AP PA Headlines 6/26/19
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale is telling fellow Democrats that he’s going to run for Congress in a Harrisburg-area district that’s in Republican hands. Two Democratic Party figures say DePasquale told them and others that he’s planning to announce his candidacy in July. They spoke on condition of anonymity because DePasquale hasn’t made his formal announcement yet.
Asked about it Tuesday, DePasquale wouldn’t discuss it, saying only that he’ll talk about it soon. The seat is held by four-term Republican Rep. Scott Perry, owner of one of the most conservative voting records in the U.S. House. DePasquale is in his second four-year term as Pennsylvania’s independently elected fiscal watchdog. The district has roughly 25,000 more registered Republican voters than Democrats. Perry won re-election in November by under 3 percentage points.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives is advancing a just-unveiled $34 billion compromise budget plan after hard criticism by rank-and-file Democrats, including a floor fight over whether Democrats could criticize the package for lacking a minimum wage increase. The main budget bill passed Tuesday, 140-62. The spending plan is agreed to by leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.
Senate approval also is required. It uses strong tax collections to boost aid to public schools and universities, hold the line on taxes and stuff cash into reserve. But rank-and-file Democrats fought an order by House Speaker Mike Turzai to stop bringing up the minimum wage during floor debate.
Republicans oppose an increase in Pennsylvania’s minimum wage. Democrats also criticized the plan as failing to do enough to help working people.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania voters would be able to vote in primaries even if they aren’t Democrats or Republicans and have easier absentee ballot deadlines under election law changes being considered by the Legislature. The Senate on Tuesday voted 42 to 8 on Tuesday for a bill that would let unaffiliated voters decide which major party primary they want to cast their ballot in.
The Senate also voted 30-20 to end straight ticket voting that lets people cast all their votes for a single party.
The House subsequently teed up a bill with a set of election rule changes and could pass it as early as Wednesday. The House bill would prohibit the administration from decertifying voting machines in most counties without reporting details to the General Assembly six months beforehand.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A proposal to allow local police to use radar to catch speeding motorists is on its way to the state House after nearly unanimous approval in the Senate. Senators voted 49 to 1 on Tuesday for a bill that local departments have long sought.
Current Pennsylvania law lets only state police use radar, while local police must use other methods to figure out how fast people are driving. A similar measure passed the Senate during the last session but died in the House. If the proposal is enacted, local governments would have to post signs warning motorists that they are using radar.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s Republican Party chairman is stepping down following a published report that he had traded sexually charged text messages with a Philadelphia City Council candidate and also sent her an explicit photo of himself. Val DiGiorgio’s resignation was announced Tuesday by the state GOP.
In a letter to party officials, the 51-year-old DiGiorgio says the report by The Philadelphia Inquirer contains “gross mischaracterizations” of what he said were “mutual consensual communications.”
He said he’ll defend himself against the claims. He also apologized to family and colleagues for what he calls an “unfortunate distraction.” The Inquirer says 35-year-old Irina Goldstein exchanged text messages with DiGiorgio for months after he sent her an explicit photo. The newspaper says they stopped communicating in February after she told him his messages amounted to him sexually harassing her. She lost in May’s primary.
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Features
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is allowing a lawsuit that accuses President Trump of profiting off the presidency in violation of the Constitution to move forward. U.S. District Judge Emmett G. Sullivan of the District of Columbia ruled Tuesday against Justice Department lawyers who sought a mid-case appeal to a higher court and a stay on proceedings.
The case brought by nearly 200 congressional Democrats argues that Trump has been accepting gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval. Trump, unlike modern presidents before him, has declined to fully divest from his businesses. The lawmakers say Trump’s unwillingness to ask permission is akin to denying lawmakers the right to do their jobs. The judge’s decision clears the way for the lawmakers to begin subpoenas for information from Trump.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. women’s agency says families around the world can be loving and supporting _ but too often are the place for discrimination and violence against women, and home is one of the most dangerous places for a woman. At a news conference to release the report, the UN Women’s Executive Director said yesterday that is because of “the shocking pervasiveness of intimate partner violence.”
The report says 137 women were killed by a relative every single day in 2017. In every region, the report says, there are concerted efforts to deny women autonomy and the right to make their own decisions in the name of protecting “family values.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed to call a Senate vote on a bill ensuring that a victims’ compensation fund for the Sept. 11 attacks never runs out of money. McConnell made the commitment after meeting Tuesday with a group of first responders. “We want to try to deal with (the legislation) before the August recess,” the Kentucky Republican told ABC News, adding that he had a “good meeting” with the first responders and even received the shield of a retired New York City detective who now is suffering from cancer after working for weeks at the World Trade Center site.
