A HARMONY TOWNSHIP MAN IS JAILED IN A DOMESTIC DISPUTE…CHARGED WITH ANIMAL CRUELTY. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS DETAILS:

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A man has been convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a western Pennsylvania motel owner more than three years ago. Jurors in Allegheny County deliberated for just over two hours before convicting 63-year-old Derrick Gallaway, who now faces a mandatory life prison term without possibility of parole. Seventy-eight-year-old Dehnad Taiedi was shot to death in May 2016 as he worked behind the front desk of the Jefferson Hills Motel.

New Castle police have arrested two men in connection with a shooting in the city in May that left two women seriously injured. Police charged 18-year-old Timothy Hill of New Castle and 20-year-old Marquan Payne, who was being held in the Lawrence County Jail on unrelated charges. Police say Hill was taken into custody on Logan Street Tuesday. Both are charged with two counts each of attempted homicide and aggravated assault. They are accused of shooting two females as the women parked their vehicle in front of a home on Lutton Street on May 30th. Police said investigators interviewed several witnesses and reviewed video of the incident in an effort to identify the suspects.

Pittsburgh police said this morning that they traced an online threat targeting a city hospital to a Beaver County teenager. Police said investigators “successfully traced the threat,” which was made on Twitter, to a Beaver County location. Police said in a statement this morning that they interviewed a male juvenile and his family early this morning and determined that the juvenile teen had no intentions to carry out the threat.  Law enforcement officials received numerous tips since releasing information on the threat last night. The tweet, posted around 12:40 p.m. Tuesday, mentioned that a “hate crime” would be committed this morning at an “undisclosed” hospital. Police said detectives had been “working all angles” through the night trying to determine the origin of the tweet. The investigation involved law enforcement from “multiple jurisdictions.” Police said they continue to investigate.

A SECTION OF BRODHEAD ROAD IS STILL CLOSED THIS AFTERNOON, BUT THE CENTER TOWNSHIP WATER LINE THAT CAUSE THAT ROAD…AS HEAR IN THIS REPORT FROM BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANDO:

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

The Commissioners’ work session focused heavily on the newly expanded storage facility for confiscated guns and weapons in the County Courthouse. According to Sheriff Tony Guy, the capacity that the County has to work with is quadrupled:

 

However, Commissioner Sandie Egley was very questioning of the new space, saying that her response was based in both monetary concerns as well as safety concerns:

 

Towards the end of the meeting, Sheriff Guy held fast to his upholding of the new space and plans to use it for PFA-related confiscation:

 

The other major issue brought forth to the weekly work session was the major changes soon coming to the Beaver County Recycling Center. Waste Management Director Holly Vogt spoke about the upcoming new schedule:

 

The partnership with Shell is based on increasing recycling in Beaver County, with a focus on both schools and communities as Vogt explained:

 

The current hours of operation for the Recycling Center will remain in effect for the remainder of September before the week off.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 4TH, 2019

 

TODAY – SUNSHINE AND CLOUDS MIXED. HIGH NEAR 80.

TONIGHT – A CLEAR SKY. LOW – 54.

THURSDAY – ABUNDANT SUNSHINE. HIGH – 76.

Missing child reported kidnapped found dead; autopsy planned
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The body of a missing toddler reported kidnapped near Pittsburgh over the weekend was found Tuesday in a park in a neighboring county.
Indiana County District Attorney Patrick Dougherty said the body of Nalani Johnson, who was to turn 2 this month, was found in Pine Ridge Park in Blairsville, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) east of Penn Hills, where authorities allege the girl was kidnapped Saturday evening. An autopsy was planned Wednesday to determine the cause and manner of death, he said.
Sharena Islam Nancy, 25, who authorities say had been romantically involved with the child’s father, remains in custody in Allegheny County on charges of kidnapping of a minor, custodial interference and concealment of the whereabouts of a child, all felonies.
Dougherty, not using any names but referring to a woman “currently in custody” in Allegheny County, said “We believe that she is involved. To what extent, that is still being determined.” County authorities could not be immediately reached to clarify whether he was referring to Nancy. But he said officials believe there is no danger to the community. Dougherty didn’t say what drew investigators to the park, but it is close to the Chestnut Ridge Golf Course, and police said earlier Nancy’s car had been spotted in the area after alleging leaving Penn Hills with the child.
Nancy, accused of driving off with the toddler as her father tried to get her and her car seat out of the vehicle, had been romantically involved with the man, and there was an argument in the vehicle before she drove off, Allegheny County authorities said earlier in the day. Nancy and Nalani Johnson’s father met on social media and were “in the beginnings of an intermittent romantic relationship,” said Superintendent Coleman McDonough, of the county police department.
Nancy works as a ride-hailing driver, but she had spent several hours with the father, a friend of his and the child before the alleged kidnapping in Penn Hills, McDonough said.
“This was not an arbitrary Uber/Lyft — they were known to each other,” he said.
Police said Monday the child’s father told investigators that he and a friend were riding in a car driven by Nancy on Saturday evening. When he got out of the car and was moving to get the child out of her car seat, Nancy drove off, he alleged. Authorities now say an argument that began between the friend and Nancy prompted the two men to get out of the car.
Nancy alleged she turned the child over to a woman in a silver sport utility vehicle during a roadside rendezvous on the instructions of the father, who she alleged had “sold” the toddler, but McDonough said investigators “have nothing to corroborate or suggest that that version of events is correct.”
“We have a situation where we have two versions of events at the same time, similar versions up to certain point in time during the day and then the versions differ dramatically, so a lot of our investigative efforts are trying to corroborate one version or the other,” McDonough said. Investigators had been trying to narrow down the large search area and asked people for information about Nancy’s whereabouts before she and her vehicle were found and also to be on the lookout for the child’s missing car seat.
The child’s grandmother Taji Walsh thanked law enforcement and volunteers for their efforts in trying to find the girl.
“We miss Nalani, and we want her home,” Walsh said, pleading for anyone with information to call investigators. Indiana County officials on Tuesday night urged people to respect the privacy of the grieving family.
No attorney was listed in court documents for Nancy, and a listed number for her could not be found.

