INDIANA — A prosecutor will pursue the death penalty against a 19-year-old man jailed on charges he fatally beat his girlfriend’s 19-month-old son.
Joshua Louis Turner, of Black Lick, is charged with killing 19-month-old Leonard McIntire, who died in a Pittsburgh hospital a few days after he was beaten Oct. 27 at home.
The boy died of head trauma. Police say Turner at first said he was carrying the toddler on his shoulders when he fell and was hurt. But police say Turner eventually acknowledged beating, shaking, punching and biting the child.
Turner was ordered to stand trial Thursday.
Johnstown to receive rent-relief money
Johnstown is among more than 500 cities, counties and communities nationwide that will be receiving federal money for rent relief or other steps to prevent homelessness and assist those without homes.
The U.S. expects to send $1.5 billion in stimulus money to hundreds of communities around the country to prevent homelessness.
Pennsylvania is slated to receive $23.4 million, with Johns-town to get $644,000; Altoona, $820,000; and Westmoreland County, $1.8 million.
Former pharmacist gets probation
EBENSBURG – A former pharmacist at a Johnstown drug store has been placed on probation for six months for obtaining drugs by fraud and deception to feed his narcotics addiction.
John A. Kriak, 37, of the 100 block of Euclid Avenue, Johnstown, also was ordered by Judge Gerard Long to pay $1,552 in costs and fines.
Kriak must be tested monthly while on probation for the use of drugs, the judge said.
State narcotics agents alleged that Kriak, while employed at the Rite Aid in Johnstown’s Moxham section, used the names of other people to obtain pills, including the painkiller Oxycontin, from March 8, 2005, through Aug. 10, 2006.
In exchange for Kriak’s plea to one felony charge, state prosecutors dropped seven other charges against him, including insurance fraud for billing insurance carriers for some of the drugs.
Allegheny lawmaker may enter Senate race
Peg Luksik of Westmont and U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey might soon have another opponent as they seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2010 for the seat held by Sen. Arlen Specter.
According to politicspa.com, state Sen. Jane Orie of Allegheny County met with Pennsylvania and national Republican leaders in Washington recently to discuss running for the U.S. Senate. The meeting included state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn, sources tell the site.
Some speculate that Toomey cannot win the general election in Pennsylvania due to his staunch conservatism. Many believe Orie can give Toomey a fight.
In 2001, Orie was elected to the state Senate, where she currently is majority whip.
Penn State trustees OK two tuition plans
NEW KENSINGTON – Penn State’s trustees approved two plans to raise tuition Friday, and the final state budget will determine which hike students will have to pay.
The worst-case plan would raise the base tuition of $13,014 by nearly 10 percent for lower-level, in-state, main campus students if the school’s $338.4 million appropriation is cut by
$61 million in the state budget. Students will pay 4.5 percent more if a March budget proposal passes, cutting state funding by just $20.3 million and offsetting that with federal stimulus funds.
The lower increase also requires state budget approval by July 17, when the school sends out fall tuition bills.
Second camp says its kids were turned away
HUNTINGDON VALLEY – A second day camp whose children were turned away by a Philadelphia-area swim club later accused of racism says its group was treated well.
Joanne Rosenthal of the Storybook Children’s Center in northeast Philadelphia said Friday she believed The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley when it says her group was turned away because of crowding.
Another camp, Creative Steps, had arranged for 65 mostly black and Hispanic children to swim there. Director Alethea Wright says some children reported hearing racial comments and the camp’s money was refunded a few days later.
The club says it couldn’t accommodate so many children.
Rosenthal says at least half her group of about 25 were minorities.
Local News
In brief: Death penalty sought in toddler’s murder
- Local News
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Richland manufacturer showcases expansion
Business and government leaders gathered Monday at a Richland Township manufacturing company to celebrate the expansion of its export business, made possible through some cooperative government programs.
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New jury to hear Blair case
The 12 jury members and two alternates chosen nearly a month ago to decide the fate of Nicholas Adam Horner were excused on Monday by Blair County President Judge Jolene Kopriva.
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Blogging with heart
Launching into the second week of American Heart Month, I'm looking at stories on the leading-edge treatment options and how local heart specialists are helping patients live longer.
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Marijuana bust: Police seeking runaway seize dozens of pot plants
City police looking for a runaway juvenile stumbled onto a marijuana “grow operation,” seized more than 40 pot plants and arrested two apartment house neighbors.
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Former speaker convicted
A jury on Monday convicted a senior Democrat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on all but one of six charges in the latest corruption trial stemming from a five-year investigation into the use of taxpayers’ resources for political purposes.
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‘Dramatic’ Pa. budget cuts expected
Top state senators say they expect Gov. Tom Corbett to propose a budget plan today that relies on cuts in spending for education and social services to balance sluggish tax collections and the rising costs of pensions and debt.
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ACRP seeks partners for neighborhood gardens
A few years ago, the Alternative Community Resource Program and its partners planted a garden alongside Napoleon Street in a move to fill both hungry stomachs and a need for neighborhood rejuvenation.
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‘Hope for the future’: Workshops offer confidence boost to cancer patients
Chances are when you look good you feel better about yourself.
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Police Roundup: Martindale man accused of trying to enter cars at Portage dealership
A Portage-area man has been charged with criminal attempt at theft after state police said he was discovered trying to enter three vehicles in the parking lot of Stager’s Chevrolet.
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In brief: Fire destroys windmill turbine
Fire destroyed a windmill turbine at the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm on top of the mountain in Blair County between Blue Knob and Lilly on Monday morning.
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