A New Castle man is being accused of shooting someone in the stomach after trying to steal their necklace. New Castle Police say 33-year-old Lierre Armstrong went to a home on Spruce Street at around noon Tuesday to visit a friend and tried to remove the victim’s necklace. He then allegedly shot the victim and ran off. A woman in the home called 911 and Armstrong was arrested Wednesday. He’s facing charges of attempted homicide and robbery. The victim was taken to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital for treatment.
Officials at the Shell cracker plant in Beaver County are reporting a ground flare at the facility this week. Operators say they flared gasses on Tuesday evening following a compressor malfunction. Environmental advocacy group Eyes on Shell is criticizing the move, saying light and noise pollution impacted residents up to ten miles away for several hours. Jamar Thrasher with the Department of Environmental Protection says they are in the process of evaluating the situation.
The Pew Charitable Trusts says many large cities in Pennsylvania will be on the hook for taxes for more aging social services in the coming years. Their new study shows that’s because the number of people over 65 is projected to grow to more than three million people by 2035. The number of the state’s vulnerable older households that have less than 75-thousand dollars in yearly income is expected to increase by 17 percent during that time.
A state lawmaker is pushing an effort in Pennsylvania for term limits in the U.S. Congress. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie is sponsoring a resolution in Pennsylvania for such a proposal convention. The U.S. Constitution deems that state legislatures can team up for a convention to propose congressional term limits. The resolution was introduced in the state House Friday with nine sponsors. Twenty-five state lawmakers have signed a term limits pledge promising to vote in support of the measure.
More than 300 Butler County employees were set to begin a strike Wednesday, but that’s been cancelled after a tentative agreement was reached. The strike was planned to start after union members say they’ve been working for months without a contract. Their agreement with the county had expired at the end of 2022. The union represents several county government offices, including those who work at the courthouse, 9-1-1 dispatchers and jail workers. The union is set to vote on the agreement today.
A drug trafficker from Moon Township has been sentenced to 27 years in prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh says 38-year-old Noah Landfried was convicted of drug trafficking and money laundering while he was on supervised release from a prior prison sentence for drug trafficking. A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office says after Landfried got out of prison in 2017, he re-established his drug connection in Mexico and received tractor-trailer shipments of cocaine that were transported over the southern border.
A Uniontown man has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for making videos of children being molested. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh says 39-year-old Zachary Bosh was sentenced Tuesday, and will also be put on lifetime supervised release. Prosecutors say Bosh was arrested after he sent a video clip of a minor being sexually exploited to an undercover officer.
Members of the state Senate Banking Committee are the next group of lawmakers that will consider a bill to require insurance companies to expand coverage for breast cancer screenings. Senate Bill 8 is sponsored by Senator Kim Ward of Harrisburg. It would make insurance groups cover the cost of genetic testing if a person is diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer or has a family history of either. It would also require them to cover MRIs or ultrasounds for additional screening for women who are at a greater risk for developing breast cancer.