The meeting came two weeks after comedian Jon Stewart, a longtime advocate for 9/11 responders, offered withering criticism of Congress at a public hearing at the Capitol that was attended by uniformed firefighters and police officers but few lawmakers. McConnell now has “a sense of urgency” about the bill and wants to see it approved before Congress goes on its August recess, said John Feal, a recovery worker at the World Trade Center site and a longtime activist.
HONOLULU (AP) — It’s a postal mystery that’s finally been solved in Hawaii. The U.S. Postal Service says it has found mail that had been stolen more than a decade ago. KHON-TV reports the family of a deceased postal worker found the mail inside a storage unit and turned it over to officials. The USPS says the stolen mail _ which dates back about 13 to 15 years _ will be sent to their intended recipients soon, along with an explanation for why it was so delayed. Officials haven’t identified the postal worker or the route on which the mail was to have been delivered. Most of it was First-Class and Priority Mail, as well as newspapers and magazines headed for the downtown Honolulu area.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A highway crash separated them. But now a recently adopted pup has been reunited with her owner. The Arizona Daily Sun reports volunteers have found Bella _ a 4-month-old mixed yellow lab _ nearly two weeks after Michael Crocker rolled his SUV off historic Route 66 in Flagstaff. Crocker was airlifted to a hospital in Phoenix but Bella couldn’t be found. It took a couple of weeks _ but a rescue team member found Bella whimpering near some of the crash debris. The dog and owner are now recovering together in Southern California, where they were originally headed as part of a cross-country trip from Alabama.
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) — Most people who keep tabs on such things know that in 1973, two men in Southern Mississippi reported being abducted by aliens. Now, there’s a historical marker placed near the site where the event was to have happened. News outlets report the city of Pascagoula dedicated the marker this past weekend at Lighthouse Park. It was there that Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker said they were fishing when they were waylaid by what seemed to be aliens _ and they whisked them aboard a UFO, examined them for about a half hour _ then returned them to Earth. The men reported the incident to the sheriff’s department and were taken to a hospital to be checked out. But the validity of their claim has never been definitively proven or disproven.
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
PA Sports, Scores & Skeds
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Maikel Franco hit a go-ahead two-run homer for the second straight game, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 7-5. Brad Miller, Scott Kingery and Rhys Hoskins also connected as Philadelphia earned its second straight win since losing seven in a row.
The Phillies play on 1070AM WKOK, while our normal programming continues at WKOK.com and on the Sunbury Broadcasting Corporation app. The Phils play the Mets at CBP today 6:30pm on 1070AM WKOK, while the last half-hour of the Late Day News Roundup continues on WKOK.com. Then the .com has CBS Sportsradio.
HOUSTON (AP) — Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman homered to back up a solid start by Gerrit Cole in his first meeting against his former team, and the Houston Astros got a 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. After winning just one time on a seven-game road trip which ended Sunday, the Astros opened a six-game homestand with the victory over the Pirates, who came into town on a four-game winning streak.
Here are the scores from yesterday’s sports events:
———
INTERLEAGUE
Final San Diego 8 Baltimore 3
Final Houston 5 Pittsburgh 1
Final Seattle 8 Milwaukee 3
Final Oakland 7 St. Louis 3
Final L-A Angels 5 Cincinnati 1
———
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final N-Y Yankees 4 Toronto 3
Final Boston 6 Chi White Sox 3
Final Texas 5 Detroit 3
Final Kansas City 8 Cleveland 6
Final Minnesota 9 Tampa Bay 4
———
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 7 N-Y Mets 5
Final Washington 6 Miami 1
Final Atlanta 3 Chi Cubs 2
Final L-A Dodgers 3 Arizona 2
Final San Francisco 4 Colorado 2
———
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Minnesota 78 Indiana 74
Final Las Vegas 60 Seattle 56
TODAY’S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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INTERLEAGUE
San Diego at Baltimore 3:05 p.m.
Oakland at St. Louis 7:15 p.m.
Cincinnati at L-A Angels 8:07 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Houston 8:10 p.m.
Seattle at Milwaukee 8:10 p.m.
———
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chi White Sox at Boston 1:05 p.m.
Toronto at N-Y Yankees 1:05 p.m.
Kansas City at Cleveland 1:10 p.m.
Texas at Detroit 7:10 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Minnesota 8:10 p.m.
———
NATIONAL LEAGUE
L-A Dodgers at Arizona 3:40 p.m.
Colorado at San Francisco 3:45 p.m.
N-Y Mets at Philadelphia 7:05 p.m.
Washington at Miami 7:10 p.m.
Atlanta at Chi Cubs 8:05 p.m.
———
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Washington at Chicago 12:00 p.m.
Connecticut at Dallas 8:00 p.m.
———
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Philadelphia at New England 7:00 p.m.
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
