March 2, 2018

More Blades-area private wells under investigation for contamination

State environmental and health officials told Blades-area residents Thursday night they’ve shifted their focus to testing private wells after the town's new filtration system significantly lowered contaminants in municipal wells.

Of the 44 private wells tested and the 24 samples returned so far, four homes have been given carbon filtration systems to clear up contaminants.

Three of them had levels of perflorinated compounds above the Environmental Protection Agency's human health advisory of 70 parts per trillion. A fourth well was close enough to 70 ppt that the homeowner was also given a filtration system.

Questions remain, including how one well can be affected while adjacent ones aren’t, and if contaminants can migrate from one well to another.

Read more: http://delawarepublic.org/post/more-blades-area-private-wells-under-investigation-contamination

March 2, 2018

Delaware Supreme Court reverses conviction in Howard High bathroom fight death

Delaware’s Supreme Court has overturned last year’s conviction of a Wilmington teen in connection the death of a classmate following a bathroom fight at Howard High School.

The Supreme Court reversed last April’s decision by a Family Court judge finding 17-year-old Trinity Carr culpable of criminally negligent homicide in the death of 16-year-old Amy Joyner-Francis.

The Family Court court ruling found that although Joyner-Francis died of sudden cardiac arrest precipitated by a rare congenital heart defect, the criminally negligent legal standard applied to Carr.

In its reversal, the Supreme Court disagreed, saying Joyner-Francis’ death from cardiac arrest was “too remote” from the hazards of Carr’s conduct and “too accidental in its occurrence” for Carr’s physical attack to constitute criminally negligent homicide.

Read more: http://delawarepublic.org/post/delaware-supreme-court-reverses-conviction-howard-high-bathroom-fight-death

March 2, 2018

Delaware bill would block teens from buying rifles, shotguns

Democratic legislators in Delaware are looking to block teens from buying rifles, shotguns and other weapons, the latest in a series of gun control bills now working their way through the General Assembly.

The bill, introduced Thursday by House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, would raise the legal age limit to purchase long guns and long-gun ammunition from 18 to 21 – matching a similar federal restriction on handgun purchases from licensed firearms dealers.

"There’s no reason we should treat rifles or shotguns any differently," Schwartzkopf said in a release.

The Delaware State Sportsmen's Association – the local affiliate of the National Rifle Association – is opposed to Schwartzkopf's bill, calling it an inconvenience to law-abiding citizens.

Read more: https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/01/delaware-bill-would-block-teens-buying-rifles-shotguns/384585002/

March 2, 2018

Why was she hired? Was there oversight? Harrisburg school officials tightening controls after $180K

Why was she hired? Was there oversight? Harrisburg school officials tightening controls after $180K theft


What can you buy for $180,000?

At the Harrisburg School District, it can pay the average annual salaries of nearly three teachers with 10 years of experience.

It can pay for field trips, lab equipment, text books, and it could be a big help in any department in a district going through recovery with the state.

It's also the amount of money that a former transportation supervisor is accused of stealing.

Dana L. Andrews, 38, is facing a host of charges after police say she stole those funds from the district by creating fraudulent invoices and keeping the money. Much of this was done electronically through mobile-app deposits, which district officials say may have made it difficult to track.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/03/harrisburg_school_transportati.html

March 2, 2018

7th-grader who shot himself planned attack on school: police

JACKSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio - A 7th grade student developed an eight-step plan for carrying out a school shooting before he fatally shot himself last week at a Jackson Township middle school, police said.

Investigators found documents on Keith Simons' cellphone that revealed the 13-year-old boy had an "admiration" for the Columbine High School shooters and intended to carry out a similar attack before he shot himself Feb. 21 in a Jackson Memorial Middle School bathroom, township police Chief Mark Brink said Thursday during a news conference.

"The documents show that Simons intended to conduct a school shooting and harm other individuals," Brink said.

The boy concealed a .22-caliber long gun under his clothes during a bus ride to the middle school, and surveillance video shows him walking out of the bathroom with the gun in his hands, police said. At least five students were nearby, and it's unclear why Simons then turned around, walked back into the bathroom and shot himself, Brink said.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2018/03/7th_grader_who_shot_himself_pl.html

March 2, 2018

The West Virginia teacher strike reaches seven days without classes

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Many West Virginia public school students were at loose ends again Friday, with their classrooms closed for a seventh straight class day as teachers fought for pay raises.

