August 23, 2023 4:16 pm
The second day of testimony in the trial of Russell Jolliffe, 33 of Fredricktown began with his defense attorney offering Jolliffe’s live in girlfriend as a witness to take the stand. Jolliffe is facing rape of a child and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child charges among others. Jolliffe’s girlfriend, Joanna Wheatley took the stand and defended Jolliffe. She denied all allegations of sexual assault of a child blanketly stating that none of the statements are true and that Jolliffe was never alone with any children. The prosecution pointed out that Wheatly is also accused in this case as a conspirator. Jolliffe himself took the stand in his own defense. He described his relationship with Wheatly. He pointed to inconsistencies that he felt were notable in the live testimony and recorded forensic interview of the alleged victim. He flatly denied all allegations also saying that the alleged victim was coached before the trial. The case was handed over to the jury at 4:00 PM on Wednesday for deliberations.
August 23, 2023 12:19 pm
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – (WPXI) – Allegheny County Sheriff’s deputies were involved in an active shootout with a suspect at North Mathilda Street and Broad Street in the city’s Garfield neighborhood. The Allegheny County sheriff told Channel 11 that the suspect, William Hardison, Sr., was pronounced dead at 5:08 p.m., nearly seven hours after the shootout started. This happened just blocks away from UPMC Children’s Hospital. Many roads were closed and people were advised to avoid the area. Court documents show that an eviction notice was scheduled to be served at the home at 4817 Broad Street at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Doorbell camera shows officers at the scene before shots were fired. Neighbors told Channel 11 Hardison, Sr. was a squatter at the home. Sources said Hardison, Sr. believed he was a sovereign citizen, meaning he thought he was exempt from the law. Pittsburgh Public Schools officials said Pittsburgh Montessori School and Obama Academy were on lockdown. Police said two drones put up by law enforcement were shot down by the suspect and over 100 shots were fired. A sheriff’s deputy suffered a head injury from diving for cover while the suspect was shooting, officials said. People who were sheltering in place were asked to call 911 and provide their locations so that police could evacuate them from their homes.
August 23, 2023 7:58 am
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — The father of Tennessee Titans cornerback Caleb Farley has died in an explosion that destroyed the NFL player’s home and left another person injured. First responders who were called to the house around midnight found one victim alive leaving the collapsed structure. A county fire marshal later recovered the body of the cornerback’s father Robert M. Farley from the debris. The person who was injured was taken to a hospital in Charlotte. The Titans player was not home at the time of the explosion. Titans coach Mike Vrabel has said the team will do everything possible to support Farley as he grieves for his father.
August 23, 2023 7:55 am
A Washington County man convicted of drug delivery resulting in death was seeking a new trial. Sherman “Detroit Shawn” Springer, 51 filed a motion for judgement of acquittal and sought a new trial in June. Those motions were denied by Judge Valarie Costanzo on Tuesday. Springer will continue to serve his 9-18 year sentence at SCI Albion. Springer was convicted of delivering a fatal dose of heroin laced with fentanyl to Lonnie Barnes of Washington back in April of 2020.
August 23, 2023 5:52 am
A woman from West Virginia was given probation after pleading guilty to several driving offenses on Tuesday. Manasha Bradley, 29, of Wheeling, pleaded guilty to five driving offenses including being charged with accidents involving personal injury. According to the criminal complaint, Bradley struck several traffic delineators and cars while people were leaving a Kid Rock Concert at The Pavilion at Star Lake in August of 2022. Police attempted to apprehend Bradley multiple times, but she ignored them and continued to drive away from law enforcement. Ultimately, she got her car stuck in swampy grass when she drove off the road to get around vehicles. Police found Alcohol and a pistol inside of her vehicle when they were finally able to apprehend her. She was given an aggregate probationary sentence of four years.
August 23, 2023 5:47 am
North Strabane Township Supervisors held a public hearing on the conditional use application for the proposed Brownlee Farms Conservation Subdivision. At hand, the development is asking to move from 74 homes to 88 homes. The developer, MGB Capital, LLC is also looking for approval to include a leased six acre horse pasture into their plan and have it count as open space to fulfill township open space requirements. Testimony during the hearing indicated that if the open space request was not granted, the project may not be developed. The builder for the plan is NVR. They indicate that there is a market in North Strabane Township for larger size homes on larger lots that drive a higher price point. Representatives pointed to a development in Butler County that is selling 3000 or more square foot homes with prices ranging from $700,000 to more than $1 million. The meeting was continued due to time constraints. The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 11 at 6:30 PM. In other township business, supervisors scheduled a conditional use hearing for the Summit at Woodlawn. That hearing will be October 17 at 6:00 PM. They also scheduled budget hearings for October 10, 19, 26 and November 2. All meetings will begin at 6:00 PM.
August 23, 2023 5:07 am
It’s almost time for the first Republican presidential debate. The two-hour debate will start at 9 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday and be moderated by Fox News Channel hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. The debate is airing exclusively on Fox News and the Fox Business Network as well as across Fox’s website and other streaming and digital platforms. That’s different from some previous presidential debates, which have been simulcast across a number of major networks and cable channels. Candidates will be on stage at Fiserv Forum in Wisconsin, a battleground state that will also play host to the Republican National Convention next year.
August 23, 2023 5:03 am
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Tropical Storm Franklin is roaring toward the island of Hispaniola shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti and bringing fears of deadly landslides and heavy flooding in both countries. Forecasters say Franklin could dump 10 inches of rain and as much as 15 in isolated areas as it swirls above the island for most of Wednesday. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm had maximum winds of 45 mph early Wednesday morning.
August 23, 2023 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says a witness in the federal prosecution of Donald Trump over the hoarding of classified documents retracted “prior false testimony” after switching lawyers last month and provided new information that implicated the former president. The new information from the witness, a Trump staffer identified only as the director of information technology at Mar-a-Lago, was presented weeks before special counsel Jack Smith secured an updated indictment accusing Trump and two others in a plot to delete surveillance video at the Florida property.
August 23, 2023 5:00 am
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Authorities in Hawaii are pleading with relatives of those missing after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century to come forward and give DNA samples. Officials said Tuesdsay that the low number provided so far threatens to hinder efforts to identify any remains discovered in the ashes. Some 1,000 to 1,100 names remain on a tentative, unconfirmed list of people unaccounted for after wildfires destroyed the historic seaside community of Lahaina on Maui. But authorities say that so far, DNA samples have been collected from from just 104 families. That’s lower than what has been seen in other disasters. It’s not immediately clear why. As of Tuesday, there are115 confirmed deaths from the fire.
