AP PA Headlines 8/23/18
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Roman Catholic high school will shed the name of Washington’s archbishop, who was cited in a sweeping grand jury report as having allowed priests accused of sexually abusing children to be reassigned or reinstated while he was Pittsburgh’s bishop. The Diocese of Pittsburgh said Wednesday that Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl made the request to remove his name from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School and that school and diocese officials accepted it.
The sign in front of the suburban Pittsburgh school was discovered vandalized Monday, with red spray paint obscuring Wuerl’s name, as some Catholics called for his resignation or ouster and a petition circulated to remove his name from the school. The 77-year-old Wuerl has defended himself, saying he acted to protect children, promptly investigate allegations and strengthen policies as understanding of child abuse evolved. He has said he will not resign.
Dropping his name from the school is part of the growing fallout from a grand jury report that accused a succession of church leaders of covering up the abuse of more than 1,000 children or teenagers by about 300 Catholic priests in Pennsylvania since the 1940s. The bulk of the cases cited in the report came before the early 2000s, the grand jury said, because most of the internal documents turned over by the dioceses concerned those cases.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s state prison system is tightening security and revamping procedures after 18 staff members were treated at hospitals for exposure to a yet-unidentified substance at three prisons earlier this month. Corrections Department spokeswoman Amy Worden said Wednesday state police investigators are testing the substance, which she described as a “liquid synthetic drug that’s taking different forms.”
In five separate cases between Aug. 6 and Aug. 13, employees exhibited symptoms that required medical treatment at the Fayette, Greene and Mercer state prisons. She said all 18 were treated and released.
At Greene State Prison, four guards were hospitalized after becoming sick while searching an inmate’s belongings on Aug. 13. The prison was locked down and a hazardous materials team was called in.
Four guards and two nurses were stricken on Aug. 10 at Fayette State Prison. The guards had been searching an inmate’s property, and the two nurses became ill while treating them. The search of a cell at Mercer State Prison on Aug. 6 produced symptoms in five guards and a doctor. One guard was hospitalized overnight.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania casinos asked a court Wednesday to shut down the state’s new iLottery program, arguing the internet-based games simulate slot machines and casino-style gambling in violation of state law. The complaint against the Revenue Department, which includes the Pennsylvania Lottery, said the iLottery games mimic slot machines found in casinos and online.
“All of the iLottery games feature the same user interface as a slot machine, and have the same interactive appearance, feel and play experience that a player would expect from land-based and online slot machines,” they wrote in a complaint filed in Commonwealth Court. “These features include graphics, animation, suspenseful music, flashing lights, bells or sounds played when combinations are hit, and similar visual and auditory features.”
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Features
NEW YORK (AP) — Advocates of ordaining women as Roman Catholic priests are citing the church’s unfolding sex abuse scandals as powerful arguments for their cause, while acknowledging the high unlikelihood of achieving their goal anytime soon. Even with extensive grassroots support for letting women become priests, Pope Francis and the Vatican’s male-dominated hierarchy have stressed repeatedly that a men-only priesthood is a divine mandate that cannot be changed.
“I don’t see any movement to ordain women on the horizon, although I wish I did,” said Margaret McGuinness, a religion professor at La Salle University in Philadelphia. “The people in power aren’t going to look at this as a solution.” In the United States, an organized campaign advocating for female priests dates to the 1970s, and its leaders have seized on the new sex abuse scandals — in which the alleged perpetrators are male clergy — to help make their case.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The leader of the world’s largest Roman Catholic fraternal group is condemning clergy sex abuse and calling for reforms in the church, including a renewed commitment to celibacy by priests. Carl Anderson, supreme knight of the New Haven, Connecticut-based Knights of Columbus, made the comments in what appeared to be an unusual letter to the group’s nearly 2 million members on Tuesday.
“These sins of commission and omission have sent the Church we love, the Church we serve and the Church that Jesus Christ established into convulsions,” Anderson wrote. “Sadly, the disgrace not only is borne by the perpetrators, it hurts us all, as does the silence of shepherds who have ignored the cries of their flocks.” To be sure, the Knights of Columbus hasn’t been inoculated from the sex abuse scandal that’s rocked the global Catholic Church in recent years.
The organization was sued in 2010 by two men who said a former leader of the Columbian Squires — the Knights’ official youth program — abused them in Texas in the 1970s and 1980s. But at least one of those cases was dismissed after a judge determined the statute of limitations had passed. Anderson in his letter didn’t touch on those allegations and instead focused on more recent revelations, including sexual abuse allegations against retired archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick, and a grand jury report accusing church leaders of covering up the abuse of more than 1,000 children or teenagers by some 300 Catholic priests in Pennsylvania since the 1940s.
