Indiana Gazette
The
www.indianagazette.com Vol. 111 — No. 307
34 pages — 4 sections
75 cents
Man gets 15-30 in death
June 2015
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Who’s in the news There is good news today in The Indiana Gazette about these area people: Patricia Dragani, Mark Pimko Sr., Kim Neff, Matt Scott, Shawn Taylor.
By CHAUNCEY ROSS
Inside
chauncey@indianagazette.net
Monday, June 29, 2015
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Find helpful tips to make life more environmentally friendly with our special publication. TAKING A STAND: Now that same-sex marriage is legal nationwide, religious conservatives are focusing on preserving their legal right to object./Page 3 THE NOSE KNOWS: America’s growing appetite for truffles is feeding demand for dogs trained to sniff out the prized fungi beneath the ground./Page 3 FAILED LAUNCH: An unmanned SpaceX rocket carrying supplies and a docking port to the International Space Station broke apart shortly after liftoff Sunday, the third cargo mission to fail in eight months./Page 7 MANHUNT: Police were searching nationwide for more accomplices after the slaughter of at least 38 people on a Tunisian beach and at a resort hotel./Page 9
Weather Tonight
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Tomorrow
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Thundershower tonight. Thunderstorms tomorrow. See Page 2.
For young readers MINI PAGE: Songwriter Woody Guthrie was a crusader for outsiders, writing songs and speaking out against dishonest politicians and businessmen./Pages 19, 20
Deaths Obituaries on Page 4 HANNA, Martha J. “Marcy,” 87, Indiana HOLSINGER, Judith A. Moorhead, 87, Indiana KIRKPATRICK, Veronica P., 80, Lucernemines NICHOL, Robert Wendell, 82, Dayton PAINTER, Martha Jane “Marty” “Mammam,” 89, Glen Campbell TALAROVICH, Andrew Stephen Jr., 52, New Homestead, formerly of Waterman
Index Classifieds ...............13-14 Comics/TV....................21 Dear Abby .....................12 Entertainment ..............22 Family .............................5 Lottery.............................2 Sports.......................15-18 The Mini Page.........19, 20 Today in History...........12 Viewpoint .......................6
Blueberries: U-Pick And Picked stutzmanfarms.com (724) 463-7915 Fisher Furniture Summer Sale! Closed July 4.
Associated Press
POLICE OFFICERS stood over escaped convict David Sweat after he was wounded and caught near the Canadian border Sunday in Constable, N.Y.
Second escaped murderer shot, captured near Canada By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press
MALONE, N.Y. — A three-week manhunt that began when two convicted murderers staged a brazen prison break involving stolen power tools and hacksaw blades hidden in frozen hamburger meat ended Sunday when a state police sergeant spotted a suspicious man walking down on a rural road near the Canadian border. David Sweat’s capture came two days after his fellow escapee, Richard Matt, was killed in a confrontation with law enforcement while holding a shotgun. Sweat was unarmed when he was shot twice by Sgt. Jay Cook as the fugitive ran for a tree line. “If you were writing a movie plot, they would say that this was
overdone,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. Cook, a 21-year veteran, was alone and on routine patrol when he stumbled upon Sweat in the northern New York town of Constable, about 30 miles northwest of the prison, and recognized him. He gave chase when Sweat fled and decided to fire upon fearing he would lose him in the trees, state police said. “I can only assume he was going for the border,” Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said. The arrest ended an ordeal that sent 1,300 law enforcement officers into the thickly forested northern reaches of New York and forced residents to tolerate nervewracking armed checkpoints and property searches. “The nightmare is finally over,”
Cuomo declared at a news conference. Authorities said Sweat was struck in the torso and taken to a hospital in Malone before being transported to Albany Medical Center, which has a trauma center. Sweat is in “critical but stable” condition, Cuomo said today. Cuomo told CNN that Sweat initially was listed in stable condition but was downgraded to critical after being flown to Albany Medical Center on Sunday night. Sweat was being evaluated by a team of doctors including emergency medical physicians, trauma specialists and others who would determine whether surgery was necessary, Dr. Dennis McKenna said. Sweat had not been formally inContinued on Page 8
The case of the 2013 drug-related slaying of James “Pork” Alexander, of Ernest, was virtually closed out this morning with the resentencing of one of the men who took part in the killing. Gregory “Sam” Patterson, 35, today apologized for his role in the slaying and was then ordered by Judge Thomas Bianco to serve 15 to 30 years in prison for conspiracy to first-degree murder. The sentence puts Patterson, of Glen Campbell, in a vastly different position than in September, when he was given a term of life in prison for his origGREGORY inal conviction on seconddegree murder and related PATTERSON charges. His new sentence also matches that ordered for his co-defendant, Christopher Salsgiver, who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder. Patterson appealed his original conviction and was granted a new trial, but decided to plead guilty to the conspiracy charge June 12. He admitted he concocted a plan with Salsgiver to lure Alexander, 46, to a secluded area of a hiking and biking trail in Clymer on June 24, 2013, on the pretense of asking to buy heroin from Alexander. There, Alexander was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head. “I’d like to apologize for the death of Mr. Alexander, especially to his mother and his children,” Patterson told Bianco before being sentenced this morning. “And I apologize for what I did that night. I wish I could Continued on Page 8
Lawmakers debate taxes as budget deadline nears By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
HARRISBURG — A longrunning partisan divide over taxes and education spending was repeatedly evident on Sunday as Pennsylvania lawmakers worked through the weekend in a rush to pass budget legislation in the days before the fiscal year wraps up.
