April 25, 2024 5:01 am
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering another abortion-related case while a repeal of Arizona’s abortion ban has picked up steam. Meanwhile, California’s governor has opened his state not only to Arizona patients seeking abortion but also their Arizona-based doctors. Those are among this week’s developments that could shape abortion policy in the U.S. as it continues to shift in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to undo a national right to abortion. States continue to diverge on the issue. Blue states like California are trying new ways to protect abortion access, and red ones like Idaho are trying to curtail it.
April 25, 2024 4:53 am
A standing room only crowd addressed North Strabane Township Supervisors at their non-legislative meeting Wednesday night to register their objections to a housing development bordering Peters Lake Park. Nearly a dozen residents told supervisors that they oppose the 41 unit development proposed to be built on North Spring Valley Road. Residents of North Spring Valley Road are concerned for their well water quality because construction may foul their drinking water. Currently, there is no provision to run public water to those residents. Traffic safety is also a concern because North Spring Valley’s construction is far from current township road standards and sight lines are being called into question. Residents that are adjacent to the lake registered emotional testimony asking supervisors to deny the application of the project so that the serenity they enjoy from the lake will not be disturbed. Supervisors did list more than a half dozen additional conditions that the developer, Laurel Communities, LLC would need meet. Terry Bove, of Laurel Communities says that he appreciates the community’s input and will study the proposed conditions when he receives them. Supervisors are expected to vote on the measure on April 30.
April 25, 2024 2:36 am
UPMC has announced that it will be laying off part of its workforce. In a statement, Paul Wood, the vice president and chief communication officer, said the health care system “continues to face the realities of a still-evolving, post-pandemic marketplace” and as a response to the ongoing challenges says “limited reductions are occurring.” Wood says the reductions are primarily taking place among non-clinical, non-member-facing, administrative staff through attrition, closing of open positions and elimination of redundancies, among other actions. “This realignment will not alter UPMC’s investments in our communities, facilities, commitment to clinical care and research, strategic growth, or to offering those throughout our workforce industry-leading benefits. Wood says the actions impact just over 1% of staff among its more than 100,000-person workforce, meaning at least 1,000 people are being impacted by the layoffs. Meanwhile, Republican State Representative Tim O’Neal issued a statement saying: “While I have great empathy for the UPMC staff who will be laid off, I have spoken to UPMC leaders, and its commitment to Washington Health System (WHS) will not change as a result of this announcement. “UPMC promises to retain all WHS staff for at least 10 years if the merger is approved. While today’s news is upsetting, without this merger, we risk losing local access to health care. I again urge Gov. Josh Shapiro to encourage the attorney general to approve the plan.”
April 24, 2024 7:27 am
South Strabane resident Chris Dziados it the winner in the Democratic race in the 14th Congressional District. He received 52-percent of the vote to defeat Ken Bach. The district includes Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, as well as part of Westmoreland, Indiana and Somerset counties. Dziados will now face incumbent Republican Congressman Guy Reschenthaler in the November general election.
April 24, 2024 5:14 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Korean War veteran from Minnesota who still carries shrapnel in his leg from when he was wounded in combat will finally get his Purple Heart medal, 73 years late. The U.S. Army notified 96-year-old Earl Meyer, of St. Peter, this week that it has reversed itself and granted him a Purple Heart, which honors service members wounded or killed in combat. The decision came after a campaign by his daughters and attorney. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota championed his case, which previously had been rejected due to a lack of documentation. Attorney Alan Anderson says they’re now hoping to arrange a presentation ceremony “in the near future.”
April 24, 2024 5:13 am
SYDNEY (AP) — Australian police say they have arrested seven teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology in raids around Sydney to protect the community from a potential attack. They say the seven arrested Wednesday are part of a network that includes a 16-year-old boy who is accused of the stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church last week. Five other teenagers were still being questioned late Wednesday by the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team. Officials say more than 400 police officers executed 13 search warrants at properties across southwest Sydney on Wednesday because the teens were considered an immediate threat. They say investigators found no evidence of specific targets for any intended “violent act.”
April 24, 2024 5:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is considering a case that will determine when doctors can provide abortions during medical emergencies in states with bans enacted after the high court’s sweeping decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The case’s hearing begins Wednesday and comes from Idaho, which is one of 14 states that now ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy with limited exceptions. The Biden administration argues that even in states where abortion is banned, federal health care law says hospitals must be allowed to terminate pregnancies in rare emergencies where a patient’s life or health is at serious risk. Idaho contends its ban has exceptions for life-saving abortions but allowing it in more medical emergencies would turn hospitals into “abortion enclaves.”
April 24, 2024 5:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles, striking a Russian military airfield in Crimea and Russian troops in another occupied area overnight. The strikes come about a month after the U.S. secretly provided the weapons so Ukraine could strike targets up to 190 miles away. One U.S. official says the delivery of the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, was approved by President Joe Biden in February, and then in March the U.S. included a “significant” number of them in a $300 million aid package announced. The official says the U.S. is providing more in the latest aid package.
April 24, 2024 5:08 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests. At the University of Texas at Austin, dozens of local police and state troopers formed a line to prevent students from marching through the campus Wednesday, eventually clashing with the protesters and detaining multiple people. And at the University of Southern California, police removed several tents, then got into a tugging match with protesters before falling back. The actions across the U.S. came after Columbia University averted another confrontation between students and police earlier in the day.
April 24, 2024 5:03 am
Republican York County District Attorney Dave Sunday and Democratic former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale won their parties’ nominations for state attorney general Tuesday evening, with Sunday defeating a single opponent and DePasquale topping a field of five candidates. Sunday has been elected twice as district attorney in York County, where he lives in Spring Garden Township. He also has served as a special assistant U.S. attorney. The five-candidate fray among Democrats was the biggest field among the primary elections for statewide row offices. Incumbent Attorney General Michelle Henry, appointed to the job by Gov. Josh Shapiro in 2023 after he became governor, is not seeking election.
