State police barracks reopens to the public

State police barracks reopens to the public

BLOOMING GROVE, Pa.

A Pennsylvania State Police barracks reopened to the public Wednesday exactly two months after a deadly ambush that brought thousands of law-enforcement officials to the Pocono Mountains in a 48-day search for the killer.

The Blooming Grove station in northeastern Pennsylvania has been partially shut down since coming under attack Sept. 12. Police say Eric Frein, 31, hid in the woods across the street and used a high-powered rifle to kill Cpl. Bryon Dickson and wound Trooper Alex Douglass during a late-night shift change.

Frein was captured Oct. 30 after an intensive manhunt. He has not yet entered a plea.

Forensics expert to testify at grand jury

ST. LOUIS

A private forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy on Michael Brown will testify before the grand jury deciding whether to charge the Ferguson police officer who shot him, the attorney for Brown’s parents said Wednesday.

Attorney Benjamin Crump confirmed that former New York City Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Baden is scheduled to testify today. A spokesman for St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch declined to comment. Messages seeking comment were left with Baden.

Average US gas price to be under $3 for ’15

NEW YORK

The average price of gasoline will be below $3 a gallon in 2015, the government predicted Wednesday. If the sharply lower estimate holds true, U.S. consumers will save $61 billion on gas compared with this year.

In a monthly report, the Energy Department reduced its forecast for global oil prices next year by $18 a barrel to $83. Weakness in the global economy will crimp demand for oil, while production in places such as the U.S. keeps rising.

The result: Drivers will pay $2.94 per gallon on average in 2015, 45 cents lower than this year. Based on expected gasoline consumption, that’s a savings of $60.9 billion.

Ebola workers ask Congress for help

WASHINGTON

A top U.S. official outlined plans Wednesday for clinical trials of a possible Ebola vaccine in West Africa, as the global response to the outbreak took on added urgency with the disclosure of a new cluster of cases in Mali and reports that the death toll had surpassed 5,000.

Two studies of a U.S.-developed vaccine will begin in Liberia and Sierra Leone by January and if they go well, “we could know by the middle of 2015 whether or not we have an effective vaccine,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health, told the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The confirmation of long-anticipated vaccine studies came as the Senate panel began evaluating the Obama administration’s request for $6.2 billion in emergency aid to fight Ebola.

Town’s tobacco-ban hearing ends early

WESTMINSTER, Mass.

Only a handful of people were able to speak on a proposal that could make the tiny Massachusetts town of Westminster the first in the nation to ban all sales of tobacco products when boos and shouts from the crowd shut down the public hearing Wednesday night.

Sixty or more residents in the packed Westminster Elementary gym were registered to share their opinions. Some among the audience of hundreds toted signs opposing the ban; some had participated in a rally earlier.

But amid shouts of “America!” and “Freedom Now,” Board of Health chairwoman Andrea Crete gaveled the hearing to a close just 25 minutes into it instead of taking comments.

Associated Press