HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Records now show all three branches of Pennsylvania state government have settled sexual misconduct allegations since 2010, claims that included unwelcome touching, kissing and lascivious comments. The running total of disclosed payments to settle claims and investigate complaints over the past eight years now stands at more than $369,000.
New documents obtained by The Associated Press show the Treasury Department paid $7,500 to cover an employee’s legal costs in a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint and agreed to transfer her. The state Senate disclosed Friday that although it has not been sued or settled any claims for alleged sexual misconduct, it has incurred more than $10,000 in legal bills to investigate such matters since 2010.
The House has acknowledged settling allegations against two Democratic members for $250,000 and $30,000. On Friday, House Democrats also disclosed they paid $19,211 in lawyer fees for work on sexual harassment through a “special leadership account” controlled by Majority Leader Frank Dermody. The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts said a stenographer was paid $52,000 in 2012 to settle a complaint about a Westmoreland County judge’s behavior.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia is creating a dedicated overdose response unit that will work alongside medics in sections of the city hit hardest by drugs. WCAU-TV reports that the unit will be run by the fire department and will include medics, social workers and certified recovery specialists. They will help drug users get access to treatment and provide education about drug use.
The program is expected to launch by mid-summer and focus on the Kensington and Fairhill neighborhoods. The city’s managing director, Michael DiBerardinis, says the unit is part of the city’s continuing efforts to revitalize the area, including the cleanup this year of an open-air heroin market that ran along a half-mile stretch of train tracks.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Features
CHICAGO (AP) — Apple iPhone owners from several states are suing the tech giant for not disclosing sooner that it had issued software updates deliberately slowing older-model phones so aging batteries lasted longer. Lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday in Chicago federal court on behalf of five iPhone owners from Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina. They say they would not have purchased newer, pricier iPhones had Apple disclosed that simply replacing the batteries would have sped up their older phones.
The 20-page lawsuit accuses Apple of trying “to fraudulently induce consumers to purchase” new phones. Apple acknowledged in a Wednesday statement that it introduced a fix so batteries wouldn’t suddenly die. But it said its goal was improving “overall performance and prolonging” the life of the phones. Apple didn’t return a message Friday seeking comment.
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania has given Pope Francis a Christmas present invisible to the naked eye: a Nativity scene where baby Jesus is smaller than a human cell. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite on Friday looked through a microscope to see a replica of the crib at Vilnius’s downtown Cathedral Square, a copy of the nativity scene that was given to Francis by Lithuanian diplomats earlier this month.
She said it took three months for Lithuanian scientists and students to create the minuscule crib from a 3D scan of the life-size crèche, reducing it 10,000 times. Francis plans to visit the Baltics next year. Details about Francis’ trip to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have not been released yet but he is expected in the fall of 2018.
NEW YORK (AP) — Mariah Carey is determined to have a better New Year’s Eve than in 2016 — she is returning to “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” after last year’s debacle. Carey had a performance that was marked by problems — at one point she stopped singing — and it led to a public spat between the best-selling singer and dick clark productions as to who was at fault.
KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) — After a four-year courtship, a British Army sergeant and a former diving instructor have married underwater in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The couple used an underwater tablet Thursday to exchange wedding vows beside Molasses Reef off Key Largo. In 2013, Thomas Mould, of Leicester, England, traveled on an Army adventure training dive trip to the Amoray Dive Resort in the Keys, where Sandra Hyde worked as an instructor.
The couple connected. Hyde traveled to Leicester a few times, and he visited her in the states. They decided to marry and planned a summer wedding in an old English church but then decided an underwater wedding in the Keys would not only be more appropriate, but more cost-effective. The couple is honeymooning in the Keys, before returning to live in England..
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Sports, Scores and Skeds
Today the NCAA takes over WKOK as we air to college basketball games from CBS Sportsradio. The games start at 1:15pm, after the Kim Komando show on WKOK.
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Mikal Bridges scored 20 points to lead No. 1 Villanova to a 95-71 rout of Hofstra. Bridges was one of five players in double figures for Villanova, which remained unbeaten at 12-0. Omari Spellman had 19 points in 31 minutes. Phil Booth finished with 17, Donte DiVincenzo had 16, and Jalen Brunson recorded 14 points.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Evander Kane had a goal and assist, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 for just their fourth win in the last 20 games. Jack Eichel added two empty-netters, helping Buffalo hold on after Philadelphia scored twice in the final 2:10. Ryan O’Reilly also scored for the Sabres, who had dropped three in a row and five of six.
