March 9, 2023 10:51 am
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is offering buyouts to most of its U.S. salaried workforce and some global executives in an effort to trim costs as it makes the transition to electric vehicles. The Detroit automaker wouldn’t say how many workers it is targeting, but confirmed that the move is aimed at accelerating attrition to meet a previously announced goal of $2 billion in cost cuts by the end of next year. GM has about 58,000 salaried workers in the U.S. The company says the offers also are designed to avoid any possible firings at a later date. Offers will go to white-collar workers with at least five years of service, and global executives with who have been with the company at least two years.
March 9, 2023 9:20 am
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week jumped by the most in five months, but layoffs remain historically low as the labor market continues to be largely unaffected by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for jobless claims in the U.S. for the week ending March 4 rose by 21,000 to 211,000 from 190,000 the previous week. It’s the first time in eight weeks that claims came in above 200,000. The four-week moving average of claims rose by 4,000 to 197,000, Applications for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs.
March 9, 2023 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A spokesman for Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says the senator has been hospitalized after tripping and falling Wednesday at a hotel. Spokesman Doug Andres says the 81-year-old Kentucky Republican was attending a private dinner at a Washington hotel when he tripped. Andres says McConnell was admitted for treatment. In 2019, the GOP leader tripped and fell at his home in Kentucky, suffering a shoulder fracture. The Senate, where the average age is 65, has been without several members recently due to illness.
March 9, 2023 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s new budget proposal aims to increase taxes on the wealthy and steer more money to popular programs such as Medicare. Overall, the spending blueprint released Thursday anticipates an additional $5.5 trillion in revenue over the next 10 years, plus $2.6 trillion in new spending. So that means an estimated $2.9 trillion reduction in the deficit. The proposal has no chance of becoming law now that Republicans are in charge of the House. But the budget plan will serve as a political talking point for a president preparing to run for reelection and trying to draw contrasts with the opposition party. Biden says the GOP should now come out with its alternative so the two sides can talk.
March 9, 2023 4:21 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia has unleashed a massive rocket attack that hit critical infrastructure and residential buildings in 10 regions of Ukraine. Officials reported at least six deaths Thursday in the largest such night-time attack in three weeks. described the barrage that came while people slept as an attempt by Moscow “to intimidate Ukrainians again.” The onslaught came as the war largely ground to a battlefield stalemate over the winter. The Kremlin’s forces started targeting Ukraine’s power supply last October in an apparent attempt to demoralize the civilian population. The barrages became less frequent, with analysts speculating Russia may have been running low on ammunition. The last massive barrage took place on Feb. 16.
March 9, 2023 4:19 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Lawyers for the districts that won a landmark school funding court case in Pennsylvania say that Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal falls short of the money commitments that are needed to help the state’s poorest districts. Their criticism is being echoed in reactions from progressive groups and public school advocates that say the Democrat’s first response to the court ruling was lacking. On Wednesday, Shapiro said the budget should be viewed as a “two-step process” that includes the new budget plan and then, next year, when he returns with his second budget plan.
March 9, 2023 4:18 am
(AP) – Another Norfolk Southern train derailed Thursday, this time in Calhoun County, Alabama, around 6:45 a.m. local time in the Quad Cities area of White Planes. It is estimated that 30 cars derailed, but no one was hurt and there were no hazardous materials leaked, but there is no indication as to what caused the train cars to leave the track. The train cars were empty and crews quickly responded to clear the wreckage. This is the third Norfolk Southern train that has derailed since last month. One derailed on Saturday on its way to Birmingham, Alabama. A train derailed on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio, and that train was carrying hazardous materials which burned for days, forcing the evacuation of the surrounding community. The latest derailment came as a hearing was being held in the Senate where Norfolk Southern’s CEO Alan Shaw apologized for the derailment and offered millions of dollars to the Ohio community to help it recover from the wreck.
March 9, 2023 4:15 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s nominees for attorney general and state police commissioner received unanimous approval from the Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Senate. Wednesday’s vote confirmed Michelle Henry to be attorney general and fill the last two years of Shapiro’s elected four-year term in that office. The 54-year-old Henry was Shapiro’s top deputy for all six years while he served as attorney general. Before that, she was a career prosecutor from Bucks County. The new state police commissioner is Col. Christopher Paris, a lawyer and career state police trooper. He rose through the ranks of the state police in northeastern Pennsylvania to become one of four area operations commanders.
March 9, 2023 4:13 am
A California woman who, with her husband furnished liquor to minors and allowed them to play with a hand gun pleaded guilty on Wednesday. Trisha Jackson, 40 pleaded guilty to corruption of minors and terroristic threats charges for her role in an incident that occurred at their home in September. Jackson will receive a sentence of time served to 23 months on the corruption of minors charge. She will serve two years of probation after that on the terroristic threats charge. According to police the Jacksons were arrested after a witness videoed the account and called police. Trisha Jackson then threatened the neighbor and became violent in the police car. Her husband Jeremy earlier pleaded guilty to child endangerment and corruption of minors charges. Jackson was released from the Washington County Jail directly to the Crisis Stabilization/Diversion Unit where she will be medically supervised for mental health evaluation and treatment.
March 8, 2023 4:43 pm
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The major freight railroads have announced a number of steps they are taking to improve safety in the wake of last month’s fiery Ohio derailment. It’s not clear, however, that the actions they announced Wednesday will be enough to satisfy regulators and members of Congress who are pushing for changes. Many of the proposals from the Association of American Railroads trade group focus on strengthening the network of trackside detectors the railroads use to spot problems before they can cause derailments. The group proposes installing roughly 1,000 more of them nationwide and tweaking the way railroads use the data from them.
