November 8, 2022 4:27 am
A former North Strabane Township physical therapist will face trial on forgery charges. Scott Edmonds, 59 is accused of forging a court document related to his homicide case that has been in the legal system since 2014. Edmonds was being represented by conflicts counsel attorney Rose Semple as she was trying to have Edmonds released from jail under Pennsylvania Rule 600 indicating that a defendant must be brought to trial within 365 days or be released. Criminal charges of forgery were levied against Edmonds when Semple received a copy of a motion that had been filed with the clerk of courts that she did not authorize. Under testimony Semple stated that a similar document was filed by her three weeks earlier before a hearing was held. She also stated that she did not sign the document in question nor did she authorize anyone else to sign on her behalf. Edmonds, representing himself in the hearing tried to make the case that Semple never told anyone not to sign on her behalf. Testimony did show that Edmonds did sign portions of the document as he received a draft copy from Semple before any filing was made. Pertaining to one of the charges, falsely pretending to hold a professional license, Edmonds did sign one of the lines as Scott A. Edmonds, P.T. His license expired in 2014 and this document was signed in 2022 making it unlawful to use the P.T designation. With Edmonds representing himself, approximately half of the questions he asked were objected to and denied by the judge. One tense exchange had Edmonds stating that he was his own counsel that was immediately called out by the district attorney as being another case where he could be criminally charged for pretending to hold a professional license. Edmonds retracted the comment and proceeded with a warning from the judge “that he was treading on thin ice.” Edmonds closed indicating that the case is not a criminal case but a civil case and that no harm was caused to Semple. The judge held all charges for court. Edmonds remains in the Washington County jail where he as been held since being arrested for the homicide of his wife in 2014. He will be formally arraigned on January 19, 2023.
November 8, 2022 4:26 am
Canonsburg Council is down to work on their new budget. Borough Manager Denise Lesnock indicated that council will be conducting a budget workshop meeting on Tuesday November 8 to try and close an approximate $150,000 budget gap. Lesnock says council will be working on a set of proposals for budget trimming and fee increases to close that gap. No word was given on any tax increase. Councilwoman Tina Bails told council that fees for the pool and park pavilions will be increasing for 2023. Those fees have not been officially voted on by the parks and recreation committee so she will make those prices known at the voting meeting. The borough will also be making two parking spots available for free to allow delivery services like Door Dash and Uber Eats to pick up orders from local establishments. Those spaces will be time limited to 15 minutes before cars are ticketed. According to Mayor David Rhome, the spots are also available to citizens that wish to run in and grab their packages as well. The two spots under consideration are on West Pike Street in the vicinity of Chicco Baccello and on North Central Avenue near the Collaizzo Building. The two spaces will be on a 90 day trial. Council will vote on it at the next meeting. Council’s voting meeting will be on Monday November 14.
November 8, 2022 4:20 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea denied American claims it’s shipping artillery shells and ammunition to Russia for use in its war against the Ukraine, and on Tuesday accused the United States of lying. The denial came in the wake of dozens of weapons tests by North Korea, including nuclear capable missiles with the ability to strike the continental United States. It said it was testing the missiles and artillery so it could “mercilessly” strike key South Korean and U.S. targets if it choose to. U.S. officials recently confirmed a U.S. intelligence finding that Russia was in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea.
November 8, 2022 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her decision on whether or not to remain in Congress if Democrats lose control in the midterm elections has been impacted by the assault on her husband. The Democratic leader did not disclose her plans during an interview Monday on CNN. Many expect Pelosi and other Democrats would step down from leadership if the party suffers losses. Pelosi said her “decision will be affected about what happened.” Paul Pelosi was bludgeoned with a hammer after authorities said an intruder broke into the family’s San Francisco home looking for the speaker in a politically-motivated attack.
