AP PA Headlines
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A prosecutor says the investigation into the February death of a Penn State University fraternity pledge who fell down stairs is likely to result in charges against “a number” of people.
Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said Friday the probe into the Feb. 4 death of Beta Theta Pi pledge Timothy Piazza is nearing its end.
Parks’ office told the state Supreme Court in a new filing that charges are likely. The fraternity is seeking the return of hard drives with footage from the night Piazza died. A county judge earlier this week ordered Miller’s office to return the hard drives but said he’d be willing to let prosecutors keep the originals and give the fraternity copies. Penn State has permanently banned the fraternity.
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Five members of a white supremacist group called the Aryan Strike Force have been indicted on weapons, money laundering and drug charges. The group’s online mission statement is “to protect the honor of our women, children and the future of our race and nation” using violence as a necessary tool. An indictment returned Thursday by a federal grand jury in Pennsylvania accused them of selling methamphetamine, laundering the proceeds and receiving and storing machine gun parts and firearms.
Indicted are 37-year-old John Michael Steever, of Manville, New Jersey; 40-year-old Henry Lambert Baird, of Brown Mills, New Jersey; 26-year-old Justin Daniel Lough of Waynesboro, Virginia; 40-year-old Jacob Mark Robards of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and 20-year-old Connor Drew Dikes of Silver Spring, Maryland.
No attorney information was immediately available.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Senate is reviving legislation that’s designed to make it easier for gun owners and organizations like the National Rifle Association to challenge cities’ firearms ordinances in court. The GOP-controlled Senate approved the bill Tuesday, 34-16. Approval is still required from the Republican-controlled House, which is considering its own bill, and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf opposes it.
It is nearly identical to a version thrown out by the state’s highest court in last June on technical grounds after former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett signed it in 2014. The proposal expands the definition of who has standing to file legal challenges to local gun ordinances to include any gun owner or membership organization, such as the NRA. In general, Pennsylvania bars its municipalities from enforcing firearms ordinances that are stronger than state law.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Coca-Cola says Philadelphia’s new tax on sweetened drinks is seriously hurting their business in the city. According to a story on the beverage company’s website, the company’s volume in Philadelphia is down 32 percent from a year ago. Fran McGorry, president and general manager of the local bottler known as Philly Coke, says because of the lost sales, the company’s workforce has been reduced by about 40 positions. T
The company has more than 700 workers in the region. Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Kenney, says the soda industry is suing the city to repeal the tax and has repeatedly looked for opportunities to scapegoat it. She says Coca-Cola had a bad first quarter and pointed to an announcement of job cuts across all their markets earlier this week.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Oddities & Conversation starters
ARLINGTON, Mass. (AP) — A 6-year-old Massachusetts boy who turned in $2,000 in cash he found in a bank bag lost by a restaurant employee has received an Outstanding Citizen Award. Arlington resident Jasper Dopman was walking with his father, Erik Dopman, on April 18 when he spotted a cloth bag on the ground near a school. The bag contained cash and deposit slips.
Erik Dopman called the Arlington police and turned in the bag. An investigation determined the money belonged to Tenoch Mexican Food Corp. Police located an employee at the company’s Medford restaurant who said she had lost the bag earlier. The money was returned to the family-owned restaurant. Father and son each received an Outstanding Citizen Award from police and gifts from the Mexican food company.
BOSTON (AP) — A cable news station has apologized for accompanying a story on police stops of minorities with a graphic that included the term “colored people.” New England Cable News used the graphic Wednesday with a story based on a review by The Associated Press of the rate at which minorities in Boston are subjected to police stops.
The NBC-owned outlet apologized after viewers complained. NECN on Friday said the language accidentally appeared in the graphic but called it “highly inappropriate” and said the station regrets the error. NECN said the graphic was taken off the air and corrected as soon as producers became aware of it. The Associated Press review found 71 percent of police-civilian encounters from 2015 through early 2016 involved persons of color, while whites comprised about 22 percent.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — An 11-year-old girl has taken over the Twitter account of Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo and is spending the day being chauffeured to official events. Governor-for-a-day Mianna Gonsalves was sworn in to her temporary role Friday by a state Supreme Court justice. The Providence Journal captured the ceremony on video.
Raimondo, a Democrat, selected the East Providence fifth grader to fill in based on a winning essay Gonsalves wrote for Women’s History Month. Their shared Twitter feed Friday was filled with shout-outs from prominent female politicians, including Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Democratic Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. Democratic U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, who is New Hampshire’s former governor, tweeted: “Congrats Mianna: here’s to having more women governors all across the country!”
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court says an affluent county north of New York City is “engaging in total obstructionism” of a plan to build affordable housing that can be marketed to nonwhites. A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal by Westchester County on Friday. A lower court had found that Westchester violated a consent decree reached in 2009 with the Department of Justice.
The appeals court acted only a week after hearing arguments. Some rulings in that court are delivered months after arguments occur. The 2nd Circuit said Westchester County should “stop making excuses” and complete its obligations. A Westchester spokesman says the county is surprised by the court’s comments because it is meeting its consent decree goals.
KENSINGTON, Md. (AP) — An elementary school principal in Washington, D.C.’s suburbs is rethinking her idea to set up a “smash space” designed to let teachers hack away at a chair to relieve tension. Kensington Parkwood Elementary School Principal Barbara Liess said in a letter sent home to parents Wednesday that she regrets her decision. She says the space was set up March 8 and she got the idea from reading business articles about companies providing ways to reduce stress.
Sarah Sirgo, a director of school support and improvement for the Montgomery County school district, told families the district doesn’t condone this sort of behavior and officials are committed to providing employees with wellness support. Officials wouldn’t comment on whether any employees have been disciplined. Liess has been principal of the school since 2007.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
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Scores & Skeds
The Philadelphia Phillies are on the west coast playing the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tonight’s game is at 8:35pm on WKOK. Anytime the Phillies are on the radio, on 1070 WKOK, our regular programming continues at WKOK.com. The Phillies play the Dodgers Sunday at 3:35pm.
Here are the latest scores from Friday’s sports events:
INTERLEAGUE
Final Boston 5 Chi Cubs 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final N-Y Yankees 14 Baltimore 11, 10 Innings
Final Tampa Bay 7 Toronto 4
Final Seattle 3 Cleveland 1
Final Chi White Sox 7 Detroit 3
Final L.A. Angels 6 Texas 3
Final Houston 9 Oakland 4
Final Minnesota 6 Kansas City 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final N-Y Mets 7 Washington 5
Final Pittsburgh 12 Miami 2
Final Atlanta 10 Milwaukee 8
Final St. Louis 7 Cincinnati 5
Final Colorado 3 Arizona 1
Final L.A. Dodgers 5 Philadelphia 3
Final San Francisco 4 San Diego 3
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Washington 115 Atlanta 99
Final Boston 105 Chicago 83
Final L.A. Clippers 98 Utah 93
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final St. Louis 3 Nashville 2
Final Edmonton 2 Anaheim 1
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
