June 2, 2023 5:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s employers stepped up their hiring in May, adding a robust 339,000 jobs, well above expectations and evidence of enduring strength in an economy that the Federal Reserve is desperately trying to cool. Friday’s report from the government reflected the job market’s resilience after more than a year of rapid interest rate increases by the Fed. Many industries, from construction to restaurants to health care, are still adding jobs to keep up with consumer demand and restore their workforces to pre-pandemic levels. Yet there were some mixed messages in the jobs figures, which also showed that the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, from a five-decade low of 3.4% in April.
June 2, 2023 5:03 am
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — President Joe Biden fell onstage at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation on Thursday. The White House says Biden is “fine” after he tripped over a sandbag. Biden had been greeting the graduates in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the front of the stage with salutes and handshakes. Biden turned to jog back toward his seat when he fell. He was helped up by an Air Force officer as well as two members of his U.S. Secret Service detail. He then returned to his seat to view the end of the ceremony. White House communications director Ben LaBolt tweeted, “He’s fine,” and Biden later joked that he had gotten “sandbagged.”
June 2, 2023 5:01 am
HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) — An internal investigation finds that Border Patrol medical staff declined to review the file of an 8-year-old girl with a chronic heart condition and rare blood disorder before died on her ninth day in custody. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said the Panamanian child’s parents shared the medical history with authorities after being taken into her custody. But CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility says in a statement released Thursday that a nurse practitioner declined to review documents about the girl the day she died and denied requests for an ambulance.
June 2, 2023 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fending off a U.S. default, the Senate has given final approval to a debt ceiling and budget cuts package. It’s now on its way to President Joe Biden’s desk to become law before a fast-approaching deadline. The Senate ground through late-night voting Thursday to wrap up work on the hard-fought deal. The compromise package negotiated between Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy leaves neither Republicans nor Democrats fully pleased with the outcome. But the result cuts spending for two years and suspends the debt limit until 2025 after the next presidential election. Biden says he will sign it into law as soon as possible. U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) was one of four Democrats to vote against a bipartisan debt ceiling and budget cuts package citing changes to SNAP benefits and again calling for the 14th Amendment to be utilized.
June 2, 2023 4:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A rabbi who survived the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history says he immediately recognized the sound of gunfire coming from elsewhere inside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh that day and that he tried to get members of his congregation to safety. Rabbi Jonathan Perlman’s testimony came on the third day of the trial of Robert Bowers, a 50-year-old truck driver from the Pittsburgh suburb of Baldwin who could face the death penalty if convicted of certain charges. Bower’s lawyers acknowledge that he carried out the Oct. 27, 2018, attack, in which he killed 11 people and injured seven others before police shot and wounded him. They hope to spare him the death penalty.
June 2, 2023 2:35 am
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce presented a “Federal Funding Roundtable for Advanced Manufacturing” meeting on Thursday. Participants at the event were the Catalyst Connection, a company that can guide manufacturers to access funding from the recent Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Chips and Science Act among others. They can also connect manufacturers with other funding sources and job training resources. Petra Mitchell, President and CEO of Catalyst Connection stated that manufacturing jobs can lift a family from poverty and provide a life sustaining income. She and Matt Thiel, President of AUMA Actuators said that they are seeing fruits of those federal funding acts begin to flourish. Thiel says that large companies are beginning to work on projects and as part of their supply chain local manufacturers are looking to hire and invest in new technology. John Goberish is the Dean of the School of Industrial Technology and Continuing Education at the Community College of Beaver County. He says courses in automation and process technology are growing. They will be opening Washington County classrooms in Peters Township at the former middle school now occupied by the Intermediate Unit One. Amy Gatts, Director of the Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board is the major funding source for any business looking for funding to help fill vacant employee positions. Her board can help businesses fund training for any company. Most recently, automation jobs have been very popular. The key point that was driven is that the funding is there to help manufacturers overcome some of the financial barriers to employment and equipment upgrades.
June 2, 2023 1:47 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s former two-term auditor general says he’s running for state attorney general in the 2024 election. Eugene DePasquale’s Thursday announcement makes him the first to announce his candidacy for the office. He’s unlikely to be the only Democrat to seek the party’s nomination. The 51-year-old DePasquale won two statewide elections for auditor general and served as Pennsylvania’s independently elected fiscal watchdog from 2013 through 2020. He made an unsuccessful run for Congress in 2020 in a Republican-leaning district that included Harrisburg and DePasquale’s hometown of York. He also served three terms in the state House of Representatives. (Photo: AP)
June 1, 2023 5:51 pm
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — President Joe Biden fell on stage at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation on Thursday. The White House says Biden is “fine” after he tripped over a sandbag. Biden had been greeting the graduates in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the front of the stage with salutes and handshakes. Biden turned to jog back toward his seat when he fell. He was helped up by an Air Force officer as well as two members of his U.S. Secret Service detail. He then returned to his seat to view the end of the ceremony. White House communications director Ben LaBolt later tweeted, “He’s fine.” Two small black sandbags were on stage supporting the teleprompter used by Biden and other speakers.
June 1, 2023 5:25 pm
(AP) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use versions of the popular weight-loss drug used in Ozempic and Wegovy and sold online because they might not contain the same ingredients as prescription products and may not be safe or effective. Agency officials said this week that they have received reports of problems after patients used versions of semaglutide, the active ingredient in the brand-name medications, which have been compounded or mixed in pharmacies. Consumers should only use semaglutide prescribed by a health are provider and filled by a licensed pharmacy, FDA said.
June 1, 2023 5:04 am
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Central Florida is about to become a hub of LGBTQ+ life. That’s because tens of thousands of people are flocking to the area’s theme parks and hotels this week to go on thrill rides, dance at all-night parties and lounge poolside at hotels during the decades-long tradition known as Gay Days. The slew of anti-LGBTQ+ laws that Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers have championed are not stopping organizers from encouraging visitors from around the world to come to Orlando. They say a large turnout will send a message that LGBTQ+ people aren’t going away in Florida.
