May 28, 2021 4:08 am
ROBINSON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – During a hearing at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Union hall in Robinson, the Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee heard testimony from local manufacturing, business and labor representatives about ways to make Pennsylvania more competitive. The speakers raised several issues ranging from speeding up the permitting process to reducing the commonwealth’s net corporate income tax, which sits at 9.9% — the highest rate in the nation. There was a sense of urgency in some of the testimony in the wake of US Steel’s decision to pull out of a $1.4 billion investment in its Mon Valley facilities. “That’s why we wanted to come here to the carpenter’s hall. Talk to the trades, talk to businesses, talk to manufacturers. What is Pennsylvania doing right in attracting new investment, new companies, new businesses and creating new jobs? What are (we) doing wrong?” Senator John Yudichak of Luzerne County said. The union provides a free apprenticeship program, and members showed interest in investing state dollars. There were a couple of contentious moments over manufacturing needs and the impact on the environment. However, Simpson believes they can bridge that divide and find additional ways to help businesses.
May 28, 2021 4:04 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Four firefighters and one civilian were injured when a Philadelphia Fire Department firetruck crashed into a building after a collision with another vehicle. The firetruck had left a nearby fire station Thursday and had its lights and siren on as firefighters headed to a report of a house fire a little after 4 p.m. in North Philadelphia, according to an emailed police incident report. The truck collided with a car and was propelled into the building at 7th Street and Girard Avenue, police said. Details of what caused the crash were not immediately available.
May 27, 2021 5:28 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration has informed Russia that it will not rejoin a key arms control pact even as the two sides prepare for a summit next month between their leaders. U.S. officials say Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told the Russians on Thursday that the administration had decided not to reenter the Open Skies Treaty, which had allowed surveillance flights over military facilities in both countries. The Trump administration withdrew from the treaty last year, and the lower house of Russia’s parliament voted last week to follow suit. But until Thursday, the two sides had said the treaty could still be salvaged.
May 27, 2021 8:49 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week to 406,000, a new pandemic low and more evidence that the job market is strengthening as the virus wanes and economy further reopens. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that applications declined 38,000 from 444,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly applications for jobless aid – a rough measure of the pace of layoffs – has fallen by more than half since January.
May 27, 2021 4:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans say they want congressional bargainers to reach a bipartisan deal on revamping policing procedures by summer or abandon the effort. The comments by the two lead GOP bargainers on the issue came a day after George Floyd’s family used visits to the White House and the Capitol to prod lawmakers to act. Sens. Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham are both South Carolina Republicans. Scott tells reporters, “I think it’s June or bust.” And Graham says a deal will emerge before Congress takes a July recess “if it’s going to happen.” The Senate is about to start a recess and the full House is already gone.
May 27, 2021 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is asking U.S. intelligence agencies to “redouble” their efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. After months of minimizing the possibility that the coronavirus emerged from a lab accident, the administration is responding to both U.S. and world pressure for China to be more open about the outbreak. Biden said Wednesday there is insufficient evidence to conclude “whether it emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident.” Biden directed U.S. national laboratories to assist with the investigation and called on China to cooperate. He held out the possibility that a firm conclusion may never be known.
May 27, 2021 4:22 am
FLOWER MOUND, Texas (AP) – Police in a Dallas suburb say three officers have been shot and wounded while answering a report of a suicidal person. Police in Flower Mound, Texas, say the three officers responded to the 7 p.m. Wednesday report and were trying to contact the man, who was alone in the house, when gunfire erupted. The officers returned fire but have had no contact with the man since and a standoff has ensued. Two officers were taken to hospitals in stable condition, while the third was treated at the shooting scene and cleared.
May 27, 2021 4:21 am
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – An employee who gunned down eight people at a California rail yard and then killed himself as law enforcement rushed in had talked about killing people at work. The ex-wife of Samuel Cassidy says even more than a decade ago, he was often resentful of his work. Authorities say Cassidy opened fire Wednesday at a light rail facility in San Jose. He then shot himself. One wounded man is in critical condition. It’s the 15th mass killing in the U.S. this year. All have been shootings. Eighty-six people have died.
May 27, 2021 4:16 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Pennsylvania Department of Health has dropped its legal action against more than 40 restaurants accused of defying state orders to close indoor dining and maintain social-distancing protocols. The Health Department had filed two separate complaints alleging that restaurants were violating Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic restrictions. Wolf had imposed the indoor dining ban in December in response to a winter surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Health Department officials say the pandemic has since eased, with nearly all restrictions to be lifted on Memorial Day.
May 27, 2021 4:14 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – A Pittsburgh woman is free on non-monetary bond after she was arraigned on charges of vehicular homicide, DUI, reckless driving and speeding charges earlier today. Allison Matthew is charged in connection with the deadly crash on Feb. 6 on Route 51. The crash claimed the life of her 26-year-old cousin, Katherine Barvilchak, who police say was a passenger in Matthew’s car. According to the criminal complaint, Matthew was driving 101.9 miles per hour when she failed to negotiate a left-hand curve, lost control of the car, hit some landscape rocks, went airborne, took out a utility pole and flipped over. She and her cousin were both thrown from the vehicle. Barvilchak was pronounced dead at the scene. Matthew was taken to the hospital in critical condition. She survived the crash. Police say Matthew’s blood-alcohol level was also more than two times the legal limit, listed in the court papers at 0.184%. On the night of Feb. 6, after playing beer pong with friends in Brentwood, Barvilchak got into a car with her cousin.
