President Joe Biden waves as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, after returning from a trip to Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will accept endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family during a campaign stop Thursday in Philadelphia as he aims to undermine Donald Trump and marginalize the candidacy of independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, niece of former President John F. Kennedy and sister of the current presidential candidate, will deliver the endorsements of Biden, according to the Biden campaign.

The decision to highlight the Kennedy family’s support more than six months from Election Day is an indication of how seriously Biden’s team is taking the threat of a long shot candidate using his last name’s lingering Democratic magic to siphon support from the incumbent.

Given Kennedy Jr.’s quixotic political positions and the expectation this year’s campaign will be decided by thin margins, both Democrats and Republicans worry that he could play the role of spoiler.

Biden planned to use Thursday’s event, which caps a three-day campaign swing in a battleground state critical to his reelection effort, to also sustain the pressure on Trump, the former Republican president.

“I can only imagine how Donald Trump’s outrageous lies and behavior would have horrified my father, Robert F. Kennedy, who proudly served as attorney general of the United States, and honored his pledge to uphold the law and protect the country,” according to Kerry Kennedy’s prepared remarks. “Daddy stood for equal justice, human rights and freedom from want and fear. Just as President Biden does today.”

The endorsement was hardly a surprise. Members of the prominent Democratic family have been vocal that they don’t see eye to eye politically with Kennedy Jr., who started as a protest primary challenger to Biden in the Democratic Party and now is running as an independent. Biden last month hosted more than 30 members of Kennedy’s extended family at the White House for St. Patrick’s Day, when family members posed with the president in the Rose Garden and Oval Office.

After the formal endorsement, Biden and members of the Kennedy family were to meet with supporters at a campaign event, and members of the Kennedy clan were planning to make calls to voters and knock on doors on Biden’s behalf.

Several notable members of the family were not endorsing, including Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador to Australia, and nonprofit leader Maria Shriver, which the Biden campaign said was due to their nonpolitical professional roles.

Shriver, however, has been a conspicuous White House guest recently, attending the State of the Union and speaking at a women’s history month reception last month.

Bernard Tamas of Valdosta State University, an expert on third parties, said it was unclear whether Kennedy Jr. would pull more votes from Democrats or Republicans.

“He is pro-science when it comes to the environment, but a conspiracy theorist when it comes to vaccines,” Tamas said.

Kennedy Jr.’s lack of a clear political lane limits his potential impact on the election, Tamas said, but Democrats appear to be more concerned because his last name could lead some voters to believe that he is carrying on his family’s political legacy.

Other than that, Tamas said, “I don’t know what else he has to attract progressive voters.”

Kennedy Jr. has spoken publicly in the past about disagreeing with his family on many issues, but maintains it can be done in “friendly” ways. After a super political action committee supporting his campaign produced a TV ad during the Super Bowl that relied heavily on imagery from John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential run, Kennedy Jr. apologized to his relatives on the X social media platform, saying he was sorry if the spot “caused anyone in my family pain.”

The Democratic National Committee has hired a communications team to combat the appeal of third-party candidates, Kennedy Jr. first among them. The DNC also filed a recent Federal Election Commission complaint against Kennedy Jr.’s campaign, charging that it coordinated too closely with an affiliated super PAC to get his name on the presidential ballot in some states.

Kennedy Jr. is also viewed warily by the Trump campaign. While Trump has released a recent video saying, “If I were a Democrat, I’d vote for RFK Jr. every single time over Biden,” he has sometimes criticized Kennedy Jr. as being more “radical left” than Biden.

The Kennedy family endorsement is a capstone on three days of campaigning in Pennsylvania.

Biden’s travels were an opportunity to reconnect with his roots, starting on Tuesday in Scranton, where he lived until he was 10 years old. He swung by his childhood home, a three-story colonial that his family rented, and reminisced about attending Mass at St. Paul’s.

He seemed reluctant to leave town the next day, stopping for coffee before heading to the airport. “It’s good to be back in Scranton,” the president said when a customer welcomed him.

Biden’s next stop was Pittsburgh, where he called for higher tariffs on steel and aluminum from China to protect U.S. industry from what he called unfair competition.

But even that event involved some nostalgia, as Biden recalled an endorsement from the steelworkers when he was “a 29-year-old kid” from Delaware running for U.S. Senate.

“It changed everything,” he said.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published April 18, 2024 11:01 A.M.
Photo of Heinz Field Courtesy of AD Dr. Jennifer J. Damico.

