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Group works through the night to rescue kittens trapped in apartment’s pipes

OBITUARY POLICY

<p>HARRISBURG &#8212; Pennsylvania&#8217;s new attorney general spent his second day the job Thursday firing two top aides to his predecessor Kathleen Kane, including a former police chief convicted of contempt for snooping through emails about a grand jury investigation.</p><p>A spokesman said Attorney General Bruce Beemer sent termination letters to Jonathan Duecker, who made $140,000 as Kane&#8217;s chief of staff, and senior supervisory special agent Patrick Reese, who earned $100,000 and often served as Kane&#8217;s driver.</p><p>Beemer spokesman Jeff Johnson said confidentiality rules concerning personnel matters precluded the agency from saying why they were fired.</p><p>Beemer was confirmed by the state Senate and took the oath of office Tuesday, nearly two weeks after Kane resigned following her conviction in a suburban Philadelphia court on charges that include perjury.</p><p>Phone messages left at home listings for Duecker and Reese, and for Reese&#8217; defense attorney, were not immediately returned. Reese, who was sentenced to 3 to 6 months in jail, has been free while appealing his misdemeanor conviction.</p><p>Reese was once police chief in Dunmore, near Kane&#8217;s home in Scranton.</p><p>A county detective testified in December that Reese had special access to an office server, and searched for emails between a prosecutor running the grand jury and people who worked under Kane.</p><p>Reese&#8217;s lawyer argued he was unaware of a protective order at the time he accessed the computer data.</p><p>Agency policy dictates that anyone convicted of a crime related to their job must be fired as soon as it&#8217;s practicable.</p><p>Asked why Reese had not been fired before, Johnson said final decisions about discipline are made by the attorney general.</p><p>Kane, the first Democrat and first woman elected as attorney general, had been under investigation for leaking secret grand jury material to a Philadelphia newspaper to embarrass a rival and lying about it.</p><p>She was convicted by a jury Aug. 15 of felony perjury and misdemeanor charges that include conspiracy, official oppression and false swearing. She awaits sentencing.</p><p>Earlier this month, the attorney general&#8217;s office said it would pay $150,000 for lost wages and legal fees to settle a former employee&#8217;s lawsuit claiming he was terminated for recommending Duecker be fired because of sexual harassment complaints.</p><p>That lawsuit by former human resources analyst George Moore said a deputy attorney general accused Duecker of touching her three times at a bar, and a drug agent claimed he made advances toward her at a party.</p><p>Duecker was promoted by Kane from narcotics supervisor to be her top-ranking administrator in April 2015, after Moore&#8217;s recommendation.</p><p>Reese and Duecker both joined the attorney general&#8217;s office in early 2013, as Kane&#8217;s term began.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Reese </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_112232494-300349337a0e4a2cb6172c225eb57730-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Reese </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Scolforo</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

New AG fires 2 of predecessor Kane’s top aides