September 5, 2024 8:57 am
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remain relatively low despite other signs of labor market cooling. Jobless claims fell by 5,000 to 227,000 for the week of Aug. 31, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s less than the 230,000 new filings analysts were expecting. The four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 1,750 to 230,000. Weekly filings for unemployment benefits, which are considered a proxy for layoffs, remain low by historic standards. The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits declined by 22,000 to 1.84 million for the week of Aug. 24.
September 5, 2024 6:42 am
Cecil Township Supervisors held a fourth public hearing and revealed a brand new proposal for its oil and gas ordinance revision. This version differs radically from what had been proposed previously. Setbacks for drilling operations will be 2500 feet for protected structures, 5000 feet from schools. Gone are the zoning maps and overlay districts for possible drilling sites and finally, a waiver option to drill within the 2500 foot setback will be introduced. According to Supervisor Chairman Tom Casciola, the waiver will allow a property owner to permit drilling on their property within the 2500 foot setback as long as that property owner gets a waiver from all other property owners that would be inside that 2500 foot radius. Remaining from previous versions are sound and vibration regulations, stricter than what exist in the current ordinance. A special voting session took place just after the hearing to approve those changes and direct the solicitor to draft an ordinance to reflect those changes and to set a new public hearing date. The vote on both measures passed 3-2. Supervisors Tom Casciola, Frank Egizio and Cindy Fisher voted in favor. Supervisors Darlene Barni and Bill Ciaffoni voted against the changes. When asked for her reason for voting against the measure, Barni said “three words, illegal, exclusionary and it’s against the state law.” It is to be noted that Barni does have a business relationship with Range Resources, the dominant drilling company in Cecil Township. A new hearing date and possible vote will occur on November 4.
September 5, 2024 2:14 am
The Corning Ware/Anchor Hocking Plant in Charleroi will be shutting down by the end of the year. Employees there say they were given the news by their chief executive officer. The closure will affect about 325 jobs. The CEO reportedly told employees that 150 positions would be moved to their plant in Ohio. Charleroi Borough Council President Kristen Hopkins-Calcek tells WJPA that this is a very sad day for the community. This is the second business in Charleroi to close. Quality Pasta Company near the plant shut down as well, leaving some one-hundred people without jobs.
September 4, 2024 2:27 am
A Washington man will face trial on charges of arson and reckless endangerment. Christopher Collins, 46 waived his charges to court at his preliminary hearing. According to the criminal complaint, on August 23, Collins set fire to his apartment at 430 W. Chestnut St. and then turned himself in to Washington police admitting to what he had done. He told police that he was mad at his landlord because people in neighboring apartments were carrying on and partying loudly keeping him awake. He continued to tell police that he did not want to hurt anyone, he just wanted to burn down the building. Collins is in the Washington County Jail on $100,000 bond. He will be arraigned on October 24.
September 4, 2024 2:51 am
(WPXI) – A former doctor at UPMC Children’s Hospital has been charged with child sex crimes. Ashok Panigrahy, 53, is charged with transporting and possessing material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, the Department of Justice said. Panigrahy was radiologist-in-chief and a John F. Caffey Endowed Chair in pediatric radiology with UPMC. UPMC officials said Panigrahy was placed on administrative leave in November after the company learned about the investigation. His employment was then terminated.
September 4, 2024 4:50 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Kamala Harris will stay in Pittsburgh while preparing for next week’s Presidential debate. Harris is scheduled to arrive in Pittsburgh on Thursday and will stay in the city until she flies to Philadelphia for her first debate with former President Donald Trump on Tuesday night. The Vice President was last in Pittsburgh on Monday, where she visited with union members and opposed the sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel. This upcoming trip is her 10th visit to Pittsburgh. No further details about her activities while in the city have been released.
September 5, 2024 4:57 am
WINDER, Ga. (AP) — The teen charged with opening fire at a Georgia high school denied threatening to carry out a school shooting when authorities interviewed him last year about a menacing post on the social media site Discord. That’s according to a sheriff’s report obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum told AP her investigators did all they could, but there was insufficient evidence to justify an arrest. The 14-year-old suspect was charged as an adult in the shooting Wednesday at Apalachee High School outside Atlanta. Four people were killed and nine wounded. The suspect is accused of using an assault-style rifle to kill two students and two teachers in the hallway outside his algebra classroom.
September 5, 2024 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal election interference case against Donald Trump has inched forward. A judge permitted prosecutors to file court documents later this month that could detail unflattering allegations about the former president as the Republican nominee enters the final weeks of his White House run. The order came hours after a court hearing, the first in the case in nearly a year, in which U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan sparred with a Trump lawyer who accused the government of trying to rush ahead with an “illegitimate” indictment in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. Chutkan made clear she would not let the upcoming election affect how she proceeds, turning aside defense efforts to delay the process while also acknowledging that the case is nowhere close to a trial date.
September 5, 2024 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers posted fewer job openings in July than they had the previous month, a sign that hiring could further cool in the coming months. There were 7.7 million open jobs in July, down from 7.9 million in June and the fewest since January 2021. Openings have fallen steadily this year. Layoffs rose from 1.56 million to 1.76 million, the most since March 2023, though that level of job cuts is roughly consistent with pre-pandemic levels, when the unemployment rate was historically low. Layoffs have been unusually low since the economy’s rapid recovery from the pandemic recession, with many employers intent on holding onto their workers. Overall, Wednesday’s report painted a mixed picture of the job market.
September 5, 2024 4:57 am
Palestinian health officials say Israeli strikes in the occupied West Bank killed five people, including the son of a prominent jailed militant. Israel has been carrying out large-scale raids in the territory over the past week that it says are aimed at dismantling militant groups and preventing attacks. The Palestinians fear a widening of the war in Gaza. The strikes overnight in the northern West Bank town of Tubas killed five people, including Mohammed Zubeidi, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Thursday. His father, Zakaria Zubeidi, was a well-known militant commander during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s and took part in a rare jail break in 2021 before being arrested and returned to prison days later.
