A Lawrence County couple was the victims of a recent scam. According to State Police the couple, from Scott Township told Police they paid $1,000 to buy two dogs from someone who claimed to be from Pennsylvania. When the seller told the couple that they couldn’t meet up to deliver the animals, they convinced the two to cough up more money for fees and services to have Air Animal Pet Movers deliver the dogs. The animals never arrived and the couple was scammed out of four thousand dollars. Police are continuing the investigation.
Two Butler men are facing multiple drug charges after police searched their home. The Butler County Drug Task Force executed a search warrant in Callery Borough and found items such as 200 grams of cocaine and a handgun. Robert Less Simpson Junior is charged with felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and Mark Edwards is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. Both are in the Butler County Prison with a ten-thousand-dollar bond.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro joined with other government officials Tuesday in touring the Ohio community of East Palestine [[ PAL ESS TEEN ]] where a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed earlier this month. East Palestine is near Ohio’s border with Beaver County Pennsylvania and residents have been concerned about the health ramifications of the accident and the containment efforts that have followed. The EPA yesterday ordered Norfolk Southern to clean up the mess and to do it at their own expense. Former President Donald Trump is expected to be in East Palestine today.
Butler City police are searching for a man suspected in a recent shooting. Twenty-seven-year-old Michael Collins III [[ The Third ]] of Youngstown, Ohio is accused of shooting another man February 5th at a location on West New Castle Street. The victim survived the incident. Collins is facing a list of charges including criminal attempted homicide.
A special session in the Pennsylvania State House began yesterday to discuss an amendment that would help child sex abuse victims sue their attackers. The bill would give victims a two-year window to sue their attackers regardless of how long ago the abuse took place, essentially getting rid of a statute of limitations. The bill is expected to pass the House this week and then would head to the Senate before it would be placed on the ballot in November.
A state Republican lawmaker says he wants to nip a potential measure in the bud that could ban gas stoves. Bradford County Republican Martin Causer is looking for support for legislation that would keep state or local authorities from banning appliances based on the type of energy they use. He says he wants to appeal for sponsors ahead of time after word came out last October that a gas stove ban was under consideration. CNN reports that 20 states have passed such preemption laws.
The state Department of Environmental Protection is hosting a study on possibly using old mine lands for solar energy projects. The assessment would focus on converting more than 200-thousand acres of abandoned coal mine land and comes as the state’s getting ready to receive just under four-billion-dollars in federal money to clean up abandoned mine land. Officials say using this kind of land for solar projects can take pressure off using farmlands and wooded areas.
The Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board wants to study what may happen if the state’s minimum milk pricing structure is removed. The idea comes as consumers in the state are forced to pay some of the highest milk prices in the country even though PA is sixth in the nation for milk production. According to the Milk Marketing Board, just under 20 percent of the retail cost of milk goes to the store; just over 30 percent goes to the processor and just half of the cost goes to the producer. There are more than five-thousand dairies in Pennsylvania.