Pennsylvania category, Page 239
Man charged over fatal punch in dog walker dispute
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police have charged a 24-year-old man with throwing a punch to the head that led to the death of another dog walker. Matthew Oropeza surrendered to police Thursday. He’s charged with involuntary manslaughter, simple assault and reckless endangerment of another person. Police say 38-year-old Drew Justice and...
Lawyer: Pa. woman’s coat-chewing could’ve thrown off breath test
BERWICK, Pa. — An attorney for a Pennsylvania woman charged with drunken driving hinted his client’s coat-chewing could’ve thrown off the results of her breath test. The (Bloomsburg) Press Enterprise reports the argument came during a hearing Tuesday for 47-year-old Jana Moschgat. An officer who pulled Moschgat over testified she...
Pa. school board votes to postpone policy to arm teachers
TAMAQUA, Pa. — School board members in Pennsylvania have voted to postpone a policy allowing teachers to carry guns in school. In a 2-1 vote Tuesday evening, the Tamaqua school board’s Security Committee says it will suspend the implementation of the policy pending a court hearing on its validity. Both...
Much pared down, Penn State frat death case plods ahead
HARRISBURG — A string of guilty pleas has left just five defendants still fighting charges in the hazing-related death of a pledge at a Penn State fraternity two years ago. The case centers on what occurred at the Beta Theta Pi house in February 2017, when 19-year-old Tim Piazza of...
Naked driver arrested after police chase through Del., Pa.
PHILADELPHIA — Police used spike strips to help apprehend a naked motorist who led officers on a chase through Delaware and Pennsylvania. Delaware State Police began pursuing the vehicle after it was spotted traveling south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 on Wednesday evening. The vehicle switched direction several...
Murder suspect still missing after chase in Philly; 3 officers hurt in crash
PHILADELPHIA — The manhunt for a “person of interest” in several Delaware murders wreaked havoc Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia, as three officers chasing the man by car were hurt during a crash on Interstate 95, the suspect subsequently crashed his car into a SEPTA bus, and four schools were placed...
Daisyfield sausage recalled, may contain rubber
An Ohio company is recalling about 1,719 pounds of Daisyfield brand raw pork sausage products that may be contaminated with rubber. J. H. Routh Packing Co. of Sandusky issued the recall for seven varieties of the ground sausage products that were produced from Jan. 1 through Friday and were distributed...
Police: Woman breaks into Pa. police station, wanted to date cop
WYOMING, Pa. — Police say a woman smashed her way into a closed Pennsylvania police station looking for an officer she’d been sexually harassing ever since he arrested her. Police say 27-year-old Ashley Keister of Nanticoke used a large cigarette butt receptacle to smash glass doors into the West Wyoming...
Pennsylvania criticized for how it handles elder abuse cases
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state watchdog agency is criticizing how county-level agencies investigate thousands of complaints they receive about elder abuse and how the state ensures complaints are investigated adequately. Among the shortcomings identified by the Office of State Inspector General were failures to properly investigate complaints under timelines required...
Pennsylvania’s opioid disaster plan turns 1. Time to celebrate?
On Jan. 10, 2018, Gov. Tom Wolf dusted off the state’s disaster declaration manual, usually reserved for marshaling government resources for a natural calamity, to tackle a man-made crisis: opioid addiction, overdoses and deaths. On Monday, members of the Democratic governor’s administration gathered at the Harrisburg headquarters of the Pennsylvania...
DA: Girl made video of dad coaching her to lie about assault
A terrified 13-year-old girl secretly recorded video of her father coaching her to lie about having been physically assaulted by him — and managed to slip the evidence to prosecutors on the eve of his trial in Pennsylvania, authorities said Tuesday. The videos show Deyon Taylor, 56, instructing his daughter...
Gov. Wolf sets goals for Pennsylvania to cut greenhouse gases
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf is stepping up the fight against climate change and setting targets to slash Pennsylvania’s greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades. Wolf, a Democrat, said Tuesday that he’s issuing an executive order that commits his administration to meeting certain targets. The Center for Climate and...
