Official: GOP Pennsylvania House member dies
HARRISBURG (AP) — A top lawmaker says a state GOP House member who was elected to serve as the Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus chairman in the 2020-21 session has died. Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, the House Majority Leader, says Rep. Mike Reese, R-Westmoreland/Somerset, “died peacefully with his family by his side” Saturday afternoon at a Greensburg hospital “following an apparent brain aneurysm.” Reese was 42. He was first elected to the state House in 2008. He said early last month he was quarantining after testing positive for COVID-19.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors in the case against the four Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd requested that the trial delayed by three months. Prosecutors cited the COVID-19 pandemic and the amount of time needed before enough people are vaccinated and health risks are sufficiently diminished. The trial has been scheduled for March 8 for the now-fired police officers charged in the death of Floyd on May 25 while he was forcibly detained on a south Minneapolis street corner. Prosecutors want to delay the trial until June 7.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police say six people were arrested after a group vandalized several federal buildings in Philadelphia’s Center City on New Year’s Eve. Police said officers spotted about 50 people, all dressed in black, at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the historic U.S. Customs House, where windows were smashed. Three arrests were made there and three were made later. Anti-police and anti-prison graffiti was then scrawled on the Federal Detention Center and on a nearby sheriff’s van and several windows were broken. Chief Inspector Mike Cram told reporters that officers recovered what he called “numerous Molotov cocktails and some other devices which haven’t been identified.”

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to be treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, collected more than $7 million in speaking fees in 2019 and 2020 from major financial firms and tech giants including Citi, Goldman Sachs and Google. That’s according to financial disclosure forms as part of her nomination. Yellen’s was one of three financial disclosures filed by Biden transition officials that were made public on Thursday by the Office of Government Ethics. Yellen listed firms and banks where she had received speaking fees and said she intended to “seek written authorization” from ethics officials to “participate personally and substantially” in matters involving them.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A law firm’s state-commissioned investigation into a troubled veterans home in the Philadelphia suburbs says myriad problems and mistakes helped the coronavirus sweep through it this spring. State data shows at least 42 residents of the 292-bed Southeastern Veterans’ Center have died of the virus, the most among the six state-run veterans homes. A lawyer for two former top administrators says they were fired last week. He says they were scapegoated and the report fails to note that the home’s problems occurred as nursing homes around the country struggled to cope with the pandemic.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s governor is letting additional restrictions that were imposed almost three weeks ago to combat the pandemic expire as expected on Monday morning. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday announced the end of the temporary measures during an early afternoon news conference. Wolf as of Dec. 12 temporarily halted school sports and other extracurricular activities, closed gyms, theaters and casinos, and banned indoor dining at restaurants in response to the worsening pandemic. Other pandemic mitigation restrictions remain in place.

BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a child was killed when a fast-moving fire roared through a western Pennsylvania home. The child’s two siblings and their father were injured in the blaze in Butler, which broke out around noon Thursday. Their names and further details on their injuries were not disclosed. The child who died was found on the second floor of the home. The children’s mother was at work when the fire occurred, and no one else was in the home at the time. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Dick Thornburgh, ex-governor and US attorney general, dies
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
Former federal attorney general and Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh has died at age 88. Thornburgh died Thursday morning at a retirement community facility outside Pittsburgh, his son David said. The cause is not yet known. Thornburgh built a reputation as a crime-busting federal prosecutor in Pittsburgh and won praise for his cool handling as governor of the Three Mile Island partial nuclear meltdown in 1979.

 

Harrisburg, Pa. – In honor of former Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh, who passed away on Thursday, December 31, Governor Tom Wolf ordered the US and Commonwealth flags on all commonwealth facilities, public buildings and grounds fly at half-staff immediately.

“Governor Thornburgh served our commonwealth and our nation with pride and distinction,” said Gov. Wolf. “His calm, grounded leadership was a hallmark of his governorship, and was critical to guiding Pennsylvania through the tumultuous days following the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island. Governor Thornburgh dedicated his life to public service, and his contributions to our commonwealth will not be forgotten.

“Frances and I extend our deepest condolences to the Thornburgh family. The people of Pennsylvania mourn with you.”

The United States flag shall fly at half-staff until the date of interment, which has not yet been determined. The commonwealth flag has flown at half-staff since Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in honor of the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic and should continue to fly at half-staff until further notice.

All Pennsylvanians are invited to participate in this tribute.

The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for our area for New Years Day due to the threat of freezing rain.

Winter Weather Advisory

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA
1247 PM EST Thu Dec 31 2020

OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007-013-014-020>022-029-031-
073-075-WVZ001>004-510-511-513-010200-
/O.NEW.KPBZ.WW.Y.0018.210101T1200Z-210101T1800Z/
Tuscarawas-Carroll-Columbiana-Coshocton-Harrison-Jefferson OH-
Muskingum-Guernsey-Belmont-Noble-Monroe-Mercer-Lawrence-Butler-
Beaver-Allegheny-Armstrong-Washington-Greene-Westmoreland-Fayette-
Hancock-Brooke-Ohio-Marshall-
Ridges of Eastern Monongalia and Northwestern Preston-Preston-
Western Tucker-
Including the cities of New Philadelphia, Dover, Carrollton,
Malvern, East Liverpool, Salem, Columbiana, Coshocton, Cadiz,
Steubenville, Zanesville, Cambridge, Martins Ferry,
St. Clairsville, Caldwell, Woodsfield, Sharon, Hermitage,
Grove City, New Castle, Ellwood City, Butler, Aliquippa,
Beaver Falls, Ambridge, Monaca, Pittsburgh Metro Area,
Kittanning, Ford City, Washington, Canonsburg, Waynesburg,
Murrysville, Greensburg, New Kensington, Lower Burrell, Latrobe,
Monessen, Uniontown, Weirton, Follansbee, Wellsburg, Wheeling,
Moundsville, Coopers Rock, Kingwood, Bruceton Mills, Parsons,
Hendricks, and Saint George
1247 PM EST Thu Dec 31 2020

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM TO 1 PM EST
FRIDAY...

* WHAT...Freezing rain expected. Total ice accumulations of a
  light glaze.

* WHERE...Portions of northwest, southwest and western
  Pennsylvania, east central Ohio and northern and the northern
  panhandle of West Virginia.

* WHEN...From 7 AM to 1 PM EST Friday.

* IMPACTS...Very slippery sidewalks, roads and bridges are
  possible. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning
  commute.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Precipitation will changeover to rain as
  temperature increases through midday Friday.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Slow down and use caution while traveling. Prepare for possible
power outages.

Please report snow or ice by calling 412-262-1988, posting to the
NWS Pittsburgh Facebook page, or using Twitter @NWSPittsburgh

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania
Turnpike Commission remind motorists to adjust speeds based on
driving conditions as winter weather impacts Pennsylvania
roadways. Visit www.511pa.com for the latest travel, roadway and
traffic conditions.