August 16, 2023 2:09 am
(AP) – United States Steel Corp. seems poised to be soon purchased by a competitor, with two bidders revealed in a matter of days and more in the wings. It would mean the takeover of a symbol of American industrialization that for more than a century helped build everything from the United Nations building in New York City to the New Orleans Superdome. After rejecting a $7.3 billion buyout proposal from rival Cleveland-Cliffs on Sunday, U.S. Steel said it was considering alternatives. On Monday, industrial conglomerate Esmark offered $7.8 billion for Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel.
August 15, 2023 5:28 pm
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Movie theaters in Algeria have been ordered to stop showing the “Barbie” movie, almost a month after it’s been shown there. Online news outlet 24H says Algeria’s Ministry of Culture and Arts notified theaters to pull the movie immediately, without giving a reason. Authorities in Kuwait and Lebanon have banned “Barbie,” saying it goes against their values.
August 15, 2023 1:52 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Researchers in heavily drilled Pennsylvania are preparing to release findings from taxpayer-financed studies on possible links between the natural gas industry and pediatric cancer, asthma and poor birth outcomes. The four-year, $2.5 million project is wrapping up on Tuesday. It comes after other studies are finding higher rates of cancer, asthma and other afflictions among people who live near drilling fields. Pennsylvania’s former governor agreed to commission the study in 2019, under pressure from the families of pediatric cancer patients. There will be a public meeting Tuesday to discuss the findings, hosted by University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and the state Department of Health.
August 15, 2023 5:11 am
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russia’s central bank has made a large interest rate hike of 3.5 percentage points. The move Tuesday is designed to fight inflation and strengthen the ruble after the country’s currency reached its lowest value since early in the war with Ukraine. The decision to bring the key rate to 12% came after an emergency meeting of the bank’s board of directors was called a day earlier as the ruble declined. The fall comes as Moscow increases military spending and Western sanctions weigh on its energy exports. The Russian currency passed 101 rubles to the dollar Monday and has lingered there Tuesday, losing more than a third of its value since the beginning of the year.
August 15, 2023 5:10 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas wants Planned Parenthood to give back millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements and pay far more in fines on top of that. The case goes before a federal judge Tuesday in Texas. The lawsuit appears to be the first of its kind brought by a state against the nation’s largest abortion provider. At issue is money Planned Parenthood received for health services for low-income women before Texas removed the organization from the state’s Medicaid program in 2021. Planned Parenthood has about three dozen health clinics in Texas, where abortion has been outlawed since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. It’s unclear when the judge will rule.
August 15, 2023 5:08 am
ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump and 18 allies have been indicted in Georgia over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. The criminal case announced Monday is the fourth brought against the ex-president and the second this month to allege that he tried to subvert the results of the vote. The indictment details dozens of acts by Trump and his allies to undo his defeat in the battleground state. Other defendants include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and a Trump administration Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, who advanced his efforts to undo his election loss in Georgia.
August 15, 2023 5:06 am
(AP) – Videos showing downed power lines apparently sparking some of the early blazes in the Maui wildfires have become key evidence in the search for a cause. Hawaiian Electric Co. faces criticism for not shutting off the power amid high wind warnings. A class-action lawsuit has already been filed seeking to hold the company responsible for the deaths of at least 99 people. The lawsuit cites the utility’s own documents from last year showing it was aware that preemptive power shutoffs such as those used in California were an effective strategy to prevent wildfires but never adopted them.
August 15, 2023 5:02 am
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – The Hempfield Area School Board members voted Monday night and decided certain books can stay and others can ultimately be removed from the district’s libraries. The meeting got fiery at times with parents passionately speaking on both sides of the debate. With the start of school just 10 days away, students will be walking into classrooms with a new policy about the books they can check out. In a 7-to-1 vote, school board members decided to move forward with a revised book challenge policy that would allow community members to express concern with a list of books 30 days before the district’s librarians buy them. The policy sets guidelines to keep books with sexually explicit content off Hempfield’s school library shelves. The board claims they’ve spent the last 18 months carefully and thoughtfully revising the policy, adding they didn’t have to vote on this but did for transparency and to get public input. Board members say they will continue to review the policy going forward and can adjust and go back to the drawing board if it’s not working.
August 15, 2023 4:56 am
PLUM BOROUGH, Pa. — (WPXI) – Two Plum Borough employees died when a house exploded on Saturday. Sources tell our news partners at WPXI that Michael Thomas, the borough manager, lived one home over from where the explosion happened, but he was inside the home that exploded at the time. Heather Oravitz, community development director for the borough, lived in the house that exploded and was killed, the mayor confirms. Her husband remains in the hospital in critical condition. Thomas’ wife, daughter and their dog were next-door at their home at the time of the explosion. His wife was able to escape through a window, his daughter was able to run out with the dog, and the two of them are physically OK after being released from the hospital. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s office has confirmed the house that exploded in Plum on Saturday had hot water tank issues. The tank was located in the basement of the home along Rustic Ridge Drive. The fire marshal said in an update that they will investigate that information, as well as any other possibilities that may explain what happened.
August 15, 2023 4:51 am
Often times with improvements come new problems. That is what Peters Township Council addressed with a new stop sign. Longvue Drive had been a substandard road in the township for many years. This year the road was totally reengineered for width, cul de sac installation and storm drain improvements that brought the road up to current township standards. With those improvements, speed and sight distance issues presented themselves. Council adopted an ordinance creating a three way stop on Longvue Drive with its intersection with Jomat Drive because of limited sight distance. Public comment also spoke of speeding that is now occurring on the road since the improvement. Council will also look into installing speed limit signs.
