May 25, 2023 4:04 am
A Washington man accused of downloading child pornography to his Drop Box account will stand trial. Darion Thompson, 23 is accused by Pennsylvania State Police of downloading several files to his devices that contain child pornography. Thompson had his preliminary hearing on Wednesday where he through an interpreter agreed to have all charges held for court without a hearing. He faces 20 charges of child pornography and one charge of criminal use of a communications device. Through a search warrant served by state police in April, Thompson was found to have as many as 20 files of child pornography on two cell phones. One of the files depicted a child younger than a year old. Thompson was free on bond from an earlier incident where he was charged with child pornography and criminal use of a communications device when the new charges were levied. Thompson is in the Washington County Jail without bond. He will be arraigned on June 29.
May 25, 2023 4:03 am
The Canon-McMillan School Board met Wednesday and formally adopted the preliminary general fund budget for the 2023-2024 academic year. The proposed budget is a $106,813,772 spending plan. It includes a .26 mill tax increase. According to Superintendent Michael Daniels, mandated contracts, salaries and transportation costs drove costs higher and necessitated the tax increase. The budget as presented includes a $74,085 surplus. Directors will vote on the final budget at their June voting meeting. In other business, the board elected Bernard Price to serve as its treasurer for the next year.
May 25, 2023 2:59 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Tina Turner has died at age 83. She teamed with husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows and survived her horrifying marriage to triumph in middle age with the chart-topping “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” She was also known for such songs as “Proud Mary,” “River Deep, Mountain High” and “We Don’t Need Another Hero.” Her trademarks were her growling contralto, her bold smile and strong cheekbones, her palette of wigs and her muscular, quick-stepping legs. Turner’s manager says she died Tuesday after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland,
May 25, 2023 2:49 am
(WPXI) – A Bethel Park police lieutenant has been taken into federal custody by the FBI. Federal court documents said that Lieutenant Blake Babin is facing a felony charge of transporting an illegal alien. Babin is in charge of patrol, traffic officers and the dispatch center. He has worked for Bethel Park since 1990.
May 25, 2023 2:24 am
(WPXI) – A jury is now seated in the trial for the man accused of shooting and killing 11 people in a Squirrel Hill synagogue. Robert Bowers is accused in the racially-motivated attack and faces 63 counts. The charges include 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religion resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. Sixty-nine people made up the pool from which 12 jurors and six alternates were picked. Alternates will be seated among the main jury. Officials will not know who is an alternate or a juror until deliberations begin. The jury is made up of seven men and 11 women. All of them are white except one Asian-American woman. The trial will begin Tuesday, May 30. Jurors will arrive at 8:30 a.m. and the trial will begin at 9 a.m.
May 24, 2023 11:35 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Target is removing certain items from its stores and making other changes to its LGBTQ+ merchandise nationwide ahead of Pride month, after an intense backlash from some customers including violent confrontations with its workers. Target declined to confirm which items it was removing but among the ones that garnered the most attention were “tuck friendly” adult women’s swimsuits that allow trans women who have not had gender-affirming operations to conceal their private parts. Designs by Abprallen, a London-based company which designs and sells occult- and satanic-themed LGBTQ+ clothing and accessories, have also sparked a backlash.
May 24, 2023 9:37 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Authorities say a fifteen-year-old student was arrested in the shooting death of another fifteen-year-old student just outside of a Pittsburgh school. Police say the shooting happened by the steps of Oliver Citywide Academy shortly before classes were due to start Wednesday morning. Officers say they found Derrick Harris with gunshot wounds in front of the school. He was taken to a local hospital where he later died. Another student, identified as Jamier Perry, was seen running from the scene with a gun and was arrested. Police say a firearm was found as well. A city spokeswoman said most students were still on their way to the school when the shooting happened. (Photo: WPXI)
May 24, 2023 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Half of the people in the U.S. support the Pentagon’s ongoing supply of weapons to Ukraine for its defense against Russian forces. That’s according to a new survey by the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and NORC. The survey finds American support for Washington’s backing of Ukraine has ebbed slightly since the war began 15 months ago. But U.S. public support for Ukraine’s defense remains strong. Samuel Charap is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corp. research center. He says, “There’s no ground-swelling of American Ukraine fatigue here, and that has always been the fear.”
May 24, 2023 4:23 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A criminal investigation in Texas over the hesitant police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting is still ongoing a year after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde. Wednesday marks one year since the deadliest school shooting in Texas history. The continuing investigation underlines the lasting fallout over the shooting and how the days after the attack were marred by authorities giving inaccurate and conflicting accounts about efforts made to stop a teenage gunman. The Uvalde school district permanently closed the Robb Elementary campus and plans for a new school are in the works. Schools in Uvalde will be closed Wednesday.
May 24, 2023 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Politicians in Washington may be offering assurance that the government will figure out a way to avert default, but around the country, economic anxiety is rising and some people already are adjusting their routines. Government beneficiaries, social service groups that receive state and federal subsidies and millions more across the country are contemplating the possibility of massive and immediate cuts if the U.S. were to default on its financial obligations. Some are cutting back on necessities and others are finding ways to save money.