Authorities are reporting the death of a one-year-old Lawrence County child as the result of a homicide. The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office lists the death of young Noah Santiago as having been caused by blunt force trauma to the head and trunk. Police in New Castle say they have identified a suspect in the case. No other information was released.
Criminal homicide charges have been held over for trial against 27-year-old Zechariah Sewell of Hermitage, in Mercer County Common Pleas Court following a hearing before a district magistrate on Wednesday. Sewell is charged in the shooting death of Charles Carr at a home on Shadyside Drive back on March 21st. WFMJ-TV reports As of Wednesday, Sewell remained in the Mercer County Jail held on a $1 million bond.
A state House panel has approved a measure that would create scholarships for future teachers. The House Education Committee has carried a bill out of session that would create such paid programs to encourage students to become educators. The measure, House Bill 688, was approved by the committee after it was amended to the idea that the scholarships also would be offered to students at non-profit state colleges.
A state Senate committee has advanced a bill that would ban supervised injection sites in Pennsylvania. The medically-supervised facilities are designed to provide a staffed, hygienic environment in which people are able to use illegal drugs intravenously. Supporters say such facilities prevent deaths from overdoses, but others say they enable drug addicts. The legislation is in its early stages.
The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh is scheduling an interfaith prayer service for the Tree of Life community later this fall. The service is planned for October 22nd, within days of the five-year anniversary of the deadly 2018 attack. Bishop David Zubik says the gathering is an opportunity to come together in the spirit of peace, healing, and unity, regardless of faith. More details will be announced at a later time.
State Police in Lawrence County report a New Castle woman is out over 13 thousand dollars as a result of a theft of money from earlier this year. Police said the woman sent two checks in the mail back in January. Police said those checks were intercepted by someone and one was cashed worth over four thousand dollars the other was not cashed. Additionally two false checks in the victim’s name and similar to the earlier ones were made out. One of the fraudulent checks was cashed in excess of nine thousand dollars. The investigation is ongoing.
The state House of Representatives has passed a bill that will require all child care centers across the state to have carbon monoxide detectors. The legislation, called House Bill 494, was created after 28 kids and four adults were taken to the hospital after a carbon monoxide leak at Happy Smiles Learning Center in Allentown last October. The bill will give businesses a year and a half to comply with detector installation. The state Senate will now need to pass the bill.
Governor Josh Shapiro has signed an executive order to establish a special office to make state government websites more user-friendly. Shapiro says the new department is being called “CODE P-A.” He says he wants workers there to provide digital services that are responsive and accessible to all residents, in addition to making the state’s websites easy to use.
Norfolk Southern is putting a cost to February’s train derailment in East Palestine. In its earning report for the first quarter of 2023, the rail company estimates the cost to the company at a minimum of 387-million dollars. More than three-dozen rail cars, some carrying hazardous materials, left the tracks in the Columbiana County community with a number of residents complaining of health ailments in the weeks and months since. The 387-million dollar figure includes nearly 31-million that Norfolk Southern has pledged to help East Palestine and surrounding communities recover.