Pa. pastor who performed son’s gay marriage suspended for 30 days by Methodist jury

(Chris Knight/ Associated Press ) – The Rev. Frank Schaefer, right, of Lebanon Pa., walks to the gymnasium with an unidentified woman, before facing his sentencing at Camp Innabah, a United Methodist retreat, in Spring City Pa. Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. A jury of his pastoral peers convicted Schaefer on Monday of breaking his vows by officiating his gay sons’ Massachusetts wedding in 2007. Schaefer could face punishment ranging from a reprimand to a suspension to losing his minister’s credentials.

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Tornado watch issued until 5pm for New York City, Washington, parts of Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York

WW0543 Radar

Hazard Tornadoes EF2+ Tornadoes
Likelihood Moderate Low
Severe Wind 65 kt+ Wind
Moderate Moderate
Severe Hail 2″+ Hail
Very Low Very Low

Note:  The expiration time in the watch graphic is amended if the watch is replaced, cancelled or extended.
Note: Click for Watch Status Reports.

   SEL3

   URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
   TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 543
   NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
   900 AM EDT MON OCT 7 2013

   THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

   * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
     DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
     DELAWARE
     CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MARYLAND
     NEW JERSEY
     CENTRAL AND EASTERN NEW YORK
     CENTRAL AND EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA
     NORTHERN VIRGINIA
     COASTAL WATERS

   * EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 900 AM UNTIL
     500 PM EDT.

   * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
     SEVERAL TORNADOES POSSIBLE
     SEVERAL DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WITH A FEW SIGNIFICANT GUSTS TO 75
       MPH POSSIBLE

   THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 100 STATUTE
   MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
   WASHINGTON DISTRICT OF COLUM TO 30 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF UTICA
   NEW YORK.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
   ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

   PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

   REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
   TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
   AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
   THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
   AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

   &&

   DISCUSSION...GRADUAL INCREASE IN SVR POTENTIAL IS FCST THROUGH
   REMAINDER MORNING AND INTO AFTN.  PRIMARY RISK WILL BE DAMAGING
   WIND...ALTHOUGH A FEW TORNADOES MAY OCCUR WITH EITHER QLCS/BOW
   CIRCULATIONS OR ANY SUPERCELLS THAT CAN DEVELOP AHEAD OF PRIMARY
   CONVECTIVE BANDS.  MRGL BUOYANCY...RICH LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE...AND STG
   DEEP/SPEED SHEAR WILL CHARACTERIZE AIR MASS IN PROSPECTIVE
   CONVECTIVE INFLOW.   AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
   SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
   WIND GUSTS TO 65 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
   450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22035.

Man Killed With Arrow, Mutilated and Stuffed into Barrel

Headless, handless body found stuffed in barrel in Pennsylvania killed by girlfriend’s father: cops

Police have discovered the dismembered remains of murder victim Gerald Paul VanDyke, 55, in a wooded area of Pennsylvania. Police are holding Richard Alfred Houy without bond on criminal homicide and other charges in the disappearance and death of VanDyke.

Pennsylvania police discovered what they believed to be the dismembered remains of Gerald Paul VanDyke, 55, above. Pennsylvania State Police

SOURCE  –  DNA tests were pending, though police believed the butchered body found Friday was Gerald Paul VanDyke, 55. His girlfriend’s father, Richard Houy, has been charged with the murder.

A body with no head and no hands was found stuffed in a drum in northwest Pennsylvania, and cops said the father of the man’s girlfriend is responsible for the slaying.

DNA tests were pending, though police believed the butchered body found Friday in a rural area of Rockdale Township was that of Gerald Paul VanDyke, 55, who went missing Sept. 14, the Erie Times-News reported.

The man had been shot through the heart with a hunting arrow, and his aorta was punctured, an autopsy found.

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Daughter Kills Mother, Brother, Then is Killed by Father

The location of Ashville, Pa., shooting at 643 Bottom Road.

The location of Ashville, Pa., shooting at 643 Bottom Road.    Gary Baranec/AP

A Pennsylvania man shot dead his daughter and son-in-law after they allegedly broke into the home and killed his wife and son, authorities said.

SOURCE  –  PITTSBURGH — A two-decade family feud came to a violent end when a man shot dead the two home invaders that killed his wife and son, not knowing the assailants included his long-estranged daughter, authorities said Sunday.

Though the investigation of Friday’s shootings continues, authorities said it appears Josephine and Jeffrey Ruckinger planned to murder her family at their rural central Pennsylvania home — but it remains unclear what exactly led to the deadly confrontation.

“They parked at the bottom of a long driveway, and walked up, heavily armed,” said Cambria County District Attorney Kelly Callihan.

Josephine Ruckinger was armed with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun and her husband had a Derringer pistol and a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun as they approached the Frew family home in Ashville, about 40 miles southwest of State College, according to investigators.

John Frew, his wife Roberta, and their son John Jr., 47, had just returned from dinner out, and were watching TV in the living room of the white mobile home when there was a knock at the door, authorities said.

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