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NEW YORK (AP) — Two New York City siblings are among the dead in the attacks in Brussels, their family said Friday.
Alexander and Sascha Pinczowski, Dutch nationals who lived in the U.S., were headed home to the states when a bomb exploded at the airport Tuesday. Alexander, 29, was on the phone with his mother in Holland when the line went dead, said James Cain, whose daughter Cameron was engaged to Alexander.
"We received confirmation this morning from Belgian authorities and the Dutch embassy of the positive identification of the remains of Alexander and Sascha from the terrorist bombing at the Brussels Airport," Cain said on behalf of the Pinczowski family. "We are grateful to have closure on this tragic situation, and are thankful for the thoughts and prayers from all. The family is in the process of making arrangements."
Alexander Pinczowski had traveled to Holland to work on a craft-related business that he and Cameron were going to start together, Cain said.
The couple met six years ago while taking summer courses in Durham, North Carolina. They hadn't set a wedding date but had planned to marry within the year, Cain said.
He called Alexander "intimidatingly smart, a brilliant young man."
Sascha Pinczowski, 26, was a 2015 graduate of Marymount Manhattan College in New York with a degree in business. She spent last summer as an intern at a catering company, Shiraz Events.
Shiraz Events President Shai Tertner called her "a bright, hardworking young woman, with a great career ahead of her."
Both siblings had hoped to obtain U.S. citizenship one day, said Cain, a retired ambassador to Denmark.
Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that New York had lost "two of our own" in the attacks.
"Two young siblings from our city were taken from us far too soon, and our hearts break for the family and friends of Sascha and Alexander," de Blasio said in a statement. "New York City has shown time and again that we will not succumb to the threat of terrorism, and we will not live in fear. Today we vow to continue standing up for freedom and democracy in honor of those we have lost."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo also extended his sympathies to the family.
"Their lives were cut short by cowards who have chosen extremism and hate instead of peace and unity. On behalf of all New Yorkers, I extend our deepest prayers and condolences to the Pinczowski family, as well as all those who lost loved ones in Tuesday's heartbreaking attacks," Cuomo said.
The bombings in Brussels at the airport and in the subway killed 31 people and injured nearly 300.
HUNTINGDON, Pa. (AP) — A former president of a county bar association has been convicted of using forged documents to pose as an estate lawyer for a decade even though she didn't have a law license.
Kimberly Kitchen was convicted Thursday on charges of forgery, unauthorized practice of law and felony records tampering in Huntingdon County.
Kitchen, 45, fooled BMZ Law, a Huntingdon firm, by forging a law license, bar exam results, an email showing she attended Duquesne University law school and a check for a state attorney registration fee, prosecutors said.
The James Creek resident handled estate planning for more than 30 clients despite never attending law school, and she even served as president of the county bar association for a time. She made partner at BMZ before the fraud was discovered.
The judge on the case was brought in from another county, and the state attorney general, not county prosecutors, handled the case because Kitchen had been a fixture in the county courthouse for years.
BMZ officials testified at her two-day trial but haven't commented publicly since issuing a statement in December 2014, when the Huntingdon Daily News first reported that Kitchen was being investigated. The firm's voicemail said its offices were closed for Good Friday.
"Sadly, it would appear that our firm was the last, in a long line of professionals, to have been deceived by Ms. Kitchen into believing she was licensed to practice law," the firm said previously. "We are undertaking a thorough review of each and every file she may have handled."
Kitchen had worked in fundraising at Juniata College before she started telling people she was an attorney, state prosecutors said.
Defense attorney Caroline Roberto said Friday that she is reviewing whether to appeal. The judge didn't immediately schedule sentencing, giving caseworkers 90 days to file a presentence report first.
"We think that she had no intent to defraud," Roberto said.
She said there was no evidence Kitchen's work was bad. "She provided a good service," she said.
Kitchen hasn't practiced law since the firm asked her to stop in December 2014.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says new comprehensive action plans will help resolve Flint's lead-tainted water crisis in the coming years.
Snyder on Monday announced the plans to improve public health, deal with old infrastructure, support educational services and boost employment.
Plans include replacing drinking water fixtures, replacing some lead service lines, boosting health and educational resources and developing new home mortgage options for the city. Some of the shorter-term steps announced already are taking place.
The Republican governor says in a statement that Michigan is "committed to addressing immediate concerns and finding long-term solutions to improve the quality of life for the people of Flint."
The announcement follows Snyder's testimony last week in Washington, where he came under intense questioning by Congress about the crisis.