Butler County. They face multiple charges, including interference with the custody of children, theft, receiving stolen property, and criminal use of a communication facility.  The search began over the weekend when Adams Township Police said they got a call for a missing teenage boy.
That boy was then found 11 hours away in Missouri after allegedly chatting with the two men online.

Harry Belafonte Dies At 96

April 25, 2023 10:17 am

NEW YORK (AP) — Harry Belafonte has died at age 96. He was a dedicated activist and award-winning actor and singer. He sold millions of records and starred on stage and screen before scaling back his career and becoming a relentless supporter of civil rights and other causes. Belafonte not only participated in protest marches and benefit concerts, but helped organize and raise support for them. He worked closely with his friend and generational peer the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., often intervening on his behalf with both politicians and fellow entertainers.

North Dakota Governor Signs Strict Abortion Ban

April 25, 2023 4:12 am

North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum has signed legislation banning abortion in almost all cases. The new law prohibits all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Before then, only women or girls subject to rape, incest or who are suffering from narrowly defined medical emergencies would be allowed to end their pregnancies. After six weeks, even those exceptions disappear, making the North Dakota law one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. The bill’s sponsor says it will go into effect immediately. That’s despite a ruling last month from the North Dakota Supreme Court, which is blocking another ban on abortion in the state while a lawsuit over its constitutionality proceeds.

Defamation Suit Produced Trove Of Carlson Messages

April 25, 2023 4:10 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against Fox News didn’t go to trial, but still revealed plenty of what Fox personalities, including Tucker Carlson, had been saying about false 2020 election claims. The network’s top-rated host was let go Monday. His unexplained departure has turned a spotlight on what he said in depositions, emails and text messages among the thousands of pages Dominion released in the leadup to jury selection in the case. Carlson’s messages lambasted Fox’s news division and management, revealed how he felt about Donald Trump and demonstrated his skepticism of the election lies the network was airing repeatedly.

Biden Officially Launches 2024 Re-Election Bid

April 25, 2023 4:06 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has formally announced he’s running for reelection in 2024. Biden made the announcement Tuesday. The Democratic president is asking voters to give him more time to “finish the job” he began when he was sworn in to office and set aside their concerns about extending the run of America’s oldest president for another four years. Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term. Biden is betting his first-term legislative achievements and 50-plus years of experience in Washington will count for more with voters. Biden faces a smooth path to winning his party’s nomination but a hard-fought struggle to retain the presidency in a bitterly divided nation.

Jury Selection Begins Over Tree Of Life Mass Shooting

April 25, 2023 4:03 am

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jury selection has begun in the federal death penalty trial of a man accused of shooting to death 11 Jewish worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. Robert G. Bowers, from the Pittsburgh suburb of Baldwin, faces 63 counts in the Oct. 27, 2018, attack at the Tree of Life synagogue, where members of three Jewish congregations were holding Sabbath activities. U.S. District Judge Robert Colville thanked prospective jurors at the start of Monday’s proceedings. If convicted, Bowers could get the death sentence. The 50-year-old offered to plead guilty in return for a life sentence, but federal prosecutors turned him down.