(Aliquippa, Pa) Quipettes, majorettes and color guard positions will have tryouts Monday through Wednesday April 22-24, 2024 from 4-6pm. Anyone going into 7th grade through 12th grade must sign up by Saturday, April 20, 2024. Students must  have a 2.5 GPA, wear athletic clothing , and bring a 2 minute tryout routine. Cissy Walker Anderson asks that any students with questions to see her at the Junior Senior High School.

On Monday, April 22, McDonald’s will debut the Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy sandwich at participating restaurants across the tri-state area.

The audacious new taste is inspired by soul food flavors of the South, with a bold, creamy and spicy Cajun ranch sauce, applewood smoked bacon and crisp crinkle cut pickles, all served on a warm toasted potato roll.

“Our new Cajun ranch sauce is sure to take your tastebuds to the next level. Combined with the other premium toppings, this sandwich is truly a mouthwatering medley,” said local McDonald’s Owner/Operator Toni Hower.

Available for a limited time only, the Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy will also be available in a deluxe version with lettuce and tomato. The two join McDonald’s three permanent McCrispys: Classic, Deluxe and Spicy.

McDonald’s app members around here can celebrate the new addition to the McCrispy line up with a special deal:  $2.50 McCrispy every Wednesday.  To unlock the digital deal and find more information, download the McDonald’s app.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published April 18, 2024 10:56 P.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) The event is being held in the gym from  8 a.m. to noon on May 8, 2024. The district is seeking the participation of local businesses, organizations, and entrepreneurs, those that are willing to engage, inspire, and educate students on what it takes to enter your profession.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published April 18, 2024 10:52 A.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) The Aliquippa School Board met Wednesday night. Darian Reynolds resignation was approved effective June 30, 2024. The district will advertise the position. Head boys basketball coach Nick Lackovich’s contract, and head girls basketball coach Dwight Lindsey’s contracts were approved at Wednesday night’s meeting. The board’s May meeting is scheduled for  Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 6 p.m. in the Black Box Theater at the Junior Senior High School.

LEWISBERRY, Pa. (AP) — Three construction workers on a maintenance project along a Pennsylvania interstate were struck and killed by a truck early Wednesday, state police said.

Investigators said a 24-year-old man was driving a large box truck at about 3:25 a.m. when it struck a construction vehicle in a work zone, then hit the three workers on the shoulder.

The fatal crash occurred in the southbound portion of Interstate 83, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) south of Harrisburg.

State police have not disclosed the victims’ names, but Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Dave Thompson said they worked for an agency contractor.

“Right now we’re just gathering information,” Thompson said. “We’re obviously very shaken by this event.”

The crew was sealing highway cracks at the time, Thompson said.

A Transportation Department news release issued a week ago said the overnight work involved lane closures and was being performed by CriLon Corp. of Somerset. A phone message seeking comment was left early Wednesday at CriLon offices.

The York County Coroner’s Office confirmed the location of the deaths but offered no other details.

FILE – Emergency personnel work at the site of a deadly explosion at a chocolate factory, March 24, 2023, in West Reading, Pa. Pennsylvania utility regulators must turn over inspection records to the National Transportation Safety Board as part of the federal agency’s probe into a fatal explosion at a chocolate factory last year, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (Jeff Doelp/Reading Eagle via AP, File)

Pennsylvania utility regulators must turn over inspection records to the National Transportation Safety Board as part of the federal agency’s probe into a fatal explosion at a chocolate factory last year, a federal judge ruled this week.

U.S. District Judge Christopher C. Conner sided Tuesday with the federal safety board in its dispute with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, which had refused to produce inspection and investigation reports for UGI Utilities Inc.

UGI is a natural gas utility at the center of the probe into the March 24, 2023, blast at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in West Reading. The powerful natural gas explosion leveled one building, heavily damaged another and killed seven people. Investigators have previously said they are looking at a pair of gas leaks as a possible cause of or contributor to the blast.

State utility regulators had spurned the federal agency’s request for five years’ worth of UGI inspection records, citing a state law that protects “confidential security information” about key utility infrastructure from public disclosure, even to other government agencies.

The utility commission offered federal investigators a chance to inspect the reports at its Harrisburg office or to sign a nondisclosure agreement, but the safety board refused and then issued a subpoena.

The safety board said the records are vital to its investigation because they include state utility regulators’ assessment of the condition of UGI’s pipelines, as well as leak or odor complaint investigation records for the gas utility. The agency argued that federal regulations entitled it to the state investigation records.

“These reports are also vital to determine whether the commission conducted oversight of UGI’s pipeline system in compliance with federal regulations,” federal prosecutors, representing the safety board, wrote in their March 29 petition asking the court to enforce the subpoena.

