July 2, 2019 6:47 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Legislation to help Pennsylvania agriculture is going into effect, including measures to foster younger farmers, help clean water going into Chesapeake Bay and expand butchering services for small farmers. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf signed eight related farm bills in the Capitol on Monday as he was flanked by state presidents of the Future Farmers of America and the 4-H. The $23 million initiative includes funding for agricultural business development, marketing, educational programs and conservation practices. Money will also go to encourage specialty products such as hardwood, hemp and hops, and to build agricultural infrastructure in urban areas. State Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding calls it “the most comprehensive investment in agriculture in a generation.”
July 2, 2019 4:18 am
PITTSBURGH – (WPXI) – Six NICU patients and six staff members have tested positive for MRSA at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. UPMC announced the discovery Monday afternoon. The hospital said all of the patents have been tested MRSA, also known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Only one of the six patients that tested positive was symptomatic. According to the hospital a portion of the population carries MRSA but never has symptoms. “UPMC always follows CDC guidelines, and isolation protocols and infection control procedures are in place. We immediately notified the Allegheny County Health Department and Pennsylvania Department of Health,” a statement from the hospital said.
July 2, 2019 4:13 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – The case of a decorated Navy SEAL charged with murder and other crimes in Iraq is in the hands of a jury. Jurors in San Diego will resume deliberations Tuesday in the court-martial of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, who is accused of killing a wounded war prisoner in Iraq in 2017. He has pleaded not guilty. Closing arguments wrapped up Monday with a military prosecutor asserting that the proof of Gallagher’s guilt is his own words, his own photos and the testimony of his fellow troops. Defense lawyers called the case a “mutiny” by entitled, junior SEALs trying to oust a demanding chief. The jury is made up of five Marines and two sailors, including a SEAL, many of whom had been in heavy combat in Iraq.
July 2, 2019 4:10 am
NEW YORK (AP) – President Donald Trump has accused New York’s Democratic governor and attorney general of going after him in a “political Witch Hunt.” In several tweets Monday, Trump accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Letitia James of “harassing all of my New York businesses in search of anything at all they can find to make me look as bad as possible.”
He said Cuomo “uses his Attorney General as a bludgeoning tool.” James is suing the Trump Foundation, saying it was improperly involved in the president’s political campaign and private business affairs. She is also investigating whether Trump gave misleading information to banks. James responded on Twitter that “no one is above the law.” Cuomo told reporters Trump is letting “his paranoia” get the better of him.
July 2, 2019 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – At least two Army tanks have arrived in Washington ahead of a Fourth of July celebration that President Donald Trump says will include military hardware. An Associated Press photographer says the two M1A1 Abrams tanks are with four other military vehicles on a freight train in a railyard at the southeastern edge of Washington. The vehicles are being guarded by military police but are visible to passersby on nearby paths. A military official earlier told the AP that the tanks were transported north from Fort Stewart in Georgia. Trump told reporters Monday that the tanks will be stationed outside the Fourth of July celebration but has not given details on how they will be used.
July 2, 2019 4:08 am
VIENNA (AP) – Iran’s foreign minister is expressing his exasperation over a White House statement on his country’s nuclear program. Mohammad Javad Zarif simply wrote early Tuesday on Twitter: “Seriously?” That was in response to a White House statement late Monday claiming: “There is little doubt that even before the deal’s existence, Iran was violating its terms.” The White House did not elaborate on how Iran could break the terms of the deal that had yet to be implemented. Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers saw it limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the accord last year. On Monday, officials acknowledged Iran broke through the limit the deal placed on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium.
July 2, 2019 4:02 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – State environmental regulators are moving to shut down a coke plant in northwestern Pennsylvania, citing “years of numerous repetitive environmental violations.” The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said Monday it has denied Erie Coke Corporation’s application to renew its operating permit and filed a complaint in Erie County Court to shut down the plant. The department said it had received “persistent complaints” from the community for more than a decade, but although Erie Coke had been given many opportunities to address the violations, the “frequency and severity” of the violations had only increased. Ed Nesselbeck, Erie Coke Environmental Director, told the Erie Times-News that the company was reviewing the department’s statement. He told WICU-TV last week that environmental compliance “though challenging, will be doable” and asked for “cooperation and patience.”
July 2, 2019 4:00 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania is broadening a college tuition benefit for National Guard members who sign up for another six-year enlistment. Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday signed legislation he calls the nation’s most extensive higher education benefit for a state Guard unit . Since 1996, National Guard members who sign up for a six-year enlistment get 10 semesters, or five years, of tuition credits equal to the annual tuition rate charged by Pennsylvania’s state system universities. The new reenlistment benefit is identical, but can also be used by spouses or children.
The institution must be approved by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. The benefit starts immediately for Guard members. Family members can start claiming the benefit next summer. The new benefit is projected to cost about $12 million annually by 2024.
July 2, 2019 3:58 am
A run of the mill Supervisors meeting in Cecil Township turned out to be anything but that on Monday night. After all of the agenda items listed had been voted on, Supervisor Frank Egizio called for the immediate reorganization of the board. In a 3-2 vote, Chairman Eric Sivavec was voted out and Vice Chair Cindy Fisher was voted the new Chairperson. The main issue causing the vote was a lawsuit filed by Supervisor Tom Casciola against the other supervisors. Casciola maintains that the Sunshine Act was violated by what he describes as the firing of environmental attorneys working with the township on the purchase of the 87 acre ABB property in Muse. Egizio is upset that he and his colleagues must defend this suit and felt the board needed to go in a different direction. In her first order of business, Fisher presided over an audience comment period that lasted over 90 minutes. The comments came from more than 60 residents of the Windsor Woods community. They are concerned about the health risks and road destruction that could come about if Range Resources is allowed to develop the Augustine well pad. Diane DiDinardi, spokesperson for the residents of Windsor Woods was quite clear in her comments letting supervisors know that they do not want fracking taking place only 1000 feet from their homes. Supervisors were not able to comment as one resident is already suing the township over this issue and the solicitor advised them that they could not say anything as the issue proceeds through the courts.
July 1, 2019 5:27 pm
ELLENTON, Fla. (AP) – A Pennsylvania man says his 77-year-old mother contracted flesh-eating bacteria and died nearly two weeks after she fell and scraped her leg while walking on a Florida beach. Wade Fleming told The Associated Press on Monday that Lynn Fleming, who retired to Florida’s Gulf Coast, stumbled and fell into the water on Coquina Beach while her family was visiting from Pittsburgh. The wound swelled up and continued to bleed, leading her to urgent care where she was prescribed antibiotics and given a tetanus shot. The next day friends found her semi-conscious in her home and rushed her to a hospital. She was diagnosed with the flesh-eating disease and died Thursday after suffering two strokes and organ failure, almost two weeks after her injury. Coquina Beach is south of Tampa.
