June 18, 2021 4:09 am
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – The U.S. Virgin Islands’ power company is reporting a complete blackout in St. John and St. Thomas, which is the U.S. territory’s most populated island. Officials said Friday that the outage occurred when a key power plant lost all generation capacity late Thursday for unknown reasons. The Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority said it did not know when power would be restored. More than 51,600 people live in St. Thomas and more than 4,000 people live in St. John.
June 18, 2021 4:08 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania are working to assemble a budget plan that would use billions in federal aid and surplus cash to help prop up existing programs, boost aid to public schools and inject cash into sectors hard-hit by the pandemic. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Pat Browne said the state will still have a deficit in three years even if it uses all of the $7.3 billion in federal aid and $3 billion in surplus state dollars to maintain current programs. While Republicans are considering which hard-hit sectors to help, Democratic lawmakers have rolled out expansive plans. Gov. Tom Wolf’s top priority is to boost aid to schools.
June 18, 2021 4:07 am
Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor and the leading House Republican on the topic are trading barbs about what should be included in legislation to alter how the state registers voters and runs elections. A visitor to Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s news conference on to topic in the Philadelphia suburbs Thursday was House State Government Committee Chairman Seth Grove. The York County Republican tweeted out a defense of the 149-page revamp of election law that he rolled out more than a week ago, as Wolf and his fellow Democrats denounced the proposal. With lawmakers’ summer recess looming, it’s far from clear if a deal can be reached that will affect the state’s next voting, on Nov. 2.
June 18, 2021 3:05 am
A North Charleroi man whose home was raided in May and found to have a large amount of child pornography on several devices waived his charges to court. John L. Eckert III, 60 appeared before District Justice Eric Porter on Thursday. Eckert’s attorney and the attorney general agreed to waive 35 felony charges of possession of child pornography and 5 felony charges of criminal use of a communications device to court. Defense attorney David Shrager stated that they “will address the case aggressively” once the case reaches common pleas court. Eckert’s home was raided on May 7 by Department of Homeland Security agents and the Charleroi Regional Police. According to charging documents Eckert downloaded multiple images of child pornography via a peer to peer sharing network. When asked if he downloaded the images Eckert was allegedly to have said “unfortunately yes” and then requested an attorney. Eckert is free on $250,000 bond.
June 17, 2021 2:08 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has dismissed a challenge to the Obama era health care law, preserving insurance coverage for millions of Americans. The justices left the entire law intact Thursday in ruling that Texas, other Republican-led states and two individuals had no right to bring their lawsuit in federal court. The law’s major provisions include protections for people with pre-existing health conditions, a range of no-cost preventive services and the expansion of the Medicaid program that insures lower-income people, including those who work in jobs that don’t pay much or provide health insurance. Also left in place is the law’s now-toothless requirement that people have health insurance or pay a penalty.
June 17, 2021 8:54 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week for the first time since April despite widespread evidence that the economy and the job market are rebounding steadily from the pandemic recession. Jobless claims rose 37,000 from the week before. As the job market has strengthened, the number of weekly applications for unemployment aid has fallen for most of the year. The weekly number of jobless claims generally reflects the pace of layoffs. With vaccinations up and more consumers venturing out to spend – on restaurant meals, airline fares, movie tickets and store purchases – the economy is rapidly recovering from the recession.
June 17, 2021 4:10 am
PHOENIX (AP) – An unusually early and long-lasting heat wave has brought more triple-digit temperatures to a large swath of the U.S. West. It’s raising concerns that such extreme weather could become the new normal amid a decades-long drought. Phoenix is seeing some of the highest temperatures this week, expecting to hit 115 degrees Wednesday and 117 the next two days. Scientists who study drought and climate change say that people living in the American West can expect more of the same in the coming years. Cooling centers opened in the San Francisco Bay Area, people flocked to a lake in Denver amid expected triple-digit heat, and hot weather made it tougher to fight wildfires in Montana.
June 17, 2021 4:08 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas will now let people carry handguns without first getting a background check and training. It’s the latest and largest on a growing list of states to roll back permitting requirements for carrying guns in public. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott held a ceremonial bill signing at the Alamo in San Antonio on Thursday. He signed the bill over the objections of law enforcement groups who say the change will endanger the public and police. It’s backed by gun rights groups including the National Rifle Association. Tennessee, Utah and Iowa have passed similar bills this year, and GOP-controlled legislatures in Pennsylvania and Ohio are considering similar measures.
June 17, 2021 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has signed legislation Thursday establishing a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, saying he believes it will go down as one of the greatest honors he has as president. Biden signed into law a bill to make Juneteenth, or June 19, the 12th federal holiday. The U.S. government announced Thursday that most federal government employees will observe the new holiday Friday because June 19 falls on Saturday this year. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas – two months after the Confederacy had surrendered.
June 17, 2021 4:06 am
(AP) – Frank Bonner, the actor who played the plaid-suited sales manager Herb Tarlek on the CBS comedy WKRP in Cincinnati, died Wednesday of complications from Lewy body dementia at his home in Laguna Niguel, CA. He was 79. His death was announced on Facebook by daughter Desiree Boers-Kort.
