June 21, 2022 3:13 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Drivers could be looking at 75 cents off per gallon if the federal and state gas tax is put on hold in southwestern Pennsylvania. President Biden says he’s considering a federal gas tax holiday and could make a decision by the end of the week. A pause would lower the cost per gallon 18 cents or less, but it requires action by Congress. However, on the state level, Republican state Rep. Aaron Bernstine says he sponsored bills that would offer a one-month holiday from the state’s 57 cent gas tax. It would drop the price from $5.02 to $4.45 a gallon. He says that the legislation is stuck in different committees. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s office says the Republican majority controls the legislative agenda, claiming his office has long called for a phase-out of the state gas tax and enacting a federal gas tax holiday. The governor says that lawmakers can reconvene this summer to pass a state gas tax holiday if they don’t get it done before the summer break.
June 21, 2022 3:08 am
MONONGAHELA, Pa. (WPXI) — Monongahela City Police say a man repeatedly resisted arrest by using his head. 35-year-old Shawn Greenough was arrested on felony aggravated assault charges after a 911 call for a domestic violence situation. It happened just before 5 a.m. Saturday at a Monongahela apartment, where a woman says Greenough assaulted her. The responding officer reportedly had one of Greenough’s hands cuffed when the suspect turned around and head-butted him twice, in the ear and the forehead. Police say Greenough also hit his head on the wall, and then the police cruiser window, smashing it open. Greenough was taken to Monongahela Valley Hospital for his facial injuries, where police say he lashed out at medical teams and security guards. Greenough is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on this incident on June 29th in front of District Judge Mark Wilson.
June 21, 2022 1:54 am
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) – President Joe Biden says he’s considering a federal holiday on the gasoline tax. That could possibly save Americans as much as 18.4 cents a gallon. Biden indicated to reporters Monday that his decision could come by the end of the week. The administration is increasingly looking for ways to spare Americans from higher prices at the pump, which began to climb last year and surged after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Gas prices nationwide are averaging just under $5 a gallon, according to AAA. Taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel help to pay for highways.
June 21, 2022 1:29 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania lawmakers are advancing legislation that would no longer classify as illegal paraphernalia the test strips that help users identify fentanyl and other potentially deadly chemicals. A bill passed by the state House unanimously on Monday would amend the state’s Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is far stronger than heroin, gets added to other drugs to make them cheaper, stronger and more dangerous. Supporters say the change in law will help drug users avoid overdoses by testing for fentanyl without the risk of being charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
June 20, 2022 4:27 am
DALLAS (AP) – A year after Juneteenth became a federal holiday in the U.S., people gathered this weekend at events filled with music, food and fireworks. Celebrations also included an emphasis on learning about the past and addressing racial disparities. President Joe Biden signed legislation last year making June 19 the nation’s 12th federal holiday. June 19, 1865, was the day that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to order freedom for the enslaved Black people in the state. It was two months after the Confederacy had surrendered in the Civil War and about 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in the Southern states.
June 20, 2022 4:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Police in Washington, D.C., say a 15-year-old boy was shot to death and three adults, including a police officer, were wounded after a musical event lacking a permit erupted into chaos. The shooting took place Sunday night near 14th and U Streets NW, about 2 miles north of the White House. Metropolitan Police Chief Robert J. Contee III says the wounded police officer and the other adults were recovering at hospitals. Contee says officials will be speaking to event organizers and considering what legal action can be taken because the event lacked a permit.
June 20, 2022 4:23 am
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – Colombia will be governed by a leftist president for the first time after former rebel Gustavo Petro narrowly defeated a real estate millionaire in a runoff election that underscored people’s disgust with the country’s traditional politicians. Petro’s third attempt to win the presidency earned him 50.48% of the votes Sunday. That’s according to results released by election authorities. Political outsider Rodolfo Hernández got 47.26% of the votes. The election came as Colombians struggle with rising inequality, inflation and violence. Those factors led voters in the election’s first round last month to punish long-governing centrist and right-leaning politicians and pick the two outsiders for the runoff.
June 20, 2022 4:22 am
(AP) – The nation’s youngest children are getting their chance at vaccines for COVID-19. Shots began Monday at a few locations, though they were expected to ramp up after the Juneteenth federal holiday. The Food and Drug Administration cleared vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer last week and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave the final signoff over the weekend. áRoughly 18 million youngsters under 5 are eligible. For the little kids, Pfizer’s vaccine is three shots and Moderna’s is two shots. Getting some parents on board may be a challenge given disappointing vaccination rates in school-age kids.
June 20, 2022 4:20 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The fate of the Democratic Party is intertwined in a pair of Pennsylvania elections that’ll be closely watched this year. John Fetterman could help the party keep control of the U.S. Senate. Josh Shapiro faces a Republican rival for governor who has embraced conspiracies about the last presidential election. With the stakes so high, Fetterman and Shapiro are participating in a coordinated campaign funded and run by party organizations. But they’re already facing big challenges. Fetterman suffered a stroke last month and hasn’t returned to the campaign trail. And both candidates will be running in a difficult environment for Democrats, weighed down by inflation and President Joe Biden’s unpopularity.
June 20, 2022 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court seems poised to take on a new elections case being pressed by Republicans. It could increase the power of state lawmakers over races for Congress and the presidency, as well as redistricting. It also could cut state courts out of the equation. The issue has arisen repeatedly in cases from North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where Democratic majorities on the states’ highest courts have invoked voting protections in their state constitutions to frustrate the plans of Republican-dominated legislatures. Already, four conservative Supreme Court justices have noted their interest in deciding whether state courts that find violations of their state constitutions can order changes to federal elections and the once-a-decade redrawing of congressional districts.
