PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping Arthur Smith can turn around one of the NFL’s most underachieving offenses.

The Steelers are nearing an agreement to make Smith their new offensive coordinator, multiple sources told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The sources spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was not official.

Smith would come to Pittsburgh just weeks after the Atlanta Falcons fired him as head coach following three straight 7-10 seasons. The magic Smith was able to produce while serving as the offensive coordinator in Tennessee in 2019 and 2020 — when the Titans finished 12th and then second in total offense — never materialized in Atlanta, which finished in the bottom half of the league in yards and points during Smith’s tenure.

He could get a fresh start with the Steelers, who managed a 10-7 record and a playoff berth despite an offense that ranked 25th in yards and 28th in points and didn’t show any real signs of life until the final three weeks when third-string quarterback Mason Rudolph spurred a late winning streak that helped Pittsburgh sneak into the postseason.

Steelers president Art Rooney II said Monday that while the team still believes in starting quarterback Kenny Pickett — who endured a bumpy first full season as a starter before sustaining an ankle injury in early December that forced him to watch from the sideline — it’s also time for Pittsburgh to get “quality play out of the quarterback position going forward.”

Rooney also indicated he’d be interested in bringing back the free-agent-to-be Rudolph to compete with Pickett during training camp, praising Rudolph for his play down the stretch.

Smith’s charge with whoever is behind center will be to come up with an approach that puts more points on the board to take some of the pressure off Pittsburgh’s star-laden defense. The Steelers have finished 21st or worse in scoring in four of the past five seasons, one of the reasons the team took the unusual step of firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada just before Thanksgiving, the club’s first in-season dismissal of a coordinator or head coach since World War II.

There are players to build around. Pittsburgh has one of the best running back tandems in the league in Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. Wide receiver George Pickens has shown flashes of brilliance, though those flashes have been tempered with bouts of petulance. Wide receiver Diontae Johnson is one of the league’s better route-runners and tight end Pat Freiermuth is a quality playmaker when healthy.

Rooney said on Monday the team was close to making a hire. Less than 24 hours later, the team was closing in on its man.

“We’re looking forward to have someone come in and take a fresh approach who can help our young players grow and perform and have the offense perform at a consistently high level,” Rooney said.

Something that hasn’t happened since the height of the “Killer B” era in the mid-2010s when Ben Roethlisberger was throwing passes to Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell was one of the most productive all-around backs in the league.

The Steelers have somehow stayed competitive almost in spite of the offense, but they’ve also been exposed in the postseason. Pittsburgh has dropped five straight playoff games, four of them by double digits.

Smith would seem to be a good stylistic fit with the Steelers. Pittsburgh general manager Omar Khan and assistant general manager Andy Weidl are trying to build a physical team that likes to lean on the run. Smith was able to install a system that exploited the talents of Titans star running back Derrick Henry as Tennessee reached the postseason in each of Smith’s two years calling the plays.

(Photo/BCR Archives)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will visit the eastern Ohio community that was devastated by a fiery train derailment in February 2023 that displaced thousands of residents and left many fearing potential health effects from the toxic chemicals that spilled when a Norfolk Southern train went off the tracks.

A White House official said Wednesday that Biden will visit East Palestine in February, a year after the derailment. A date for the Democratic president’s trip was not given. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because Biden’s plans had yet to be formally announced.

The Feb. 3, 2023, derailment forced thousands of people from their homes near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Area residents still have lingering fears about potential health effects from the toxic chemicals that spilled and from the vinyl chloride that was released a few days after the crash to keep five tank cars from exploding.

The absence of a visit by Biden had become a subject of persistent questioning at the White House, as well as among residents in East Palestine. Some residents have said they felt forgotten as time marched on without a presidential visit and as they watched Biden fly to the scenes of other disasters, such as the wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui and hurricanes in Florida.

The Biden administration defended its response right after the toxic freight train derailment, even as local leaders and members of Congress demanded that more be done. The White House said then that it had “mobilized a robust, multi-agency effort to support the people of East Palestine, Ohio,” and it noted that officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Transportation Safety Board and other agencies were at the rural site within hours even though Biden didn’t immediately visit.

Asked last week about a potential Biden visit to Ohio, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she had nothing to announce.

“When it is, when it is appropriate or helps … the community for him to be there, obviously, he will be there. He’s done that,” she said at her press briefing last Friday.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s in a rural area, urban area, suburban area, red state, blue state, the president has always been there to … assist and be there for the community,” Jean-Pierre added. “So, when it is helpful, he certainly will do that.”

She again defended the administration’s response, repeating that federal employees were on the ground providing assistance within hours of the derailment.

Biden ordered federal agencies to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for the derailment and appointed an official from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to oversee East Palestine’s recovery.

Norfolk Southern has estimated that it will cost the company at least $803 million to remove all the hazardous chemicals, help the community and deal with lawsuits and related penalties.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency will assign artists to treasured bodies of water in the United States under a new program announced Tuesday at a White House-sponsored conference on exploring ways to use the arts and humanities as another instrument for problem-solving.

