December 19, 2019 5:26 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is insisting that before she will send the Republican Senate the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, GOP leaders must provide more detail about how they will handle the expected trial. At the same time, the top Senate Republican is denouncing the impeachment and reassuring the president’s supporters that the Senate’s best role would be to get things calmed down so the nation can move on. Even if Pelosi gains some leverage with her procedural tactics, Trump would be expected to win a relatively rapid acquittal in the Republican-majority chamber.
December 19, 2019 5:21 pm
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – A coke plant in northwestern Pennsylvania has shut down. Erie Coke turned away employees who showed up for work Thursday morning. The company has faced mounting regulatory pressure over its environmental record. The city of Erie had recently forced Erie Coke to halt the discharge of wastewater into the municipal sewer system. That came after Pennsylvania environmental officials denied the renewal of the company’s operating permit and took legal action to get the plant shutdown, citing years of environmental violations. Erie Coke employed more than 130 people at the plant, which produces a key ingredient in the steelmaking process.
December 19, 2019 8:46 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate has voted to advance a $1.4 trillion government spending package. It’s a last, bipartisan burst of legislating before the end-of-the-year holidays. The legislation gives President Donald Trump a victory on his U.S.-Mexico border fence. It also gives Democrats long-sought domestic spending increases and a repeal of Obama-era taxes on high-cost health insurance plans. The first bill in the two-bill package passed easily Thursday by a 71-23 vote. A vote on a Pentagon and homeland security measure is expected later Thursday. The compromise bill would avert a possible government shutdown this weekend.
December 19, 2019 5:38 am
No injuries are reported following a fire early Thursday morning in Marianna. Washington County 9-1-1 says the blaze broke out around 12:30 a.m. in the one-thousand block of Oak Street. Firefighters battled the flames and the bitter cold temperatures for some time. There is no word on what may have caused the fire. No other information is being released at this time.
December 19, 2019 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania is enacting legislation that’s designed to improve how it handles nonviolent offenders in a continuing effort to reduce the state’s prison population. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, signed the two-bill package Wednesday, shortly after the Republican-controlled Senate approved the bills. The GOP-controlled House did the same a day earlier. Key provisions involve getting nonviolent offendersáonto parole faster and helping get more nonviolent offendersáinto addiction treatment programs that are shown to lower recidivism. Elements of the legislation, however, were promptedáby a spate of five parolees being arrested over the summer for homicide, most with connections to domestic violence.
December 19, 2019 4:13 am
NEW COLUMBIA, Pa. (AP) – A section of Interstate 80 remains closed in central Pennsylvania hours after a multi-vehicle wreck in snow squalls left two people dead and dozens injured. Westbound traffic is being diverted Thursday while tow trucks remove 15 to 20 cars and trucks. State transportation officials say the crash was reported at about 1 p.m. Wednesday on I-80 in White Deer Township as blinding snow made the highway slick. Union County’s coroner confirmed a fatality and the Montour County coroner said a second person died at a hospital. The interstate was closed for 34 miles in both directions until eastbound lanes reopened five hours later. (Photo: Accuweather)
December 19, 2019 4:12 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A federal judge decides next year on a second trial in the case of a man accused of having set a Pittsburgh fire that killed three firefighters almost a quarter of a century ago. Forty-two-year-old Gregory Brown was sentenced to life in the Valentine’s Day 1995 fire but won a new trial. His attorneys say a federal trial violates double jeopardy. Prosecutors say the state and federal systems represent different jurisdictions. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the judge told both sides to submit briefs by mid-February, but he says the defense appears to be “trying to create” a new legal standard.
December 19, 2019 4:08 am
(AP) – Health officials investigating a food poisoning outbreak say pregnant women, people over the age of 65 and people with weakened immune systems should avoid store-bought hard-boiled eggs. The listeria outbreak has been linked to a Georgia company, Almark Foods. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says seven people in five states have been reported ill so far. That includes one death in Texas. The agency says its investigation indicates peeled, hard-boiled eggs sold in bulk to food service operators are a likely source. The warning does not apply to the company’s hard-boiled eggs sold directly to consumers.
December 19, 2019 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – States should soon be receiving a last-minute infusion of federal funds to help boost election security. áA huge spending bill that Congress is expected to send to President Donald Trump this week sets aside $425 million for states to upgrade voting equipment, conduct post-election audits, hold cybersecurity training and take other steps to secure elections. Advocates say the funds are welcome but Congress must still do more to secure next year’s elections. States have been scrambling to shore up their systems. The nation’s intelligence chiefs have warned that Russia and others remain interested in attempting to interfere in U.S. elections and undermine democracy.
December 19, 2019 4:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. House has impeached President Donald Trump on two charges, sending his case to the Senate for trial in January to decide whether to remove him from office. The articles of impeachment accuse him of abusing the power of the presidency to investigate a political rival ahead of the 2020 election and then obstructing Congress’ investigation. Trump becomes the third president in U.S. history to be impeached. Democrats control the House, and the voting was almost entirely along party lines. The Senate is controlled by Trump’s Republican Party, and it is almost certain he will be acquitted there. He proclaims his innocence daily, and says the Democrats will pay a price for impeaching him.
