November 22, 2019 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania is moving to join 18 other states and ban the purchase of cigarettes and other tobacco products by people under 21, although it’s maintaining an exception for military veterans or service members who are at least 18. Gov. Tom Wolf’s office said he’d sign legislation that passed both chambers of the state Legislature on Thursday. Under it, the legal age to buy tobacco products will rise from 18 to 21 in Pennsylvania, unless a person meets the military service exception. The higher age takes effect next July 1. Tobacco products include electronic cigarettes and natural and synthetic nicotine products. The American Lung Association says 50% of the United States’ population already lives in a state or community that has passed a law raising the age to buy tobacco products to 21.
November 22, 2019 2:33 am
State Police have filed charges against Washington County’s Clerk of Courts. Following a months-long investigation into the discovery of more than 96-thousand-dollars that was missing from his office, the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation has filed multiple charges, including theft, against Frank Scandale of Canonsburg. The 51-year-old is charged with a felony count of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, seven misdemeanor counts of theft and one count of misapplication of entrusted property, court records show. The missing money was discovered during an audit in July. County commissioners immediately turned the investigation over to State Police. Scandale was arraigned on the charges Thursday afternoon and was released on one-hundred-thousand-dollars unsecured bond. District Judge Robert Redlinger also ordered him to surrender his passport, if he has one, to the county district attorney’s office. Scandale, a Democrat who ran for re-election in November, lost to Republican Brenda Davis, a former mayor of Washington.
November 21, 2019 1:46 pm
Better check your box of Cheese Nips before you start snacking. Mondelez Global announced that it is recalling some boxes of Cheese Nips because small pieces of plastic may have ended up in the product. The pieces of plastic may have fallen from a food scraper during production. The recall affects 11-ounce boxes of Cheese Nips. The boxes have expiration dates between May 18, 2020 and May 20, 2020. The FDA says no other products are affected and so far there are no reports of injury or sickness.
November 21, 2019 1:41 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – Crews battled a fire at the Winghart’s restaurant in Market Square in Downtown Pittsburgh. Heavy smoke and flames could be seen coming from the roof of the building. According to Allegheny County, neighboring buildings were evacuated. One firefighter has been treated for heat exhaustion, according to a spokesperson for Pittsburgh Public Safety. The fire chief said there were customers inside when the fire start, but they all got out OK. Fire investigators are working to figure out what started the fire. This is the third fire at Winghart’s since 2012.
November 21, 2019 1:17 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – A glitch in Medicare’s revamped prescription plan finder can steer unwitting seniors to coverage that costs much more than they need to pay. People who help with sign-ups and program experts say it can be confusing – and costly – if consumers aren’t careful. Serving some 60 million Medicare recipients, the plan finder is the most commonly used tool on Medicare.gov and just got its first major update in a decade. The online system automatically displays the plan with the lowest premium. But because of out-of-pocket costs like copays, that’s not necessarily the least expensive plan. The difference can amount to hundreds of dollars. Medicare says it chose to display the premium prominently because it’s a number that consumers understand. Sign-up season for Medicare prescription drug plans ends Dec. 7.
November 21, 2019 12:42 pm
JERUSALEM (AP) – Benjamin Netanyahu’s main political rival says the indicted prime minister has “no public or moral mandate to make fateful decisions for the state of Israel.” Former army chief Benny Gantz said in a statement Thursday the indictment raises concerns that Netanyahu “will make decisions in his own personal interest and for his political survival and not in the national interest.” Netanyahu and Gantz were virtually tied after September’s elections and each failed to assemble a majority coalition in parliament. The country now appears headed into an unprecedented third round of elections in less than a year, in part because of Netanyahu’s legal woes. Israel’s attorney general has formally charged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a series of corruption scandals. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit issued an indictment Thursday charging Netanyahu with fraud, breach of trust and bribery. He was scheduled to address reporters later Thursday. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and said he is a victim of a witch hunt.
November 21, 2019 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Congressional Republicans are showing no overt signs of abandoning their support for President Donald Trump. But there is a GOP guardedness about the impact of revelations like Ambassador Gordon Sondland’s testimony and what disclosures remain. For now, the partisan split is the latest demonstration of how Democrats’ impeachment inquiry has left the two parties inhabiting different political universes. Democrats said Sondland’s testimony Wednesday was a bombshell. He connected Trump’s demands that Ukraine investigate Democrats to his willingness to meet that country’s new president. Sondland said he later learned that delivering U.S. military aid was also predicated on Ukrainian investigations of his political foes. Yet GOP lawmakers minimized Sondland’s appearance. They said his revelations about how Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani had delivered Trump’s demands to diplomats had not changed their minds.
November 21, 2019 4:20 am
DETROIT (AP) – United Auto Workers President Gary Jones has resigned, effective immediately, his attorney says. The move comes shortly after the union’s international executive board filed paperwork to oust Jones and Regional Director Vance Pearson. Both men have been implicated in a wide-ranging federal bribery and embezzlement scandal at the union. Pearson has been charged, but Jones has not. Attorney Bruce Maffeo in New York says Jones made the decision to step down before learning of the move to oust him. Maffeo says he did so to let the union focus on its core mission of improving the lives of members and their families.
November 21, 2019 4:18 am
ATLANTA (AP) – In Wednesday night’s Democratic debate, Pete Buttigieg became the focus of several of his Democratic opponents for what they characterized as a lack of experience.
After the South Bend, Indiana, mayor called for federal leadership on voting rights, Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar pointed out she supported such legislation in the Senate – and had won a statewide race. Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard turned to foreign policy, saying Buttigieg had called for U.S. troops to be sent to Mexico. Buttigieg accused her of misrepresenting his past remarks that he supported a “security partnership” with Mexico but “would only order American troops into conflict if there were no other choice.” Buttigieg noted Gabbard’s meeting with Syria’s president and said he wouldn’t have met with “a murderous dictator.”
November 21, 2019 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says there is clear evidence that President Donald Trump has used his office for his personal gain. She says doing that “undermined the national security of the United States.” The California Democrat says lawmakers involved in the House impeachment inquiry haven’t decided what charges they might bring against Trump. She says they don’t know if they’ll try hearing from additional witnesses. Pelosi also says she doesn’t want to hold up the inquiry to wait for federal courts to decide whether some witnesses can testify. She says the House investigation “cannot be at the mercy of a court.” Democrats have sought testimony from people like former White House national security adviser John Bolton. But these potential witnesses have filed court cases to determine if they must appear.
