AP PA Headlines 12/21/18
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf called himself a “realist” about the full legalization of marijuana, pointing out Thursday that it could soon come to two states bordering Pennsylvania and suggesting that it would be wiser to take a harder look at it than ignore it. Wolf, a Democrat, this week changed his tone on the subject as legalizing the sale of recreational marijuana gathers popularity and momentum.
Previously, Wolf had said he would want to study the experience of states where it is legal before deciding whether to support it. However, he has never suggested that the time is right for his administration to look into it, until now. On Wednesday, Wolf opened the door while answering questions from the public on Twitter, saying “it is time for Pennsylvania to take a serious and honest look at recreational marijuana.” He also said more states are “successfully implementing marijuana legalization,” and Pennsylvania should learn from their efforts.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats in Pennsylvania’s state Senate say they’ll introduce legislation to continue protections in individual health insurance plans sold in the state should the Affordable Care Act be permanently blocked in the courts. Democrats said Thursday they’ll introduce the bills after the two-year legislative session begins Jan. 1.
They say the bills will require individual health insurance plans sold in Pennsylvania to cover the federal law’s 10 essential benefits and to cover pre-existing conditions without charging more. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, is a strong supporter of the federal law, while Republicans control the state House and Senate. Last Friday, a federal judge in Texas declared the whole law unconstitutional, although the Affordable Care Act remains in place while the legal battle continues, possibly to the Supreme Court.
HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) — Bakers are complaining that something is amiss with Hershey’s Kisses. The chocolate candy’s trademark tips have been mysteriously missing from batches around the country. Bakers have taken to social media to complain that the lopped-off tops are ruining the look of their holiday treats. Without their points, the chocolate candies are left with flat tops.
The Hershey Company responded to the disgruntled bakers after hearing of a Facebook post by the Wedding Cookie Table Community group that detailed the problem. Company spokesman Jeff Beckman tells the Lebanon Daily News they’re reviewing the issue. Beckman says Hershey has donated baking items to the group as a thank you for pointing out the issue. The candy company has yet to explain what’s causing the missing tips.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s governor is commuting the life sentences of two inmates, including a woman who said she let her newborn drown in a portable toilet because she was afraid how her parents would react to the birth. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday issued one order in the case of 43-year-old Tina Brosius, who had been convicted of first-degree murder of the infant in a suburban Harrisburg park.
Wolf also commuted the life sentence of 58-year-old Raymond Jordan for a 1985 stabbing homicide in Philadelphia. Both will be released to a halfway house, where they will be for a year before they can seek release on parole. Brosius was 19 years old when she was sentenced to life in 1995.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Features
NEW YORK (AP) — For Stephen Colbert and his “Late Show” staff, the best-selling spoof “Whose Boat Is This Boat?” essentially wrote itself. Because all of the words are by President Donald Trump, who is billed as the author “by accident.” The picture book’s title and contents were inspired by Trump’s disjointed response last September to Hurricane Florence, which struck North Carolina and South Carolina, where Colbert grew up.
“If you love Trump, you’ll love this book because every word in it is exactly what he said,” Colbert, for whom the president has been prime comic material, said during a recent interview with The Associated Press. “And if you’re anti-Trump you’ll love this book because every word in it is exactly what he said.” “Whose Boat Is This Boat? Comments That Don’t Help in the Aftermath of a Hurricane” has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and raised more than $1.25 million for such charities as Foundation for the Carolinas and World Central Kitchen. The contributions come from author proceeds and from the publisher, Simon & Schuster.
NEW YORK (AP) — The movie theater was dead, they said. After ticket sales slumped in 2017 , due largely to the worst summer season in more than a decade, pundits far and wide predicted the hastening demise of moviegoing, an inevitable casualty to the rise of streaming. This year, the movies flipped the script. This weekend, as “Aquaman,” ”Bumblebee” and “Mary Poppins Returns” arrive in theaters, ticket sales will reach a new record for the year, passing the previous 2016 high of $11.4 billion.
Driven in part by zeitgeist-grabbing cultural events like “Black Panther,” ”Crazy Rich Asians” and even documentaries like “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” the box office is expected to end up around $11.8 billion for the year. The overall domestic gross is up nearly 9 percent from last year; ticket sales are up about 6 percent. And it’s not just in North America. Propelled by Chinese moviegoers, global ticket sales should, for the second time ever, exceed $40 billion. Saudi Arabia declared itself open for business to Hollywood, after more than 35 years without theaters. In the United Kingdom, cinemas are headed to their best year since 1971.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Signs have gone up naming a section of a Los Angeles-area freeway as the President Barack H. Obama Highway. The signs posted yesterday on State Route 134 apply to a stretch running from State Route 2 in Glendale, through the Eagle Rock section of Los Angeles to Interstate 210 in Pasadena.
The former president attended Occidental College in Eagle Rock from 1979 to 1981 and lived in Pasadena.
The designation was authorized in 2017 when the Legislature signed off on a resolution introduced by state Sen. Anthony J. Portantino, a Democrat whose district includes the area.
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Police in North Carolina say an argument over snoring led to a stabbing at a motel. Wilmington police told news outlets 54-year-old Guillermo Moreno-Vasquez was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. Investigators say Moreno-Vasquez and another man got into an argument in their motel room Wednesday, and that led to the stabbing.
