Pennsylvania seeks photos of Vietnam War casualties
ANNVILLE, PA. >> Pennsylvania’S Military and Veterans Department is seeking 105 service members who were killed in the Vietnam War.
It’s part of a project tied to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in Washington and includes posting the photos of those whose names are etched in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on a virtual wall of faces.
The state has obtained 3,151 photos, but 105 are still missing.
A list of Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans whose photos are still needed can be found at www.veterans. pa.gov . Users should click on Wall of Faces.
Judge fines Pennsylvania golf course $1,000 for errant balls
EASTON >> A judge has fined a Pennsylvania golf course $1,000 in its ongoing dispute with a couple who says errant balls are still hitting their property despite a previous court order.
The (Allentown) Morning Call reports a Northampton County judge fined Morgan Hill Golf Course on Monday because it reopened the course during warmer weather earlier this month without installing cameras that are to track “all golf wings and the trajectory of all golf balls” coming from the 13th hole.
Jerzy and Halina Wisniewski say more than 50 balls have been hit onto their property, prompting the club to twice move the 13th tee to prevent that.
Golf course lawyer Erv McLain says the course denies wrongdoing and expects to prove to a jury it’s not responsible for the balls being hit onto the Wisniewski property.
Doctor gets prison for filming women in bathrooms
HARRISBURG >> A Pennsylvania doctor is being sent to prison for secretly filming women with cameras hidden in bathrooms at his office and home.
A judge Tuesday called David Todoroff’s crimes “despicable” before giving him a sentence of 5 to 16 years behind bars.
The 58-year-old Todoroff had pleaded guilty to eight counts of invasion of privacy.
Police in Lower Paxton Township said he filmed women in the employee restroom at Keystone Podiatric Medical Associates and in the bathroom of his home for seven years.
His lawyer pleaded for probation, and said he will appeal the sentence.
Pennlive.com reports that Todoroff told the court that his brain had been “hijacked” by his sex addiction.
Teen pleads to 3rddegree murder in brother’s slaying
HARRISBURG >> A central Pennsylvania teenager has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the shotgun shooting death of his brother, which authorities said stemmed from a dispute over a girl.
PennLive.com reports that 16-year-old Dakota Thornton of Williamstown entered the plea Wednesday in Dauphin County in the March 2016 slaying of 18-year-old Dominick Thornton.
Authorities said the defendant told investigators that the shooting stemmed from his romantic interest in his brother’s girlfriend.
Prosecutors said no plea deal had been reached on a sentence to be imposed in June and the defendant’s juvenile criminal record will be a factor. Defense attorney Wendy Grella said her client’s mental health issues and alleged abuse while in foster care will also be factors. She called the plea “an appropriate resolution for the entire family.”
Senate OKs money for Pennsylvania unemployment comp centers
HARRISBURG >> Legislation heading to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives would free up $15 million to improve service in the state’s unemployment compensation centers.
Senators voted 39-8 on Wednesday for the bill. Its passage follows the December layoff of 499 workers after the Senate’s Republican majority and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf quarreled over continuing state funding for the unemployment compensation system.
House Labor and Industry Committee Chairman Rob Kauffman says the Senate bill’s concept is on the right track. He expects to take action on it quickly.
The state Department of Labor and Industry couldn’t immediately detail how the $15 million would improve services.
Department officials told Senate Labor and Industry Committee Chairwoman Kim Ward that they could rehire 499 people through early September, or fewer people for the remainder of 2017.
Death sentence upheld in 2008 dismemberment killing
HARRISBURG >> The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence imposed on a man convicted of killing a woman, mutilating her and dumping her body parts along a highway almost a decade ago.
The (Scranton) TimesTribune reports that the high court Tuesday voted 5-2 to uphold he conviction and sentence of 42-year-old Charles Ray Hicks Jr.
The Coolbaugh Township man was convicted of first-degree murder in the January 2008 slaying of 36-year-old Deanna Null, whose remains were found in trash bags along Interstates 80 and 380 near Stroudsburg. Authorities said her severed hands were found hidden in the walls of Hicks’ home.
The high court’s majority opinion said there was sufficient evidence for the conviction, and the death sentence wasn’t “the product of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor.”