March 23, 2024 1:51 am
Township Managers from five area municipalities gathered Friday for a panel discussion that was put on by the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. Chartiers Twp. hosted the event and their manager Jodi Noble led the panel discussion on a broad range of topics. South Franklin Twp. Manager Tyler Linck says they are welcoming a new housing development that will bring 62 new homes there. Mt. Pleasant Twp. Manager Darla Protch spoke on community cooperation and the prospect of police force regionalization between her township and three other townships. Cecil Twp. Manager Don Gennuso said that their township is now going through their book of ordinances to make sure that they represent the needs of their residents both residentially and commercially. Andy Walz from North Strabane Township and Paul Lauer from Peters Twp. both spoke of expanded recreation projects that are ongoing in their townships. Noble also had her input to the discussion. She suggested a formal summit of business leaders and municipalities to discuss what the changing economy demands and how municipalities may best address those changes.
March 22, 2024 5:18 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Some of Pennsylvania’s most populous counties are relocating polling places out of synagogues because next month’s primary election falls on the first day of Passover. The primary election is April 23. In Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, election officials relocated 16 polling places from synagogues and a Jewish community center. Polling locations were also shifted in the Philadelphia area where the city and its four “collar” counties together have about 200,000 Jewish households. Proposals to change this year’s primary date to avoid the Passover conflict and become more relevant to the presidential contest were debated last year but died in the Legislature.
March 22, 2024 2:23 am
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Biden administration has announced up to $475 million in federal funding for clean energy projects on current or former mine land sites. The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that the projects will be in five states. They include the political battleground states of Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada. Kentucky and West Virginia are also benefiting. They are solidly Republican and have been hit hard by the downturn in the coal sector. The projects will involve solar power, geothermal energy, hydroelectricity and batteries. The administration says the clean energy projects will strengthen the country’s energy security while helping ensure mining communities continue playing a role in the energy economy.
March 22, 2024 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers have introduced a $1.2 trillion spending package that sets the stage for avoiding a partial government shutdown for several key federal agencies this weekend. The bill unveiled Thursday comes nearly six months into the current budget year and would allow Congress to complete its work in funding the government through September. Democrats were able to swat back scores of policy mandates and some of the steeper budget cuts that House Republicans were seeking to impose on nondefense programs. Among the policy wins that House Speaker Mike Johnson is highlighting for Republicans is a nearly 24% increase in detention beds for migrants awaiting their immigration proceedings or removal from the country.
March 22, 2024 5:01 am
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, on the final stop in his sixth urgent trip to the region since the start of the war. Blinken says he will share alternatives to Israel’s planned ground assault into the southern Gaza town of Rafah during his talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his War Cabinet. Later Friday, the United Nations Security Council will vote on a U.S.-sponsored resolution declaring “the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire.” It also emphasizes the urgent need for aid in Gaza. The World Health Organization says so little food has been allowed in that up to 60% of children under 5 are now malnourished.
March 22, 2024 5:00 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has attacked electrical power facilities in much of Ukraine, including the country’s largest hydroelectric plant, causing widespread outages and killing at least three people. Ukraine’s energy minister says the nighttime drone and rocket attacks were the largest on the country’s energy sector in recent times. He says the goal was to cause a large-scale disruption of the energy system. The attacks caused a fire at the Dnipro Hydroelectric Station, which supplies electricity to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power installation. The International Atomic Energy Agency says the main 750-kilovolt power line to the plant was cut off but a lower-power backup line was working.
March 21, 2024 4:51 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A fifth suspect has been charged in a shooting that wounded eight Philadelphia high school students at a bus stop earlier this month. City police announced Thursday that 15-year-old Jeremiah Jefferson, of Philadelphia, faces counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault, conspiracy, reckless endangerment and weapons charges. They say the teen was in communication with the shooters before the gunfire erupted and also identified and provided information about some potential targets, as well as noting what he was wearing so he himself did not become a victim. The March 6 shooting occurred as students at Northeast High School, the city’s largest public high school, were waiting to board the bus.
March 22, 2024 5:04 am
Police have arrested two white supremacist gang members following an attack on corrections officers at an Idaho hospital, and investigators are looking into whether they killed two people while on the run. Escaped prison inmate Skylar Meade and accomplice Nicholas Umphenour were arrested during a traffic stop Thursday afternoon in Twin Falls. Police say Umphenour shot two Idaho corrections officers early Wednesday to break Meade out of custody. Authorities said during a news conference Thursday that they were investigating two homicides, in Clearwater County and Nez Perce County, which borders Washington state. Police found shackles at the scene of one of the killings.
March 21, 2024 3:18 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers have introduced a $1.2 trillion spending package that sets the stage for avoiding a partial government shutdown for several key federal agencies this weekend. The bill unveiled Thursday comes nearly six months into the current budget year and would allow Congress to complete its work in funding the government through September. Democrats were largely able to swat back scores of policy mandates and some of the steeper budget cuts that House Republicans were seeking to impose on nondefense programs. Among the policy wins that House Speaker Mike Johnson is highlighting for Republicans is a nearly 24% increase in detention beds for migrants awaiting their immigration proceedings or removal from the country.
March 21, 2024 3:21 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Apple says a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit accusing it of engineering an illegal monopoly in smartphones in the U.S. is “wrong on the facts and the law.” The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in New Jersey. The suit alleges Apple uses its control over the iPhone to engage in an “illegal course of conduct.” The lawsuit is the latest example of the Justice Department’s approach to aggressive enforcement of federal antitrust law that officials say is aimed at ensuring a fair and competitive market. Apple has defended the digital fortress known as its walled garden as a feature prized by consumers who want to protect their personal information. (Photo: AP)