UNDATED (AP) — Wyoming and Ohio were Friday’s bowl game winners. Josh Allen was 11 of 19 for 154 yards and three touchdowns in his final college game to lead Wyoming’s 37-14 win over Central Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Dorian Brown rushed for a career-high 152 yards and four touchdowns on just 12 carries to lead Ohio’s 41-6 rout of UAB in the Bahamas Bowl.
HIGH SCHOOL SCOREBOARD
BOY’S BASKETBALL
Shikellamy 60
Central Mountain 55
Loyalsock 73
Mifflinburg 64
Danville 56
Montoursville 42
Millersburg 51
Mount Calvary Christian 47
Mount Carmel 73
Bloomsburg 48
GIRL’S BASKETBALL
Warrior Run 35 OT
Shikellamy 33
Southern Columbia 65
Millville 23
East Juniata 27
Bald Eagle 23
Juniata 46
Greenwood 31
NATIONAL SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final New Orleans 111 Orlando 97
Final Detroit 104 N-Y Knicks 101
Final Brooklyn 119 Washington 84
Final Milwaukee 109 Charlotte 104
Final L.A. Clippers 128 Houston 118
Final Miami 113 Dallas 101
Final Oklahoma City 120 Atlanta 117
Final Denver 102 Portland 85
Final Golden State 113 L.A. Lakers 106
———
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Buffalo 4 Philadelphia 2
Final Florida 4 Minnesota 2
Final Montreal 3 Calgary 2
Final OT Arizona 3 Washington 2
———
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Indianapolis at Baltimore 4:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Green Bay 8:30 p.m.
———
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (1) Villanova 95 Hofstra 71
Final (3) Arizona St. 104 Pacific 65
Final (9) Xavier 77 N. Iowa 67
Final (11) Wichita St. 75 Florida Gulf Coast 65
Final (13) Virginia 82 Hampton 48
Final (15) TCU 86 William & Mary 75
Final (17) Oklahoma 104 Northwestern 78
Final (22) Texas Tech 74 Abilene Christian 47
TODAY’S SPORTS SCHEDULE
———
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Philadelphia at Toronto 5:00 p.m.
Milwaukee at Charlotte 7:00 p.m.
Orlando at Washington 7:00 p.m.
Brooklyn at Indiana 7:00 p.m.
Dallas at Atlanta 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at Boston 7:30 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at Memphis 8:00 p.m.
New Orleans at Miami 8:00 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Utah 8:00 p.m.
Denver at Golden State 8:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Phoenix 9:00 p.m.
Portland at L.A. Lakers 9:30 p.m.
San Antonio at Sacramento 10:00 p.m.
———
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Detroit at Boston 1:00 p.m.
Winnipeg at N-Y Islanders 1:00 p.m.
Montreal at Edmonton 7:00 p.m.
Anaheim at Pittsburgh 7:00 p.m.
Chicago at New Jersey 7:00 p.m.
Minnesota at Tampa Bay 7:00 p.m.
Ottawa at Florida 7:00 p.m.
Buffalo at Carolina 7:00 p.m.
Philadelphia at Columbus 7:00 p.m.
Toronto at N-Y Rangers 7:00 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona 8:00 p.m.
Nashville at Dallas 8:00 p.m.
Washington at Vegas 8:00 p.m.
L.A. Kings at San Jose 10:00 p.m.
St. Louis at Vancouver 10:00 p.m.
———
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Indianapolis at Baltimore 4:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Green Bay 8:30 p.m.
———
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
(5) North Carolina at Ohio St. 1:30 p.m.
Final (6) Miami 75 Hawaii 57
New Mexico St. at (6) Miami 10:00 p.m.
UCLA at (7) Kentucky 4:00 p.m.
Fordham at (10) West Virginia 12:00 p.m.
(21) Tennessee at Wake Forest 12:30 p.m.
Manhattan at (23) Seton Hall 12:00 p.m.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