November 8, 2022 4:15 am
EAST HUNTINGDON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A Pennsylvania State Trooper was killed in a motorcycle crash in Westmoreland County. According to Pennsylvania State Police, the crash happened on state Route 31 at residence 1291 in East Huntingdon Township at around 12:51 a.m. Sunday. Police said the driver, identified as 28-year-old Timothy Lee Glover Jr. from Roscoe, was driving along state Route 31 when he lost control after navigating a left curve. Glover was a State Trooper in Uniontown. Glover Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene.
November 8, 2022 4:09 am
WESTMORELAND COUNTY — (WPXI)- One person is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison following the shooting death of a male in the Lowes Plaza in Rostraver Township Saturday evening. The shooting is believed to be an isolated, targeted attack on the victim, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli said in a statement. The Rostraver Township police department and Westmoreland County detectives are investigating. The shooting occurred Saturday evening just before 7:30 p.m. There were no other victims. Anyone with information is asked to contact Rostraver police at 724-929-8811.
November 8, 2022 4:06 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in California has won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot. The winning numbers drawn Tuesday morning at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee were: white balls 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, and the red Powerball was 10. The jackpot ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, northeast of Los Angeles. A voicemail left for Joe’s Service Center was not immediately returned. The Multi-State Lottery Association said Monday night’s scheduled drawing was delayed by nearly 10 hours until Tuesday because a participating lottery had issues processing sales. The jackpot was by far the largest lottery jackpot ever won, topping the previous record $1.586 billion prize won by three Powerball ticket holders in 2016.
November 8, 2022 4:04 am
The final day of voting in this year’s midterm elections arrives with an intense focus on voting itself after two years of false claims and conspiracy theories ignited by former President Donald Trump following his loss in the last presidential election. Trump and his allies succeeded in sowing wide distrust about the way votes are cast and counted by promoting false claims of widespread fraud. The effort has eroded public confidence in elections and democracy, led to restrictions on mail voting and new ID requirements in some GOP-led states and prompted death threats against election officials.
November 8, 2022 4:03 am
COATESVILLE, Pa. (AP) – Coast to coast, candidates and big-name backers made final appeals to voters Monday in the last hours of a fraught midterm election season, with Republicans excited about the prospect of winning back Congress. President Joe Biden insisted his party would “surprise the living devil out of a lot of people” while acknowledging that Washington will be “more difficult” if it falls short. Democrats contend Republican victories could profoundly and adversely reshape the country, eliminating abortion rights nationwide and unleashing broad threats to the very future of American democracy. Republicans say the public is tired of Biden policies amid high inflation and concerns about crime.
November 8, 2022 2:52 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Some of Pennsylvania’s largest counties scrambled Monday to help voters fix mail-in ballots that have fatal flaws such as incorrect dates or missing signatures on the envelopes used to send them in, bringing about confusion and legal challenges in the battleground state on the eve of the election. Elections officials in Philadelphia and Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, announced measures they were taking in response to state Supreme Court rulings in recent days that said mail-in ballots may not be counted if they lack accurate handwritten dates on the exterior envelopes. Ahead of Tuesday’s midterms, more than a million mail-in and absentee ballots have already been returned in Pennsylvania, with Democrats far more likely than Republicans to vote by mail. The numbers are large enough that they might matter in a close race, such as the contest between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz that could determine majority control of the U.S. Senate. The Department of State said it was unclear just how many ballots are at issue across the state. The agency over the weekend asked counties to provide the numbers, broken down by political party. Officials said some counties were not letting voters fix their mistakes. A new federal lawsuit over the envelope dates was filed Monday in Pittsburgh federal court by the national congressional and senatorial Democratic campaign organizations, two Democratic voters and Fetterman’s U.S. Senate campaign. They sued county boards of election across the state, arguing that throwing out ballots that lack proper envelope dates would violate a provision in the 1964 U.S. Civil Rights Act that says people can’t be kept from voting based on what the lawsuit calls “needless technical requirements.” A separate federal lawsuit filed Friday makes a similar argument.
