September 5, 2024 8:40 am
The legal fight over ballot curing in Washington County has resulted in legal fees of more than $75,000 so far. Commissioner’s Chairman Nick Sherman (pictured) tells WJPA that Pittsburgh-based attorney David Berardinelli submitted an initial invoice that totaled more than $96,000 for more than 200-hours of work. Reportedly, he then reduced that by 25-percent. The lawsuit resulted over the County Elections Board decision to no allow for errors on mail-in ballots to be corrected during the primary election. Sherman and fellow Republican Commissioner Electra Janis voted in favor of not allowing so-called curing. Democratic Commissioner Larry Maggi voted against. Sherman maintains that the county is simply following the letter of state law. He also questions the ruling by Washington County Common Pleas Court Judge Brandon Neuman who ruled that while the county is not required to offer ballot curing options it must notify voters of mistakes and permit them to cast a provisional ballot on election day if there ballot included a fatal error. Sherman says Judge Neuman, in his own ruling, said the matter should be a decision of the State Legislature. He says talks continue as they consider an appeal of that ruling.
September 5, 2024 6:42 am
Cecil Township Supervisors held a fourth public hearing and revealed a brand new proposal for its oil and gas ordinance revision. This version differs radically from what had been proposed previously. Setbacks for drilling operations will be 2500 feet for protected structures, 5000 feet from schools. Gone are the zoning maps and overlay districts for possible drilling sites and finally, a waiver option to drill within the 2500 foot setback will be introduced. According to Supervisor Chairman Tom Casciola, the waiver will allow a property owner to permit drilling on their property within the 2500 foot setback as long as that property owner gets a waiver from all other property owners that would be inside that 2500 foot radius. Remaining from previous versions are sound and vibration regulations, stricter than what exist in the current ordinance. A special voting session took place just after the hearing to approve those changes and direct the solicitor to draft an ordinance to reflect those changes and to set a new public hearing date. The vote on both measures passed 3-2. Supervisors Tom Casciola, Frank Egizio and Cindy Fisher voted in favor. Supervisors Darlene Barni and Bill Ciaffoni voted against the changes. When asked for her reason for voting against the measure, Barni said “three words, illegal, exclusionary and it’s against the state law.” It is to be noted that Barni does have a business relationship with Range Resources, the dominant drilling company in Cecil Township. A new hearing date and possible vote will occur on November 4.
September 5, 2024 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers posted fewer job openings in July than they had the previous month, a sign that hiring could further cool in the coming months. There were 7.7 million open jobs in July, down from 7.9 million in June and the fewest since January 2021. Openings have fallen steadily this year. Layoffs rose from 1.56 million to 1.76 million, the most since March 2023, though that level of job cuts is roughly consistent with pre-pandemic levels, when the unemployment rate was historically low. Layoffs have been unusually low since the economy’s rapid recovery from the pandemic recession, with many employers intent on holding onto their workers. Overall, Wednesday’s report painted a mixed picture of the job market.
September 5, 2024 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal election interference case against Donald Trump has inched forward. A judge permitted prosecutors to file court documents later this month that could detail unflattering allegations about the former president as the Republican nominee enters the final weeks of his White House run. The order came hours after a court hearing, the first in the case in nearly a year, in which U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan sparred with a Trump lawyer who accused the government of trying to rush ahead with an “illegitimate” indictment in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. Chutkan made clear she would not let the upcoming election affect how she proceeds, turning aside defense efforts to delay the process while also acknowledging that the case is nowhere close to a trial date.
September 5, 2024 4:57 am
Palestinian health officials say Israeli strikes in the occupied West Bank killed five people, including the son of a prominent jailed militant. Israel has been carrying out large-scale raids in the territory over the past week that it says are aimed at dismantling militant groups and preventing attacks. The Palestinians fear a widening of the war in Gaza. The strikes overnight in the northern West Bank town of Tubas killed five people, including Mohammed Zubeidi, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Thursday. His father, Zakaria Zubeidi, was a well-known militant commander during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s and took part in a rare jail break in 2021 before being arrested and returned to prison days later.
September 5, 2024 4:57 am
WINDER, Ga. (AP) — The teen charged with opening fire at a Georgia high school denied threatening to carry out a school shooting when authorities interviewed him last year about a menacing post on the social media site Discord. That’s according to a sheriff’s report obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum told AP her investigators did all they could, but there was insufficient evidence to justify an arrest. The 14-year-old suspect was charged as an adult in the shooting Wednesday at Apalachee High School outside Atlanta. Four people were killed and nine wounded. The suspect is accused of using an assault-style rifle to kill two students and two teachers in the hallway outside his algebra classroom.
September 5, 2024 2:14 am
The Corning Ware/Anchor Hocking Plant in Charleroi will be shutting down by the end of the year. Employees there say they were given the news by their chief executive officer. The closure will affect about 325 jobs. The CEO reportedly told employees that 150 positions would be moved to their plant in Ohio. Charleroi Borough Council President Kristen Hopkins-Calcek tells WJPA that this is a very sad day for the community. This is the second business in Charleroi to close. Quality Pasta Company near the plant shut down as well, leaving some one-hundred people without jobs.
September 4, 2024 12:44 pm
WINDER, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says a shooter at a high school outside of Atlanta killed four people and injured at least nine. Students scrambled for shelter in the football stadium as officers swarmed the campus and parents raced to find out if their children were safe. Helicopter video from WSB-TV showed dozens of law enforcement and emergency vehicles surrounding the school about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. Prior to Wednesday’s shooting, there had been 29 mass killings in the U.S. so far this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. (Photo: AP)
September 4, 2024 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is betting that Americans crave trillions of dollars in tax cuts — and that growth will be so fantastic that it’s not worth worrying about budget deficits. Vice President Kamala Harris believes that big corporations and the ultra wealthy should pay more in taxes — and wants to use those revenues to help spur the construction of 3 million homes and offer tax breaks for parents. The two presidential nominees are using the week before their debate to sharpen their economic messages about who could do more for the middle class.
September 4, 2024 5:04 am
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks are tumbling after Wall Street had its worst day since early August, as a week full of economic updates got off to a weak start. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei lost over 4%. U.S. futures were lower. Rising oil supply was driving down prices, as Libya moved closer to resolving a conflict over control of the country’s oil revenue that meant its oil production may soon increase. The S&P 500’s heaviest weight, Nvidia, fell 9.5% and led to a decline in global semiconductor-related stocks on Wednesday. The S&P 500 slumped 2.1% Tuesday after a report showed U.S. manufacturing shrank again in August, weighed down by high interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.5%. The Nasdaq composite fell 3.3%.