Police identify 3 killed in apparent murder-suicide
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Authorities have identified three people who died in an apparent double murder-suicide in a Pennsylvania apartment as a couple and their young son. Police say the bodies of 49-year-old Marvin Caddell, his 44-year-old estranged wife, Nightflower Staats, and their 7-year-old son were found Saturday in Middletown. All...
Commission hears dispute over school’s ‘Redskins’ nickname
LANGHORNE — A long-running dispute over a Pennsylvania school district’s “Redskins” nickname for its sports teams has been taken up by a state commission. Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission attorney Lisa Knight argues the Bucks County district wouldn’t use a nickname based on any other racial group, so they should not...
Storm prompts vehicle, speed restrictions on northern interstates
Predictions of ice-coated roadways late Monday and early Tuesday have prompted officials to reduce the speed limit and temporarily ban motorcycles and some trucks on interstates in Pennsylvania’s northern tier. Between 11 p.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday, traffic restrictions will be in place on:Interstate 80, east of the junction...
New England kidnapping, sex suspect caught in Pennsylvania
HARTFORD, Vt. — A man forced a woman and her child into a car in New Hampshire, drove to Vermont, sexually assaulted the woman, and was apprehended in Pennsylvania after a manhunt and car chase, authorities said. Everett Simpson, 41, forced a woman and her child into their car outside...
Husband dies while trying to rescue wife from burning Pa. home
UPPER DARBY — A man who tried to rescue his wife from their burning Pennsylvania home died after he was overcome by smoke, unaware that she had safely fled the residence. Authorities say the fire broke out around 1:45 p.m. Saturday in the garage of a home in Upper Darby,...
South Philly dog walker killed after getting punched in park
A South Philadelphia dog walker was killed in front of his fiancee Saturday night after a dispute with another dog walker at Gold Star Park. Police were called shortly after 9 p.m. to Sixth and Wharton Streets to respond to a “person screaming.” When they arrived, officers found a 38-year-old...
Feds have nabbed over 700 people in northeast PA for immigration violations
Federal agents nabbed more than 700 people in northeast Pennsylvania for immigration violations from late 2014 through May, an analysis of immigration arrests data found. However, a local lawyer specializing in immigration defense cases says the numbers are much higher — and rising under President Donald Trump. “No way,” Scranton...
Woman, 2 grandchildren killed in Philadelphia rowhome fire
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say a fire at a Philadelphia rowhome packed with personal items has killed a woman and her two young grandchildren. The fire broke out in the woman’s home around 1 p.m. Saturday and was brought under control about 90 minutes later. The victims were all found in...
Sick of Pa. Turnpike toll increases? Here’s how and why this is happening
It’s a new year, which means there’s a new toll hike for commuters on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Northeast Extension. Lo and behold, motorists aren’t thrilled. • I travel the Pennsylvania Turnpike every day for my work. I have seen tolls increase and continue to increase at an alarming rate...
Man arrested for stealing guitars tells TV cameras ‘Go Eagles’
“Go Eagles” was all a suspected burglar had to say to TV cameras after police in central Pa. arrested him. Dale Sourbeck, 49 of Pittston, was arrested and accused of stealing guitars from Rock Street Music on Thursday, according WNEP-TV. Police caught up with Sourbeck after the license plate of...
Pennsylvania mom charged with assaulting infant triplets
BETHLEHEM — A Pennsylvania woman has been charged with battering her infant triplets. Lehigh County prosecutors said Thursday that 52-year-old Ann Henry of Bethlehem injured her children in September 2016, when they were 8 weeks old. One infant suffered a broken arm, another suffered fractured ribs and the third had...
AP report: Big jump in U.S. Catholic dioceses naming names
PHILADELPHIA — Over the past four months, Roman Catholic dioceses across the U.S. have released the names of more than 1,000 priests and others accused of sexually abusing children in an unprecedented public reckoning spurred at least in part by a shocking grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania, an Associated Press...
Police charge 15-year-old Philadelphia mom after newborn found dumped in trash
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police on Wednesday charged a 15-year-old girl with murder because she allegedly placed her newborn son in the trash in a North Philadelphia street. The girl, Jani Morris, was arrested when the infant’s body was discovered Monday night, police said. She was charged with murder, endangering welfare...
