Cleanup underway in Pennsylvania following latest nor’easter
PHILADELPHIA » Pennsylvanians are digging out after the fourth major storm to hit the state in three weeks dumped more than a foot of snow in some areas.
Some schools had cancelled classes for Thursday due to treacherous travel conditions in some areas, but many districts planned to reopen or hold delayed openings.
The state’s major utilities reported that slightly more than 1,200 customers were without service early Thursday.
The storm dropped about 8 to 12 inches overall in central areas, while some eastern areas saw up to 16 inches.
Most major roadways in the state were clear, but residents were being urged to drive cautiously and allow extra travel time.
Toddler’s father, uncle charged in crash that killed her
The father of a toddler killed in a car crash nearly a year ago is now facing charges along with his brother.
Pittsburgh police say 2-year-old Saryiah Jefferson was in the backseat of a car driven by her uncle when the crash occurred May 18. They say she wasn’t in a car seat or wearing a seat belt, and likely would have survived if she was.
The girl’s uncle, 25-yearold Taylor Jefferson, is charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, involuntary manslaughter and several other counts. Her father, 23-year-old Tyrek Jefferson, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and related charges.
Authorities say Taylor Jefferson was driving north on I-279 when he stopped his car and put it into reverse, possibly trying to get onto an exit he had driven past. Another car then collided with the vehicle.
Philadelphia’s population ticks up again, continuing growth
PHILADELPHIA » The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Philadelphia’s population ticked up again in 2017, the 11th straight year of growth after decades of decline.
The agency says the number of people leaving the city was about the same as the number moving to it. But the birthrate helped push the population up about 6,000 to just over 1.58 million.
A spokeswoman for the city’s commerce department tells the Philadelphia Inquirer the numbers are an “encouraging sign.”
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, says the city is “holding its own” despite lagging higher growth cities in the South and West.
The city’s growth outpaced its suburbs, especially those in New Jersey, which saw virtually no population increase.
The city saw a net loss to other locations in the U.S., but immigrants offset that decline.
Wolf taps 36-year state police vet to be acting commissioner
Gov. Tom Wolf is appointing a 36-year veteran of the Pennsylvania State Police to head the agency and replace the retiring Col. Tyree Blocker.
Wolf’s announcement Thursday elevates Lt. Col. Robert Evanchick to acting commissioner.
Blocker came out of retirement from the force to take over in 2015, after the Republican-controlled Senate refused to confirm Wolf’s initial choice, Marcus Brown, Maryland’s former state police superintendent.
The 60-year-old Evanchick enlisted in the state police in 1981 after two years in Wilkes-Barre’s police Department. He has served as a station commander, troop commander and directed the department’s Bureau of Integrity and Professional Standards before Blocker promoted him to deputy commissioner of operations in 2017.
The Pennsylvania State Police is one of the nation’s largest police forces, with about 6,300 troopers and civilian employees and a $1.3 billion annual budget.
Pennsylvania buck harvest up 10 percent, most in 15 years
HARRISBURG, PA. » Pennsylvania’s deer harvest is up.
The state Game Commission reports a buck harvest totaling 163,750, a 10 percent increase over last season and the biggest in 15 years. The commission says that more than 20 percent of hunters took an antlered deer.
Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans says in a news release that hunters have been telling him about the trophy bucks they took last season.
The overall deer harvest was also up 10 percent, to nearly 370,000.
Bowhunters accounted for about a third of the harvest.
Family awarded $47M in newborn’s disfigurement case
JOHNSTOWN, PA. » The parents of a girl who suffered permanent scarring as a newborn at a Pennsylvania hospital have been awarded $47 million.
The Texas couple was visiting family in Johnstown when their daughter was born prematurely at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in 2012.
Their attorneys say Dr. John Chan opted to treat swelling on the newborn’s head by wrapping it with an elastic bandage, which he acknowledged is not standard in the U.S.
The child’s head was left deformed and partially bald.
A judge decided the case in the plaintiffs’ favor, ruling that no reasonable jury would find against them. That left the jury to determine the size of the payout on Thursday.
Building collapses on firefighters; 1 death reported
YORK, PA. » Authorities say four firefighters got caught in the partial collapse of a former piano factory in York, Pennsylvania, and that a coroner has been called to investigate a death.
But city officials in York are not yet saying who it was who died Thursday.
They say part of the fourstory building fell on firefighters as they were looking for hot spots and investigating the cause of a fire that broke out Wednesday.
Fred DeSantis of the York Professional Firefighters Union tells the York Daily Record that at least one of the injured firefighters is hospitalized in serious condition.
Fire officials say the fourstory old Weaver Organ and Piano factory was being converted into residential units.
York is about 100 miles (about 160 kilometers) west of Philadlephia.