Police are continuing to investigate a deadly weekend shooting in New Castle. The assault happened at a graduation party Saturday night at Bollinger Playground on the city’s west side, where three teen boys were shot and one of them died. That victim has been identified as 15-year-old Damian Jackson. Police have not said if they have any suspects.
A medical doctor is stepping down from his department chair position at UPMC following a lawsuit. Officials with the hospital system say Doctor James Luketich will no longer head up the Cardiothoracic Surgery program. The litigation claimed Luketich unnecessarily kept patients under anesthesia during surgeries and submitted hundreds of false payment claims to Medicare and Medicaid. UPMC agreed to settle the lawsuit for eight-point-five-million dollars. A statement from the hospital system says Doctor Luketich will continue to perform his clinical duties and surgery research.
There’s major damage to I-95 southbound after a truck caught fire on Sunday. Just after sunrise yesterday, firefighters responded to the busy highway underneath the Cottman Avenue exit for reports of a fire. Turns out a portion of the road gave way when the truck caught fire underneath. There were no reports of any injuries and authorities haven’t identified the driver.
Several young men are now banned from Rivers Casino following a large fight this past Friday. A video showing around six individuals shoving, punching, and kicking one another near a section of slot machines has been making the rounds on social media. A representative with the casino says security intervened within seconds and resolved the situation. No one from the video has been publicly identified.
Two people were killed following a motorcycle accident in Butler County yesterday morning. According to State Police 32 year old Zachary McGregor of West Sunbury, was traveling south on Route 38 in Eau Claire Township when he lost control of his motorcycle and struck a vehicle operated by 51 year old Jodi Miller of Emlenton. McGregor and a passenger 31 year old Caleb Kiely of Petrolia were pronounced dead at the scene.
User fees for electric vehicles might become a reality under a bill approved by the state Senate Transportation Committee late last week. Senate Bill 656 would create a flat annual fee of 290-dollars for electric vehicles. The fee was calculated based on the average annual gas taxes paid by owners of gas-powered vehicles. Just like the state gas tax, the revenue from the EV flat fees would be deposited into the Motor License Fund for highway maintenance and construction.
A piece of legislation by two state Republican lawmakers would require run-off elections if no one wins the majority of votes in a primary election. Representative Ryan Aument of Lancaster and Representative Frank Farry of Bucks have sent out a memo asking for co-sponsors for the measure. On Friday, Farry said in an op-ed piece that “Just because you got the most votes doesn’t mean you got the majority of votes.” He adds that a candidate is very unlikely to win an election for major statewide office unless they’re able to get at least 50 percent of the vote from their party in the primary.
A Butler County man has been sentenced in federal court to 45 days in prison followed by one-year of supervised release and a $400,000 fine on his conviction of violating federal firearm laws. Acting U.S. Attorney Tony Rivetti on Friday announced 61 year old Grant Williams was sentenced in connection with failing to make entry in a record as a federal firearms dealer. Rivetti commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Williams.