September 11, 2019 4:12 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is cutting its ranks after 63 legislative employees jumped on the chance to be paid a bonus to quit their jobs. Pennlive.com reported that 31 Republican staffers, 21 Democratic staffers and 11 who work under the House chief clerk and comptroller’s offices took the offer for $1,000 payments for each year of service, up to 25 years. The offer was open to those with at least five years’ experience. It expired at the end of August. Those who took the voluntary buyout can’t return to House employment for a decade but are free to find work elsewhere in state government. The goal is to replace senior workers with lower-paid employees, and to reap savings by eliminating an unspecified number of positions.
September 11, 2019 4:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A proposal to allow limited hunting in Pennsylvania on Sundays is running into opposition that could prevent its final passage in the state House. Game and Fisheries Committee Chairman Keith Gillespie said Tuesday after a contentious informational hearing in the Capitol that supporters will need to engage in some “damage control” if they hope to see the bill enacted. The state Senate voted 36 to 14 in June to permit hunting on one Sunday during deer rifle season, one during deer archery season, and on a third Sunday. It’s touted as a way to make it easier for younger people and those who work during the week to hunt. Pennsylvania has long banned Sunday hunting, although there are exceptions for crows, foxes and coyotes.
September 11, 2019 4:08 am
New England Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown is facing rape accusations by a former trainer. According to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Southern District of Florida, Britney Taylor says Brown sexually assaulted her on three occasions. Brown has denied the allegations. Darren Heitner, a lawyer representing Brown, told The Associated Press his client plans to countersue. Heitner said Brown and Taylor had “a consensual personal relationship.” Taylor also said in the statement she will cooperate with the NFL and any other agencies. A spokesman for the NFL declined comment, but the Patriots say the league told the team it will launch an investigation.
September 10, 2019 5:46 pm
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – A Turkish newspaper says in his final words, slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi urged his killers not to cover his mouth because he suffered from asthma and could suffocate. The Sabah newspaper this week published new excerpts of a recording of Khashoggi’s conversation with members of a Saudi hit squad sent to kill him. The paper says the recording of Khashoggi’s grisly Oct. 2, 2018, killing and dismemberment at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul was obtained by Turkey’s intelligence agency. According to the reported transcript, a member of the hit squad tells Khashoggi that he has to be taken back to Riyadh because of an Interpol order. The man is also heard trying to force Khashoggi to send his son a message telling him not to worry if he doesn’t hear from him.
September 10, 2019 5:42 pm
CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) – Apple’s new iPhones will resemble recent models, but with better cameras and new colors. The most-expensive models, the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, will now have three cameras on the back, including a new, wider-angle one to squeeze more of the landscape into the picture. They start at $1,000, the same as before. The cheaper model called the iPhone 11 will start at $700, down from $750 for the iPhone XR. It now gets two lenses instead of one. The lower price reverses a trend in which premium phones get more expensive as people upgrade them less often. The new phones come out Sept. 20. Apple unveiled the new phones, along with a new iPad and Apple Watch, at a product event Tuesday at its Cupertino, California.
September 10, 2019 5:25 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Americans are commemorating 9/11 with mournful ceremonies, volunteering, appeals to “never forget” and rising attention to the terror attacks’ extended toll on responders. A crowd of victims’ relatives is expected at ground zero Wednesday. President Donald Trump is scheduled to join an observance at the Pentagon. Vice President Mike Pence is to speak at the third attack site, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Here in Washington, services will be held at the 9/11 Memorial in the parking lot of the Old Washington Mall in South Strabane Township. The service will begin at exactly 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane hit the World Trade Center. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the hijacked-plane attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
September 10, 2019 4:58 pm
Some members of the United Auto Workers Union, Local 1311, walked off their jobs Monday at Langeloth Metallurgical Company in Smith Township. According to reports, about ninety workers picketed the facility for the second day on Tuesday in a dispute with the company over seniority rights. Union members say the local’s executive committee rejected the company’s last offer on August 8th and they had to wait thirty days before walking off the job. Langeloth Metallurgical is a metal fabricator. WJPA’s calls to the company have not been returned.
September 10, 2019 1:51 pm
Teachers and administrators in the Washington School District have reached agreement on a new five-year contract. Teachers ratified the agreement Monday and then later the same day at their meeting, school board members unanimously voted to approve the contract. Details of the new contract were not released but officials say health care costs for the teachers remained steady and raises were incremental.
September 10, 2019 12:35 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – Iran is claiming credit for President Donald Trump’s dismissal of his hawkish national security adviser John Bolton. An adviser to President Hassan Rouhani said Bolton’s departure was the result of Iran’s resistance to Trump’s maximum pressure campaign. The adviser (Hesameddin Ashena) said in a tweet that the move is a sign of the pressure campaign’s failure and proof that Iran is able to “manage” U.S. policies on Iran. Trump and Bolton disagreed on numerous issues, including over the president’s willingness to consider meeting with Rouhani.
September 10, 2019 7:38 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in Philadelphia over whether the chief lawyer for Penn State when the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke should face public censure. The state’s lawyer disciplinary board recommended that punishment in March for Baldwin. The board has leveled several claims against Baldwin regarding her conduct as investigators ramped up their probe of Sandusky. Sandusky, Penn State’s former defensive football coach, is serving a state prison sentence on a 45-count child sexual abuse conviction in 2012. Lawyers for Cynthia Baldwin and the Office of Disciplinary Counsel will debate the matter Tuesday. Baldwin’s lawyer says the justices should conclude she did not violate the rules of professional conduct for lawyers.
