April 6, 2022 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans have blocked a Democratic attempt to begin Senate debate on a $10 billion COVID-19 compromise that is just a day old. The GOP wants to entangle the bipartisan pandemic package with an election-year showdown over immigration restrictions that poses a politically uncomfortable fight for Democrats. The COVID-19 bill would provide money for treatments, vaccines and testing. But a Democratic move to push the measure over a procedural hurdle failed 52-47, with all 50 Republicans voting no. As a price of their support, they want Democrats to give them a vote on an amendment that would keep Trump-era immigration restrictions from expiring next month.
April 6, 2022 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats are accusing oil companies of “ripping off the American people” and putting profits before production as Americans suffer from higher gasoline prices amid the war in Ukraine. Oil executives, testifying before Congress for the second time in six months, responded that oil is a global market and that oil companies don’t dictate prices. The hearing comes as President Joe Biden has ordered the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve for six months, a bid to control the higher prices. Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington blamed Biden for the higher prices.
April 6, 2022 4:07 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A Pennsylvania court is blocking the centerpiece of Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight climate change, the latest challenge to the Democrat’s effort to make Pennsylvania the first major fossil-fuel state to adopt a carbon pricing policy. Commonwealth Court, in a one-line unsigned order, said Tuesday it won’t allow the official publication of the regulation “pending further order.” The regulation would require fossil fuel-fired power plants to pay a price for every ton of carbon dioxide they emit starting July 1 in a major power-producing state. The regulation was to be published on Saturday. But the court sided with Republican lawmakers who contend it’s an illegal use of regulatory authority.
April 6, 2022 4:05 am
A Washington County man will face trial on felony charges of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault, all of them on a person less than 16 years old. Clayton Warmus, 30 of Washington faced his preliminary hearing and all charges against him were held for court. Warmus is accused of sexually assaulting a juvenile from August of 2020 through March of 2021. During the hearing the victim related how Warmus had them engage in sexual acts on approximately 30 occasions. Most of the assaults came in the victim’s home as Warmus had moved in with the victim and mother. Several assaults occurred at a second location that was described as a friend of Warmus’ home. Warmus is in the Washington County Jail unable to post a $150,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 26.
April 6, 2022 2:16 am
Police in North Strabane Township have arrested Dylan Gledhill on multiple charges, including attempted homicide, in connection with a stabbing that occurred at his home on Hunting Creek Road Monday afternoon. Police allege that Gledhill got into a fight with his roommate, Tyler LaBrosse and used a knife or dagger to stab him. According to the criminal complaint, Gledhill came to the Canonsburg Police Department covered in blood and told police he had gotten into a fight with his roommate at their home. Police say they went to the house, where they found LaBrosse covered in blood with lacerations to both arms. LaBrosse reportedly told police that he and Gledhill got into a fight and Gledhill started to hit him. He said that when he grabbed Gledhill to try and calm him down, Gledhill pulled away and came back with a “dagger.” Police say LaBrosse was flown to a trauma center for emergency surgery. There’s been no word on his condition
April 5, 2022 5:49 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. and its European allies will impose stiff new sanctions, including a ban on new investments in Russia on Wednesday in retaliation for Russia’s “war crimes” in Ukraine, according to the White House. The joint action also will include toughened sanctions on Russia’s financial institutions and government-owned enterprises, and more sanctions on Russian government officials and their family members. The White House said the sanctions were intended to further Russia’s economic, financial and technological “isolation” from the rest of the world as a penalty for its attacks on civilians in Ukraine.
April 5, 2022 12:30 pm
This is not eggs-exactly the news you want to hear the week before Easter. Consumers can expect to see a surge in egg prices ahead of the holiday due to the avian flu outbreak. Egg prices have risen 52% since Feb. 8, according to The Wall Street Journal. The average price for a dozen eggs is now $2.88, the highest it has been since the pandemic began in March 2020, according to market research firm Urner Barry. Avian influenza has been found in 118 flocks in 24 states, with over 22 million birds affected, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The outbreak has led to more than 17 million bird deaths, according to The Wall Street Journal. In Iowa, over 5 million birds have been destroyed. On the upside, however,experts say egg shortages are not expected at this time.
April 5, 2022 12:03 pm
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say one student was injured in a shooting at a school in northwestern Pennsylvania, but that person’s injuries weren’t life-threatening. Erie city and school officials said shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday that police had been called to Erie High School where the city said “a single individual” was shot. Officials said that person was in good condition and had been taken to a hospital. Erie police said the person injured was a student. State police said the shooter had fled the school. Erie Public Schools reported that the building was “on hard lockdown” and “evacuation by orderly dismissal” would begin after police green-lighted that process.
April 5, 2022 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Ivanka Trump, former President Donald Trump’s daughter and one of those closest to him during the insurrection at the Capitol, is testifying before the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. Committee chairman Bennie Thompson said Tuesday afternoon that she had been answering investigators’ questions on a video teleconference since the morning and was not “chatty” but had been helpful to the probe. Her decision to cooperate is a significant development for the committee. Lawmakers have said they want to discuss what Ivanka Trump knew about her father’s efforts to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject the results of the 2020 election.
April 5, 2022 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate bargainers have reached agreement on a slimmed-down $10 billion package for countering COVID-19 with treatments, vaccines and other steps. But the compromise ended up dropping all funding to help nations abroad combat the pandemic. It drew quick support Monday from President Joe Biden, who initially pushed for a $22.5 billion package. He ended up settling for much less despite administration warnings that the government was running out of money to keep pace with the disease’s continued – though diminished – spread in the U.S. Questions remain about whether objections by some Republicans might prevent the Senate from considering the bill this week, as Biden wants.
