June 20, 2020 4:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s unemployment began sliding down from its pandemic peak in May, even clocking in at below the national rate as payrolls grew by almost 200,000. The state Department of Labor and Industry said Friday that Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 13.1% in May. That’s down 3 percentage points from April’s adjusted rate of 16.1%, its highest rate in over four decades of record-keeping. The national rate was 13.3% in May. Meanwhile, payrolls began rebounding, gaining back about 1 in 5 jobs lost during the pandemic as the number of new infections has slowed, Gov. Tom Wolf has eased social distancing restrictions and many businesses have reopened.
June 20, 2020 4:02 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – With some states taking a fresh look at strengthening measures to hold police officers accountable, lawmakers in Pennsylvania are being urged to join states that make police department records of discipline accessible to the public. The NAACP and ACLU support making those records public. Thus far, no such legislation is part of a reform package put forward by Democratic lawmakers, and a bill advancing in the House of Representatives would require some department-to-department disclosure of discipline records during the hiring process for a police officer. But, it would leave those records out of the public’s reach in Pennsylvania, and the state’s largest police unions are against making those records public.
June 20, 2020 3:47 am
Five young members of the black community organized a Juneteenth Panel on Black Issues. Local elected officials were invited to the LeMoyne Community Center to attend a panel discussion on several topics that the age 20 something residents felt the need to address. Kierra King, Faith McClendon, Zhiere Patmon, A’Shon Burgess and Ahmad Morris-Walker worked to organize the discussion with State Senator Carmen Bartolotta (R-46) and State Representatives Tim O‘Neal (R-48), Jason Ortitay (R-46) and Pam Snyder (D-50). Issues surrounding police reform, equality in health care, upward mobility in the workplace, voting rights and better education of the history of black people in America were topics raised during the discussion. Both the panel and the elected officials agreed that this is an important first step and that follow up discussions need to take place. Two key absences were noted by the organizers. State Representative Bud Cook (R-49) and United States Congressman Guy Reschenthaler (R-14) did not respond to nor attend the event. These same youth organizers will attend a demonstration Saturday June 20 in Canonsburg.
June 19, 2020 5:53 pm
Washington City Treasurer Tony Nicolella announced on Friday that the city would be waiving all late fees related to solid waste bills and property taxes amid the coronavirus pandemic. Nicolella told WJPA News that the city recognizes that things may still be difficult for some residents and they hope that they can alleviate some of the burden by waiving, through the end of the year, late fees on solid waste bills and property taxes. Nicolella says the waiver of those fees should not have any impact on the city’s revenues.
June 19, 2020 4:27 pm
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A traditional day of celebration has turned into one of protest, as Americans mark Juneteenth. The holiday long commemorated the emancipation of enslaved African Americans but has burst into the national conversation this year after nationwide demonstrations against police brutality and racism. In addition to the traditional cookouts and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, Americans were marching Friday, holding sit-ins or car caravan protests. Events were expected to be held in every major American city. Former President Abraham Lincoln first issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, but it wasn’t enforced in many places until after the Civil War ended in April 1865. Word didn’t reach the last enslaved black people until June 19 that year.
June 19, 2020 1:46 pm
(AP) – Colgate, Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Butterworth are the latest brands reckoning with racially charged logos. New York-based Colgate-Palmolive say it’s reviewing its Darlie toothpaste brand, which is popular in Asia. Prior to 1989, the brand was known as Darkie and featured a singer in blackface as its logo. New Jersey-based B&G Foods, which makes Cream of Wheat hot cereal, said it’s reviewing its logo, which features a smiling black chef holding a bowl of cereal. And Chicago-based Conagra Brands says its female-shaped Mrs. Butterworth’s bottles are intended to evoke a “loving grandmother.” But the company said the packaging could be misinterpreted. The soul-searching comes in the wake of PepsiCo’s announcement that it’s renaming its Aunt Jemima syrup brand.
June 19, 2020 9:54 am
LONDON (AP) – Ian Holm, the acclaimed British actor whose long career included roles in “Chariots of Fire” and “The Lord of the Rings” has died. He was 88. Holm’s agent said he died peacefully Friday at a hospital, surrounded by his family and carer. His illness was Parkinson’s related. A star of stage and screen, Holm won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor as Lenny in The Homecoming in 1967. áAn established figure in the Royal Shakespeare Company, he won a Laurence Olivier Best Actor Award for his performance in the title role of King Lear in 1998.
June 19, 2020 9:13 am
LONDON (AP) – Twitter has slapped another label on a tweet by President Donald Trump, this time warning that a video he shared was manipulated. The move escalates the social media company’s crackdown on one of its most widely followed users. Twitter took the rare step of adding a warning that the video was “manipulated media” and linked to a page that said multiple journalists confirmed the clip was edited to make it look like a CNN broadcast. The doctored clip used footage from a video that went viral last year of two toddlers, one black, one white, which CNN used for a story it did on the boys’ friendship.
June 19, 2020 7:53 am
The operator of the Meadows Racetrack and Casino is preparing to furlough as many as 180 employees at the North Strabane Township facility. Penn National Gaming, Inc. has informed the state Department of Labor and Industry of the planned furloughs effective August 15. It was reported through the federal ‘Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act’ that requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 calendar days of notice of any closing or mass layoffs. Those furloughs are among more than 26,000 employees that Penn National had to furlough during the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the reopening, the company says they “will not be able to resume normal operations for the foreseeable future.” Penn National operates more than forty gaming and racing facilities. Officials say they have informed team members that their furloughs “may be converted to a permanent layoff”. However, they also say it does not necessarily mean that all of those team members will be laid off.
June 19, 2020 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Washington Post reported that a State Department official resigned Thursday over President Donald Trump’s response to racial tensions sweeping the country over the killings of black people by police. Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, said in her resignation letter that Trump’s actions “cut sharply against my core values and convictions.” At 30, Taylor was the youngest person to hold her position, and she was also the first black woman in the job, according to the Post. Taylor’s resignation follows weeks of turmoil sweeping the United States following the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
