December 16, 2019 4:03 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – U.S. Steel Corp. is agreeing to pay $8.5 million to settle a 2017 class-action lawsuit that accused the steelmaker of negligence in allowing air pollution emissions from its Clairton Coke Works. The proposed agreement was filed in Allegheny County Court and a hearing on it is scheduled for Feb. 24. Under the settlement agreement, U.S. Steel must spend at least $6.5 million to reduce soot emissions and noxious odors from the the Clairton coke-making facility. áThe remaining $2 million would go to area residents and their lawyers. The company is facing other lawsuits over pollution from the Clairton facility.
December 16, 2019 2:06 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) — The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Saturday the merging of dozens of parishes. Twenty-six parishes will be part of the mergers when they take place Jan. 6, 2020. In total, eight new parishes are being created. “For more than a year, you have journeyed together on a road that is intended to unite you on the mission to bring the Good News of Jesus to your neighbors and to strengthen all of you in faith,” Bishop David Zubik wrote in a letter to be read or distributed in those parishes at this weekend’s Masses.
The eight new parishes are:
- Archangel Gabriel(Kennedy/McKees Rocks/Robinson), which brings together the parishes of Holy Trinity (Robinson), Saint John of God (McKees Rocks) and Saint Malachy (Kennedy).
- Christ the Divine Shepherd(Monroeville/Penn Hills), which brings together the parishes of Saint Bartholomew (Penn Hills), Saint Bernadette (Monroeville), Saint Gerard Majella (Penn Hills), North American Martyrs (Monroeville) and Saint Susanna (Penn Hills).
- Corpus Christi(Bridgeville/Cecil), which brings together the parishes of Saint Barbara (Bridgeville), Holy Child (Bridgeville) and Saint Mary (Cecil).
- Divine Mercy(City Center/Hill District), which brings together the parishes of Saint Benedict the Moor (Hill District), Epiphany (Uptown) and Saint Mary of Mercy (The Point/Gateway Center).
- Divine Redeemer(Aleppo/Sewickley), which brings together the parishes of Saint James (Sewickley) and Saint Mary (Aleppo).
- Mary, Mother of God(McKeesport/North Versailles/Versailles/White Oak), which brings together the parishes of Saint Angela Merici (White Oak), Corpus Christi (McKeesport), Saint Patrick (McKeesport, Versailles) and Saint Robert Bellarmine (East McKeesport).
- Saint Andrew the Apostle(Charleroi/Donora/Monongahela), which brings together the parishes of Saint Damien of Molokai (Monongahela), Mary, Mother of the Church (Charleroi) and Our Lady of the Valley (Donora).
- Saint Mary Magdalene(East End/Point Breeze/Wilkinsburg), which brings together the parishes of Saint Bede (Point Breeze), Saint Charles Lwanga (East End) and Saint James (Wilkinsburg).
The diocese says no buildings will close at this time and it’s still deciding which ones the new parishes will use.
December 15, 2019 8:23 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s opposition to Pacific Gas & Electric’s restructuring plan is forcing the nation’s largest utility to go back to the negotiating table and come up with a solution quickly. Just last week, the San Francisco-based company struck a $13.5 billion settlement with thousands of people who lost homes, businesses and family members in a series of devastating fires that drove PG&E into bankruptcy. The utility filed an amended reorganization plan after striking a settlement with the victims. But Newsom said Friday the plan didn’t go far enough in addressing what he considers its most important elements: providing safe and reliable power to PG&E customers. Now, the company has until Tuesday to appease Newsom and get him to sign off on the plan.
December 15, 2019 8:21 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexico is objecting to legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress as part of an eventual ratification of the recently agreed trade deal to replace NAFTA. Just days after the Dec. 10 signing ceremony, Mexico is unhappy with language designating up to five U.S. labor attaches in Mexico “tasked with monitoring the implementation” of a labor reform. A top Foreign Relations Department official says Mexico considers that “unnecessary and redundant” and is not in agreement. Jesús Seade says he sent a letter to that effect to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and will travel to Washington on Sunday to convey the message in person.
