June 28, 2021 5:29 pm
(AP) – After a brief dip, gas prices in the U.S. are on the rise again, hitting an average $3.09 per gallon. That’s according to the fuel price tracking app GasBuddy. The national average is now almost 5 cents higher than a month ago and 92 cents higher than one year ago. For consumers, higher gasoline prices are one element of an inflationary mix they’ve encountered as the economy recovers from the pandemic. Rising prices for commodities and materials have also boosted prices for such items as lumber, diapers and meat and poultry. The bad news: Gas prices could go higher this summer before heading lower.
June 28, 2021 3:36 pm
DURHAM N.C. (AP) – Electronic cigarette giant Juul Labs Inc. will pay $40 million to North Carolina and take more action to prevent underage use and sales. That’s according to a landmark legal settlement announced on Monday after years of accusations that the company had fueled an explosion in teen vaping. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein had accused Juul of unfair and deceptive marketing practices targeting young people to use it vaping products, which delivers addictive nicotine. Juul promises not to advertise to anyone under 21 in North Carolina and says it will put restrictions in place for sales both online and at brick-and-mortal retailers.
June 28, 2021 12:45 pm
Authorities in Armstrong County are investigating an accident early Sunday morning that left a Greene County man dead. The Armstrong County Coroner says 29-year-old Alan Lipscomb of Mount Morris was in the westbound lanes of Route 422 in Worthington when he was hit by a vehicle around two-thirty. Lipscomb was pronounced dead at the scene.
June 28, 2021 6:21 am
Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman was in Washington Sunday. He attended the annual Washington County Democratic party picnic at Washington Park. He spoke briefly with WJPA News on several topics. As for legalizing recreational marijuana; Fetterman says he is just waiting for Republicans to come on board and support the idea. Fetterman says it would generate “hundreds of millions of dollars” and pointed to other nearby states like New York and New Jersey. As for GOP proposed voting changes, Fetterman says his biggest concern is Voter ID. He calls it “voter suppression”. Fetterman says a 2012 report by the Pa. Department of State found some 700,000 residents do not have an I.D.
June 28, 2021 4:19 am
MIAMI (AP) – Tropical Storm Danny has formed off South Carolina’s coast, and forecasters say the storm is expected to dump several inches of rain on some parts of the Southeast once it heads inland. The fourth named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season formed Monday afternoon off South Carolina’s coast. It has top sustained winds of 40 mph and is racing to the west-northwest toward expected landfall within hours. Forecasters say Danny could drop several inches of rain on parts of South Carolina and Georgia as it heads into the Southeast. But the hurricane center in Miami says Danny will undergo rapid weakening once it makes landfall.
June 28, 2021 4:19 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Intense. Prolonged. Record-breaking. Unprecedented. Abnormal. Dangerous. That’s how the National Weather Service described the historic heat wave that is hitting the Pacific Northwest, pushing daytime temperatures into the triple digits and breaking all-time high temperature records in places where many residents don’t have air conditioning. Portland, Oregon, reached 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 Celsius) Sunday, breaking the all-time temperature record of 108 degrees, which was set just a day earlier. The temperature hit 104 F (40 C) in Seattle. The National Weather Service said that was an all-time record for the city better known for rain than heat.
June 28, 2021 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Defense Department says the U.S. military conducted airstrikes against what it says were “facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups” near the border between Iraq and Syria. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby says the militias were using the facilities to launch unmanned aerial vehicle attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq. Kirby says the U.S. military, under the direction of President Joe Biden, targeted three operational and weapons storage facilities Sunday – two in Syria and one in Iraq. He is describing the airstrikes as “defensive,” saying they were launched in response to an “ongoing series of attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting U.S. interests in Iraq.”
June 28, 2021 4:17 am
SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) – The Miami-Dade mayor says another body was recovered overnight from the site of a collapsed condo building, bringing the confirmed death toll to 10. Daniella Levine Cava said Monday that 151 people who may have been in the building remained unaccounted for. Andy Alvarez is a deputy incident commander with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. He tells ABC’s “Good Morning America” that more than 80 rescuers at a time are breaching the collapsed walls and tunneling underneath. He says they’ve found voids in the rubble where someone might have survived the collapse that happened Thursday.
June 28, 2021 4:13 am
HARRISBURG (AP) – College athletes in Pennsylvania would be able to receive compensation for their name, image and likeness in proposed legislation associated with the new state budget package. PennLive.com reports that a document obtained from the state House Republican Appropriations Committee and tied to the state’s budget negotiations contains language saying a college student athlete “may earn compensation” for their “name, image or likeness.” Athletic scholarships couldn’t be reduced or revoked because of such compensation. Student-athletes would be barred from agreements with certain industries. Six other states have similar legislation going into effect in July and more are considering the idea.
June 28, 2021 4:10 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Whether you have the vaccine or not, you will no longer be required to wear a mask in Pennsylvania unless a private business or building requires you to do so. No mask, even without the vaccine: that’s the latest guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The CDC guidelines still say to wear masks at airports, on planes, buses, trains and other forms of public transit. Freedom Transit is reminding riders that are still required on their buses and when entering transit hubs. That is based on the Transportation Security Administration and Federal Transit Administration mandates. Private venues can now have the final say on masks.