The Senate moved closer to a final vote on a GOP-drafted state budget plan that would add modestly to education funding without raising any new taxes, while House Democrats defeated funding for universities because they deemed the amounts inadequate. The main budget bill, which passed the House without a single Democratic
Greece imposes limits on banking By ELENA BECATOROS and COSTAS KANTOURIS Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece — Anxious Greek pensioners swarmed closed bank branches today in the hope of getting their pensions, while queues formed at ATMs as they gradually began dispensing cash again following the imposition of strict controls on capital. As global markets plunged following one of the most dramatic weekends in Greece’s five-year financial saga, the country woke up to a changed financial landscape that many in the markets fear could be a prelude to a messy debt default and a damaging Greek exit from the euro. The banks and the country’s stock market have been closed for the week after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ surprise call for a referendum next Sunday on budget and reform proposals creditors are demanding Greece should take to gain access to blocked bailout funds. Tsipras is advocating Greeks reject the proposals in the popular vote, which increasingly has the look of a vote on euro membership itself. A Greek official said
Tsipras spoke by phone with European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker and with European Parliament President Martin Schulz. The official said Tsipras told Juncker that preventing the Greek people’s democratic expression by shutting down the banks is not within Europe’s democratic tradition. He asked for Juncker to help ensure the Greek bailout can be extended by a few days and liquidity restored to the banks. The official said Tsipras told Juncker that “as a European politician, he must defend the traditions of Europe, so that the Greek people can decide unhindered on Sunday.” He did not say what Juncker’s response was. Tsipras also asked Schulz to support the Greek proposal for a bailout extension of a few days. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity, in line with government rules. The sense of unease was evident in the number of pensioners lining up at bank branches hoping they might open. Many elderly Greeks don’t have bank cards and make withdrawals in person at the till, and so find themselves Continued on Page 8
vote on Saturday, could see a final vote in the Senate on Tuesday. Gov. Tom Wolf has signaled he will veto all or parts of it. The Senate also advanced a liquor privatization bill, which along with changes to public-sector pensions are the Republicans’ policy priorities during what is traditionally the Legislature’s heaviest deal-making sea-
son. The liquor bill also could get a final vote in the coming days. Lawmakers planned to get back to business today. The Republicans’ strong majorities in the House and Senate are moving ahead on their own agenda after talks with the Democratic governor have failed to produce a bipartisan compromise. In the House, the GOP did
not reach the supermajority needed to approve funding for Penn State, Pitt, Temple and Lincoln universities, although that topic will almost certainly be revisited. Republicans reminded Democrats that they had all voted against a bill that combined all of Wolf’s tax proposals, even though Democratic leaders derided that vote as a Continued on Page 8
GONE SWIMMING
JESSICA UPTEGRAPH/Gazette
THE RECENT RAINS didn’t stop this flock of geese from going for a swim last week at the lake at Blue Spruce Park. A bit of sunshine finally returns to the forecast today, but it isn’t expected to last, according to AccuWeather. Showers and storms are predicted throughout the week.
Woman injured in accidental shooting By The Indiana Gazette State police at Indiana are investigating what they described as an accidental shooting Saturday that wounded an Indiana woman. Police said the victim, identified only as a 22-year-old female, was shot in the lower abdomen with a .40-caliber bullet at 6
p.m. Saturday at the Regency Square Apartments along Oakland Avenue, White Township. Police said the woman was taken to Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, and is expected to recover. Other details were not available this morning from the police or from a spokesman at the apartment complex.