In its response, the state agency pointed out that federal investigators had already obtained some of the requested records from UGI itself, and argued in a legal filing that federal law does not automatically preempt conflicting state laws.

Conner gave utility regulators seven days to produce the subpoenaed documents, but said they could do it in a way that complies with state law.

“From the beginning, the PUC has underscored a commitment to assist the NTSB with this investigation — while also complying with the Commission’s legal obligation to safeguard confidential security information,” said Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, a spokesperson for the utility commission.

He said the judge’s decision was made as a result of discussions between the two agencies.

An NSTB spokesperson declined comment. The federal investigation into the blast is ongoing.

About 70 Palmer production workers and 35 office staff were working in two adjacent buildings at the time of the blast. Employees in both buildings told federal investigators they could smell gas before the explosion. Workers at the plant have accused Palmer of ignoring warnings of a natural gas leak, saying the plant, in a small town 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia, should have been evacuated.

Palmer was fined more than $44,000 by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for failing to evacuate. Palmer denied it violated any workplace safety standards and contested the OSHA citations.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Josh Shapiro and his top human services official said Wednesday that the administration has a plan to end a waiting list of thousands of families who are considered to be in dire need of help for an intellectually disabled adult relative.

Shapiro and Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh said it is vitally important to the plan for lawmakers to approve a funding increase for state-subsidized services, such as in private homes or group homes.

Shapiro’s administration considers the funding increase a first step that is intended to boost the salaries of employees who, through nonprofit service agencies, work with the intellectually disabled.

“Over the next several years, if this budget passes, there will be a plan in place to finally end that waiting list,” Arkoosh told a discussion group at BARC Developmental Services in Warminster. “It’s a big deal.”

Pennsylvania has maintained a growing waiting list of people seeking such services for decades, as have the vast majority of states.

Roughly 500,000 people with developmental or intellectual disabilities are waiting for services in 38 states, according to a 2023 survey by KFF, a health policy research group. Most people on those lists live in states that don’t screen for eligibility before adding them to a list.

Federal law doesn’t require states to provide home and community-based services, and what states cover varies. In Pennsylvania, the state uses its own dollars, plus federal matching dollars, to cover home and community-based services for intellectually disabled adults.

However, the state’s money hasn’t met the demand, and in Pennsylvania, roughly 4,500 families with an intellectually disabled adult relative are on what’s called an emergency waiting list for help, the state Department of Human Services said.

“These are the critical of the critical,” said Sherri Landis, executive director of The Arc of Pennsylvania, which advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

In many cases, parents on the emergency waiting list have grown old waiting for help for their adult child whom they are increasingly struggling to look after.

One major problem is the difficulty in finding and hiring people to take jobs as care workers. That problem has grown significantly as the COVID-19 pandemic increased stress across the spectrum of workers in health care and direct care disciplines.

Shapiro’s budget proposal includes an extra $216 million in state aid, or 12% more, to boost worker salaries and help agencies fill open positions. Federal matching dollars brings the total to about $480 million.

The funding request is part of a $48.3 billion budget that Shapiro is proposing to lawmakers for the 2024-25 fiscal year beginning July 1.

BARC’s executive director, Mary Sautter, told Shapiro that her agency has a worker vacancy rate of 48%, forcing current employees to work overtime or extra shifts.

“There is a way to fix that and we’ve known that there’s been a way to fix that for a long time, which is to pay people more and be able to hire more people and be able to fill more slots with people who need support and assistance,” Shapiro told the discussion group at BARC.

Shapiro’s administration envisions several years of increased funding that will eventually lead to expanding the number of people who can be served and eliminate the emergency waiting list.

Shapiro’s 2024-25 proposal is about half the amount that advocates say is needed to fix a system beset by staffing shortages and low pay. But they also say this year’s funding proposal, plus a multiyear commitment to eliminate the waiting list, would be an unprecedented injection of money into the system.

“This is the entire boat coming to rescue a system that is really struggling,” Landis said. “And people deserve services.”

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published April 18, 2024 9:21 A.M.

(Beaver Falls, Pa) Beaver County District Attorney Nate Bible reported that Beaver Falls Police received a call at approximately 5 a.m. Wednesday of a home broken into in the 1000 Block of 10th Avenue in Beaver Falls. The unidentified resident heard her cellar door being slammed, and then glass breaking. She went into the basement and shot an intruder 3 times killing him. The intruder was identified as Brent Farmer, 49 who was shot 3 times by a female homeowner early Wednesday morning, the coroner’s ruling was a homicide. DA Bible said that no charges will be filed against the female homeowner who was protecting herself, noting that when someone breaks in, you can defend yourself.
Law enforcement spent around 7 hours on scene.