Deadly Shooting: AP PA Headlines, Features, Scores & Skeds

AP PA Headlines 1/26/19

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s top prosecutor will fight a decision that gives former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal a new appeals hearing in a 1981 police slaying.  District Attorney Larry Krasner says in a filing Friday that he’ll challenge an order that would revive the high-profile case. The 64-year-old activist is serving life without parole after his death sentence was thrown out over flawed jury instructions.

He has now been granted a new appeals hearing because of a Supreme Court ruling that said a former Pennsylvania justice who heard his appeal had a potential conflict of interest.  Krasner has tangled with the city’s police union since taking office last year, especially over pleas that spared two men the death penalty in a 2015 police slaying.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Police say another person has died, hours after a gunman opened fire at a hotel bar in central Pennsylvania, then broke into a home and fatally shot a man there before killing himself.  State College Police Chief John Gardner says 19-year-old Steven Beachy died of his wounds at a hospital Friday.

The initial shooting happened about 10:30 p.m. Thursday in State College, about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from Penn State University’s main campus.

Authorities say 21-year-old Jordan Witmer, of Bellefonte, shot and killed 62-year-old Dean Beachy, of Millersburg, Ohio, at the bar. He also wounded a woman whom he apparently had been in a relationship with. Dean Beachy is Steven’s father.  Witmer then broke into a home, where he fatally shot the homeowner, 83-year-old George McCormick, before turning the gun on himself.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania state House Republicans are stripping a member of his committee chairmanship and recommending he resign over allegations that he had sex with an incapacitated woman against her will. House GOP leaders issued a statement Friday that said eight-term Rep. Brian Ellis should step down “to take care of his family and address the allegations” about an incident in his home near the Capitol in Harrisburg more than three years ago.

Ellis hasn’t responded to texts, emails and phone messages seeking comment. He hasn’t been charged.

The woman’s lawyer, Christine Wechsler, says her client believes she was drugged while having a drink and was sexually assaulted.

House Republicans say prosecutors are looking into the allegations. Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo is declining comment.

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Features 

ATLANTA (AP) — Some entertainers believe social injustice needs to be addressed during the Super Bowl and are ensuring the topic that ignited a political firestorm, engulfing the NFL, will be in the spotlight.  They passionately disagree on how. Some will perform in Super Bowl-related events while others will be noticeably absent.  Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick helped start a wave of protests by kneeling during the national anthem to raise awareness to police brutality, racial inequality and other social issues.

Jermaine Dupri said he was called a “sellout” for hosting a Super Bowl-related event during a meeting with people who had lost family members as result police brutality.  After the meeting, Dupri and the victims’ family members came to a compromise. The music mogul plans to give mothers a platform to speak onstage during his Super Bowl Live event in Atlanta. He hopes to bridge the gap between speaking out against social injustice and accommodate the NFL during his five-night concert series starting Saturday.  Some of the families were looking to boycott the Super Bowl and initially Dupri’s event in the city that many consider the birthplace of civil rights.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans bakery is turning out thousands of cookies with a picture of a referee with a circle and slash mark across it in red icing.  The owner of a locksmith shop has hung posters and signs taking aim at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and some residents have hung posters of a referee wearing a blindfold.

New Orleans Saints fans have found some pretty creative ways to express their displeasure over the infamous “no call” during last weekend’s Saints-Rams championship game. But their newest tactic may make the loudest statement – a Super Bowl boycott.  “We’re angry,” said Lauren Haydel, a Saints fan and business owner who has started printing and selling T-shirts featuring a referee voodoo doll with pins sticking out of it from her Fleurty Girl retail stores.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:  On WKOK and WKOK.com at noon: NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Reps. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.  ABC’s “This Week” — Not immediately announced.

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Susan Collins, R-Maine; Dee Margo, mayor of El Paso, Texas; Michael Passero, mayor of New London, Connecticut.  CNN’s “State of the Union” — Rubio; Julian Castro, Democratic candidate for president   “Fox News Sunday” — Manchin; NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg; Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo

.

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PA Sports, Scores & Skeds

On WKOK Today:

• Shikellamy Basketball @ Shamokin – 1:30 p.m.
• Penn State Men’s Basketball – Rutgers @ PSU – 4:30 p.m.

BOYS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

Juniata 41, Millersburg 30

Montoursville 62, Jersey Shore 32

Neumann 66, Southern Columbia 52

Upper Dauphin 68, East Juniata 58

Northumberland Christian, 62 Columbia County Christian 56

GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

Danville, 59 Selinsgrove 35

Lewisburg 62, Midd-West 31

Loyalsock 56, South Williamsport 36

Mifflinburg 57, Central Mountain 26

Mount Carmel 61, Bloomsburg 36

Penns Manor 70, West Shamokin 36

Shamokin 45, Central Columbia 28

Shikellamy 39, Milton 33

Southern Columbia 45, Hughesville 28

Warrior Run 48, Montoursville 18

HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING

Selinsgrove, 64 Milton 14 – Heartland Athletic Conference – Division 1

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved