June 30, 2019 11:00 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has signed a $34 billion compromise state budget after lawmakers wrapped up the week with a flurry of votes. Wolf made the announcement Friday, shortly after the GOP-controlled Legislature took its final votes and adjourned for the summer. The budget includes more money for education and doesn’t raise sales or income taxes. Wolf calls it a product of ‘divided government’ amid criticism from his fellow Democrats.
June 26, 2019 2:30 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The opening debates by Democrats running for president will feature 60-second answers, a prime-time television audience in the millions, and a chance for little-known candidates to introduce themselves to voters. Tuesday night’s session and the second night Wednesday are expected to be exercises in competitive sound bites as the candidates set out to convey their plans for the nation, throw a few elbows and sharpen what’s been a blur of a race so far for many Americans. Each two-hour debate will have 10 candidates hoping to oust President Donald Trump in 2020. The hopefuls range widely in age, sex and backgrounds and include a former vice president, six women and a pair of mayors. The debates will be carried at 9 p.m. Eastern on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo.
June 17, 2019 3:16 pm
CLAIRTON, Pa. (AP) – Health officials in western Pennsylvania say a fire at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works has shut down pollution control systems, and residents are being warned about possible elevated levels of sulfur dioxide. U.S. Steel reported no injuries after the fire in an electrical breaker panel shortly after 4:30 a.m. Monday. The Allegheny County health department says the fire shut down three control rooms, and two are still not running. They house equipment used to operate pollution controls, including desulfurization. Officials say the elderly, parents of children and people with respiratory conditions should be aware that elevated levels of sulfur dioxide are possible until the control rooms are running again. The same two control rooms were damaged in a Christmas Eve fire that caused about $40 million in damage.
June 4, 2019 2:21 am
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) – Virginia’s Republican House speaker is calling the Democratic governor’s call for a special session on gun control “hasty and suspect” in the wake of Friday’s mass shooting in Virginia Beach, and he says it’s “more likely to inflame political tensions” than produce real changes that keep people safe. Gov. Ralph Northam is proposing a series of violence prevention measures. In response, Speaker Kirk Cox says the GOP will seek tougher punishments for people who commit acts of violence. Cox’s statement says “Republicans will put forward a package of legislation to stiffen penalties for those who use firearms to commit crimes.” He says addressing gun violence “starts with holding criminals responsible for their actions, not infringing on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.”
June 4, 2019 2:20 am
MIAMI (AP) – Prosecutors say the Florida deputy who failed to confront a gunman during last year’s Parkland massacre has been arrested on 11 charges. State Attorney Mike Satz announced Tuesday that 56-year-old Scot Peterson faces child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury charges stemming from his actions during the shooting. Peterson, then a Broward County deputy, was on duty during the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School but never went inside. Satz says the charges carry a combined prison sentence of nearly 100 years. Peterson’s bail was set at $102,000. A Peterson lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Twenty-year-old Nikolas Cruz faces the death penalty if convicted of killing 17 people and wounding 17 others in the attack. He has offered to plead guilty in return for a life sentence, but prosecutors have refused that offer.
June 4, 2019 2:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he hopes President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on Mexico are avoided, saying Republicans are “not fans of tariffs.” The Kentucky Republican told reporters he’s hopeful that U.S. talks with a Mexican delegation will be “fruitful” and that the tariffs “will not kick in.” He added that “there’s not much support in my conference for tariffs, that’s for sure.” Trump is threatening to impose a 5% tariff on Mexican imports next week unless the country does more to stem illegal migration. Some Republicans have talked of trying to block the tariffs, a move Trump warned would be “foolish.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he believes Trump will ultimately back down on the tariffs “when he sees what a dumb move he has made.”
June 4, 2019 2:19 am
LONDON (AP) – Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has held a meeting with President Donald Trump at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in London. Farage was photographed being driven into Winfield House on Tuesday afternoon. He later tweeted: “Good meeting with President Trump – he really believes in Brexit and is loving his trip to London.” Farage has campaigned for years to take Britain out of the European Union and is one of Trump’s most prominent British supporters. The president has called Farage a friend. Farage’s newly founded Brexit Party was the big winner in last month’s European Parliament elections in Britain, scooping up support from voters angry that the U.K. has not left the EU. He has criticized Prime Minister Theresa May’s divorce deal with the bloc and said Britain should leave the EU without an agreement. Trump praised May’s handling of Brexit on Tuesday, saying she had gotten a good deal. (Photo: CNN)
June 4, 2019 2:18 am
WEST ALEXANDER, Pa. – (WPXI) – One person is going to be feeling green after realizing the lottery ticket they bought in Washington County is a winner. The winning Extreme Green ticket worth $707,900 was sold at Berghoff Equipment & Towing Inc. on Old Brick Road in West Alexander. The Pennsylvania Lottery says Extreme Green is a $20 Fast Play game that has immediate results without having to scratch a ticket or wait for a drawing. The winner has not yet been identified.
June 4, 2019 2:17 am
Cecil Township Supervisors have approved a plan put forth by Traditions of America to develop a 191 acre tract of land on Hahn Rd. The development is an age restricted development that when completed will have 352 single family detached homes. The plan will be built in seven phases and phase one was granted approval. In audience commentary after the business meeting, N. Depaoli Rd. resident Michelle Stonemark expressed her continuing concerns about a Range Resources well pad proposed 600 feet from her home. Stonemark brought to the attention of supervisors a case decided on May 31, 2019 allowing testimony from neighboring communities as pertinent evidence when considering the allowance of a gas well pad as a permitted use. The well pad in question off Depaoli Rd is the Augustine Pad and will be operated by Range Resources.
June 4, 2019 2:17 am
A Washington County Court Judge has lifted an injunction that prevented the publication of a settlement agreement between Range Resources and a group of Amwell Township residents over claims that their operations damaged their health. The terms of the settlement, made in August of 2018, were revealed Tuesday after Range Resources agreed to make its portion of the agreement public. President Judge Katherine Emery then vacated her temporary injunction that had barred publication of the agreement terms that were mistakenly made available to WESA reporter Reid Frazier because of a computer glitch in the Washington County Prothonotary’ s office. David Strassburger, Frazier’s attorney, said he was pleased with the outcome of the hearing, calling it a victory for first amendment rights for the media. The document revealed that Range Resources and ten other companies involved in developing the Jager shale gas well site in Amwell Township paid Stacy Haney and her neighbors three-million-dollars to settle their claims that the well damaged their health.