Leaders from government, the arts, academia and philanthropy gathered in Washington for “Healing, Bridging, Thriving: A Summit on Arts and Culture in our Communities.” Panel discussions focused on turning to the arts and humanities to solve challenges, from improving health to bridging divides.

The National Endowment for the Arts and the White House Domestic Policy Council hosted the daylong conference, which was the product of a September 2022 executive order from President Joe Biden.

Neera Tanden, who advises the Democratic president on domestic policy issues, said in an interview with The Associated Press before the summit that the arts help “people to see each other and understand how we’re connected,” which can help “mend the social fabric of the country.”

Maria Rosario Jackson, the NEA chair, in a separate interview said the conference is an “unprecedented opportunity for people from different sectors to come together and lift up and explore some of the things that are possible when one thinks of the arts as not being confined to a narrow sector, but woven and integrated into other things we care about.”

Discussions focused on using the arts and humanities to improve health and infrastructure and promote a healthy democracy. Participants included soprano Renee Fleming and actor Anna Deavere Smith. Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, was also scheduled to participate.

Radhika Fox, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Water, announced the first-ever artist-in-residence program “to unleash the power of arts and culture to support water restoration and climate resilient efforts around the country.”

To start, artists will be embedded in national estuaries and urban waters federal partnerships in six regions of the country: Seattle, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, greater Philadelphia, Boston and the New York-New Jersey area. Each watershed will receive $200,00 to support the artist.

Jackson and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra will co-chair a new government-wide working group on the arts, health and civic infrastructure, working with federal agencies to find ways to include the arts and humanities in these areas. HHS and the NEA have a long history of working together to improve health using the arts, including through music, Becerra said.

NEA is also committing $5 million for an initiative to support the work of artists and arts organizations that contribute to the health and well-being of individuals and communities.

Separately, the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities are collaborating on United We Stand: Connecting through Culture, an initiative that leverages the arts and humanities to combat hate-fueled violence. The program was launched in 2023, a year after Biden convened a similarly named summit at the White House focused on countering violence motivated by hate.

NEH committed $3 million to the program in 2023, and NEA is offering an additional $2 million.

Shelly Lowe, chair of the NEH, said art has an important role to play in the humanities.

“Art gives you a good sense of people’s cultures. That’s through painting, that’s through food, that’s through performances and music,” Lowe said in an interview before the summit. “They’re so tied together it’s hard to separate the two.”

Biden’s executive order said the arts, humanities and museum and library services are essential to the well-being, health, vitality and democracy of the nation.

“They are the soul of America,” Biden wrote in the order, adding that, under his leadership, they “will be integrated into strategies, policies and programs that advance the economic development, well-being and resilience of all communities, especially those that have historically been underserved.”

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to devote millions of dollars to creating a 10-year economic development plan, including developing commercial and industrial sites, revitalizing an aging workforce and better competing with neighboring states to entice big businesses to choose Pennsylvania.

The plan, which Shapiro announced a week out from his formal budget address, seeks to address workforce shortages, ease challenges for startups and tech spinoffs and boost funding for economic development incentives.

Shapiro’s administration will focus its funding in five industries: agriculture, energy, life sciences, manufacturing and robotics and technology.

Shapiro has been eyeing such a strategy since last year, when he told legislators during his inaugural budget address that he was “competitive as hell — and I’m sick and tired of losing to other states.”

The announcement comes as neighboring states are pouring incentives into luring multibillion-dollar microchip, electric vehicle and battery factories. That includes Ohio landing a $20 billion factory by chipmaker Intel in 2022, which officials say has the power to create a new technology hub in the state.

But business-sector officials say Pennsylvania lacks huge tracts of available land to attract such projects.

Shapiro has worked to shorten the wait time to receive licenses and permits, and he has touted Pennsylvania’s role in being awarded federal funding to establish two hydrogen hubs in the state as part of President Joe Biden’s effort to fight climate change.

But challenges still abound. Even though Pennsylvania’s payrolls hit a record high in December, the state’s labor force has lagged behind pre-pandemic levels. The state’s economy is less dynamic than some other states and its workforce is relatively older and slower-growing.

Shapiro has warned that being competitive would take money, and he plans to ask lawmakers for millions to kick start the plan.

A “major investment” would go to site development, building on a pilot program that provided grant funding to do site assessments and prepare land for remediation as a sweetener to commercial and industrial businesses.

For small businesses and commercial corridors, Shapiro is proposing $25 million. Another $3.5 million will create the new Pennsylvania Regional Challenge, which is aimed at incentivizing regional growth. To further develop the workforce and create more internships as a way to keep people in the state, he is asking for $2 million.

Other funds will support start-ups and entrepreneurs, with $10 million set aside for the agricultural industry.

(AP)

Wall Street limped early Tuesday with corporate earnings rolling in and the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision imminent.

Futures for the S&P 500 and futures for the Dow Jones industrials each slipped less than 0.2% before the bell.

UPS tumbled more than 7% after the package delivery company unexpectedly dialed back expectations for the year.

General Motors climbed nearly 8% as the automaker’s profit and sales rose by double-digit percentages last year.

Microsoft, Google and Starbucks report their latest financial results after the bell Tuesday.

