PUNXSUTAWNEY
State prosecutors have closed their investigation without charging a Punxsutawney police officer who was fired after a man arrested for public drunkenness died in the officer’s police cruiser.
Brian Andrekovich, a 16-year-veteran officer, was fired in November. Stephen Obbish, 48, was found dead in his squad car Aug. 15.
“After a thorough investigation, the evidence did not support the filing of criminal charges,” Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office, said Monday. “Therefore the case is closed.”
Obbish, who lived in a personal care home, was arrested about 9:50 a.m. after a clerk at a Goodwill store reported he was intoxicated and unable to leave the store. He was found dead in Andrekovich’s police cruiser about 3 p.m. that day.
The Jefferson County coroner said Obbish died from a combination of his own medications and a blood-alcohol content of 0.301 percent, nearly four times the legal limit for intoxication.
Andrekovich didn’t comment on the decision, but his attorney, Ralph Montana, said the officer “did nothing wrong whatsoever.”
Senate panel tables bill to ban gay unions
HARRISBURG – The latest effort to amend Pennsylvania’s constitution to effectively ban gay marriage appeared dead Tuesday after three senators who supported an even broader measure two years ago changed their vote in committee.
Even proponents of the measure acknowledged that the 8-6 state Senate Judiciary Committee vote to set aside the bill scuttled its chances in the chamber, at least until the next two-year legislative session begins in January.
“Make no mistake, they voted to kill the bill, whatever other excuse they may give,” said Sen. John Eichelberger,
R-Blair, who sponsored it.
Pennsylvania law already defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
But proponents of a constitutional amendment worry that gay-rights advocates are angling to go to court to overturn it.
A constitutional amendment that outlaws gay marriage would guard against the potential that a judge’s decision could overturn the law, Eichelberger said.
State to reveal data in gas shale rush
HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania will join other major natural-gas states in requiring the prompt disclosure of production results.
State senators unanimously approved the measure Tuesday, six days after the House did the same. Gov. Ed Rendell is expected to sign it.
State legislators are peeling back the cloak of secrecy just as exploration companies are flocking to Pennsylvania in
pursuit of natural gas in the sprawling Marcellus Shale formation.
The measure will require the disclosure of well-specific production data every six months.
Currently, a 25-year-old state law requires state regulators to keep oil and gas production data confidential for five years.
Supporters say faster disclosure will help companies harvest the gas and let landowners see whether they are getting the royalties they are owed.
Corruption probe expands to Lackawanna
SCRANTON – Two more politicians in northeastern Pennsylvania were indicted Tuesday as a widening corruption probe reached into Lackawanna County government – this time with allegations that elected officials took big cash bribes and accepted such goodies as playoff baseball tickets and trips to the Playboy Mansion.
A grand jury returned a 40-count racketeering indictment against county Commissioner A.J. Munchak, 63, and former Commissioner Robert Cordaro, 49, on charges that they illegally received more than $450,000 in cash and benefits from county contractors, federal officials announced at a news conference in Scranton, the county seat.
The federal corruption probe has snared more than 20 people in neighboring Luzerne County, including a school superintendent, three county judges, four courthouse officials and five school board members, all charged in a variety of unrelated schemes.
Engineer dies in two-train collision
BRADDOCK – A slow-moving freight train collided with another near a U.S. Steel plant outside Pittsburgh early Tuesday, killing an engineer and causing some cars to derail.
The Federal Railroad Administration is investigating the crash near the corporation’s Edgar Thompson Works east of Pittsburgh.
The trains are owned by Union Railroad, which is part of Transtar Inc., a transportation subsidiary that hauls freight to and from U.S. Steel mills,
The Allegheny County medical examiner identified the engineer killed as Andrew Monheim, 54, of Plum, a Pittsburgh suburb.
Highmark files suit over state scrutiny
HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania’s second-largest health insurer is suing state regulators over what it says is unauthorized scrutiny of marketplace competition.
Pittsburgh-based Highmark Inc. said in a Tuesday afternoon statement that it had filed the lawsuit in the state’s Commonwealth Court.
Highmark said it is particularly troubled by the Insurance Department’s effort to analyze Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensing agreements, which include exclusive service area rights.
State Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario said the department is well within its rights.
No verdict in Veon trial after 3 days
HARRISBURG – Jurors in the Harrisburg public corruption trial returned home after three days of deliberations failed to produce a verdict.
The eight-woman, four-man jury spent all day Tuesday behind closed doors before leaving for the day just before 5 p.m.
They’ve now deliberated for about 20 hours since getting the case on Friday afternoon.
They’re weighing criminal charges against former Democratic state Rep. Mike Veon and aides Brett Cott, Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink and Steve Keefer.
The defendants are accused of theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest.
Oprah due in Philly for defamation trial
PHILADELPHIA – Media mogul Oprah Winfrey is expected to spend two weeks defending herself at trial in a defamation case linked to the sex-abuse scandal at her girls school in South Africa.
A federal judge this week refused to dismiss the suit filed by Winfrey’s ex-headmistress, paving the way for a March 29 trial in Philadelphia.
The billionaire talk show host, as a named defendant, must be in court and has rearranged her TV production schedule to do so, her attorneys said in a recent court filing.
She also appears likely to be called as a witness.
After the abuse complaints surfaced in 2007, Winfrey said she had “lost confidence” in headmistress Nomvuyo Mzamane and was “cleaning house from top to bottom.”
