Police: Man fatally stabs co-worker at Philly airport
PHILADELPHIA » Authorities say an argument over a break room light led to a deadly stabbing involving three workers at Philadelphia International airport.
The stabbing occurred around 11:30 a.m. Thursday near Gate E6 in what city police say was a “secure area.” They say the three men work for a company that cleans planes for Frontier Airlines, but their names weren’t released.
Police say one worker turned off a break room light, angering another worker. The third worker soon pulled out a knife, cutting one of the men across the abdomen.
The 28-year-old stabbing victim was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Authorities say the two other workers ran off but were soon confronted by police. It wasn’t clear what charges they may face.
Frontier Airlines referred all questions to the cleaning company.
New contract for state emergency radio system to get audited
HARRISBURG, PA. » Pennsylvania’s independently elected fiscal watchdog will review the latest contract to provide a statewide emergency radio transmission system that follows hundreds of millions of dollars in costs and years of criticism.
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said Thursday his agency would review the state’s $45 million contract awarded in 2016 to ensure it carries adequate financial protections against performance failures.
The state first allocated $179 million in 1996 to build a network that Pennsylvania State Police officials say never overcame coverage and reliability shortcomings. They say it was worthless during 2014’s Eric Frein manhunt.
The state has now committed more than $800 million to build a network and DePasquale says he can’t recall another state contract failure of this size.
State police in 17 counties were expected to be using the new system by June 30.
2 ex-Temple cops found guilty of beating woman to death
PHILADELPHIA » Two former Temple University police officers have been convicted of beating a woman to death in what a prosecutor described as a “diabolical torture chamber.”
Prosecutors say 24-yearold Joyce Quaweay was beaten with a police baton as she was handcuffed naked to a weight bench in a Philadelphia home in July 2016. She and her boyfriend, Aaron Wright, shared the home with Marquis Robinson, his girlfriend and several children.
Assistant District Attorney Chesley Lightsey says Wright and Robinson regularly beat the women and girls who lived with them for “not following the rules.”
Philly.com reports the men were convicted of charges including thirddegree murder Wednesday in a nonjury trial. Their attorneys had argued that Quaweay died of heart failure.
Wright resigned from Temple police in 2012. Robinson was fired.
College students stage sexual assault protest
SWARTHMORE, PA. » Students at a Pennsylvania college protested this week over the handling of sexual assault cases.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Swarthmore College students gathered Tuesday for a sit-in led by the advocacy group Organizing for Survivors. Students say their sexual assault claims have been ignored by authorities.
The group is calling for Dean of Students H. Elizabeth Braun to resign and a review of the college’s investigation procedures. They also say on-campus fraternity houses should be banned.
Students say they brought their concerns to Braun and other administrators in March but overlooked.
Swarthmore College President Valerie Smith said in a statement the school is committed to improving its Title IX policies and helping students.
Sunoco Pipeline fined for 1 gas pipeline, restarts another
HARRISBURG, PA. » Sunoco Pipeline can resume operations on a natural gas liquids pipeline crossing southern Pennsylvania while it agreed to pay $355,000 for polluting waterways in 14 counties while building a sister pipeline.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Thursday lifted a stopwork order it imposed March 7 on the Mariner East 1 pipeline. It says owner Sunoco Pipeline adequately addressed concerns over sinkholes developing along its path in residential areas in southeastern Pennsylvania.
The sinkholes appeared to be related to construction on the adjacent Mariner East 2 pipeline.
Meanwhile, Sunoco Pipeline is paying fines to settle 69 citations from the Department of Environmental Protection for spilling drilling fluids into waterways during Mariner East 2’s construction.
Sunoco Pipeline already drew $12.6 million in fines for violations on the 350mile Mariner East 2.