New Castle City Fireman were called out to battle an unoccupied house fire on Tuesday. The New Castle News reports the blaze broke out at a two story home on Brook Street. Fire officials report the cause is suspicious. No injuries were reported. Residents of the home had moved out earlier in the day.
Authorities have identified a man killed Tuesday in a head-on collision in Butler County. Thirty-two-year-old Dominick Recupero of Kittanning was a passenger in a vehicle whose driver lost control after hitting a guardrail on Route 422. That vehicle went into oncoming traffic and hit head-on with a pickup truck. The drivers of both vehicles survived the crash.
Convicted Tree of Life shooter Robert Bowers will be put to death. Bowers gunned down 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in October of 2018 and jurors yesterday decided that he should receive the death penalty for his crimes. Victim impact statements will be heard today followed by Bowers’ formal sentencing.
State Senate Republican leader Kim Ward is calling the Pennsylvania State Senate back to work today. She said it’s time to end the impasse over the state budget. Pennsylvania has been operating without a budget for just over a month. Sen. Ward said the Senate is prepared to finish its work on the budget and said that she hopes the state house will do the same.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is issuing an advisory on an invasive fish species. Officials are urging anglers to dispose of any northern snakeheads they may catch and report them to state officials. Wildlife experts say the snakesheads are a predatory species that can be dangerous to sport fish populations and threaten efforts to conserve fish.
An environmental group suggests that state and local governments in Pennsylvania could save millions if they start using electric-powered vehicles. A new study by the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center and the Frontier Group says they could save over 360-million dollars by purchasing electric vehicles (EVs) for light-duty fleets. The report also projects that state could expect to see an 800-thousand-ton reduction in global warming pollution if it changes over as they would emit 64-percent less climate pollution than vehicles powered by gasoline.
People in the state wine and liquor industries say they’re upset by new demands imposed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. The agency launched a new online system last month for bars and restaurants to place their orders. But owners say they’re unhappy about new fees built into the system that they say they didn’t see coming. The system reportedly assesses an 80-percent increase for a “logistics, transportation and merchandising factor.” The owners say those costs might have to be passed on to consumers.
Pennsylvania-based PNC Bank closed 46 of its branches in June and new data shows that was the most of any bank in the country. A report from S-and-P Global Market Intelligence says several of the branches closed were in supermarkets. Company officials say PNC still operates more than 24-hundred branches. PNC, which is based in Pittsburgh, is the nation’s sixth-largest bank by assets.
A Johnstown man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh for federal child pornography charges. United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced 25 year old Mikhail Martin is alleged to have produced and attempted to produce material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor on February and April of this year. Martin is also alleged to have possessed material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor on or about May 13th. The law provides for a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 70 years, a fine of $750,000, or both.
Police in Sharon are investigating after several shots were fired at a vehicle on Tuesday. WFMJ-TV reports according to police, dispatchers received calls about shots being fired along the 800 block of Ravine Place just after 9 p.m. When officers arrived, they found no one had been injured, but shots had been fired into a car. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sharon Police.
A new probation reform bill is moving forward in the state legislature. Supporters say it would change Pennsylvania’s lengthy probation sentences that they say have continued to loop people in without an end in sight. In June, the state Senate approved a bipartisan bill on the issue and the full state House is expected to approve the legislation when it reconvenes in September. Pennsylvania state figures show that about 100-thousand-people are on probation or parole. The state has the fourth-highest population under community supervision in the country.
State officials are working on a new management plan for Pennsylvania’s forests for the next 20 years. “Forests For All” is being touted as a successor to the last plan that was written nearly 30 years ago. The plan looks at stewardship of both public and private forest lands in Pennsylvania, with goals to help ecosystems respond to climate change, as well as looking at the social benefits of forests and how to best promote conservation practices.