February 6, 2022 4:20 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The five-member commission redrawing the boundaries of Pennsylvania’s state legislative districts voted to approve new maps for the next decade. They focus on the state’s fast-growing Latino population that could change the face of the predominantly white House and Senate. The Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted 4-1 on Friday. The vote came after nearly a year of meetings, hearings and closed-door discussions to carry out the constitutionally required, once-a-decade map-drawing to account for demographic shifts identified by the census. The lone dissenter was Republican House Leader Kerry Benninghoff. Benninghoff slammed it as an unconstitutional gerrymander and vowed to challenge it in court.
February 5, 2022 10:31 am
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) – Snowboarder Shaun White says the Beijing Games will be his last competition. The three-time gold medalist held a sometimes emotional news conference not far from the halfpipe where he’ll take his last competitive ride. The 35-year-old says it’s a decision that’s been building since a rough-and-tumble training stop in Austria in November. This has been a tough season for him – including an ankle injury, a bout with COVID-19 and a late unscheduled trip to Switzerland to secure his Olympic spot.
February 5, 2022 10:27 am
Thomas Bach, the head of the International Olympic Committee, says the Olympic ideals show that even in a world full of conflict, people can build bridges and live in peace. Critics of Bach and the IOC say those ideals are nonsense, and talk of respect and bridge-building is overshadowed by Olympic officials cozying up to some of the world’s most powerful authoritarian rulers, and holding this year’s Games in a country accused of widespread human rights violations. Bach and the IOC have long steered clear of controversy, and Olympic organizers have a long history with authoritarian rulers.
February 5, 2022 10:26 am
The uproar over Whoopi Goldberg’s remarks about the Holocaust has catalyzed somber reflections by many American Jews, and not just about the Holocaust’s legacy. They also have recalled anti-Jewish discrimination in the United States and pondered the Jewish community’s sense of collective identity. Goldberg said this week on ABC’s “The View” that the Nazis’ genocide wasn’t about race. She soon apologized for failing to acknowledge that the Nazis considered Jews an inferior race. Jewish leaders are noting the complexity of describing how race fits into the concept of Jewish identity. They say it entails a mix of religion, nationality, ethnicity, culture and history.
February 5, 2022 10:24 am
A decision by Twitter and Facebook to ban former President Donald Trump a year ago has prompted many conservative social media users to join new platforms that claim to offer a refuge from overzealous content moderation. A year later, so-called alt-tech platforms like Gab, Parler and Gettr are growing fast. And while they’ve failed to replicate the success of the major sites, experts in extremism see their growth as a cause for concern and possibly leading to radicalization and even violence. While the promise of loose moderation is a selling point, it has also led to a proliferation of hate speech and harmful misinformation.
February 5, 2022 10:17 am
BEIJING (AP) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping says his country and Egypt share similar visions and strategies in defending their own interests. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi was one of at least four heads of state who met Xi after attending the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, seeking closer ties with China while shunning Western criticism of their heavy-handed rule. On Friday, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin underscored the growing alignment of their countries as they push back against the world order dominated by the U.S. By around midday Saturday, Xi had also met with heads of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Serbia. The leaders of Argentina, Ecuador, Qatar, Poland and are also among those in town.
February 5, 2022 10:14 am
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) – Authorities in Virginia say one person was killed and another four people were injured during a shooting at a hookah lounge. The Blacksburg Police Department says officers responded to reports of shots fired at Melody Hookah Lounge in downtown Blacksburg on Friday just before midnight. Police did not identify the deceased person or any of the people who were injured in the shooting. Authorities say they were taken to local hospitals, but that their conditions are unknown. No additional information was made available, including details on potential suspects or a motive.
February 5, 2022 6:47 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. employers stepped up hiring in January, adding 467,000 jobs despite a wave of omicron inflections that sickened millions of workers, kept many consumers at home and left businesses from restaurants to manufacturers short-staffed. The Labor Department’s Friday report also showed the unemployment rate ticked up to 4% from 3.9%. Job gains in December were also revised much higher.
February 5, 2022 4:25 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Val Arkoosh, a trained anesthesiologist who chairs the board of Pennsylvania’s third-most-populous county, is ending her campaign for U.S. Senate and leaving a tough Democratic Party primary field. In a video message Friday, Arkoosh stressed the importance of a Democrat winning the Senate seat being vacated by retiring two-term Republican Sen. Pat Toomey and said she’d work to help that happen. The 61-year-old Arkoosh is a former chair of anesthesiology at Drexel University College of Medicine who now chairs the board of commissioners in Montgomery County. Also in the Democratic primary race are Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia and U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb of suburban Pittsburgh.
February 5, 2022 4:17 am
PITTSBURGH(WPXI) — A Port Authority-owned and maintained bridge that carries the South Busway over Saw Mill Run Boulevard in Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington neighborhood will remain closed indefinitely. Engineers on Friday discovered that a portion of the bridge had shifted. The Saw Mill Run Boulevard Bridge — sometimes known as the Palm Garden Bridge — a 1,052-foot span constructed in 1977 that is used only by Port Authority buses and light rail vehicles, is stable but will remain closed until repairs can be made. Following the bridge’s last inspection in October 2020, it was rated Satisfactory (6). Port Authority, in coordination with third-party contractors, is developing a timetable for repairs. The cause of the shift has not been determined. At about 9 a.m. on Friday, a Port Authority employee noticed that a joint on the deck of the bridge appeared to have expanded. Port Authority suspended bus and rail traffic immediately, and dispatched engineers and a bridge consultant to begin examining and surveying the joint for signs of distress and movement. Engineers determined that the bridge is stable, but that it must be repaired before it is used. Therefore, Port Authority and contractors will soon begin to mobilize to make the necessary repairs. The work will consist of removing a portion of the concrete bridge deck to access the bridge’s superstructure; removing the existing anchor bolts and resetting the position of the bridge; repairing and/or replacing the rail joint; and replacing the portion of the concrete deck that they remove. Because of the nature of the work, Port Authority crews will also need to make sure the overhead power lines are removed before construction begins and replaced once construction is completed. Red Line rail cars will detour via the Blue/Silver Line from Overbrook Junction to Downtown. A rail shuttle will operate between Overbrook Junction to Potomac Station. Bus shuttles will operate between Potomac Station and Station Square. Bus detours are still being finalized and will be posted on Port Authority’s website and social media channels as soon as they are complete.
