May 25, 2022 3:28 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal Reserve officials agreed when they met earlier this month that they might have to raise interest rates to levels that would weaken the economy as part of their drive to curb inflation, which has reached a four-decade high. At the same time, many of the policymakers also agreed that after a rapid series of rate increases in the coming months, they could á”assess the effects” of their rate hikes and, depending on the economy’s health, adjust their policies. According to minutes from the Fed’s May 3-4 meeting, most of the officials agreed that half-point increases to the Fed’s benchmark short-term rate “would likely be appropriate” at the central bank’s next two meetings, in June and July.
May 25, 2022 4:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – An anguished and angry President Joe Biden is calling for new restrictions on firearms after a gunman massacred 18 children at a Texas elementary school. “We have to act,” Biden told the nation Tuesday night from the White House, after years of failure to pass new laws. He spoke after arriving home from a five-day trip to Asia that was bookended by “horrific” mass tragedy. Just two days before he left on his trip, he met with victims’ families after a hate-motivated shooter killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
May 25, 2022 4:24 am
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Alabama’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate is going to a June runoff between Katie Britt and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks. The Republicans are seeking the nomination for the Senate seat now held by U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby who is retiring. Britt is Shelby’s former chief of staff and the former leader of the Business Council of Alabama. Brooks overcame a feud with former President Donald Trump to secure a runoff spot. Trump initially endorsed Brooks in the race but withdrew that endorsement in March. The two edged out businessman Mike Durant, who is best known as the helicopter pilot held captive in the events chronicled in “Black Hawk Down.”
May 25, 2022 4:22 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has won the Republican primary in a bid to keep his job. He defeated three challengers, including U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Raffensperger became a top target for Trump after the secretary of state refused to bow to pressure to take steps to overturn the former president’s narrow loss in Georgia. Hice had embraced false claims about the 2020 election being stolen and objected to Georgia’s electoral votes being counted for President Joe Biden.
May 25, 2022 4:21 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia has easily dispatched Donald Trump’s hand-picked challenger in a Republican primary that demonstrated the limits of the former president and his conspiracy-fueled politics in a critical swing state. The results, combined with the loss of the Trump-backed candidate for secretary of state, serve as a stinging rebuke in a race Trump prioritized above almost all others. Angered by Kemp’s refusal to go along with his extraordinary effort to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, Trump recruited former Sen. David Perdue. But Kemp ultimately emerged as a powerful candidate. He will face Democrat Stacey Abrams this fall in one of the nation’s most consequential governor’s races.
May 25, 2022 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The head of the Food and Drug Administration is preparing to tell lawmakers about events that led to a months-long gap before inspecting the plant at the center of a nationwide baby formula shortage. FDA Commissioner Robert Califf is scheduled to answer questions Wednesday from House lawmakers probing the formula shortage. According to prepared testimony, Califf will tell lawmakers that a COVID-19 outbreak at Abbott’s formula plant led regulators to delay their inspection from late December to January. Califf will also discuss delays in interviewing an Abbott whistleblower who alleged serious violations at the baby formula plant last October.
May 25, 2022 4:19 am
UVALDE, Texas (AP) – An 18-year-old gunman opened fire at a Texas elementary school, killing at least 19 children as he went from classroom to classroom, in the nation’s deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade. The assailant also killed two adults before he was killed by law enforcement. The shooting happened at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, a heavily Latino community about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of San Antonio. It was the worst school shooting in the U.S. since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in late 2012.
May 25, 2022 4:15 am
South Strabane Township Supervisors took on a heavy workload at their voting meeting Tuesday night. On the agenda were three public hearings on ordinances for parking, property maintenance and the creation of a parks and recreation commission. The parking ordinance involved making parking in a cul de sac a violation. According to Township Manager Brandon Stanick, the reasoning behind the proposed ordinance was safety and maintenance. Jordan Cramer, the newly hired fire chief indicated that it would be nearly impossible to get the largest fire truck in position to work if it had to try and navigate cars parked in the circle. The motion was tabled for a second time. The next ordinance dealt with property maintenance violations. The “Quality of Life” ordinance is designed to cut down on the time it takes for violators to address issues like overgrown grass, garbage accumulation and junk cars. A ticket would be issued and the violator would have a prescribed period of time to address the maintenance issue before being cited and taken to the magistrate by the township. If the violator complies, the fine would be waived. The motion was brought to a vote and passed unanimously. The final meeting to create a Parks and Recreation Commission was brief with no public comment. The commission would be made up of 7 residents to advise the supervisors of the wants and needs of the residents of the township with regard to recreation equipment and activities. When brought to a vote, the ordinance passed unanimously.
May 25, 2022 4:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Former hedge fund CEO David McCormick is going to Pennsylvania’s highest court in an eleventh-hour bid to help him close the gap in votes with celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s neck-and-neck Republican primary for U.S. Senate. McCormick’s request for the state Supreme Court’s intervention came less than four hours before Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline for counties to report their unofficial results to the state. A separate court battle could go to the U.S. Supreme Court, with the candidates separated by fewer than 1,000 votes. Counties will continue counting hundreds of ballots after Tuesday’s deadline in a contest that’s almost certainly headed for a recount.
May 25, 2022 4:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Fallout from last week’s primary election in Pennsylvania is playing out in the General Assembly. Two central Pennsylvania Republican House members are being punished for working to unseat fellow incumbents. In the Senate, Republican gubernatorial nominee Sen. Doug Mastriano is being allowed back inside the Republican caucus’ closed-door meetings. He’d been kicked out last year after leaders concluded he had shared information that was supposed to be confidential. In the House, Republican leaders stripped state Rep. Mike Jones of several committee assignments after his primary campaign work in York County helped defeat two senior incumbents. Republican Rep. Dave Zimmerman also lost committee spots over similar efforts in Lancaster County.
