April 13, 2023 4:10 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal appeals court has preserved access to an abortion drug for now but under tighter rules that would allow the drug only to be dispensed up to seven weeks, not 10, and not by mail. The drug, mifepristone, was approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration more than two decades ago. It’s used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Wednesday just before midnight. By a 2-1 vote a panel of three judges narrowed for now a decision by a lower court judge in Texas that had completely blocked the FDA’s approval of the drug following a lawsuit by mifepristone’s opponents.
April 13, 2023 4:06 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The electronics subsidiary of German company Merck KGaA says it will spend $300 million to expand its specialty gas production facility in eastern Pennsylvania. The announcement Wednesday was attended by Gov. Josh Shapiro. EMD Electronics says it will create the world’s largest integrated specialty gases facility to serve the fast-growing semiconductor industry. State officials hope it will boost Pennsylvania’s appeal to computer chip makers. Shapiro is pledging more than $1 million in state grants for the expansion in Schuylkill County. Company officials say the site houses a research center and synthesizes materials that form core building blocks of transistors, a component of microchips.
April 13, 2023 4:04 am
The Pennsylvania man charged with killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue tried for years to avoid a federal jury trial. Ultimately those efforts failed, and jury selection is less than two weeks away. The 46-year-old Robert Bowers had offered to plead guilty to the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history only if prosecutors take the death penalty off the table. But the Justice Department rejected that offer. Some argue the death penalty was made for egregious cases like the Tree of Life massacre. But families of some victims wanted the deal, in part to avoid painful testimony when the case goes to trial.
April 13, 2023 2:13 am
SOUTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – It was a surreal scene in Washington County Wednesday afternoon as a semi-truck dangled off one highway and over another, spilling thousands of pounds of cardboard. “The tractor cab was on the flyover and everything else was hanging over the ramp that was dangling over I-70 below it.” South Strabane Fire Chief Jordan Cramer said. “I gasped because it was so unnerving,” Caitlin Walther said. She was on her way to pick up her sons for soccer practice when she saw the tractor-trailer hanging off the bridge. “It is definitely a high bridge and the sides are kind of low. It’s something I’ve always been concerned about happening.” It’s a concern shared by Chief Cramer. He was the incident commander on-scene and has talked about the potential for an incident like this. “This is just an area of roadway that we know has the potential for this to happen,” he said. “Had he been carrying a different load, a heavier load of materials in the back, we’d probably be having a very different conversation right now.” The driver suffered only minor injuries and was treated at the scene. According to the Pennsylvania State Police, he is being cited for failing to properly negotiate a left curve.
April 12, 2023 12:41 pm
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has ruled that an election petition challenge filed on behalf of current Washington County Prothonotary Laura Hough was properly served to her republican challenger Kevin Hill and as a result, has reversed an order by Washington County Judge Michael Lucas. The matter has now been sent back to Judge Lucas who is expected to issue a ruling within the next week or so. The challenge that Hough filed against Hill involved him writing in his candidacy filing that he was “self-employed” despite a previous statement earlier this year that he was unemployed. Hill, of Mt. Pleasant Township, testified at a March 21st hearing challenging his candidacy, that he was self-employed on the date he filed his paperwork because he had recently started selling his sports memorabilia collection on an online auction site. Lucas though, dismissed Hough’s challenge because he determined that Hill was never personally served information notifying him of the date and time of the hearing, as required by Senior Judge Katherine Emery’s order.
April 12, 2023 4:24 am
A Washington woman who pleaded guilty to driving the wrong way on Interstate 79 and killing another driver received her sentence on Tuesday. Kristina Coyne, 28 pleaded guilty to felony homicide by vehicle and misdemeanor reckless endangerment and driving under the influence charges on March 10. Coyne will spend the next 3-6 years in state prison for her role in the death of 56 year old Holly Ann Davis of Canonsburg. Coyne was found to be driving in the wrong direction on Interstate 79 in October of 2021. Her car collided with Davis’s car travelling at a speed of at least 70 miles per hour. Evidence showed that Coyne was at Frankie I’s restaurant in North Strabane Township before the accident. Coyne’s blood alcohol content was 0.2% when she was treated for her injuries at a hospital. Victim impact statements were delivered during the hearing. Davis’s son Jamar Davis delivered an emotional statement indicating that he forgives Coyne for his mother’s death but related how his younger brother had to go through his final year of high school without his mother. He related how his young child adored his grandmother and Coyne will never know the family’s loss. Coyne entered the courtroom in tears. During the impact statements she was seen crying and her hand shaking uncontrollably. Coyne delivered her own allocution statement. Her emotional statement said that she has spent the last 534 days regretting her decision to get behind the wheel and causing Holly Ann Davis’s death. She admitted regret and took responsibility for her actions and knows that she will never be able to bring back their loved one or do anything to ease the pain. A weeping Coyne was led away from the courtroom in handcuffs immediately following the hearing.
April 12, 2023 4:20 am
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Attorneys defending Fox in a defamation case related to false claims about the 2020 election withheld critical information about the role company founder Rupert Murdoch played at Fox News, a revelation that angered the judge when it came up at a pretrial hearing. It was not clear whether the development Tuesday would affect a trial scheduled to begin Thursday with jury selection. The role of Fox executives is at the heart of the case. The company’s attorneys have sought to insulate members of the Murdoch family, arguing that their roles at the parent company, Fox Corp., put them at a distance from the Fox News shows that aired the bogus claims.
April 12, 2023 4:20 am
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Body camera video shows Louisville police officers being fired upon as they arrive at the bank where five people were killed and the harrowing minutes while officers confront the shooter and work to rescue a wounded colleague. Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey walked reporters through edited footage at a news conference Tuesday. Two patrol officers who responded to the shooting were wounded, one of them struck in the head by a bullet Monday morning. Four of the people shot died at the scene, and a fifth died Monday night in a hospital. The gunman, an employee of the bank, was shot and killed by police.
April 12, 2023 4:18 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s top immigration official will face criminal charges in a fire that killed 40 migrants last month. Federal prosecutors say he was remiss in not preventing the disaster despite earlier indications of problems at his agency’s detention centers. The decision to file charges against Francisco Garduño was announced late Tuesday. It followed repeated calls from within Mexico, and from some Central American nations, not to stop the case at the five low-level officials and guards, and a Venezuelan migrant, already facing homicide charges in the case. Anger initially focused on two guards who fled the fire without unlocking the cell door to let migrants out. But Mexico’s president said earlier Tuesday they didn’t have the keys.
April 12, 2023 4:16 am
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Commissioners in Memphis have voted to reinstate one of two Black Democrats kicked out of the Republican-led Tennessee House. The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to send Justin Pearson back to the Legislature in Nashville. Republicans banished Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones last week over their role in a gun control protest on the House floor after a deadly school shooting. The Nashville Metropolitan Council took only a few minutes Monday to restore Jones to office. He was quickly reinstated to his House seat.