December 15, 2019 8:20 am
BEIJING (AP) – China is postponing punitive tariffs on U.S.-made automobiles and other goods following an interim trade deal with Washington. Sunday’s announcement came after Washington agreed to postpone a planned tariff hike on $160 billion of Chinese goods and to cut in half penalties that already were imposed. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said China committed to buy $40 billion of American farm products. He said Beijing also promised to end its long-standing practice of pressuring companies to hand over technology. Duties that had been due to take effect Sunday included 25% on autos and 10% or 5% on other goods.
December 15, 2019 8:18 am
BEIRUT (AP) – Lebanon’s official news agency says attackers in the country’s north set fire to the offices of two major political parties. The assaults come just hours after a violent government crackdown on protesters rocked the capital, Beirut, throughout the night. It was the worst crackdown by the government since nationwide demonstrations began two months ago. The National News Agency said the local offices for resigned Prime Minister Saad Hariri were ransacked and burned Sunday morning. A separate attack also torched a local office of current President Michel Aoun. Lebanon’s protest movement is accusing the ruling political class of mismanagement and corruption. They’re calling for a government unaffiliated with established political parties.
December 15, 2019 8:18 am
UNDATED (AP) – Several thousand people have turned out in Hong Kong in an unusual display of support for the police force, criticized as abusive by the city’s protest movement. People shouted words of thanks at officers, with some calling them heroes for policing six months of pro-democracy demonstrations. The rally in a waterfront park attracted a bigger crowd than a protest against the government a few hundred meters away. It brought together a few hundred people in a square. There were also scattered small protests in shopping malls. Tensions flared in one mall after police arrested about eight protesters. Police used pepper spray when people threw bottles of water at them.
December 15, 2019 8:17 am
LONDON (AP) – Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has apologized to supporters for the crushing defeat in the British general election. But he has defended his campaign – which failed to resonate with the party’s working-class base – as “one of hope rather than fear.” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party won 365 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons in Thursday’s landslide election. Labour took 203 seats, its worst total since 1935. Corbyn writes in a letter in a left-leaning British newspaper on Sunday that, “I’m sorry that we came up short and I take my responsibility for it.”
December 15, 2019 8:16 am
DAVAO, Philippines (AP) – A strong earthquake has jolted the southern Philippines, leaving at least one person dead and causing a three-story building to collapse. Searchers were looking for an unspecified number of people who were feared to have been trapped inside the building. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the magnitude 6.9 quake struck an area about 6 kilometers northwest of Padada town in Davao del Sur province. It hit a region that has been battered by a series of powerful quakes in recent months. Officials said a child died in a village in Davao del Sur’s Matanao town when a wall of her house tumbled down as the ground shook on Sunday and hit her in the head.
December 15, 2019 8:12 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) — Nearly every major presidential candidate on the Democratic side was in Pittsburgh on Saturday at the convention center talking about an issue some feel has been overlooked: education. Seven of the Democratic presidential candidates spoke directly to more than 1,000 educators and students about public education as part of a forum hosted by MSNBC at the convention center downtown. Organizers say they chose Pittsburgh to host the forum for convenience for the candidates and because Pennsylvania is a critical battleground state. But National Education Association President Lily Eskesen Garcia says the forum was about more than just welcoming the candidates. For some of these candidates, it was their first time in Western Pennsylvania, but it likely won’t be their last. Pennsylvania is a critical battleground state, which means they will be making plenty of visits here before the April 2020 primary. The Republican National Committee released a statement about Saturday’s education forum saying: “While Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg campaign on socialist policies that will harm hardworking Pennsylvanians, President Trump continues to fight for Americans with policies that have delivered a stronger economy and a better trader deal to the state.”
