May 30, 2024 2:13 am
A Charleroi man has been sentenced in federal court to 10 years of prison on his convictions for possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of a mixture containing heroin and fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of that drug trafficking crime. United States District Judge William S. Stickman IV imposed the sentence on 28-year-old Rashawn Ford. Authorities say a trooper with the Pennsylvania State Police initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Ford in Westmoreland County and during the stop, the trooper recovered packaged heroin and fentanyl, in addition to a loaded handgun. Law enforcement subsequently learned that Ford was staying at a Westmoreland County hotel, where Ford was keeping additional controlled substances in his room. On March 14, 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant upon that hotel room, resulting in the seizure of packaged heroin and fentanyl, a handgun loaded with 27 rounds of ammunition, and over $8,600. Following these seizures, federal and state law enforcement opened a joint investigation into Ford, which culminated in the execution of several search warrants on properties associated with Ford in August 2022. Those searches resulted in the seizure of packaged heroin, a loaded handgun, and over $200,000. As part of his sentence, Ford forfeited approximately $273,979 that was seized from him during the investigation.
May 30, 2024 1:43 am
(WPXI) – A construction worker has died after falling off of scaffolding in Oakland. It happened around 8 a.m. in the 400 block of Melwood Avenue. A man was found with significant injuries and pronounced dead at the scene, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety. Witnesses say he was working on the exterior of the building and fell nine stories. Melwood Avenue was closed at Baum Boulevard.
May 30, 2024 1:31 am
(WPXI) – A Fayette County woman is facing charges for allegedly chaining her adopted 22-year-old daughter to a bed. Marylou Dewitt is charged with neglect of a care-dependent person, endangering the welfare of a care-dependent person, neglect of a care-dependent person, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, harassment, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint and tampering with evidence. Troopers received a call at around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday from a female who said she found her adopted sister, who police say is intellectually disabled, screaming from a bedroom. She saw her chained and locked to the bed frame, with chains around her waist, neck and hands, Pennsylvania State Police in Belle Vernon said. After the girl was freed, the chains, locks and keys were put into a box. Dewitt, whose daughter said she locked the adopted sister to the bed frame, took the box and drove away from the scene in Upper Tyrone Township, state police said. Dewitt was found near the Pittsburgh area. She was taken into custody near the Fort Pitt Bridge. The investigation is ongoing.
May 29, 2024 5:21 pm
DETROIT (AP) — Nissan is urging the owners of about 84,000 older vehicles to stop driving them because their Takata air bag inflators are at high risk of exploding in a crash and hurling metal fragments. The urgent request comes after one person in a Nissan was killed by an exploding inflator and 58 others have claimed they were hurt. Nissan said the “do not drive” warning covers certain 2002 through 2006 Sentra small cars, as well as some 2002 through 2004 Pathfinder SUVs, and 2002 and 2003 Infiniti QX4 SUVs. The company says owners should contact their dealer to set up an appointment to have inflators replaced for free. (Photo: AP)
May 29, 2024 5:20 pm
(AP) – T-Mobile is buying U.S. Cellular’s wireless operations and certain spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4 billion, and further consolidating the industry. T-Mobile will get U.S. Cellular’s wireless operations and about 30% of spectrum assets across several spectrum bands. T-Mobile will also enter into a new master license agreement on more than 2,000 towers and extend the lease term for the approximately 600 towers where T-Mobile is already a tenant.
May 29, 2024 5:18 pm
(AP) – ConocoPhillips is buying Marathon Oil in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $17.1 billion as energy prices soar and big oil companies reap massive profits. The deal announced Wednesday is valued at $22.5 billion when including $5.4 billion in debt. Marathon Oil shareholders will receive 0.2550 shares of ConocoPhillips common stock for each share of Marathon Oil common stock that they own. ConocoPhillips said Wednesday that the transaction will add highly desired acreage to its existing U.S. onshore portfolio.
May 29, 2024 5:16 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is congratulating Justice Samuel Alito for rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving Trump and Jan. 6 defendants because of the controversy over flags that flew over Alito’s homes. Alito says in letters to members of Congress on Wednesday that his wife was responsible for flying an upside-down flag over his Virginia home in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey beach house last year. Both flags were like those carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 while echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud. Alito says neither incident at his homes merits his recusal.
May 29, 2024 3:58 pm
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Joe Biden is renewing his election-year pitch to Black voters. At an appearance in Philadelphia with Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, he lashed out at what he called Donald Trump’s “MAGA lies” and said the winner of this year’s White House race will make crucial decisions, including nominees for the Supreme Court, that could affect the country for decades. Biden also argued that Trump is peddling misinformation in an effort to win back the White House. Biden called on the crowd at a boarding school where the student body is predominantly Black to help him and Harris win a second term. Biden has seen his solid support among Black voters show signs of erosion.
May 29, 2024 1:44 pm
Authorities say a Washington teenager is in custody in connection with a double shooting that killed one teenage girl and left another in the hospital. Police say 17-year-old Anthony Barfield was arrested over the weekend when he was found in an alley off Lennox Street in Uniontown. He faces charges of homicide and conspiracy of criminal homicide. Authorities say they believe Karon Whitlock and Anthony’s brother, Windale Barfield Jr., carried out the shooting of 18-year-old Annalaya Wilkerson of Monongahela at the direction of Anthony Barfield. Wilkerson and her friend were found shot on the side of Jolly School Road in South Franklin Township on April 13th. Wilkerson, who had been shot in the chest, was pronounced dead at the scene.
May 29, 2024 4:56 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Renewed Israeli shelling and strikes have killed at least 37 people, most of them sheltering in tents, outside the southern Gaza city of Rafah. That’s according to witnesses, first responders and hospital officials. The bombardment overnight and into Tuesday pummeled the same area where Israeli strikes triggered a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians days earlier, killing 45 people. The tent camp inferno has drawn widespread international outrage over Israel’s expanding offensive into Rafah. The U.N. says more than a million people have fled the city in recent weeks. And in a sign of Israel’s growing isolation on the world stage, Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday.
