December 28, 2023 5:17 am
EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — Starting in March, Texas will give police even broader power to arrest migrants while also allowing local judges to order them out of the U.S. under a new law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. But more than two years into a smaller-scale Texas operation to arrests migrants through misdemeanor criminal trespassing charges, there is little indication the state’s “arrest and jail” efforts reduced border crossings. The initiative has revealed limits of using arrests to deter border-crossers and raises questions about the legal apparatus Texas will use to begin prosecuting migrants on charges of illegal entry.
December 28, 2023 5:14 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — (WPXI) – The Bethel Park Police Department is mourning the death of retired chief Timothy C. O’Connor. Chief O’Connor, 66, abruptly resigned from his position back in November. Community leaders told Channel 11 at the time it wasn’t clear why he resigned. O’Connor was hired in 2015 after 35 years of working as a patrol officer for Pittsburgh Police. According to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office, He died just after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Municipality of Bethel Park issued the following statement: “The Municipality of Bethel Park expresses its deepest condolences to the family, friends and past coworkers of former Police Chief Timothy O’Connor. Chief O’Connor was a dedicated law enforcement professional who served the Bethel Park community for many years until he recently transitioned from his position. We’re asking that the privacy of his family be respected during this difficult time.”
December 28, 2023 5:07 am
Three Washington County Veterans whose remains were unclaimed were buried Wednesday at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies. Aubrey Higginbotham, a Tuskegee Airman in World War II, his brother Louis who served in the army during World War II and Joseph Calhoun, a marine that served during the Viet Nam war were given their proper burial. Myles Glotfelty, a retired U.S. Army veteran from Lone PIne was friends with Calhoun and took on the responsibility to properly honor the three heroes with the assistance of former Marine and Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi. Glotfelty started the process of properly burying the veterans in March. He pointed to the Soldier’s Creed that states to “never leave a fallen comrade” as his motivation to finish his mission. Commissioner Larry Maggi lent his expertise to break through red tape to efficiently have the soldiers’ remains released by the Washington County Coroner for proper burial. A twenty one gun salute and the playing of taps sent the heroes to their final resting place.
December 28, 2023 4:53 am
Court documents unsealed this week say that a Pennsylvania man who was sentenced in secret for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot cooperated with authorities investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and an unrelated case. The documents provide insight into the unusual secrecy regarding Samuel Lazar (pictured bottom left), who was released from federal custody in September after completing his sentence in his Capitol riot case. His case remained under seal even after his release, so there was no public record of a conviction or sentence. More than 1,200 people have been charged with Jan. 6-related crimes, and hundreds have pleaded guilty. It’s rare for records of a guilty plea and sentence to be sealed.
December 28, 2023 2:55 am
A new police chief for the city of Washington has been named to replace retiring chief Dan Rush. Mayor-elect JoJo Burgess announced on Wednesday that Lieutenant Steve Devenney will take over on January 2nd. Burgess says that Devenney’s knowledge of the department and the city will serve him well. Devenney began working for the city in 2005, moving up in the ranks to his current position of lieutenant. Devenney will be sworn in along with Burgess at the city’s reorganization meeting on January 2nd at noon. (Photo: City Of Washington Police Department)
December 27, 2023 1:32 pm
(WPXI) – Pennsylvania State Police removed 58 animals from a house in Butler County last week. According to state police, troopers served a search warrant in relation to an animal neglect case at a house in Eau Claire Borough on Dec. 21st. State police found 58 animals in the house, including dogs, cats, snakes, a ferret, a bearded dragon and a goat. Butler CYS also became involved in the investigation because there were children living in the house, state police said.
December 27, 2023 9:31 am
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s Supreme Court is keeping former President Donald Trump on the state’s primary election ballot. The court said Wednesday it will not hear an appeal of a lower court’s ruling from groups seeking to keep Trump from appearing on the ballot. Wednesday’s ruling follows a Dec. 19 decision by a divided Colorado Supreme Court, which said Trump is ineligible to be president after his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. That ruling was the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate. Michigan’s high court says it is “not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this court.”
December 27, 2023 5:20 am
MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — Mexican immigration officials are clearing out a migrant encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande as U.S. pressure mounts to limit a surge of migrants reaching the border. Mexico are removing tents, both occupied and unoccupied, from the encampment in the border city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas. The operation using bulldozers and workers with machetes continued Wednesday as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico City. Mexico says its priority in the talks with the U.S. is to reopen border crossings temporarily closed by the United States.
December 27, 2023 5:19 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces have bombarded cities, towns and refugee camps across Gaza overnight, killing dozens of people. The air and ground offensive against Hamas has widened to most of the territory, and forced thousands more to flee from homes and shelters. The war has already killed over 20,000 Palestinians and driven about 85% of the population of 2.3 million from their homes. Much of northern Gaza has been leveled, largely depopulated and isolated for weeks. Many fear a similar fate awaits the south. Israel has vowed to dismantle Hamas and bring back more than 100 hostages still held by the militants after their Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. Some 1,200 people were killed in that assault.
December 27, 2023 5:02 am
BEIJING (AP) — China says it is banning a United States research company and two analysts who have reported extensively on claims of human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups native to the country’s northwest. China is accused of sending Muslims to prison camps for brainwashing and forced labor. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was quoted as announcing late Tuesday night that research and data analytics firm Kharon, along with its director of investigations and a human rights analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, would be barred from traveling to China. Any assets or property they have in China will be frozen and organizations and individuals in China are prohibited from making transactions with them.
