October 20, 2021 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Scaling back his big government-overhaul plans, President Joe Biden has described a more-limited vision to Democratic lawmakers. In meetings at the White House on Tuesday, Biden told lawmakers he wants a $2 trillion package with at least $500 billion to tackle climate change, along with money for middle-class priorities – child tax credits, paid family leave, health care and free pre-kindergarten. That’s according to lawmakers and others familiar with the private meetings. And he expects negotiations to wrap up as soon as this week. The president met with both centrist and progressive Democrats as they narrow, reshape and finish up what had been his sweeping $3.5 trillion budget plan.
October 20, 2021 4:15 am
PHOENIX (AP) – The Biden administration is threatening to revoke the authority for three Republican-controlled states to handle their own workplace safety regulations because they have refused to adopt rules to protect health care workers from COVID-19. The threats were sent to Arizona, South Carolina and Utah as the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration prepares to adopt much more far-reaching vaccination and testing rules affecting 80 million Americans. OSHA officials say Arizona, South Carolina and Utah are not complying with their promises to enforce labor standards that are at least as good as those adopted by the federal government.
October 20, 2021 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has voted unanimously to hold former White House aide Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress. The longtime ally of former President Donald Trump defied a subpoena for documents and testimony. Trump is still defending his supporters who broke into the Capitol that day. He has aggressively tried to block the committee’s work by directing Bannon not to answer questions while also suing the panel to try to prevent Congress from obtaining former White House documents. The committee’s chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, says: “We won’t be deterred. We won’t be distracted. And we won’t be delayed.”
October 20, 2021 4:08 am
North Strabane Supervisors began their evening with two public hearings on items that they will consider at their next legislative meeting. The first proposal will be for an LED billboard that is to be located on McClelland Road and will be visible to northbound drivers only on I-79. The second item will be a zoning change to a property on Burkett Lane. The owners, Frank and Kristen Ann Hornickel are requesting that their property currently zoned R-2 be changed to C-2 to match up with all surrounding properties and allow them to build an outdoor wedding pavilion. In other business, supervisors will consider allocating American Rescue Plan funds to complete the township’s required MS4 storm water management program. They will also consider allocating ARP funds to help alleviate a storm water issue in the Summerbrooke Plan. Supervisors will meet on October 26 to vote on these items.
October 20, 2021 2:56 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Philadelphia prosecutors who are pursuing the case against a man accused of raping a woman on a commuter train last week don’t anticipate charging fellow passengers for not intervening. A spokesperson for a suburban Philadelphia district attorney made the announcement Wednesday. District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said prosecutors want witnesses to come forward, rather than fear prosecution. Requests for surveillance video from the Oct. 13 attack have been denied, citing the ongoing criminal investigation. It remained unclear exactly how many other passengers were in the vicinity and whether they actually witnessed or recorded what happened.
October 19, 2021 4:53 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal regulators are expected to authorize the mixing and matching of COVID-19 booster shots this week. The upcoming announcement by the Food and Drug Administration is likely to come along with authorization for boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots. It follows the OK last month of a third dose for the Pfizer vaccine for many Americans. The FDA was also expected to say that using the same brand for a booster was still preferable. The move was previewed Tuesday by a U.S. health official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of the announcement.
October 19, 2021 1:49 pm
The company that makes iconic household products like Tide and Gillette is warning its customers that prices will be going up. Procter & Gamble said the costs of freight and the materials that go into making the products are going up so they’re passing the increase on to consumers, The Wall Street Journal reported. P&G estimates the increase in freight and transportation costs will be at least $200 million higher than in the past, Fox Business reported. Materials to make the products are expected to cost the company $2.1 billion, CNBC reported. The company also blamed the increased cost of warehousing products, Reuters reported. The price increase is in addition to the rising costs P&G announced earlier this year for diapers and toilet paper, among other products. Grooming, skincare and oral care are among the products that will have higher prices, Fox Business reported. In total, there will be increases in nine out of 10 categories. Not only are costs to produce the products going up, so is the demand for the products, the company said Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal.
October 19, 2021 10:43 am
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – A gang that kidnapped 17 members of a U,S.-based missionary group has demanded a $17 million ransom for them. That’s according to Haiti’s justice minister, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal. Liszt Quitel says the gang is demanding $1 million per person for the 16 Americans and one Canadian. A wave of kidnappings in Haiti has prompted a protest strike that shuttered businesses, schools and public transportation in a new blow to the country’s anemic economy. Unions and other groups vowed to continue the shutdown Tuesday.
October 19, 2021 4:12 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Authorities say a man charged with raping a woman on a commuter train just outside of Philadelphia harassed her for more than 40 minutes while multiple people held up their phones to seemingly record the assault without intervening. The police chief for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority said at a news conference Monday that more than two dozen train stops passed as the man harassed, groped and eventually raped the woman. Police do not believe a single witness on the train dialed 911. They are investigating whether some bystanders filmed the assault. Officers responded within about three minutes of a 911 call from a transportation authority employee at the train’s last stop.
October 19, 2021 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan is stepping down following the chaotic American withdrawal from the country. The State Department says former ambassador to the United Nations and Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad will leave the post this week after more than three years on the job. Khalilzad had served as the special envoy for Afghan reconciliation since September 2018, when the-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought him on board to lead negotiations with the Taliban and the Afghan government. An Afghan native, Khalilzad negotiated a U.S. agreement with the Taliban in February 2020 that ultimately led to the end of America’s longest-running war.
