July 31, 2024 2:53 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The owners of twelve Pennsylvania casinos are asking the state’s highest court to declare that a tax on slot machine revenue is unconstitutional because the state doesn’t impose it broadly on cash-paying electronic game terminals known as skill games that can be found in many bars and stores. The lawsuit, filed Monday, could endanger a tax that delivers more than $1 billion annually to the state and local governments for property tax rebates and economic development projects. The lawsuit asks the court to force the state to either apply the same tax rate to skill games or to bar it from collecting taxes on slot machines.
July 31, 2024 2:58 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania says he’s recovering from COVID-19 at home. Fetterman said in a statement Tuesday that he was at his home in Braddock, just outside Pittsburgh, recovering and missed the day’s votes in the Senate. That included the Senate’s 91-3 passage of legislation that is designed to protect children from dangerous online content. The vote pushes forward with what would be the first major effort by Congress in decades to hold tech companies more accountable for the harm that they cause. In the statement, Fetterman says he supports the legislation and urged the House to pass it as soon as possible. (Photo: AP)
July 30, 2024 5:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service’s acting director has told lawmakers he considered it indefensible that the roof used by the gunman in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was unsecured. He also says it’s regrettable that local law enforcement had not advised his agency that a gunman had been spotted on a nearby roof. Acting director Ronald Rowe also testified Tuesday that he recently visited the shooting site and laid down on the roof of the building where shots were fired in order to evaluate the gunman’s line of sight during the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.
July 31, 2024 5:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the end of their two-year fight against inflation in sight, Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday are likely to set the stage for the first cut to their key interest rate in four years. That would signify a major shift in policy that could eventually lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses. Inflation has been falling steadily closer to the Fed’s 2% target for the past several months. And the job market has cooled, with the unemployment rate rising about a half-point this year to 4.1%. Financial market traders have priced in 100% odds that the Fed will reduce its benchmark rate at its Sept. 17-18 meeting, according to futures markets.
July 31, 2024 12:16 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. will pay for flu shots for farmworkers this year, a strategy to prevent bird flu from changing into something more dangerous. Dairy and poultry farms are dealing with outbreaks of bird flu, and 13 workers have picked up infections. All cases are mild and are believed to have spread directly from infected animals to people. But health officials are worried about what might happen if people are infected with bird flu and seasonal flu at the same time. It’s possible the viruses could swap gene segments, in a process that scientists call re-assortment.
July 31, 2024 5:16 am
BEIRUT (AP) — Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ supreme leader in exile who landed on Israel’s wanted list after the militant group staged its surprise Oct. 7 attacks, was killed in an airstrike in the Iranian capital early Wednesday. He was 62. Hamas said Haniyeh was killed at his residence in Tehran in an Israeli airstrike after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president. Israel has not commented on the accusation. His death makes him the latest Hamas official to be killed by Israel since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel.
July 30, 2024 5:19 am
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has extended his party’s control over the media, directly affecting informed democratic participation. Opposition politicians have long complained that they only get five minutes of air time every four years on public television, the legal minimum, to present their platforms before elections. His Fidesz party has won four consecutive two-thirds majorities in parliament, but is now facing its stiffest challenge yet from a former insider who has set up his own party. Opposition lawmakers and independent analysts say many Hungarians simply aren’t aware of corruption scandals and other abuses because they aren’t reported by media outlets loyal to Fidesz.
July 30, 2024 2:57 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Secret Service’s acting director says he considers it indefensible that the Pennsylvania roof used by the gunman in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was unsecured. Ronald Rowe on Tuesday faulted local law enforcement for not circulating urgent information ahead of the shooting and for not adequately protecting the scene. Rowe also testified he recently visited the shooting site and said what he saw made him “ashamed.” Rowe assures lawmakers “people will be held accountable.” The Republican former president was struck in the ear by a bullet or a bullet fragment in the July 13 assassination attempt before a Secret Service counter-sniper killed the gunman.
July 30, 2024 8:54 am
LONDON (AP) — British police are questioning a suspect and working to understand what motivated a 17-year-old boy to attack children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class, leaving three dead and six in critical condition. A total of eight other children and two adults were wounded in the rampage in Southport in northwest England. Both adults and five of the children are in critical condition in local hospitals. Swift said on Instagram she was “completely in shock” and still taking in “the horror” of the event. A 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
July 30, 2024 4:51 am
Washington City Council will be greeted with a brief agenda on Thursday night. That does not mean the meeting will be without significant affect. On the agenda is a motion to reap the first benefit from last month’s approval of a bond refinance that extends payments by one year and frees up several hundred thousand dollars annually. The first positive outcome could be the elimination of the distressed pension tax. According to Finance Director Ken Westcott, keeping the tax could have increased pension contributions by some $300,000 this year. Also up for approval is the awarding of contracts for work needed at the 7th Ward Park and the contract for the 2024 road paving program. Council will meet Thursday night at 6:00 PM.
