June 27, 2024 4:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s auto industry has grown concerned that Chinese carmakers may be preparing to set up shop in Mexico to exploit North American trade rules. The Chinese could then send ultra-low-priced electric vehicles streaming into the United States, devastating the U.S. auto industry, which envisions American EVs as the core of their business in the coming decades. To defuse the threat, the U.S. does have a range of options that it might be forced to deploy. Whatever steps the U.S. government might take, though, would likely face legal challenges from companies that want to import the Chinese EVs.
June 27, 2024 4:40 am
NOGALES, Mexico (AP) — The Biden administration’s asylum halt that has led to a 40% drop in arrests for illegal border crossings this month falls hardest on nationalities most susceptible to being deported. The asylum halt applies that took effect June 5 to all nationalities. But Mexicans and those Mexico agrees to take back are most likely to be deported. That includes Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. Lack of money for charter flights, sour diplomatic ties and other operational challenges make it more difficult to deport people to many countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says the U.S. is working with countries around the world to accept more of their deported citizens.
June 27, 2024 5:40 pm
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s top education official is ordering public schools to incorporate the Bible into lessons for grades 5 through 12. State Superintendent Ryan Walters issued a memo Thursday to school superintendents across the state. The directive is the latest effort by conservatives to incorporate religion into the classroom. Walters said in the memo that his mandate is compulsory and “immediate and strict compliance is expected.” Walters was elected in 2022. He has embraced culture-war issues and fighting what he says is “woke ideology” in public schools as a central theme of his administration. The directive faced immediate criticism from civil rights groups and others who called it unconstitutional and an abuse of power.
June 27, 2024 4:36 am
ATLANTA (AP) — Both President Joe Biden and his Republican rival, Donald Trump, hope to jolt a campaign that many voters are just beginning to watch. Thursday’s debate in Atlanta offers unparalleled opportunities for both candidates to try to shape the political narrative. For Biden, the debate gives him the chance to reassure voters that, at 81, he’s capable of guiding the U.S. through a range of challenges. The 78-year-old Trump, meanwhile, could use the moment to try to move past his recent felony conviction in New York. Their performances have the potential to alter the trajectory of the election.
June 26, 2024 4:31 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on a major case involving former President Donald Trump, 7 in 10 Americans think its justices are more likely to shape the law to fit their own ideology, rather than serving as neutral arbiters of government authority. That’s according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It found that less than one-third of U.S. adults think the justices are more likely to provide an independent check on other branches of government by being fair and impartial. Confidence in the Supreme Court remains low. Rank-and-file Republicans as well aren’t giving the justices a ringing endorsement.
June 27, 2024 1:49 am
North Strabane Residents that live along North Spring Valley Road have appealed a conditional land use approval granted to Laurel Communities to build a development called the Collective At Peters Lake. Linda Lopez and Matthew and Pamela Maniet have engaged Joshua Ash at the University of Pittsburgh Environmental Law and Policy Clinic to help them with the appeal. Lopez and the Maniets are concerned about their water supply. They currently have wells and worry about impurities from earth moving during the construction phase and future impurities that may result from future fertilizer use. North Strabane has conditioned that the developer run public water lines to their street, but residents on North Spring Valley Extension would need to run their own piping to access the main pipe and pay tap in fees. According to Matt Maniet, early estimates are in the $10,000 to $30,000 range to access public water. They feel that they are being taken for granted because they may be forced into purchasing public water when it was not their wish to do that. The environmental non-profit group Friends of Peters Lake support the residents’ efforts as they wish to maintain the natural environment of Peters Lake Park. North Strabane Township officials referred comment to their solicitor. The solicitor said they just received the large packet of information and have not had time to review it. Additionally, they do not comment on pending litigation. The case is in the early stages and hearings have yet to be scheduled.
June 27, 2024 4:24 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. -(WPXI)- A Washington man has been arrested in connection to a homicide in Braddock Hills. Abdullaah Francken, 23, is charged with criminal homicide after a shooting on June 7. The shooting happened early in the morning in the parking lot of J Cats Bar. William Coffey, 24, was killed. Detectives identified Francken through interviews with witnesses and surveillance video. He was arrested on Wednesday and taken to the Allegheny County Jail.
June 26, 2024 5:37 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has sided with the Biden administration in a dispute with Republican-led states over how far the federal government can go to combat controversial social media posts on topics including COVID-19 and election security. The justices in a 6-3 vote on Wednesday threw out lower-court rulings that favored Louisiana, Missouri and other parties in their claims that officials in the Democratic administration leaned on the social media platforms to unconstitutionally squelch conservative points of view. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the court that the states and other parties did not have the legal right to sue.
June 27, 2024 1:35 am
The Greene County Coroner released information regarding a fatal car accident that occurred on June 25 at approximately 12:38 PM. Linda Phillips, 76 was a passenger in a car travelling south on Rt. 19 in Franklin Township. The vehicle that she was riding in crashed with another vehicle travelling north on Rt. 19. Phillips was pronounced dead at the scene. According to police, 70 year old Denny Phillips also died from injuries sustained in the accident at Ruby Memorial Hospital. Police identified 52 year old Stacey Lewis as the driver of the vehicle. She sustained minor injuries. Fifty Six year old Angela Miltz was also riding Lewis’ vehicle, she also sustained minor injuries. It is not clear if Lewis will face charges for the accident.
June 26, 2024 4:34 am
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has returned to his homeland Australia aboard a charter jet hours after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets. Assange raised his right fist as he emerged for the plane to a cheer from supporters at the Canberra airport. The deal with the Justice Department concludes a drawn-out legal saga. It came to a surprise end in a most unusual setting with Assange entering his plea in a U.S. district court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, on Wednesday.