Walmart to stop selling certain gun ammunition
By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart says it will discontinue the sale of handgun and short-barrel rifle ammunition and also publicly request that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms in stores even where state laws allow it.
The announcement comes just days after a mass shooting claimed seven lives in Odessa, Texas and follows two other back-to-back shootings last month, one of them at a Walmart store.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based discounter said Tuesday it will stop handgun ammunition as well as short-barrel rifle ammunition, such as the .223 caliber and 5.56 caliber used in military style weapons, after it runs out of its current inventory.
It will also discontinue handgun sales in Alaska. Walmart stopped selling handguns in the mid-1990s, with the exception of Alaska. The latest move marks its complete exit from that business and allows it to focus on hunting rifles and related ammunition only.
“We have a long heritage as a company of serving responsible hunters and sportsmen and women, and we’re going to continue doing so,” according to a memo by Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon to be circulated to employees Tuesday afternoon.
The retailer is further requesting that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms at its Walmart and Sam’s Club stores unless they are law enforcement officers. However, it said that it won’t be changing its policy for customers who have permits for concealed carry. Walmart says it will be adding signage in stores to inform customers of those changes.
Last month, a gunman entered a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, killing 22 people with an AK-style firearm that Walmart already bans the sale of and marking the deadliest shooting in the company’s history. Texas became an open carry state in 2016, allowing people to openly carry firearms in public.
Walmart’s moves will reduce its market share of ammunition from around 20% to a range of about 6% to 9%, according to Tuesday’s memo. About half of its more than 4,750 U.S. stores sell firearms.
The nation’s largest retailer has been facing increasing pressure to change its gun policies by gun control activists, employees and politicians after the El Paso shooting and a second unrelated shooting in Dayton, Ohio that killed nine people . A few days before that, two Walmart workers were killed by another worker at a store in Southaven, Mississippi.
In the aftermath of the El Paso shooting, Walmart ordered workers to remove video game signs and displays that depict violence from stores nationwide. But that fell well short of demands for the retailer to stop selling firearms entirely. Critics have also wanted Walmart to stop supporting politicians backed by the National Rifle Association.
At least one gun control activist group applauded Walmart’s moves.
“Walmart deserves enormous credit for joining the strong and growing majority of Americans who know that we have too many guns in our country and they are too easy to get,” said Igor Volsky, Executive Director and Founder of Guns Down America in a statement. “That work doesn’t end with Walmart’s decision today. As Congress comes back to consider gun violence, Walmart should make it clear that it stands with Americans who are demanding real change.”
The retailer has long found itself in an awkward spot with its customers and gun enthusiasts. Many of its stores are located in rural areas where hunters are depend on Walmart to get their equipment. Walmart is trying to walk a fine line by trying to embrace its hunting heritage while being a more responsible retailer.
With its new policy on “open carry,” McMillon noted in his memo that individuals have tried to make a statement by carrying weapons into its stores just to frighten workers and customers. But there are well-intentioned customers acting lawfully who have also inadvertently caused a store to be evacuated and local law enforcement to be called to respond.
He says Walmart will continue to treat “law-abiding customers with respect” and it will have a “non-confrontational approach.”
Walmart says it hopes to help other retailers by sharing its best practices like software that it uses for background checks. And the company, which in 2015 stopped selling assault rifles like the AR-rifles used in several mass shootings, urged more debate on the reauthorization of the assault weapons ban while also calling for the government to strengthen background checks. McMillon says Walmart will send letters to the White House and the Congressional leadership that calls for action on these “common sense” measures.
“In a complex situation lacking a simple solution, we are trying to take constructive steps to reduce the risk that events like these will happen again,” McMillon wrote in his memo. “The status quo is unacceptable.”
Over the last 15 years, Walmart had expanded beyond its hunting and fishing roots, carrying items like assault rifles in response to increasing demand. But particularly since 2015, often coinciding with major public mass shootings, the company has made moves to curb the sale of ammunition and guns.
