November 25, 2019 2:53 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania state lawmakers, judges and top executive branch officials will collect another annual salary increase, with the governor passing $200,000 and rank-and-file lawmakers passing $90,000. Increases for 2020 will be 1.9%, a figure tied by law to the year-over-year regional change in consumer inflation. The boost takes effect Dec. 1 for lawmakers and Jan. 1 for judicial and executive branch officials. Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Saylor is highest-paid, pulling down a $4,000 raise to just above $221,000. Gov. Tom Wolf’s salary will rise about $3,800 to almost $202,000, although he donates it to charity. Both are among the nation’s highest. Most lawmakers, the nation’s third-highest paid, will see increases of $1,725 to about $90,300 in base pay. They also receive per diems, pensions and health benefits, while lawmakers in leadership posts will top out at $141,000.
November 25, 2019 2:51 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Go ahead and rinse your cranberries, potatoes and green beans. But food safety experts say don’t – repeat don’t – wash the turkey before popping it in the oven on Thanksgiving Day. Germs that sicken people can come from all sorts of foods, but a lot of the advice around the country’s biggest eating holiday focuses on how turkeys should be handled. Food safety experts say raw turkeys shouldn’t be washed since that can spread harmful bacteria. Cooking should kill any germs. But bacteria can still spread in other ways, so washing and sanitizing hands and surfaces are still important. To ensure turkeys are properly cooked, experts also say people should use a thermometer to check that the deepest and thickest parts of the bird are 165 degrees…and leftovers should be refrigerated within two hours.
November 25, 2019 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House undertook a confidential review of documents that revealed extensive efforts to generate an after-the-fact justification for President Donald Trump’s decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine. That from the Washington Post on Sunday. The Post, citing three people familiar with the records, said the research was conducted by the White House Counsel’s Office. Among the hundreds of documents found were email exchanges between acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and White House budget officials seeking to provide an explanation for the withholding of nearly $400 million in security assistance. The Post said a person briefed on the records examination said White House lawyers are expressing concern that the review turned up some unflattering and potentially embarrassing exchanges.
November 25, 2019 4:23 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – A Chinese businesswoman could be headed to prison for trespassing at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and lying to federal agents. Prosecutors want Judge Roy Altman to give Yujing Zhang 18 months in prison when he sentences her Monday afternoon. The 33-year-old Shanghai consultant was convicted in September of trespassing at the Florida resort in March and lying to Secret Service agents who confronted her. When Zhang was arrested, she was carrying four cellphones, a computer and an external hard drive, leading to speculation she could be a spy. She was never charged with espionage, though, and text messages presented at trial suggest she is obsessed with Trump. The president was at a golf course when Zhang arrived at Mar-a-Lago.
November 25, 2019 4:22 am
TOKYO (AP) – Pope Francis is denouncing what he called an “epidemic” of bullying that is tormenting young people in Japan and elsewhere. Francis told Japanese students Monday that deep down, “bullies are afraid, and they cover their fear by showing strength.” Francis was responding to testimony from three students who recounted the pressures they face in a hyper-competitive society, their feelings of inadequacy and the cruelty they sometimes face from their classmates that sometimes drives young people to suicide. One, a Filipino, said he had been tormented by a bully because he was a foreigner. Francis told them: “We must all unite against this culture of bullying and learn to say ‘Enough!’ It is an epidemic, and together you can find the best medicine to treat it.”
November 25, 2019 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Defense Secretary Mark Esper has fired the secretary of the Navy in connection with the controversy over a SEAL whose case has been championed by President Donald Trump. A Pentagon spokesman says in a statement Sunday that Esper has lost trust and confidence in Navy Secretary Richard Spencer “regarding his lack of candor” over conversations with the White House involving the handling of the SEAL case. Spokesman Jonathan Hoffman says Spencer submitted his resignation at Esper’s request. Esper has also recommended to Trump a replacement.
November 25, 2019 4:16 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. (AP) – Authorities are investigating the death of a man found on light rail tracks in western Pennsylvania. Allegheny County police say a Port Authority trolley operator spotted a man on the rails at the South Hills Village Station shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday. Police and emergency medical personnel responded, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The county medical examiner’s office identified the man as 56-year-old Mark Setar of Canonsburg. Police said he “was likely struck” by a light rail train and was then spotted by the operator of the next train.
Police say they don’t know how the man came to be on the tracks. Port Authority and county police are reviewing video surveillance from the area. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators.
November 25, 2019 4:14 am
The medical examiner has identified a man and teenager who were shot to death Sunday night in Wilkinsburg. The victims are Jerrell Jeffries, 22, and Elarrah Findley, 18, of Pittsburgh. Police were called about 9 p.m. to Midland Street, where Findley was found lying in the street with multiple gunshot wounds. Jeffries, who was also shot multiple times, was found in a car a little further up the street. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators believe the victims were sitting in the front seat of the car while a third person was in the back seat. Police believe that back seat passenger shot the man, then chased and shot the woman as she ran down the street. A shooter has not been identified, police said. Drugs were found in the car, according to police. “There were stamp bags of suspected heroin or fentanyl in the vehicle, leading us to believe this might have been some sort of drug transaction and potential robbery,” Allegheny County Police Inspector Andrew Schurman said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Allegheny County Police
November 24, 2019 8:23 am
(AP – Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was admitted to a hospital Friday for chills and a fever. Ginsburg, 86, was evaluated at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington before she was transferred to Johns Hopkins Hospital where she will continue to be evaluated and undergo treatment, the court said in a release. Her condition has improved through the use of antibiotics and intravenous fluids. She is expected to be released as soon as Sunday morning. This is not the first health scare for the justice. In August, she was treated for pancreatic cancer. Last year, she underwent treatment to have cancerous nodules removed. Two months before that, she fractured three ribs after falling in her office.
November 24, 2019 8:16 am
Mason Rudolph has reportedly been fined by the NFL for his role in the Steelers-Browns brawl. Rudolph was not suspended for being involved in the fight in the final moments of a “Thursday Night Football” match up against divisional rival, the Cleveland Browns, in which Myles Garrett ripped off his helmet and then smashed Rudolph over the head. The NFL said all discipline doled out to Garrett will be upheld: an indefinite suspension including any remaining games of this current season and fines. Steelers’ center Maurkice Pouncey has had his suspension reduced from three games down to two. Garrett has accused Rudolph of calling him a racial slur prior to the brawl erupting during the game. While the league said there has been no evidence or corroborating information or statements to confirm that accusation, Garrett continues to stand by his allegation. Rudolph has repeatedly denied using a racial slur.
