WEATHER FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY, FEB. 19TH, 2020
TODAY – MOSTLY CLOUDY THIS MORNING. THEN SUNSHINE
FOR THE AFTERNOON. HIGH – 38.
TONIGHT – MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOW – 23.
THURSDAY – MORNING CLOUDS FOLLOWED BY SOME
AFTERNOON SUNSHINE. HIGH NEAR 30.
Tow truck driver killed by own vehicle during repossession
MCKEESPORT, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a tow truck driver lost his life while repossessing a pickup truck in western Pennsylvania when he became pinned under his own vehicle. Allegheny County police say the International Recovery Systems driver removed the pickup from a McKeesport address, then pulled over to secure the tow. A second driver sent to check on him found him pinned. The county medical examiner’s office identified him as 42-year-old Andrew Sester of Lucernemines. Police say it appears the driver didn’t put the truck in park while completing the tow, and the vehicle rolled back onto him.
Newman awake, speaking after horrific Daytona 500 crash
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — NASCAR driver Ryan Newman is awake and speaking with family and doctors a day after his horrific crash on the final lap of the Daytona 500. Roush Fenway Racing released an update on its driver about 20 hours after Newman’s car slammed into the wall at nearly 200 mph, flipped, got T-boned by another car, flipped several more times and skidded to a halt in flames. Everyone watching feared the worst Monday night and had to wait nearly two hours to learn that Newman’s injuries were not considered life-threatening. The latest update was more good news for the 42-year driver and 2008 Daytona 500 champion.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is jabbing the Democratic candidates for president, saying their health insurance proposals would hurt business owners. At a speech in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday during a conference for the Distilled Spirits Council, McConnell said he’s “never seen a Democratic party like we’re confronted with today.” He said even the centrist Democrat candidates who support a “public option” are supporting government-based insurance. He said he is “hoping the Senate will still be in Republican hands after this election.” McConnell said that any public option or “Medicare for All” proposal would not make it through the Senate.
PennDOT District 11 is announcing slide repair work continues on Route 3009 (Kane Road) in Hopewell Township, Beaver County. Slide repair work, requiring a full closure of Kane Road between Laird Road and Airport Road will continue through mid-March. Traffic is currently detoured.
Posted Detour
North of the Slide
Follow Kane Road to Brodhead Road
Turn right onto Brodhead Road
Turn right onto Laird Road
Take Laird Road to Kane Road
End detour
South of the Slide
Same detour in the opposite direction
Crews from Pittsburgh Southwest Logistics, LLC will construct a mid-slope repair on the roadway. Please use caution in the area.
Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 950 traffic cameras.
511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.
UPDATE: The Pennsylvania Turnpike is back open this afternoon after a portion of the roadway was closed due to an accident that occurred between the Beaver Valley and New Castle exits. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano reports…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pardoned Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former San Francisco 49ers owner convicted in a gambling fraud scandal. DeBartolo Jr. built the San Francisco 49ers’ 1980s-1990s dynasty. He was involved in one of the biggest owners’ scandals in the sport’s history. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony when he paid $400,000 to former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards in exchange for a riverboat gambling license. The White House announced the surprise decision to reporters on Tuesday. NFL great Jerry Rice played on three of DeBartolo’s Super Bowl-winning teams and says DeBartolo “was like that 12th man” of the great 49ers teams.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has refused to delay sentencing for Roger Stone on his conviction for witness tampering and lying to Congress. Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s decision came after President Donald Trump tweeted that his longtime ally’s conviction “should be thrown out.” Stone’s defense team has requested a new trial and sought to delay sentencing. But with Stone present on speaker phone, Jackson said delaying the sentencing “would not be a prudent thing to do.” Stone is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday. Prosecutors had recommended a seven- to nine-year sentence, but Attorney General William Barr reversed that. The prosecution team resigned from the case in protest.
NEW YORK (AP) — A jury has started deliberations in the rape trial of Harvey Weinstein. The jury is weighing the evidence Tuesday after often-emotional testimony from multiple women who accused him of sexual assault. Weinstein is charged with raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performed oral sex on another woman in 2006. Other accusers testified as part of the prosecution’s effort to show he used the same tactics to victimize many women over the years. Weinstein maintains any sexual conduct was consensual.
NEW YORK (AP) — Asian-American businesses in major U.S. cities are seeing a remarkable decline in customers amid fears about the viral outbreak that originated in China. City and health officials are trying to stanch the financial bleeding through information campaigns and personal visits to shops and restaurants. They emphasize that with just 15 cases diagnosed in the entire country there is no reason to avoid them. Some business owners have seen their customer traffic cut by more than half and are anxiously waiting for things to return to normal.