ERIE, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a 7-year-old boy flown to a hospital after a shooting in northwestern Pennsylvania last week has died at a Pittsburgh hospital. The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said 7-year-old Antonio Yarger Jr. was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh after Thursday’s shooting in Erie. The medical examiner’s office said Yarger was pronounced dead at the hospital Monday morning. Erie police said the boy was shot in the head Thursday night while on the sidewalk about a block from his home. No arrests have been announced. Erie police said the boy was shot in the head Thursday night while on the sidewalk about a block from his home. No arrests have been announced.

(Alexandra Wimley/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh’s police chief says an officer who went to a short-term rental property where a party was going on shortly before gunfire broke out, killing two youths, saw nothing to suggest it was anything other than an ordinary noise complaint. Chief Scott Schubert told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday that video indicates that the vast majority of the 200 or so people at the party didn’t arrive until after the noise complaint call. About 90 minutes later, shortly after 12:30 a.m. Sunday, some kind of altercation occurred and gunfire inside and outside killed two 17-year-olds and wounded nine people. Other people were injured trying to escape.

(File Photo)

(Rochester, Beaver County, Pa.) With a Federal Judge striking down the national mask mandate on airplanes and mass transit Monday, and  The Transportation Security Administration saying Monday night that it would it will no longer enforce the mask requirement, the Beaver County Transit Authority has lifted the masking mandate on all facilities and BCTA vehicles including the DART Bus Program.

The sign below is what BCTA is posting throughout its facilities:

Mary Jo Morandini, General Manager of the Beaver County Transit Authority told beaver County Radio that “BCTA has followed all CDC Guidelines throughout the pandemic.”

The CDC does still recommend that people wear masks in indoor public transportation settings however BCTA is making masking optional following along the same lines of PAT Transit and Pittsburgh International Airport once the TSA said that it would it will no longer enforce the mask requirement  after the Federal Judges ruling.

 

 

 

 

 

(Harrisburg, Pa.) Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) recently wrote a letter to Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Secretary Noe Ortega about material that is targeted at young students.

A slideshow was provided to Bernstine with the “Gender Unicorn” and “Genderbread Person,” which was presented during a seminar at a local university. The purpose of the seminar was to expose the way that future teachers are learning how they could have conversations with children in kindergarten, and first and second grades.

“There is no reason to be having these conversations with such young children, and it is unacceptable,” said Bernstine. “The classroom is not the place to push this ideology onto them.”

Bernstine said that according to those at the seminar, the “Gender Unicorn” and “Genderbread Person” are meant to educate grade school students about their identity as part of an anti-bullying campaign. In addition, the lawmaker added, the material came from the United States Department of Education and was provided to PDE.

“This is simply inappropriate for children of this age, and should not be included in any curriculum,” said Bernstine. “It is not the job of the government to indoctrinate these kids to this type of graphic. These young people do not need to be confused about issues that do not relate to their age group. It is unethical.”

 

 

(File Photo)

Hanover Twp., Washington County, Pa.) Pa State Police at the Pittsburgh Barracks are reporting that one person was killed and two others hurt in a crash that occurred on Sunday in Hanover Twp., Washington County, Pa.

Troopers said via release that a vehicle being driven by Stewart Alan Wilson attempted to pass another vehicle that was turning left into a driveway.

Wilson’s vehicle struck the second vehicle in the front end and then went out of control hitting a guiderail, going airborne, hitting a telephone pole and ending up on its roof. Both Wilson and his passenger Denise A Pierce-Wilson were ejected from the vehicle.  Pierce-Wilson was transported to Weirton Medical Center where she succumbed to her injuries. The other individuals were transport to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. There is no word on their condition as State Police continue to investigate.

(Photo of Physician General Dr. Denise A. Johnson speaking with the press about the need for blood donations, February 03, 2022 – Hummelstown, Pa. Photo courtesy of PA Media Services)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s acting health secretary is leaving the job. Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday his physician general, Dr. Denise Johnson, will take over leadership of the department. Keara Klinepeter’s last day is Friday. She’s been acting secretary since her predecessor, Alison Beam, left at the end of 2021. Klinepeter has been deeply involved in the government’s handling of COVID-19, including as special advisor to the secretary and executive deputy secretary. Johnson will also continue to serve as physician general.

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh police have confirmed that an officer answered a noise complaint at a house where a party was going on about an hour and a half before gunfire broke out at the gathering, killing two 17-year-olds and wounding at least eight other people. Police said in a statement Monday that an officer went to the home in the East Allegheny neighborhood at about 11 p.m. Saturday and asked that the music be turned down, which was done. At about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, some kind of altercation occurred and gunfire ensued both inside and outside of the rental home, the police chief says.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press
Dave McCormick earned more than $22 million last year as CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund — the job he quit to run for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. McCormick filed a financial disclosure form that offered the public its first detailed look at his finances. McCormick is part of a trio of ultrarich candidates, including celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz, to come from out of state to run for the GOP nomination for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat. McCormick and his wife estimated the value of their assets between $116 million and $289 million. That includes a valuable stake in Bridgewater Associates, the company he ran until early January.

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge in Florida struck down a national mask mandate on airplanes and mass transit Monday, and airlines and airports swiftly began repealing their face covering requirements. The judge’s decision freed airlines, airports and mass transit systems to make their own decisions about mask requirements, resulting in a mix of responses to the ruling. The major airlines switched to a mask optional policy, eliciting cheers from passengers when the changes were announced over loudspeakers. The Transportation Security Administration said Monday night that it would it will no longer enforce the mask requirement, and airports in Houston and Dallas almost immediately did away with their mandates after the TSA announcement.