RAEFORD, N.C. (AP) — A middle school teacher who moonlights as a pole-dance instructor has been suspended by a North Carolina school district. A spokeswoman for Hoke County’s public schools didn’t specify why Kandice Mason was suspended with pay pending the outcome of an investigation. Mason tells WTVD-TV that school officials saw a video of her pole dancing that she posted to her private Facebook account.
She says school officials cited a policy that says employees are role models who are “responsible for their public conduct even when they are not performing their job duties.” Mason says she isn’t ashamed of her part-time pastime and sees pole dancing as an art form and a good way to stay in shape. Mason was due to start teaching sixth grade at West Hoke County Middle School.
NEW YORK (AP) — Parents lament their teenagers’ noses constantly in their phones, but they might benefit from taking stock of their own screen time habits. A new report from the Pew Research Center says two-thirds of parents are concerned about the amount of time their teenage children spend in front of screens.
But more than half of teens said they often or sometimes find their parents or caregivers to be distracted by screens when trying to have a conversation with them. And more than a third expressed concern about their own screen time. The study surveyed 743 U.S. teens and 1,058 U.S. parents of teens from March 7 to April 10. The margin of error is 4.5 percentage points.
NEW YORK (AP) — CBS says the upcoming 12th season of “The Big Bang Theory” will be the last. It’s the most popular comedy on television. The series began about geeky physicist roommates portrayed by Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki and expanded to include their friends, girlfriends and then wives. Other stars include Mayim Bialik and Kaley Cuoco.
Parsons’ work on the show has earned him four Emmy awards and a Golden Globe. CBS also airs a prequel about his character called “Young Sheldon.” There’s also a UCLA scholarship created by and named for the series to support undergrad study in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Season 12 of “Big Bang” premieres Sept. 24.
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — The replica Ferrari used in the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” will be auctioned off on live TV this weekend. It will be one of roughly 600 cars that will be sold during Mecum Auctions in Monterey. Coverage started last night on NBCSN. The Ferris Bueller car will be sold Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern on NBC. The car was one of three cars used during the movie. It’s actually a 1985 Modena GT Spyder California.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Sports, Scores & Skeds
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Washington Nationals to an 8-7 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Juan Soto’s two-out double against Seranthony Dominguez set up Zimmerman. His drive landed just above the right-field wall and required review before the umpire crew acknowledged the homer. Zimmerman has 11 walk-off home runs for his career.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ronald Acuna Jr. hit another leadoff home run and Freddie Freeman had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to lift the Atlanta Braves over the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 for a three-game sweep. Acuna hit the fifth pitch out to right-center off Trevor Williams.
Here are the scores from yesterday’s sports events:
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INTERLEAGUE
Final Chi Cubs 8 Detroit 2
Final Miami 9 N-Y Yankees 3
Final Arizona 5 L-A Angels 1
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Toronto 6 Baltimore 0
Final Chi White Sox 7 Minnesota 3
Final Texas 4 Oakland 2
Final Houston 10 Seattle 7
Final Boston 10 Cleveland 4
Final Tampa Bay 6 Kansas City 3
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Milwaukee 4 Cincinnati 0
Final Washington 8 Philadelphia 7
Final Atlanta 2 Pittsburgh 1
Final N-Y Mets 5 San Francisco 3
Final Colorado 6 San Diego 2
Final St. Louis 3 L-A Dodgers 1
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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESEASON
Philadelphia at Cleveland 8:00 p.m.
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MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Final New York 1 New York City 1
TODAY’S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland at Boston 1:05 p.m.
Chi White Sox at Detroit 1:10 p.m.
Kansas City at Tampa Bay 7:10 p.m.
Oakland at Minnesota 8:10 p.m.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Philadelphia at Washington 1:05 p.m.
San Francisco at N-Y Mets 1:10 p.m.
San Diego at Colorado 3:10 p.m.
Atlanta at Miami 7:10 p.m.
Cincinnati at Chi Cubs 8:05 p.m.
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WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
L.A. Sparks at Washington 6:30 p.m.
Phoenix at Connecticut 8:30 p.m.
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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESEASON
Philadelphia at Cleveland 8:00 p.m.
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MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Columbus at Chicago 7:00 p.m.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