Also Tuesday, the US reports on job openings for November and the Conference Board releases consumer confidence data for January.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will make its next decision on what to do with interest rates. Most expect the Fed will no make any changes, but there is hope that it may cut rates in March. That would be the first downward move since the Fed began dramatically raising interest rates two years ago to get inflation under control.

There is a lot of evidence suggesting that the Fed may be able to pull off a so-called economic “soft landing” after a period of accelerated inflation. The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge cooled further last month even as the economy kept growing briskly, a trend sure to be welcomed at the White House as President Joe Biden seeks re-election in a race that could pivot on his economic stewardship.

On Friday, the U.S. government will release its monthly jobs report. Economists expect continued growth in hiring, but at a cooler pace. That’s exactly what the Fed wants to see after surging U.S. growth contributed to rising prices.

Elsewhere, in Europe at midday, Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.6%, Germany’s DAX rose 0.2% and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.5%.

Shares in property developer China Evergrande Group, the world’s most heavily indebted real estate company with more than $300 billion in liabilities, remained suspended from trading after a Hong Kong court ordered the company to be liquidated because it is insolvent.

But shares in China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group closed 4.4% higher after they resumed trading following a suspension on Monday. Evergrande Property Services fell lost 3.9%.

Other property companies led the decline in Hong Kong, where the benchmark Hang Seng index sank 2.3% to 15,703.45. Country Garden tumbled 5.7% and Sunac China Holdings was down 7.1%. Guangzhou R&F Properties lost 5.5%.

Technology companies also retreated, with food delivery company Meituan down 2.8% and e-commerce giant Alibaba falling 2%.

The Shanghai Composite index gave up 1.8% to 2,830.53.

Chinese regulators have been moving to prop up the markets, among the world’s worst performing so far this year, amid worries about the troubled property industry and slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

“Skepticism persists regarding the equity plunge protection plan,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. “While measures akin to a band-aid on a broken leg may temporarily boost stock prices, they do little to stabilize earnings or foster growth.”

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index edged 0.1% higher to 36,065.86 and the Kospi in South Korea edged 0.1% lower, to 2,498.81. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 picked up 0.3% to 7,600.20.

Bangkok’s SET lost 0.2% while India’s Sensex shed 1.1%.

In other trading Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gave back 20 cents at $76.58 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped $1.23 to settle at $76.78 a barrel on Monday.

A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, lost 28 cents to $81.55 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 147.36 yen from 147.50 yen. The euro rose to $1.0842 from $1.0835.

On Monday, U.S. stocks gained as they kicked off a week where Wall Street’s most influential stocks may show whether the huge expectations built up for them are justified.

The S&P 500 gained 0.8% and the Dow industrials climbed 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.1%.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — U.S. Steel has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the Pittsburgh-based company of violating federal clean air laws by operating plants without its desulfurization controls for more than three months, emitting clouds of sulfurous gas into surrounding towns.

The settlement with environmental groups Clean Air Council and PennEnvironment and the Allegheny County Health Department was filed in federal court Monday for a judge to review, the groups said.

PennEnvironment and the other plaintiffs accused the steel producer of more than 12,000 violations of its air pollution permits.

They put the value of the settlement at $42 million, including $37 million worth of improvements to U.S. Steel’s pollution control and plant reliability systems at its Mon Valley Works plants.

The rest is a $5 million penalty that U.S. Steel agreed to pay to fund clean air efforts. It is one of the largest-ever fines nationally in a citizen-enforced lawsuit under federal clean air laws, Clean Air Council and PennEnvironment said.

“This historic announcement should send a message to all illegal polluters who put the health and environment of Pittsburghers at risk,” David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, said at a news conference Monday. “We will not sit by while illegal air pollution rains down on nearby communities and the Pennsylvanians who live in them.”

U.S. Steel said it regretted the “accidental” emissions and that it strives to comply with environmental regulations.

“When we miss that mark, we will make changes so we can do better,” said Kurt Barshick, the company’s Mon Valley Works vice president, said in a statement.

The environmental groups sued in 2019, after a Christmas Eve fire at the Clairton coke works plant caused $40 million in damage.

The fire damaged pollution control equipment and led to repeated releases of sulfur dioxide, the lawsuit said. Sulfur dioxide is a colorless, pungent byproduct of fossil fuel combustion that can make it hard to breathe.

In the wake of the fire, Allegheny County warned residents to limit outdoor activities, with residents saying for weeks afterward that the air felt acidic, smelled like rotten eggs and was hard to breathe.

The fire knocked out pollution controls at its Mon Valley plants, but U.S. Steel continued to run them anyway, the groups said.

The lawsuit also cited repeated breakdowns at the Clairton plant, including one in 2019 in which the company reported a release of 525,000 pounds of coke oven gas from a pressure release valve. Allegheny County, which is home to Pittsburgh and the Mon Valley Works plants, said U.S. Steel has already spent about half of the $37 million on improvements.

U.S. Steel also must permanently close approximately 60 of the worst polluting coke ovens, the groups said. The ovens turn coal into coke, a raw ingredient in the steelmaking process.