AP PA Headlines 5/17/19
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal prosecutors plan to retry a Delaware man who admitted he broke a thumb off a $4.5 million statue at a Philadelphia museum. Philly.com reports prosecutors told a judge Thursday they’re refiling charges against Michael Rohana for theft and concealment of an object of cultural heritage. A jury deadlocked in the case last month after Rohana’s lawyer argued he hadn’t been charged under the right law.
Rohana was attending a Christmas-themed ugly sweater party at the Franklin Institute when he entered a closed exhibit of ancient Chinese terra cotta warrior statues. Authorities say Rohana snapped the thumb of a statute called “The Cavalryman” and left with it. The incident was captured by surveillance cameras. Rohana told jurors it was a stupid, drunken mistake. The vandalism outraged Chinese officials. A message was left with Rohana’s lawyer seeking comment Thursday.
HARRISON CITY, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania school district is defending itself after video surfaced of a safety drill that had a teacher posing as a shooter and donning what appeared to be a Middle Eastern headdress. The video appears to show the actor wearing a kaffiyeh. The Penn-Trafford School District said Wednesday that organizers didn’t intend to portray the shooter as Arab or Muslim at the January training.
The district says that volunteers were provided costumes by a consultant group and that there was no intent to represent any particular culture or religion. The statement pointed out that the person portraying the shooter also wore a long blond wig and a paintball mask. The Islamic Center of Pittsburgh says “to stereotype the shooter is appalling given the data on active shooters and the recent shootings at the Tree of Life and Christ Church.” The video was for internal teacher training only, but footage was posted on social media this week.
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Features
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine public schools and universities will soon ban the use of mascots and logos depicting Native Americans. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ office says the bill she signed yesterday will become effective 90 days after the Legislature adjourns. Penobscot Nation Ambassador Maulian Dana says the law is “a huge step toward trust and respect” for indigenous people.
Democratic Rep. Benjamin Collings said members of tribal communities are people, not mascots. Mills’ office says California, Oregon and Wisconsin have similar restrictions, while South Dakota, New York and Michigan have called for the end of the use of mascots. Republican opponents have argued that local boards should decide such issues. The last Maine high school to use such a mascot, Skowhegan Area High School, voted to stop using it this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats in the House are poised to approve sweeping anti-discrimination legislation that would extend civil rights protections to LGBT people by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Dubbed the Equality Act, the bill is a top priority of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said it will bring the nation “closer to equal liberty and justice for all.”
A vote is scheduled for today. The legislation’s chief sponsor, Rhode Island Democratic Rep. David Cicilline, said it affirms fairness and equality as core American values “and ensures members of the LGBTQ community can live their lives free from the fear of legal discrimination of any kind.” Republicans say the bill would jeopardize religious freedom by requiring acceptance of a particular ideology about sexuality and sexual identity.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “The Big Bang Theory” closed out its run as television’s top-rated comedy with an emotional final episode that saw some big changes for the show’s group of geeky misfits. The long-running series on CBS concluded with two final episodes, “The Change Constant” and “The Stockholm Syndrome,” in an hour-long finale Thursday evening. The series exited the TV airwaves with the most episodes for a multi-camera series ever with 279 episodes. It edged past NBC’s “Cheers,” which aired for 11 seasons and 275 episodes.
“The Big Bang Theory” debuted in 2007 and overcame early doubts to become a cult classic after some questioned the show’s chances of survival. The show was led by a crew of nerdy misfits starring Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Mayim Bialik, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar and Melissa Rauch. Thursday’s finale was followed by a behind-the-scenes look at the show in “Unraveling the Mystery: A Big Bang Farewell” with Galecki and Cuoco as hosts.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gloria Steinem, Cecile Richards, Michelle Obama. Barbie? The Council of Fashion Designers of America will follow up those prestigious honorees of its Board of Directors’ Tribute Award with the ever-evolving doll. The council said in a statement Thursday the idea is to celebrate Barbie as a fashion icon, coinciding with her 60th anniversary.
The council’s president, Steve Kolb, says Barbie has had a “wide influence on American fashion and culture.” A human, presumably, will pick up the award at a June 3 ceremony. In addition to Steinem, Richards and Obama, other past honorees include Tom Ford, Janelle Monae and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Among Barbie’s fashion collaborators: Oscar de la Renta and Jeremy Scott. Diane von Furstenberg, Bob Mackie and Vera Wang have made special Barbies.
LONDON (AP) — The Splash News and Picture Agency in Britain has agreed to play nice when it comes to respecting the privacy for Prince Harry. The agency is promising never to again use helicopters to hover near Harry’s home to take photos. In a case yesterday, Harry accepted substantial damages in the case _ as well as an apology from the news agency. Harry has complained that using a helicopter to get shots to him and his wife Meghan Markle made them feel uncomfortable. And he says they no longer feel secure living at the property.
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
PA Sports, Scores & Skeds
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Christian Yelich hit his major league-leading 17th and 18th homers to help Zach Davies and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 11-3. The Brewers took three straight after losing the series opener against the NL East-leading Phillies. The Phillies play on 1070AM WKOK, while our normal programming continues at WKOK.com.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Ian Kinsler hit a go-ahead, three-run homer for the San Diego Padres, who beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 while setting the major league record by going 8,020 games without a no-hitter since their inception. Franmil Reyes also homered, connecting off San Diegan Trevor Williams an inning before the Pirates starter left with discomfort in his right side.
Here are the scores from yesterday’s sports events:
———
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Oakland 17 Detroit 3
Final Texas 16 Kansas City 1
Final Cleveland 14 Baltimore 7
Final Chi White Sox 4 Toronto 2
Final Minnesota 11 Seattle 6
———
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Milwaukee 11 Philadelphia 3
Final Washington 7 N-Y Mets 6
Final Cincinnati 4 Chi Cubs 2
Final Atlanta 10 St. Louis 2
Final San Diego 4 Pittsburgh 3
———
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Golden State 114 Portland 111
———
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Boston 4 Carolina 0
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WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Indiana 76 Chicago 65
———
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Final Los Angeles FC 2 Dallas 0
TODAY’S SPORTS SCHEDULE
———
INTERLEAGUE
St. Louis at Texas 8:05 p.m.
———
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay at N-Y Yankees 7:05 p.m.
Oakland at Detroit 7:10 p.m.
Houston at Boston 7:10 p.m.
Baltimore at Cleveland 7:10 p.m.
Toronto at Chi White Sox 8:10 p.m.
Kansas City at L-A Angels 10:07 p.m.
Minnesota at Seattle 10:10 p.m.
———
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chi Cubs at Washington 7:05 p.m.
Colorado at Philadelphia 7:05 p.m.
N-Y Mets at Miami 7:10 p.m.
L-A Dodgers at Cincinnati 7:10 p.m.
Milwaukee at Atlanta 7:20 p.m.
San Francisco at Arizona 9:40 p.m.
Pittsburgh at San Diego 10:10 p.m.
———
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Toronto at Milwaukee 8:30 p.m.
———
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
San Jose at St. Louis 8:00 p.m.
———
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Washington at Atlanta 7:00 p.m.
Seattle at L.A. Sparks 10:30 p.m.
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
