PHILADELPHIA (AP) — When the Supreme Court barred mandatory life without parole for juvenile offenders, Pennsylvania had more inmates serving that sentence than any other state. Courts are now working to revisit those cases and issue new sentences, moves that have already resulted in the release of 58 inmates, many now in their 50s and 60s. Prison officials and advocates are working to prepare inmates to return to a world very different from the one they knew.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Union carpenter Bob Brady has spent 30 years running Philadelphia’s Democratic machine, and 20 years in Congress, watching a string of local party leaders go to prison. Now the FBI has its spotlight on him over $90,000 in payments to a Democratic challenger who quit the 2012 primary race. Brady’s lawyer insists the congressman has done nothing wrong and says Brady paid the rival for his political polling.
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Researchers are aiming within the next two years to roll out an early warning system that can spot when toxic algae is appearing on hundreds of lakes across the U.S. The idea is to use real-time data from satellites that already monitor harmful algae hotspots on Lake Erie in Ohio and Chesapeake Bay along the East Coast. Harmful algae blooms on freshwater lakes are becoming a growing concern and can sicken people and contaminate drinking water.
SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) — Robert Pugh says the Pennsylvania site where he and eight other miners were rescued after spending more than three days trapped in a flooded mine still gives him goosebumps. But he returned to the Quecreek site for the first time in a decade for Saturday’s community celebration 15 years after the July 2002 rescue. Pugh said he wanted to see not only his rescuers, but the people who prayed for him. Miners broke through stone into the uncharted mine shaft, releasing millions of gallons of water and trapping them more than 200 feet (61 meters) below the surface. Crews drilled a small shaft and lowered a small metal capsule, bringing them up one by one. Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation officials say more than 10,000 people visit the site each year.
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Horticulturists at a popular, public garden and education center just outside of Philadelphia want to make sure the tricks of the trade can be passed on to future generations. Student interns for Longwood Gardens are producing videos this summer to document work that goes into growing a thousand bloom mum. Longwood’s partnership with the University of Delaware is part of its succession planning. It and major gardening organizations are worried about a loss of gardening knowledge and are looking to promote horticulture as a career for young people. The students are producing nine videos that document part of the mum growing process. It takes 18 months and thousands of worker hours to grow a thousand bloom mum. The flower is a show-stopper at Longwood Gardens’ annual Chrysanthemum Festival.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election, but some Republicans in Congress are intensifying their calls to investigate her and other Obama administration officials. Congressional investigations have escalated into Russian meddling and possible links to President Donald Trump’s campaign, and now some Republicans say the investigations should focus more on Democrats. Several officials from the Obama administration and Clinton’s campaign have appeared before or been interviewed by House and Senate Intelligence Committees as part of the Russia probe. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has continued a separate investigation into whether Obama administration officials inappropriately made requests to “unmask” identities of Trump campaign officials in intelligence reports. And the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee has approved a resolution to request documents related to the FBI’s now-closed investigation of Clinton’s emails.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The chief executive for PBS is sounding the alarm about public broadcasting’s future if federal funding is axed. CEO Paula Kerger said Sunday that public TV stations heavily dependent on federal funds couldn’t survive without it, including in rural or underserved areas. Kerger acknowledged there have previous efforts to cut federal support for public broadcasting. But she said the latest one is occurring in a period of extraordinary events. President Donald Trump has called for an end to federal funds for PBS and National Public Radio. Kerger told a TV critics’ meeting Saturday that she can make the case for the role PBS plays in American lives. But she said it’s crucial that viewers let their congressional representatives know what it means to them..
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey easily leads the pack in fundraising as he runs for a third term in next year’s election. Casey reported $5.6 million in his campaign account as of June 30, the latest date for which Senate candidates must disclose campaign finances. That’s almost twice what Casey had at the same point while running for his current term. His nearest rival is Jeffrey Bartos, a Republican and real estate investor from suburban Philadelphia. Bartos reports just over $1 million, boosted by a $500,000 loan from him. Paul Addis, a Republican and former energy-sector executive also from suburban Philadelphia, reports just over $100,000, nearly all of it a loan from himself. Several other candidates reported under $31,000. Pennsylvania’s Republican Sen. Pat Toomey spent $27 million in the two-year campaign cycle to win re-election last year.
HONOLULU (AP) — The top legal officers in 18 states, including Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia are asking Congress to pass legislation prohibiting discrimination against transgender service members. Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin sent the letter dated Thursday. It asks the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees to include transgender protections in the National Defense Authorization Act. Eighteen other attorneys general also signed the document. The letter says President Donald Trump’s policy banning transgender service members from the military “violates fundamental constitutional and American values.” Attorneys general from the following joined Hawaii in signing the letter: California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
SPARTA, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge has rescinded his program that would reduce inmates’ jail time if they voluntarily underwent birth control procedures. Media outlets report that Judge Sam Benningfield of Sparta reversed his order on Wednesday. In May, Benningfield signed a standing order that provided 30 days’ credit toward jail time for men who got free vasectomies in White County and women who agreed to receive free Nexplanon implants, which prevent pregnancy for up to four years. Benningfield said Wednesday that the 32 women and 38 men who agreed to birth control would still receive 30 days of jail credit, whether they had undergone the procedure or not. The order drew criticism from several lawmakers and organizations. The American Civil Liberties Union called the order unconstitutional, describing it as coercion.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A spokesman for the House Republican majority says lawmakers will have “questions and concerns” about a Senate plan to close a $2.2 billion gap in the Pennsylvania budget with a mix of borrowing and higher taxes. Stephen Miskin reacted Thursday after the Senate passed legislation to balance the $32 billion budget. House Republicans failed to reach agreement last week on a revenue plan that would have borrowed against Pennsylvania’s annual share of the 1998 multistate settlement with tobacco companies and included no new taxes. The Senate plan includes the tobacco money and new or higher taxes on Marcellus Shale drilling and consumers’ utility bills. Miskin says the Senate plan was “not shared, nor agreed to” by House leaders prior to passage, “so a review of what’s actually in these bills is necessary.” He says there’s no timetable for the House to return to Harrisburg to consider the legislation. The senate’s billion dollar tax increase package includes higher taxes on your phone bill and for natural gas consumption; it would continue to seek collection of the state sales tax on internet transactions; it expands the sale of fireworks and adds higher taxes; and it establishes a severance tax on natural gas drillers.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s new communications director is getting sacked on social media for quoting Joe Paterno while making a point about honor and dignity. Anthony Scaramucci mentioned the late Penn State football coach’s oft-cited line “act like you’ve been there before” during a CNN interview Thursday about his push to stop leaks to the press. Penn State fired Paterno in 2011 over his handling of child sex abuse allegations against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. A university-commissioned investigation concluded Paterno and others hushed up the allegations for fear of bad publicity. Paterno, one of college football’s winningest coaches, died of lung cancer in January 2012 at 85. He was never charged with a crime. When Paterno died, Scaramucci tweeted he’d met the coach twice and considered him an “honorable man.”
MCKEESPORT, Pa. (AP) — A job fair for one of Pennsylvania’s first medical marijuana processing plants has drawn hundreds of potential applicants. Videos posted on social media Thursday show hundreds of people in line hoping to land a job at PurePenn’s future facility in McKeesport, a city about 12 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The company’s website says it will grow cannabis plants and produce pharmaceutical-grade capsules, ointments and oils. Patients who have a prescription and a license issued by the state health department can purchase the products at dispensaries. Employees who work at 21,000-square foot facility, which the company’s website says will be fully operational by January, will earn twice the minimum wage. Pennsylvania’s governor signed a bill legalizing medical marijuana in April 2016.