Walmart announced in February 2018 that it would no longer sell firearms and ammunition to people younger than 21 and also removed items resembling assault-style rifles from its website. Those moves were prompted by the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people.
In 2015, Walmart stopped selling semi-automatic weapons like the AR-15 style rifle, the type used in the Dayton shooting. The retailer also doesn’t sell large-capacity magazines, handguns (except in Alaska) or bump stocks, nor the AK-style firearm that was used by the El Paso shooter.
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McConnell says he’s waiting on Trump to chart path on guns
By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans are waiting for the White House to chart a path forward on gun violence legislation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday, effectively putting the burden on President Donald Trump to decide the GOP’s legislative response to the spate of mass shootings that included another deadly attack in Texas over the weekend.
Asked about prospects for a Senate vote on legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled House to expand background checks for gun purchases, McConnell said, “The administration is in the process of studying what they’re prepared to support, if anything.”
The Kentucky Republican said he expects an answer from the White House next week, adding that he wants to make sure that senators “would actually be making a law and not just having serial votes” on proposals to stem gun violence.
McConnell’s comments point to the challenge ahead as Congress returns to a gun debate that emerged during their summer recess, when mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio left 31 people dead. While Trump has said he wants to work with Congress to “stop the menace of mass attacks,” he’s waffled on support for expanding background checks, making the next steps uncertain. Trump and other Republicans have talked of pursuing other measures to address mental health or codify “red flag” laws that allow guns to be taken from people who pose harm to themselves or others, but even those measures face skepticism among GOP lawmakers.
The dynamic appears unchanged even after a shooting in West Texas over the weekend that killed at least seven people, with McConnell setting a high bar for action in the Senate when it returns next week after a five-week recess. If Trump favors background-checks or other legislation he has discussed publicly in recent weeks, and senators “know that if we pass it it’ll become law,” then he’ll put it on the Senate floor for a vote, McConnell told radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Trump in a tweet Tuesday urged Congress to “get back to work,” but omitted any reference to guns, focusing instead on prescription drug prices, healthcare and infrastructure.
Trump said Sunday that any gun measure must satisfy the competing goals of protecting public safety and the constitutional right to gun ownership.
“For the most part, sadly, if you look at the last four or five (shootings) going back even five or six or seven years … as strong as you make your background checks, they would not have stopped any of it,” Trump said. “So it’s a big problem. It’s a mental problem. It’s a big problem.”
Trump mentioned the need for “strong measures to keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous and deranged individuals” along with changes to a mental health system he described as “broken.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, a leading gun control supporter, said Trump has told him personally that he remains committed to working on expanded background checks legislation.
Even so, the Connecticut Democrat rates the chance of Congress actually approving anything at “less than 50-50,” especially if Trump appears willing “to give the NRA veto power” over legislation supported by Murphy and other Democrats, along with a handful of Republicans such as Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey. Toomey and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., are seeking to revive a bill they have long pushed to expand background checks for gun purchases.
“I am skeptical that these efforts are going to bear fruit. I think it’s very hard to negotiate with this White House when the president’s public positions seem to change by the day,” Murphy said last month. “I’m going to try … because the stakes are so high.”
A package of bills Murphy supports would strengthen background checks and incentivize states to pass so-called “red flag” laws that allow guns to be taken from people who pose harm to themselves or others.
As senators debate their next steps, House Democrats are moving ahead on other bills, with the House Judiciary Committee set to consider a host of proposals to address gun violence at a hearing next week. The panel postponed a hearing originally scheduled Wednesday because of Hurricane Dorian. Several lawmakers on the panel represent congressional districts in Florida and Georgia, where millions of people face mandatory evacuation orders.
The committee will consider proposals to ban high-capacity magazines, establish a federal program for “red flag” laws and expand bans on firearm ownership to people convicted of certain hate crimes. The panel will also hold a hearing later this month on a bill to ban military-style assault weapons.