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West Pittston, Hazleton receive PennDOT Green Light-Go grants

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Smoke detector alerts occupants of Kingston blaze

<p>The attorney for porn actress Stormy Daniels says prosecutors have dropped all charges against her following her overnight arrest at an Ohio adult club.</p><p>Michael Avenatti represents Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. He said Thursday afternoon in a tweet he was pleased prosecutors dropped the charges and thanked them for their professionalism.</p><p>A prosecutor&#8217;s memo provided by Avenatti says an Ohio illegal touching law can&#8217;t be enforced because Daniels has only appeared once at the Columbus club.</p><p>The law refers to someone &#8220;who regularly appears nude or seminude&#8221; at a club.</p><p>Messages were left with the Columbus city prosecutor&#8217;s office seeking comment.</p><p>Daniels was arrested accused of letting patrons touch her in violation of a state law, and her attorney said she was set up in a string operation.</p><p>While Daniels was performing Wednesday night at Sirens, a strip club in Columbus, some patrons touched her in a &#8220;non-sexual&#8221; way, Avenatti told The Associated Press.</p><p>He told MSNBC later Thursday that police had prepared a sting operation with multiple officers. He said female undercover officers asked Daniels if they could place their face between her breasts.</p><p>&#8220;It was an absurd use of law enforcement resources,&#8221; Avenatti said.</p><p>A message left for the city attorney spokeswoman wasn&#8217;t immediately returned.</p><p>An Ohio law known as the Community Defense Act prohibits anyone who isn&#8217;t a family member to touch a nude or semi-nude dancer.</p><p>According to charging documents obtained by WSYX-TV in Columbus, Daniels, who was semi-nude, allegedly touched some of the patrons&#8217; breasts and allowed them to touch her. She allegedly performed the same act with several officers who approached the stage and forced one officer&#8217;s head into her bare chest.</p><p>She was released on bail before 6 a.m. Thursday. Court records show Daniels posted $6,000.</p><p>Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is set for arraignment Friday on three misdemeanor counts of touching a patron at a &#8220;sexually oriented&#8221; business in violation of an Ohio strip club law.</p><p>Avenatti says she will plead not guilty to all counts.</p><p>Avenatti posted on Twitter a statement by Daniels that said she apologized to her fans in Columbus, but she would not perform her previously scheduled Thursday night show.</p><p>A Columbus police spokeswoman didn&#8217;t immediately respond to a message seeking comment. A person who answered the phone at the strip club declined to comment.</p><p>Daniels has said she had sex with President Donald Trump in 2006, when he was married, which Trump has denied. She&#8217;s suing Trump and his former longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and seeking to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement that she signed days before the 2016 presidential election.</p><p>___</p><p>Associated Press writers Lisa Cornwell in Cincinnati, Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus and Bob Lentz in Philadelphia contributed to this report.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_120837480-dca323a4fea44b9b90451aa0649ba619-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">In this frame from video, porn actress Stormy Daniels is led into jail in Columbus, Ohio., after being taken into custody during a Wednesday evening, July 11, 2018, show. Daniels was arrested at a strip club and is accused of letting patrons touch her in violation of a state law, her attorney said early Thursday, July 12. (WBNS via AP)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_120837480-dca323a4fea44b9b90451aa0649ba619-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>In this frame from video, porn actress Stormy Daniels is led into jail in Columbus, Ohio., after being taken into custody during a Wednesday evening, July 11, 2018, show. Daniels was arrested at a strip club and is accused of letting patrons touch her in violation of a state law, her attorney said early Thursday, July 12. (WBNS via AP)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_120837480-f9fce99cfc1e442b8e9f72a5b3288f37-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">This photo provided by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office on Thursday, July 12, 2018, shows porn actress Stormy Daniels.  Daniels was arrested at a Columbus, Ohio strip club and is accused of letting patrons touch her in violation of a state law, her attorney said early Thursday. (Franklin County Sheriff's Office via AP)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_120837480-f9fce99cfc1e442b8e9f72a5b3288f37-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>This photo provided by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office on Thursday, July 12, 2018, shows porn actress Stormy Daniels.  Daniels was arrested at a Columbus, Ohio strip club and is accused of letting patrons touch her in violation of a state law, her attorney said early Thursday. (Franklin County Sheriff's Office via AP)</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_120837480-6ec019155cb94f878e0c8032ca2297df-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">FILE - In this May 23, 2018 file photo, porn actress Stormy Daniels speaks during a ceremony for her receiving a City Proclamation and Key to the City in West Hollywood, Calif.  Daniels was arrested at an Ohio strip club and is accused of letting patrons touch her in violation of a state law, her attorney said early Thursday, July 12.  While Daniels was performing at Sirens, a strip club in Columbus, some patrons touched her in a &#x201c;non-sexual&#x201d; way, her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, told The Associated Press. An Ohio law known as the Community Defense Act prohibits anyone who isn&#x2019;t a family member to touch a nude or semi-nude dancer. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_120837480-6ec019155cb94f878e0c8032ca2297df-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>FILE - In this May 23, 2018 file photo, porn actress Stormy Daniels speaks during a ceremony for her receiving a City Proclamation and Key to the City in West Hollywood, Calif.  Daniels was arrested at an Ohio strip club and is accused of letting patrons touch her in violation of a state law, her attorney said early Thursday, July 12.  While Daniels was performing at Sirens, a strip club in Columbus, some patrons touched her in a &#x201c;non-sexual&#x201d; way, her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, told The Associated Press. An Ohio law known as the Community Defense Act prohibits anyone who isn&#x2019;t a family member to touch a nude or semi-nude dancer. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By CATHERINE LUCEY and MICHAEL BALSAMO</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

Lawyer: Charges against Stormy Daniels dismissed