August 18, 2022 4:17 am
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The debate over a limited set of circumstances in which abortion could be legal is causing divisions among GOP lawmakers in some states. The spark is the U.S. Supreme Court decision rejecting a right to abortion and returning the issue to states to determine. In Wisconsin, GOP state lawmakers are at odds over whether to reinforce an exception for a mother’s life and add protections for instances involving rape and incest. In Indiana, Republicans passed a near-total ban on abortion, with exceptions for rape and incest included after some Republicans joined with all Democrats. Some experts say the inconsistency among Republicans underscores the new debate within the GOP.
August 18, 2022 4:16 am
The remains of a U.S. Army soldier from Ohio killed in the Korean War will be buried in Pennsylvania, officials said. Pfc. Donald Born will be laid to rest on Aug. 30 at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, the Army said. According to officials, the Steubenville, Ohio, native was taking part in a defensive action near Chinju at the southern end of the Korean peninsula in 1950 when his unit came under attack. The 19-year-old went missing and was listed as presumed dead in 1953. Remains that were recovered in the vicinity were buried with unidentified Korean War soldiers in Hawaii until they were disinterred for analysis in 2019. Born was accounted for by using circumstantial evidence as well as anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis in June., the Army said. More than 7,500 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, officials said.
August 18, 2022 4:14 am
Two former Pennsylvania judges who orchestrated a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks were ordered to pay more than $200 million to hundreds of people they victimized in one of the worst judicial scandals in U.S. history. U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner awarded $106 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages to nearly 300 people in a long-running civil suit against the judges, writing the plaintiffs are “the tragic human casualties of a scandal of epic proportions.” In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, Mark Ciavarella and another judge, Michael Conahan, shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and accepted $2.8 million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of two for-profit lockups. Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court, pushed a zero-tolerance policy that guaranteed large numbers of kids would be sent to PA Child Care and its sister facility, Western PA Child Care. Ciavarella ordered children as young as 8 to detention, many of them first-time offenders deemed delinquent for petty theft, jaywalking, truancy, smoking on school grounds and other minor infractions. The judge often ordered youths he had found delinquent to be immediately shackled, handcuffed and taken away without giving them a chance to put up a defense or even say goodbye to their families. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out some 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300 kids after the scheme was uncovered.
August 18, 2022 4:07 am
Canon-McMillan School Board members once again heard negative feedback over the recently approved updated mascot for the school district. The highlander mascot that has been in use since 1954 was redesigned and that redesign has caused much controversy. Former board member Darla Monaco presented board members with a petition signed by 468 residents that are against it. Markus Solobay called the mascot image “satanic and demonic”. Karen Krashna Moran wished more people were involved with the decision making process. Ann Marie Miller loves the new design and is excited to see it displayed everywhere. The new mascot was adopted during the June 29 school board meeting by a 7-2 vote. There does, however, seem to some confusion among some residents over the fact that the new highlander design (pictured) is just as the mascot and is not the new logo for the school district.
August 18, 2022 2:29 am
A Washington man accused of a drive by shooting in July had his preliminary hearing on Wednesday. Russell Porter, 26 is accused of firing a gun at Bailey Batch while their vehicles were stopped at a red light at the intersection of E. Wylie and Allison Avenues. During testimony, Batch identified Porter as the shooter of her car and described how events unfolded. She identified a passenger in her car during the shooting as well. The District Attorney filed charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. He amended the charges and doubled them due to the passenger in Batch’s car at the time of the shooting. All charges were held for court, the defense request for bond was denied and Porter will remain in the Washington County Jail.
August 17, 2022 5:28 pm
CLEVELAND (AP) – A federal judge in Cleveland has awarded $650 million in damages to two Ohio counties that sued pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart saying their opioid distribution policies created a public nuisance. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster released the award amounts in a ruling issued Wednesday. A jury returned in November ruled in favor of Lake and Trumbull counties outside Cleveland after a six-week trial. Polster then conducted a hearing to determine how much the counties should receive. The damage awards are meant to help the counties abate a continuing opioid crisis. Their counties’ attorneys said it would take $3.3 billion total for the counties to abate the crisis.
August 17, 2022 8:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The pace of sales at U.S. retailers was unchanged last month as persistently high inflation and rising interest rates forced many households to spend more cautiously. Retail purchases were flat in July after having risen 0.8% in June, the Commerce Department reported. America’s consumers, whose spending accounts for nearly 70% of economic activity, have remained mostly resilient even with inflation near a four-decade high, economic uncertainties rising and mortgage and other borrowing rates surging. Still, their overall spending has weakened, and it has shifted increasingly toward necessities like groceries and away from discretionary items like home goods, casual clothes and electronics.
August 17, 2022 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has signed Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill. It’s the “final piece” of the president’s pared-down domestic agenda as he aims to boost his party’s standing with voters ahead of midterm elections. Biden says, “The American people won, and the special interests lost.” The legislation includes the biggest federal investment ever to fight climate change – some $375 billion over a decade. It also caps prescription drug costs at $2,000 out-of-pocket annually for Medicare recipients, and helps an estimated 13 million Americans pay for health care insurance by extending subsidies provided during the coronavirus pandemic.
August 17, 2022 4:06 am
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and her Trump-endorsed Republican rival Kelly Tshibaka have advanced from Tuesday’s primary. Meanwhile, Republican Sarah Palin was among the candidates advancing to the November general election in the race for Alaska’s only House seat. Under a voter-approved elections process, party primaries have been replaced with open primaries in which the top four vote-getters in each race advance to the general election. Ranked voting is being used in general elections. Murkowski and Tshibaka earned two of the slots in the Senate race. In the House primary, Democrat Mary Peltola, Palin and Republican Nick Begich advanced to the November election as results continued to be tabulated.
August 17, 2022 4:05 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Rudy Giuliani is scheduled to appear in an Atlanta courthouse to testify before a special grand jury in an investigation into possible illegal attempts to influence the 2020 election in Georgia. It’s not clear how much the former New York mayor and attorney for former President Donald Trump will be willing to say now that his lawyers have been notified that he’s a target of the investigation. Any questioning that does happen Wednesday will take place behind closed doors because the special grand jury proceedings are secret.
