April 10, 2021 11:32 am
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Republican state legislators have been in overdrive this year on so-called culture-war bills. They’ve moved firmly on abortion limits, restrictions on the rights of transgender youth and more. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson offered a rare rebuke of that effort this past week by vetoing a bill banning gender-confirming treatments for transgender youth. South Carolina, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee are among the states where GOP lawmakers are pushing similar cultural legislation from the right. The bills reflect the larger mood of the Republican Party as it portrays Democrats as out of touch with average Americans.
April 10, 2021 4:28 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – After a year of frustration over long waits for benefits, jammed phone lines and confusing filing procedures, Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry is promising a much quicker and easier unemployment compensation claims filing system. The new system scheduled to launch June 8 is based on what the department said Thursday is modern software to replace an “obsolete 40-year-old mainframe legacy system.” It arrives after a series of bungled efforts to replace the system began in 2006. Pandemic-related shutdowns starting last spring stressed the system like never before, as claims shot to record levels and swamped a barebones staff forced to work remotely.
April 10, 2021 4:27 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s largest public pension system are giving a little more detail about a federal probe, saying the agency received a subpoena, although it is staying silent about subpoenas said to have been received by top management officials. Officials at the Public School Employees’ Retirement System and board members have declined to answer questions publicly about what information federal investigators are seeking. In a brief statement Thursday, the $64 billion pension system said it had been served with a grand jury subpoena for documents. Pension system officials have said nothing about Tuesday’s revelation by state Treasurer Stacy Garrity that federal subpoenas were served on “several PSERS management officials.”
April 9, 2021 7:17 am
LONDON (AP) – Buckingham Palace officials say Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died. He was 99. Philip spent a month in hospital earlier this year before being released on March 16 to return to Windsor Castle. Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, married Elizabeth in 1947 and was the longest-serving consort in British history. He retired from public engagements in 2017 after carrying out more than 20,000 of them. Philip was a member of the Greek royal family and was born on the Greek island of Corfu in 1921. He was an avid sportsman who loved country pursuits. He had four children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Prince Philip will be laid to rest with all the honors due a prince of the United Kingdom and a consort to Queen Elizabeth II. But the coronavirus pandemic means it will be a more low-key farewell than has marked many royal deaths. The pandemic has required changes to the well-prepared plans for Philip’s passing. Philip’s body will not lie in state and he will not have a state funeral, in keeping with his wishes. His funeral will be held in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, west of London, and is likely to be attended by close family. The palace has invited well-wishers to sign a book of condolences – but only online, to avoid crowds and queues.
April 9, 2021 4:21 am
BRYAN, Texas (AP) – Authorities say a man opened fire at a Texas cabinet-making company where he worked, killing one person and wounding five others before shooting and wounding a state trooper before his arrest. A police statement says 27-year-old Larry Winston Bollin of Iola, Texas, has been charged with murder and being held on a $1 million bond. Authorities say Bollin shot and wounded a state trooper before he was arrested. Two of the five people wounded at the cabinet business are in critical condition. The three others and the trooper are in serious but stable condition. Police say Bollin worked at the company.
April 9, 2021 4:20 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A medical expert says George Floyd died from a lack of oxygen that damaged his brain and caused his heart to stop. Dr. Martin Tobin is a lung and critical care specialist from Illinois. He testified Thursday at former Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial that Floyd’s breathing was too shallow to take in enough oxygen while he was pinned on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back for 9 1/2 minutes. His testimony came a day after a use-of-force expert said Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck area the entire time that he pinned.
April 9, 2021 4:17 am
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) – Complex forces are driving an increase in the number of migrant families and unaccompanied children coming to the U.S. Many say President Joe Biden’s positions on immigration, whether real or rumored, have influenced their decisions. About four in 10 border encounters last month were with families and children traveling alone. It comes as policies in the U.S. and Mexico favor them staying in the United States while they seek asylum. The March total includes nearly 19,000 unaccompanied children, the highest monthly number on record. They are exempt from federal pandemic-related powers that quickly expel migrants without a chance for asylum.
April 9, 2021 4:16 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The family of rapper DMX says he has died at age 50 after a career in which he delivered iconic hip-hop songs such as “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem.” A statement from the family says the Grammy-nominated rapper died at a hospital in White Plains, New York, “with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days. He was rushed to a New York hospital from his home April 2. The hospital says he suffered “catastrophic cardiac arrest.” DMX made his mark as one of hip-hop’s most recognizable names for his rap artistry and as an actor. But he was personally stifled by legal battles and drug addiction. (Photo: CNN)
April 9, 2021 4:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s highest court says voters who sign a state political candidate’s nominating petition have to list the address where they are registered to vote or it doesn’t count. The state Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a 5-year-old precedent because of a more recent change in state law. The court had previously held that a petition signature could not be invalidated just because the voter’s address didn’t match their voter registration address. The ruling was made in a challenge to Rania Major’s petition to run in the Democratic primary for judge in Philadelphia. The court upheld a decision to keep Major off the ballot.
April 9, 2021 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation of Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, citing reports of sexual and other misconduct by the Florida Republican. The deepening of the scrutiny of the congressman comes as Gaetz has retained two prominent New York attorneys while facing a Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls. The House panel’s bipartisan probe is one of the first official indications Gaetz’s party leaders are willing to scrutinize his actions. Gaetz has not been charged with a crime, has denied any wrongdoing and has sent fundraising appeals that portray him as a victim of a “smear campaign.”