The state Senate’s Republican majority refused Thursday to take up legislation to give them a 5 percent pay raise after four years without one. The Republican-controlled House passed it 98-1 on Wednesday night.

According to union officials, members were upset by the Senate and its leader’s comments and would stay out of work.

By Thursday evening, the Department of Education said public schools in all 55 counties remained shuttered.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2018/03/01/The-West-Virginia-teacher-strike-reaches-seven-days-without-classes/stories/201803010228

March 2, 2018

Margate firefighter pleads guilty to $7 million role in health benefits scheme

Margate, N.J., Firefighter Michael Sher pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a $7 million role in an unraveling state health benefits scheme that has snared 16 people and, according to prosecutors, involved many more Shore-area firefighters, teachers, and public employees.

Sher, 40, of Northfield, submitted his retirement papers to the Margate Fire Department last week, according to his attorney, William J. Hughes Jr. Sher worked at the department for 12 years, according to his LinkedIn page. On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the state health benefits program.

Prosecutors described Sher as a “manager and supervisor” in the scheme, a higher-level role that his attorneys said he would dispute at sentencing. Prosecutors said he marketed various compounded pharmaceuticals, including scar, libido, and vitamin creams, to people with benefits and recruited others to find more people with state health and insurance plans that paid for the expensive treatments.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline M. Carle said Sher had been involved in prescriptions resulting in total payments of more than $7 million from the state health benefit plans. She said the gross proceeds he received totaled more than $1.7 million, for which the government will seek restitution.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/shore/margate-fire-fighter-pleads-guilty-to-7-million-role-in-health-benefits-scheme-20180301.html

March 2, 2018

Pennsylvania House leaders: Rep. Miccarelli should resign over misconduct claims

HARRISBURG — House Republican leaders on Thursday called on Rep. Nick Miccarelli (R) to step down as the top prosecutor in Dauphin County said he would investigate allegations by two women that the Delaware County legislator sexually or physically assaulted them.

Fran Chardo, Dauphin County’s district attorney, said his office would take the lead on the inquiry but noted what he called “joint jurisdiction” with the state Attorney General’s Office. Chardo did not say if his office was asked to look into the allegations or chose to do so on its own after they were made public Wednesday by the Inquirer and Daily News and the Caucus, a publication of LNP Media Group in Lancaster.

In their statement, the GOP leaders called the women’s accusations “very serious” and said they should be “thoroughly investigated” by law enforcement.

The House had also launched its own inquiry into the matter after the women filed a Feb. 8 confidential complaint about Miccarelli and asked legislative leaders to take action against him. That probe was expected to be complete by week’s end, a spokesman said.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/pennsylvania-rep-nick-miccarelli-republicans-call-resign-abuse-allegations-20180301.html

March 2, 2018

Mayor Kenney finds resistance to tax increases for Philly schools

As soon as Mayor Kenney finished calling, in his budget address Thursday, for more taxes to cover the School District’s $1 billion deficit, City Council members and the city’s fiscal watchdog pushed back on his proposal, which would increase property taxes for the fifth time in nine years.

“I think raising taxes should be a last resort, especially after raising property taxes several years in a row and the soda tax and the cigarette tax and the sales tax for the School District,” City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart said after the speech.

Council President Darrell L. Clarke called the mayor’s proposal an “aggressive approach” that could hurt some residents.

“It’s clear that there’s a problem with continuing to go back to the well, which is the taxpayers, and particularly given the fact that the people who have constitutional responsibility for education, which is the state, have not met its mandate,” Clarke said.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/philadelphia-mayor-kenney-budget-taxes-schools-underdogs-eagles-20180301.html

March 2, 2018

Ex-FBI No. 2 to be criticized in watchdog report

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department's inspector general is expected to criticize former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe as part of its investigation into the bureau's handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday night.

McCabe, a frequent target of President Donald Trump's ire, left his position in January as the FBI's No. 2 official and is scheduled to retire later this month after more than 20 years with the bureau. He served for several months as acting director following Trump's firing last May of FBI Director James Comey.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a forthcoming inspector general report, said the criticism of McCabe was expected to be in connection with a media disclosure and a question of whether proper procedures were followed in the release of information.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department, the FBI and the inspector general declined to comment Thursday evening. McCabe did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20180301_ap_ac46b875046d411693e95ed1e210bf66.html