Former Beaver County basketball star Herb Pope is going to federal prison. U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon on Wednesday sentenced him to 48 months behind bars for using a gun to rob a Sewickley bank in 2016 with his half-brother. The sentence was a substantial departure below federal guidelines, and she also gave him credit for time served, which is about three years since his 2016 arrest. The 30-year-old Pope was an Aliquippa star who excelled at Seton Hall University and later played in Europe. He pleaded guilty in 2017 to robbing Sewickley Savings Bank on Feb. 12, 2016, with his half-brother, Tyler Bridges.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THURSDAY, MAY 16TH, 2019

 

TODAY – PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH – 73.

TONIGHT – PARTLY CLOUDY WITH LATE NIGHT SHOWERS
OR THUNDERSTORMS. LOW NEAR 60.

FRIDAY – SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING.
GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL ARE POSSIBLE.
HIGH – 71.

SATURDAY – CLOUDY SKIES DURING THE MORNING HOURS
FOLLOWED BY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON.
HIGH – 83.

SUNDAY – PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE MORNING FOLLOWED BY
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE
AFTERNOON. HIGH – 84.

Trump criticizes prosecutors at event for fallen officers
By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump used a ceremony for fallen law enforcement officers on Wednesday to criticize big-city prosecutors he asserts don’t go after criminals who pose a severe threat to public safety.
Trump pledged to the families of fallen officers that the country will “never, ever leave your side, never disappoint you” but went beyond memorializing for much of the annual event.
He singled out prosecutors in Philadelphia and Chicago as being part of a “dangerous trend” by deciding not to prosecute “many criminals who pose a severe threat to public safety and community well-being.” He provided scant context for the claim, and prosecutors in those cities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The president also renewed his calls for changes to the nation’s immigration laws, citing the shooting death last December of a Northern California police officer, Cpl. Ronil Singh. Trump said the suspect in Singh’s killing could have been kept out with “border security, with the wall, with whatever the hell it takes.” Paulo Virgen Mendoza, suspected of being in the country illegally, has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Trump also made an apparent reference to the case of actor Jussie Smollett, saying that “those who file false police reports should face full legal consequences.”
The actor was charged with felony disorderly conduct and accused of making a false police report after claiming he was attacked by two masked men who shouted slurs at him and put a noose around his neck. The Cook County state’s attorney’s office abruptly dropped the charges in March.
The White House did not comment on whether Trump was specifically citing the Smollett case.
The 38th annual memorial service honored 228 peace officers who died in the line of duty last year.
___
Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

A missing Beaver County teenager has been found and is now back in the custody of his mother. 17-year-old Decklin Oshop of Darlington Township allegedly ran away with his juvenile girlfriend. They took off in a 2008 Silver Honda Civic earlier this week and had been missing since Sunday. The girlfriend was found Tuesday and went back to her family. According to Pennsylvania State Police, Oshop was found today and is back in the custody of his mother. No other details were released.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is devoting $5 million in federal grants to a student-loan repayment program in high opioid-use areas where there’s a shortage of substance-abuse professionals. The application period opened May 1 and runs through June 3. Successful applicants must have served two years treating substance abuse and opioid addiction. They’ll be obligated to commit to two additional years working at an approved treatment facility.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia police are investigating after a 5-year-old boy brought about two dozen vials of crack cocaine into a preschool at a Roman Catholic church. Police say the boy told a teacher’s aide at St. Cyprian Children’s Center that the person who handed him the bag told him to hide it. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia tells WTXF-TV that the teacher’s aide took the bag, which she suspected held drugs, informed an administrator, and they called 911.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

At a brief commissioners’ work session on Wednesday, Waste Management Director Holly Vogt brought forth a new initiative for recycling in Beaver County called “Glass Back To Glass”. She explained the basics of the new initiative to the County Commissioners and meeting attendees:

 

 

This new initiative came after a series of complaints by county citizens about the inability to have their glass collected when the Waste Management Department ended such collections earlier in 2019. Vogt sees this initiative as a solution to that as well as other issues the county has yet to fix:

 

Meanwhile, the Commissioners agreed upon the cancellation of the May 22 work session, and Chairman Dan Camp explained why:

 

The scheduled public meeting for May 23 is still set to occur, and that is when the Commissioners will again meet publicly.

An Aliquippa man is accused of assaulting a woman at his home earlier this month. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has the story. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’ s report….

THE AMBRIDGE VETERANS OFFICE WAS RECOGNIZED DURING LAST NIGHT’S AMBRIDGE COUNCIL MEETING. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO WAS THERE. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…