AP PA Headlines
HARRISBURG — Republican U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, who was elected as a crusader against illegal immigration and helped cheerlead Donald Trump to victory last year, has told GOP officials and activists that he has decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Bob Casey.
A person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press that Barletta began telling party officials of his decision last week, several months after he began considering it. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because Barletta has not yet made his plans public.
In a text message Monday, Barletta said that his conversations have been “very positive” and that he will announce his decision in a few weeks.
“Continuing to go through process. Been talking to a lot of people,” Barletta wrote.
Barletta, 61, is in his fourth term representing a House district that stretches from south-central Pennsylvania’s rolling farms through northeastern Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal fields.
Barletta, a staunch Trump supporter in Congress, would quickly become the most recognizable name in a field of a half-dozen would-be challengers to Casey, the 57-year-old son of a late ex-governor and a fierce critic of the Republican president.
Barletta has supported Trump-backed legislation to overhaul the American health care system and introduced a bill to fund the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to help Trump fulfill a key campaign promise.
Barletta won his House seat during the Republican midterm wave of 2010, catapulted by the attention he received while mayor of the small city of Hazleton for cracking down on immigrants in the country illegally.
Hazleton approved Barletta’s measures in 2006, denying permits to businesses that hire people in the country illegally and fining landlords who rent to them, but they were never enforced before the U.S. Supreme Court struck them down in 2014. Barletta’s strategy was copied by dozens of other cities across the U.S. that accused the federal government of failing to enforce immigration laws.
Barletta endorsed Trump in the weeks leading up to Pennsylvania’s presidential primary last year. He became a co-chairman of Trump’s ultimately successful campaign in the state and served on Trump’s transition team.
Casey plans to seek a third six-year term in next year’s election. Democrats’ 4-3 ratio registration edge over Republicans gives him a built-in advantage, though that did not stop Trump from becoming the first Republican since 1988 to capture Pennsylvania’s crucial electoral votes in the presidential race.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Physicians who want to be registered to prescribe medical marijuana in Pennsylvania can now sign up through the state Health Department. Officials say the first step for doctors is to complete a practitioner registry, an online process available on the health department’s website.
There’s a requirement that doctors complete four hours of training. Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program is expected to be up and running sometime next year. It’s open to state residents under a doctor’s care who suffer from a list of medical conditions.
Higher education in Sunbury officially available
SUNBURY – Sunbury’s gate to higher education is officially open. The Lackawanna College Sunbury Center held its ribbon cutting ceremony Monday. A small crowd, including many local elected officials, gathered outside the new location on Fourth Street.
Sunbury Center Director Phil Campbell was very pleased with the turnout, “It looked like we had about 50 or 60 people here. It’s a hot summer day in the middle of Pennsylvania, but it’s a great day, and the fact this many people showed up shows their support is behind Lackawanna College as well.”
Lackawanna College President Mark Volk began with opening remarks. He agreed with State Representative Lynda Schelgel Culver (R-108th District) saying The Valley’s potential is a big reason the Sunbury Center was created, “You can almost feel it. You look at what’s going on with Geisinger for example, or you look at the new power generation plants, you look at the jobs each of those drive. Sunbury and the greater region around here just kind of set it perfectly.”
Campbell and Mayor David Persing then followed with remarks. Persing says there were two reasons becoming a branch of Lackawanna College made sense for the city, “Because of their interest in us first of all, for their commitment to invest in the city of Sunbury. But second of all, the establishment and success that they’ve had and the success they continue to have right now without the city of Sunbury. For them to stretch out and come down our way is perfect.”
Also in attendance were representatives from Senator Bob Casey and John Gordner’s offices, State Representative Kurt Masser, and the Northumberland County Commissioners. The fall semester begins August 28.
Sunbury Textile Mills sold
SUNBURY—A staple of Sunbury’s industry has been sold. Sunbury Textile Mills is being sold to Glen Raven Inc. Glen Raven Custom Fabrics, LLC is best known as the makers of Sunbrella fabrics. Sunbury Textile Mills has been a business partner with Glen Raven for over twenty years.
Hank Truslow, Jr. CEO of Sunbury Textile Mills says, “We are very excited about the transaction and acquisition. Sunbrella Fabrics have grown to be a very important part of our business. Timing came to be, that it was just the right time to do it, and so we are really excited about the future it will bring for us and we look forward to the next 20 years.
Sunbury Textile Mills was founded in 1954 and is the leading manufacturer of designed decorative fabrics. In 2004 Sunbury Textile Mills became an Employee Stock Ownership Plan company, and is owned 100% for the benefit of all the employees’ retirements.
Truslow explained how the sale works with an ESOP company, “ The ESOP will be divided up to the employees, and their accounts go to their own 401K or individual retirement accounts. The employees get their shares of stock today in the company back as far as the present cash proceeds of the sale.”
The company currently has 180 in employees in at the Sunbury plant.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A former Pennsylvania mayor is due in court on federal corruption charges. Former Democratic Reading Mayor Vaughn Spencer is scheduled to appear in federal court in Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon. Spencer is accused of engaging in a series of pay-to-play schemes in which he allegedly sold the power of his office in exchange for campaign contributions. Spencer’s lawyer has said he intends to fight the charges. The mayor of Allentown pleaded not guilty to similar charges last week.
EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania celebration of a popular Polish treat is embroiled in a food fight after a suburban Chicago chamber of commerce threatened a trademark infringement lawsuit over the use of the name “Pierogi Festival.” The (Wilkes-Barre) Citizens’ Voice reports that lawyers for the Whiting Pierogi Fest in Indiana recently sent a letter demanding that the Edwardsville Hometown Committee stop using the name or pay royalties. It calls the Pennsylvania festival name “unfair competition.”
Oddities and Conversation Starters
PHOENIX (AP) — Defense lawyers for Joe Arpaio say the former Arizona sheriff will appeal his criminal conviction for disobeying a court order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton issued a 14-page order Monday that found Arpaio guilty of misdemeanor contempt of court for prolonging the patrols.
Arpaio’s attorneys say Bolton violated the U.S. Constitution by issuing her ruling without reading it to the former lawman in open court. They also say her verdict is contrary to what witnesses testified in court and that Arpaio believes a jury would have sided with him. The 85-year-old Arpaio lost re-election last year amid voter frustrations over his deepening legal troubles.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Women, Hispanics and the disabled are among the most underrepresented groups in popular Hollywood films, according to a study examining the ongoing epidemic of inequality on screen and off.
A report to be released Monday from the Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism says that women made up only 31.4 percent of speaking characters from the 100 top-grossing fictional films of 2016.
Also in stark contrast to their proportional representation in the United States, 3.1 percent of speaking characters were Hispanic and 2.7 percent were depicted as having disabilities. Women of color were least represented. The report says that until companies adopt solutions to combat exclusionary hiring and casting practices, change is unlikely.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — More than 50 Houston business leaders, including the heads of some of the nation’s top oil companies, are opposing a Texas “bathroom bill” targeting transgender people — adding to an already long list of powerful and lucrative firms opposing it. In a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday, the leaders wrote that they support “diversity and inclusion” and that “any such bill risks harming Texas’ reputation and impacting the state’s economic growth.”
Its signers included executives from Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil. Abbott has called state lawmakers into a special legislative session after a bill requiring transgender Texans to use public restrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates failed in May. Apple, IBM, Facebook, the NFL and scores of other companies have previously opposed the bill.
CHICAGO (AP) — The Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” may be the reason for a surge in online searches for suicide, according to a new study. Researchers led by John Ayers of San Diego State University found there were at least 900,000 more Google searches than expected that included the word “suicide” in the three weeks after the release of the series on March 31. That included searches for suicide methods, suicide hotlines and suicide prevention.
The study did not examine any connection with actual suicides or attempts. The series is about a high school girl who reveals why she killed herself. Netflix says the show was meant to increase discussion around tough subject matter and the study confirms this. A second season is in the works. The study was published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — PBS is creating a TV show to encourage you to read instead of watching TV. “The Great American Read” is an eight-part series that will discuss the top 100 best-loved novels in the U.S. The books will be chosen based on a national survey and an advisory committee. Only one book or series per author will be discussed. PBS says it’s trying to start a national conversation about inspiring and influential books. The series will debut next spring.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Retired astronaut Scott Kelly spent one year in space on the International Space Station, but his thoughts were often with Westeros. Kelly says that while he was away, he saved “Game of Thrones” to watch and “it was so good, I binged it twice.” He also watched a lot of CNN. Kelly spoke Monday during a panel at the Television Critics Association’s annual summer event.
He was promoting the upcoming PBS documentary “Beyond a Year in Space.” “Beyond a Year in Space” picks up where the first film, “A Year in Space” ended. It follows Scott Kelly’s last day in space and return to Earth. It will also introduce viewers to the next generation of astronauts preparing to go to space. It premieres Nov. 15, 2017.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s newest Medal of Honor recipient says it was a “humbling” experience to receive it from President Donald Trump. Former Army medic James McCloughan (mih-KLOO’-uhn) says the medal is about love. He received the nation’s highest military during a White House ceremony attended by family and friends, as well as some of the men who fought alongside him. The group included some of the men the now 71-year-old Michigan native risked his life to save.
McCloughan was a 23-year-old private first class who ended up in the middle of a raging, two-day battle in Vietnam in 1969. Officials say he willingly entered the “kill zone” to rescue 10 wounded and disoriented comrades despite his own serious injuries caused by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is defending President Donald Trump’s recent remarks that police shouldn’t be too nice when transporting suspects, saying Monday that the president was “making a joke.” On a visit to Long Island last week, Trump implored police officers “Please don’t be too nice,” noting that some officers are too courteous to suspected criminals when arresting them.
That prompted critics to accuse the president of encouraging police brutality. “Like when you guys put somebody in the car, and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put your hand over” their head, he said, putting his hand above his head for emphasis. “I said, ‘You can take the hand away, OK?” Trump declared. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Monday, “I believe he was making a joke at the time.”
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