September 19, 2023 5:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The stuffy Senate is now a bit less formal. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says staff for the chamber’s Sergeant-at-Arms will no longer enforce a dress code on the Senate floor. The change comes after Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has been unapologetically wearing shorts as he goes about his duties, voting from the doorways so he doesn’t get in trouble for his more casual attire. Schumer says he will continue to wear a suit. The dress code will only apply to senators, not staff. The changes prompted outrage from some of the chamber’s more formal members.
September 19, 2023 4:59 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Voters are deciding which party will control Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives after a Pittsburgh lawmaker’s resignation created a 101-101 partisan divide. If voters elect Lindsay Powell in Tuesday’s special election in the heavily Democratic district, Democrats will keep their slim 102 to 101 majority. A win for Erin Connolly Autenreith will give the House back to Republicans, and the party would control both the House and the Senate. Democrats have sought to defend their majority in a series of special elections since first flipping the House last year for the first time in 12 years.
September 19, 2023 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans plan to hold their first hearing next week in their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over his family’s business dealings. The Sept. 28 hearing is expected to focus on “constitutional and legal questions” that surround allegations of Biden’s involvement in his son Hunter’s overseas businesses. That is according to a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee, which is leading the hearing. The committee also plans to subpoena the personal and business bank records of Biden’s son. The White House has called the effort by House Republicans “extreme politics at its worst.”
September 19, 2023 2:53 am
A Greene County woman found guilty of aggravated assault in the July 2022 shooting of her boyfriend’s estranged wife was sentenced on Monday. Michaela Hildreth, 28 will spend the next 7-14 years in state prison for the shooting of Amy Mruk in the 200 block of Moon Road in Chartiers Township. A jury convicted Hildreath in June of 2 counts of aggravated assault, 3 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of simple assault. The shooting was caused by an argument between the victim Amy Mruk and her estranged husband John Mruk along with Hildreth over a missing rifle. Hildreth shot and nearly killed an unarmed Mruk as she approached a vehicle containing Hildreth and Mruk’s former husband. Five character witnesses and testimony from Hildreth did not sway the judge from sentencing Hildreth to a standard range sentence. She received 6-12 years on an aggravated assault charge and 6-12 months on each of two reckless endangerment charges that will be served consecutively. Sentences for the other aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment charges will be served concurrently to the other charges. Hidreth’s attorneys had no comment after the hearing. They did state after the trial and during the sentencing hearing that they will be filing an appeal.
September 19, 2023 1:22 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration says it’s trying to make it easier for someone to register to vote when they are getting or renewing a driver’s license in the state. Starting Tuesday, prompts on the computer screens in driver’s license centers will take users to a template to register to vote. That leaves it up to them to choose not to register. Previously, the user was asked whether they wanted to register to vote. Twenty-three other states and Washington, D.C., already have varying models of what’s called “automatic voter registration.” Researchers say automatic voter registration increases registration and boosts the number of people voting.
September 18, 2023 9:43 am
Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. He’s arguing that two agents violated his right to privacy when they publicly aired his tax information as they pressed claims that a federal investigation of Biden had been improperly handled. The lawsuit filed Monday says that his personal tax details shared during congressional hearings and interviews was not allowed by whistleblower protections. The suit comes days after Biden was indicted on federal firearms charges amid a long-running Justice Department investigation. The charges alleging that he lied about his drug use to buy and possess a gun in October 2018 could put the case on track toward a possible high-stakes trial as the 2024 election looms.
September 18, 2023 9:29 am
Four Washington County school districts dealt with bomb threats Monday morning. State Police say the threats were made through email and caused the Burgettstown High School and Middle School, the Fort Cherry School District and the Avella School Area District to evacuate students and staff. Authorities say the Washington County Sheriff’s Department bomb dog was sent to Burgettstown and officials reached out to the Trinity School District asking them to send their dog to go through one of the other schools. Burgettstown students were taken to the nearby Pepsi Cola Roadhouse and were home from there. On its website, Fort Cherry officials said that elementary students were sent home immediately. High School students were taken to the football field and were sent home on buses from there. As for the California Area School District, district officials, in a statement, said they worked closely with state and local police and determined that the threat was non-credible and chose not to evacuate anyone. Instead, they said they are continuing to closely monitor the premises. A similar threat was received over the weekend in the Albert Gallitan School District in Fayette County. Authorities there deemed that threat as non-credible as well and said they believed it to be part of a nationwide “swatting” effort.
September 18, 2023 5:16 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Tens of thousands of people in New York City have kicked off a week of demonstrations seeking to end the use of coal, oil and natural gas blamed for climate change. Sunday’s so-called March to End Fossil Fuels featured such politicians as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and actors Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton and Kevin Bacon. It was the opening salvo to New York’s Climate Week, where world leaders in business, politics and the arts are gathering ahead of a new special United Nations summit Wednesday. Protester said they were targeting their efforts at many of the leaders of nations that cause the most heat-trapping carbon pollution.
September 18, 2023 5:16 am
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China has flown 103 military planes toward Taiwan in a new daily high for the activity the island considers harassment. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry says it also detected Chinese vessels in the 24 hours from Sunday to early Monday. China’s military regularly sends planes over waters south and west of Taiwan in what some see as a campaign of intimidation for the self-governing island that is claimed by China. The recent actions may be an attempt to sway Taiwan’s presidential election in January. The governing Democratic Progressive Party leans toward formal independence for the island.
September 18, 2023 5:15 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday to answer questions about whether he watched the Capitol riot unfold on television. He said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he would “tell people later at an appropriate time.” The current front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination refused to say how he spent Jan. 6, 2021, once the insurrection began, and whether he made phone calls as his supporters stormed the seat of American democracy. Trump said he might consider pardoning some of the rioters charged for their actions that day.
