July 16, 2019 5:40 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration says its new regulation barring taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions is taking effect immediately. The Health and Human Services department said Monday it will begin enforcing the ban on abortion referrals, along with a requirement that family planning clinics maintain separate finances from facilities that provide abortions. The rule is widely seen as a blow against Planned Parenthood, which provides taxpayer-funded family planning and basic health care to low-income women, as well as abortions paid for separately. Planned Parenthood and other family-planning providers are suing the Trump administration to overturn the regulations, but HHS says no judicial orders currently prevent it from enforcing the rule. Another requirement that both kinds of facilities cannot be under the same roof takes effect next year.
July 16, 2019 4:30 am
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) – A West Virginia organization is helping to feed hungry pets and provide other necessities with its pet pantry. The Exponent Telegram reports the Progressive Women’s Association in Clarksburg is starting Peppy’s Pet Pantry to help people who have trouble affording their pets. Association Assistant Director Kelli Hagerman says the group wants to make it possible for people to keep their pets, which she says are often loved like children. She says the pantry will have dog and cat food, kitty litter and accessories such as leashes, bowls, collars and toys. The organization’s president, Rosalyn Queen, says she expects the pantry will especially help older people on fixed incomes. Hagerman says the pantry has received items from some local humane societies and individuals, as well as monetary contributions.
July 16, 2019 4:28 am
DETROIT (AP) – The husband of an elected official from Pittsburgh has been acquitted of misdemeanor charges related to a trip to Detroit. The prosecutor’s office says a jury on Monday cleared Khari Mosley of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace at a hotel. Mosley is the husband of Chelsa Wagner, the controller in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Wagner, a Democrat, faces a felony charge of resisting police and a misdemeanor . Her trial starts Nov. 12 in Wayne County court. Wagner and Mosley traveled to Detroit in March to attend a concert. After the show, she went to their room while Mosley went to the bar at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. The dispute with staff and police began when Mosley didn’t have a room key.
July 16, 2019 4:25 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania is joining the short list of states where online casino-style gambling is available. Parx Casino in suburban Philadelphia and Penn National’s Hollywood Casino near Hershey launched online gambling portals to patrons statewide as part of a three-day test watched by state regulators. Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware are the only other states where online casino gambling is legal. A 2017 Pennsylvania law authorized an aggressive expansion of gambling and allowed the state’s casinos to operate a full slate of casino-style gambling on websites and mobile applications for a license fee of $10 million. The two casinos aren’t ready to roll out poker, however. American Gaming Association figures show Pennsylvania is already the nation’s No. 2 state for commercial casino revenue, behind Nevada, at $3.2 billion last year.
July 16, 2019 4:17 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – “Game of Thrones” is seeking to claim the Emmy Awards version of the Iron Throne one last time. When the Emmy nominations are released Thursday, the HBO fantasy saga could be in the running for television’s top honor for its eighth and final season. It’s earned three previous top drama series awards and is the defending champ. Top contenders will be announced at the Television Academy in Los Angeles beginning at 8:30 a.m. Pacific. “Veep,” which holds a trio of best comedy series Emmys, is after its final trophies after wrapping its seven-season run. “The Big Bang Theory,” which ended this year after 12 seasons, is among its possible competitors. The 71st Emmy Awards will air Sept. 22 on Fox, with the host yet to be announced.
July 16, 2019 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Facebook’s ambitious plan to create a financial eco-system based on a digital currency faces questions from lawmakers. It’s already being shadowed by negative comments from President Donald Trump, his treasury secretary and the head of the Federal Reserve. Congress begins two days of hearings Tuesday on the currency planned by Facebook, to be called Libra, starting with the Senate Banking Committee. Meanwhile, a House Judiciary subcommittee will be extending its bipartisan investigation of the market power of Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple. Trump tweeted last week that Libra “will have little standing or dependability.” The Democratic head of the House Financial Services Committee, which is holding a hearing on Wednesday, has called on Facebook to suspend the plan until Congress and regulators can review it.
July 16, 2019 4:14 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Beaches along the Mississippi Gulf Coast remain closed because of toxic bacteria detected before Barry blew ashore. Polluted Midwest floodwaters have fed an outbreak of cyanobacterium. Commonly known as blue-green algae, it can cause rashes, diarrhea and vomiting. It has spread eastward as water from the Mississippi River pours into the Gulf of Mexico.
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Robbie Wilbur says Monday the agency is continuing to test water samples. He says those tested Sunday “indicated the continued presence of algal bloom.” The agency started closing some beaches June 22 along Mississippi’s mainland Gulf Coast. On July 7, it closed the last two sections near the Alabama line. Although the water is off limits, people can still be on the sand. Mississippi’s barrier islands’ beaches have remained open.
July 16, 2019 4:13 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Iran’s foreign minister has for the first time suggested his country’s ballistic missile program could be on the table for negotiations with the U.S. – if America stops selling arms to its Gulf allies in the Mideast. Mohammad Javad Zarif’s comments came in an NBC News interview that aired Monday night. Iran long has maintained its ballistic missile program, under the control of its Revolutionary Guard, is for defensive purposes only. The 2015 nuclear deal that Tehran struck with world powers did not include its missile program. Zarif says American weaponry “is going into our region, making our region ready to explode. So if they want to talk about our missiles, they need first to stop selling all these weapons.” Iran long has criticized U.S. arms sales in the region.
July 16, 2019 3:43 am
The Washington School District has been awarded grant money for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables for elementary students. According to State Senator, Camera Bartolotta, Washington along with Aliquippa and Ambridge Area will receive the grants which total more than $107,000. It’s all part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. A total of $5.5 million was awarded to schools across the state. Washington will receive the largest out of the three, over $52,000.
July 16, 2019 1:55 am
A Pittsburgh attorney whose practice was based out of Southpointe has been disbarred on consent by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The ruling, handed down Monday, takes effect next month for former Iceoplex (now Printscape Arena) at Southpointe Co-owner Steven Lynch. Lynch has been serving prison time for failing to withhold $1.5 million in payroll taxes by creating a fake corporation to shield money from the government.