The victim’s injuries were not life-threatening. It’s unclear which man’s snoring sparked the argument.
Police responded to the motel after receiving a report of a man coming to the front desk with a large knife covered in blood. Police say the two men work for a Texas construction company and were rooming together while working a job in Wilmington.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Officials with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say female missionaries in all 407 missions worldwide now have the option to wear dress slacks. Members of the Missionary Executive Council say the dress standards adjustment takes effect immediately and is primarily motivated by safety concerns.
Female Mormon missionaries in roughly half of the church’s missions have previously been wearing dress slacks during the wet seasons to help protect them from mosquito-borne viral diseases. They now can wear slacks year-round if they choose. Mormon officials say wearing dress slacks also will also make it easier for female missionaries to ride bicycles. Female missionaries will continue to wear skirts and dresses when attending the temple and during Sunday worship services, mission leadership and zone conferences, and baptismal services.
UNDATED (AP) — An Air Force veteran who started a fundraising page to help pay for construction of President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall has brought in millions of dollars. Brian Kolfage launched the GoFundMe page this week, and it had generated $6 million in donations as of early Thursday afternoon. It says it has a fundraising goal of $1 billion.
In a statement posted on the crowdsourcing page, Kolfage says the wall could be built if everyone who voted for Trump pledged $80 each. Kolfage says he has contacted the Trump administration about where to send the money. A triple amputee injured in the Iraq War in 2004, Kolfage went on to serve at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.
OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) — A lawsuit against a Maryland beach town is making waves over who gets to go topless. A judge has ruled that Ocean City can continue to enforce rules that ban topless women in public — even as a lawsuit challenging the ordinance continues. Officials passed the emergency ordinance in June, and several women filed suit earlier this year against the city. The woman argued it was their constitutional right to appear topless in public — just like men do.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
PA Sports Stories, Scores & Skeds
SHIKELLAMY WRESTLING
Shikellamy 47
Shamokin 18
BOYS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Bellefonte 47, Dubois 46
Blue Ridge 49, Sullivan County 47
Halifax 60, East Juniata 43
Juniata Valley 75, Glendale 47
Mifflinburg 56, Central Mountain 44
Muncy 51, Midd-West 42
Scranton Prep 51, Williamsport 47
Wyoming Seminary 52, Northwest Area 44
GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Lourdes Regional 70, Schuylkill Haven 38
Meadowbrook Christian 43, Bucktail 28
Minersville 52, Williams Valley 30
Muncy 42, Montoursville 41
Sayre Area 52, Troy 20
Schuylkill Valley 50, Daniel Boone 33
Tamaqua 51, Pottsville 36
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Saints defensive end Cam Jordan says a victory over Pittsburgh would be “huge.” Quarterback Drew Brees says New Orleans has “a lot at stake.” That is a matter of perspective. The Saints want to wrap up the No. 1 seed in the NFC so they’ll have the option of resting key players in the regular-season finale and get a playoff bye. The Saints also prefer to play postseason games in the Superdome. The stakes are arguably higher for Pittsburgh. The Steelers haven’t clinched a playoff berth yet. The Steelers play on our sister station 100.9 The Valley.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Foles understands his Super Bowl MVP trophy isn’t going to help when J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney are chasing after him. No matter the pressure, he stays calm and plays with poise. The Philadelphia Eagles are again counting on Foles to win high-stakes games. Foles, who was 3-0 in the playoffs last season, led the 14-point underdog Eagles to a victory on the road against the Rams last week to keep them in the playoff race. The Eagles play on our sister station Eagle 107.
Here are the scores from yesterday’s sports events:
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Miami 101 Houston 99
Final L.A. Clippers 125 Dallas 121
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 2 Minnesota 1
Final Detroit 4 Carolina 1
Final Boston 3 Anaheim 1
Final Columbus 2 New Jersey 1
Final Toronto 6 Florida 1
Final Philadelphia 2 Nashville 1
Final Chicago 5 Dallas 2
Final Montreal 2 Arizona 1
Final SO Tampa Bay 5 Calgary 4
Final Vancouver 5 St. Louis 1
Final Vegas 4 N-Y Islanders 2
Final Winnipeg 5 San Jose 3
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TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (2) Duke 69 (12) Texas Tech 58
Final (21) Houston 60 Utah St. 50
TODAY’S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Detroit at Charlotte 7:00 p.m.
Cleveland at Toronto 7:00 p.m.
Atlanta at N-Y Knicks 7:30 p.m.
Indiana at Brooklyn 7:30 p.m.
Milwaukee at Boston 8:00 p.m.
Orlando at Chicago 8:00 p.m.
Minnesota at San Antonio 8:30 p.m.
Memphis at Sacramento 10:00 p.m.
Utah at Portland 10:00 p.m.
New Orleans at L.A. Lakers 10:30 p.m.
———
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Buffalo at Washington 7:00 p.m.
Ottawa at New Jersey 7:00 p.m.
Chicago at Colorado 9:00 p.m.
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TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Denver at (8) Gonzaga 9:00 p.m.
Oakland at (10) Michigan St. 7:00 p.m.
(14) Buffalo at (20) Marquette 8:30 p.m.
(24) Furman at LSU 8:00 p.m.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
