July 21, 2023 5:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley has released an unclassified document that Republicans claim is significant in their investigation of Hunter Biden. Republicans say the information is significant as they probe the financial affairs of the President Joe Biden’s family, reviving previously debunked claims of financial wrongdoing. House Oversight Chairman James Comer had issued a subpoena to the FBI for the document. It was made public for the first time Thursday. It involves claims a confidential informant made in 2020 about Hunter Biden’s alleged business dealings when he served on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. The White House rejected the information as having been “debunked for years.”
July 21, 2023 2:50 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Joe Biden has paid a visit to Philadelphia’s shipyard to make a pitch that unions will be building America’s renewable energy future. He’s courting organized labor at a moment when some major unions are weighing strikes that could disrupt the growth he wants to campaign on in 2024. The president toured the shipyard on Thursday where there was a steel-cutting ceremony for a vessel needed to build offshore wind farms. Biden ticked through the various union jobs being created by the project. Biden said his frends in organized labor know that “when I think climate, I think jobs.”
July 20, 2023 5:22 pm
(AP) – Striking screenwriters and actors are holding rallies in Philadelphia and Chicago TODAY – as the labor dispute that has halted Hollywood spreads to more cities. While Los Angeles and New York are the epicenters of strike actions, there are dozens of mid-sized and small locals across the country representing performers and writers. The Philadelphia rally at Love Park drew actors Sheryl Lee Ralph and Lisa Ann Walter, stars of the hit Philly-set TV show “Abbott Elementary.” The unions and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers – which represents studios, streamers and production companies – seem far apart, with no negotiations happening or planned.
July 20, 2023 12:43 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is courting unions as a cornerstone of the United States’ economic future with a speech at a Philadelphia shipyard. Thursday’s speech comes just as some major unions are weighing strikes that could disrupt the growth the Democratic president wants to campaign on in 2024. Tensions are rising between unions and companies about a rapidly evolving economy in which artificial intelligence, clean energy and e-commerce are rewriting some of the basic rules of work. Biden is trying to allay those concerns by saying unions should be part of that future. But Biden also knows a strike could harm his reelection chances.
July 20, 2023 8:43 am
Washington County Commissioners are expected to approve a measure Thursday afternoon to enter into a contract with Susquehanna Accounting and Consulting Solutions of Harrisburg to provide needed services in the County’s Finance Department. Washington County Commissioners Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan says that department is in “crisis mode” following the departure of three individuals since the end of June. Longtime Director Joshua Hatfield left to take another job and two others have since departed. Irey Vaughan says she has never experienced anything like this in her 28-years as a Commissioner. County government also recently saw Chief of Staff Mike Namie and Human Services Director Kim Rodgers retire. According to Irey Vaughan, there has been a “toxic environment” within County government “for the past several years” and because of that potential candidates are rejecting job opportunities because of the upcoming election and the uncertainty that exists in regards to longterm viability in the job because of changes to leadership on the Board of Commissioners.
July 20, 2023 5:02 am
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A tornado has heavily damaged a major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina — the latest in a string of extreme weather events plaguing the U.S. Torrential rains flooded communities in Kentucky while an area from California to South Florida endured more blistering heat on Wednesday. Pfizer reported no serious injuries but authorities said medicine was damaged after a tornado damaged the plant near Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Elsewhere, Phoenix, Arizona, broke an all-time record Wednesday morning for a warm low temperature of 97 degrees. And Kentucky braced under a forecast of more rain after flash floods prompted rescues from homes and vehicles in some waterlogged communities.
July 20, 2023 5:00 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A third night of Russian air attacks pounded Ukraine’s southern cities, including the port city of Odesa, and wounded at least 21 people, Ukrainian officials said Thursday. At least 19 people were injured in the southern city of Mykolaiv in the overnight attack, officials said Thursday. Another two people were injured in the port city of Odesa and buildings were damaged in the city center. The attacks came one day after particularly intense Russian bombardment using drones and missiles that damaged critical port infrastructure in Odesa, and came a few days after President Vladimir Putin pulled Russia out of a wartime deal that allowed Ukraine to send grain to countries facing the threat of hunger.
July 20, 2023 4:59 am
Strong storms rolled through Washington County late Thursday night but there are no major problems reported this morning. Washington County 9-1-1 tells WJPA News that some trees and wires did come down and Coal Bluff Road at Route 837 is closed in Union Township. There are also widespread power outages across the county. West Penn Power is reporting more than 560 without service as of 5 a.m. According to their website, they expect to have most of those customers restored by 7 a.m. In Greene County, there are more than 600 customers without power. In Fayette 177. Westmoreland County appears to be the hardest hit with more than 18-hundred customers without power.
July 20, 2023 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Thursday on a new ethics code for the Supreme Court, an attempt to respond to recent revelations about justices’ interactions with wealthy donors and others. Republicans are strongly opposed, arguing the ethics bill could “destroy” the high court. The committee’s legislation would impose new ethics rules on the court and a process to enforce them, including new standards for transparency around recusals, gifts and potential conflicts of interest. Democrats first pushed the legislation after reports earlier this year that Justice Clarence Thomas participated in luxury vacations and a real estate deal with a top GOP donor.
July 20, 2023 4:57 am
A winning ticket has been sold in California for the Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $1.08 billion. The winning numbers for Wednesday night’s drawing were 7, 10, 11, 13, 24 and red Powerball 24. The jackpot is the sixth highest in US history. The winner could take the $558.1 lump sum before taxes or get $1.08 billion paid out in yearly increments. The last time someone had won the Powerball jackpot was April 19 for a top prize of nearly $253 million.
