July 23, 2024 4:13 pm
(AP) – Kamala Harris launched her campaign for president Tuesday, framing her race with Republican nominee Donald Trump as a choice between freedom and chaos. From an event hall in suburban Milwaukee, Harris told a cheering crowd, “This campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump. This is about who we fight for.” “We believe in the sacred freedom to vote,” she said. “We believe that every person in our nation should have the freedom to live safe from the terror of gun violence,” she added, “and we trust women to make decisions about their own bodies.” Trump, by contrast, she painted as someone found guilty of fraud, liable for sexual abuse and who conjures “chaos, fear and hate.” “Do we believe in the promise of America? And are we ready to fight for it?” she said. (Photo: AP)
July 23, 2024 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of the Secret Service is stepping down from her job following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission. Kimberly Cheatle had served as Secret Service director since August 2022. Cheatle announced her departure in an email she sent to staff. Cheatle had been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
July 23, 2024 2:27 am
A special session for the Peters Township school board has resulted in a new 5 year deal for teachers. In a unanimous vote Monday the board approved a deal that will provide salary increases, changes to health care contributions and adjustments to days off. Exact details of the contract have not yet been released but both sides agree this is a positive step for teachers and the district. The new contract will be retro-active to July 1, 2024 and will expire June 30, 2029.
July 23, 2024 4:45 am
A housing development proposed under the Peters Township Conservation Residential Overlay District zoning application has been denied. Pleasant Pointe is a proposal to build 38 duplexes and 15 townhomes on a parcel of ground on E. McMurray Road across the street from the Peters Township Middle School. Property owner Andrew Zahalsky presented this plan as an alternative to an 88 townhome development that was denied earlier this year due to lack of specificity in the development plan. It was pointed out that his new plan lacked the same specificity that his previous plan lacked and was denied unanimously. Absent were a geotechnical analysis of the property, storm water and erosion management plans along with a traffic plan. Zahalsky spent more than 20 minutes trying to convince council to grant him an extension but they were not convinced since they saw no effort to answer the questions in his previous plan that apply to his new plan also. The property now reverts to a low density housing zoning district that requires half acre lots. Adjacent to the property is a proposed senior living facility that was granted special exception to be developed. That plan is still alive, according to Township Manager Paul Lauer, no development plan has been submitted but he expects one in the near future. When asked for his thoughts on council’s decision, Zahalsky had no comment.
July 23, 2024 4:52 am
NEVILLE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI)- Gov. Josh Shapiro was in Pittsburgh Monday where he joined the Administrator of the U.S. EPA at Castle Builders Supply and Trucking on Neville Island. His visit was to announce the second largest federal investment in Pennsylvania history to help America’s clean energy transition as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America tour. However, the focus of the event quickly turned to whether or not the governor will be tapped as a Vice-Presidential candidate. Shapiro says in the last 24 hours, he’s talked to both President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris but says those conversations were focused on what needs to be done to defeat former president Donald Trump in November. Despite being asked nearly a dozen times if he’ll consider joining Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket as VP if asked, Shapiro was steadfast, saying he will not engage in speculation. “This is a deeply personal decision the Vice President will make,” Shapiro said. “She will make it on her own timetable and timeline. She needs to choose someone she’s prepared to governor with, campaign with and someone she feels most comfortable with.” CNN is also reporting that Gov. Shapiro is among a short list of Democrats who have been asked to submit information about finances, family histories and other personal details.
July 22, 2024 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee against Donald Trump. That’s according to an Associated Press survey taken in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s decision to drop his bid for reelection. The unofficial AP survey is only an indication that she has the backing of more than then 1,976 delegates she’ll need to win on a first ballot. But it shows she is the overwhelming choice of her party to replace Biden at the top of the ticket.
July 23, 2024 12:46 pm
(AP) – U.S. airline regulators have opened an investigation into Delta Air Lines, which is still struggling to restore operations on Tuesday, more than four full days after a faulty software update caused technological havoc worldwide and disrupted global air travel. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the Delta investigation on the X social media platform Tuesday morning “to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions.” As of Tuesday morning, Delta had an out-sized portion of canceled flights. Of the 654 total cancellations of flights within, into or out of the U.S. Delta had 440 of them.
July 22, 2024 5:06 am
RADFORD, Va. (AP) — Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance has used his first solo campaign appearances to throw fresh barbs at Vice President Kamala Harris. His rallies in Ohio and Virginia on Monday came a day after President Joe Biden threw the presidential election into upheaval by dropping out and endorsing his second-in-command to lead Democrats against Donald Trump. The venues were intended to play up Vance’s populist appeal across the Rust Belt and small-town America. Vance said that “history will remember Joe Biden as not just a quitter, which he is, but as one of the worst presidents in the history of the United States of America.” But he added that “Kamala Harris is a million times worse and everybody knows it.”
July 23, 2024 5:03 am
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — At least 146 people were killed in mudslides in a remote part of Ethiopia that has been hit with heavy rainfall, according to local authorities. Young children and pregnant women were among the victims of the mudslides in the Kencho Shacha Gozdi district of southern Ethiopia, said Dagmawi Ayele, a local administrator. The death toll rose from 55 late Monday to 146 on Tuesday as search operations continued in the area, said Kassahun Abayneh of the Gofa Zone communications office. Gofa Zone is the administrative area in which the the mudslides happened. Landslides are common during Ethiopia’s rainy reason, which started in July and is expected to last until mid-September.
July 22, 2024 2:47 am
On Monday, Governor Josh Shapiro joined U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley, President of the Allegheny-Fayette Labor Council Darrin Kelly and local elected leaders to celebrate the Shapiro Administration securing nearly $400 million to fund efforts to help Pennsylvania companies lower climate emissions while creating good-paying jobs and supporting Pennsylvania’s economy. EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan announced that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has been selected to receive a more than $396 million grant for the Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania (RISE PA) project – 10% of the federal funds available for this program nationwide, making Pennsylvania one of the largest grant winners in the country. The RISE PA program is a part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s application to the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program, part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. “My Administration is taking real action to address climate change while continuing to create energy jobs and grow the economy – and today, I’m proud to announce that thanks to our partnership with the Biden-Harris Administration, Pennsylvania has been awarded $396 million in federal funding to start a new initiative called RISE PA,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “This is one of the largest federal grants Pennsylvania has ever received, and through RISE PA, we will offer grants for companies working to make their operations more efficient. This investment will help us reduce toxic air pollution, create thousands of jobs, invest in our energy sector, and continue Pennsylvania’s legacy of energy leadership.”
