(Story by BCR Intern Isaiah Wise)
(Photo/Commonwealth Media Services)

Michelle Henry, Pittsburgh Attorney General and Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala have collaborated together to launch the Allegheny County Gun Violence Task Force. 

The Task Force  is focusing on bolstering personnel, resources, technology, and community outreach efforts to combat firearms trafficking and gun violence in Allegheny County.  

It was announced by collaborating agencies about the formation of the Task Force at a press event this past week at the Allegheny County Courthouse.

In the press event Zappala expressed how pleased they are to expand and enhance their partnership with the office of the Attorney General to aggressively disrupt the flow of guns. Zappala is thankful for the dedication to make Allegheny County safer for their constituents. 

The Allegheny County Gun Violence Task Force is working consistently to investigate and prosecute offenders of gun crimes and all the issues of gun violence to make residents in Pennsylvania safer.

NEW YORK (AP) — Big Tech stocks are once again carrying Wall Street toward record heights Friday, even as worries about the downside of a hot job market keep the overall market in check.

Big gains for Meta Platforms and Amazon, which are two of the market’s most influential stocks, had the S&P 500 index 0.8% higher in midday trading and on track for another all-time high. They also pushed the Nasdaq composite up 1.4%, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time.

But the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has less of an emphasis on tech, was up by just 14 points, or less than 0.1% And more stocks were falling overall on Wall Street than rising. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks slumped 0.8%.

Stocks were feeling pressure from higher yields in the bond market after a report showed U.S. employers hired many more workers last month than economists expected.

While the strength is a boon for workers and keeps the risk of a recession at bay, the worry is that it could keep upward pressure on inflation. That in turn would mean a longer wait for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates.

Hopes for such cuts, which can relax the pressure on the economy and goose investment prices, have been a major reason the U.S. stock market has surged to record heights. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said earlier this week that it’s unlikely cuts will begin as soon as traders had been hoping.

“The Fed threw some cold water on the idea of a March rate cut less than 48 hours ago, and today’s surprisingly strong jobs report won’t dry things off,” said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.” It’s definitely not the type of data the Fed had in mind when they said they wanted to see more evidence that inflationary pressures were under control.”

The yield for the 10-year Treasury leaped immediately after the release of the jobs report and was up to 4.04% from 3.88% late Thursday.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more closely with expectations for the Fed, also rose sharply. It jumped to 4.37% from 4.21%.

Traders had already pushed out bets for the timing of the first Fed rate cut to May from March following Powell’s warning earlier this week. After the jobs report, some traders shifted even further out the calendar to June, according to data from CME Group.

Besides the overall hiring number, the jobs report included many signals showing much more strength than expected. Average hourly earnings for workers rose more in January than forecast. The unemployment rate unexpectedly did not get worse. And the government said hiring was actually much stronger in December than it had earlier reported.

The question for the stock market will be whether the upside of such strength outweighs the downside. That is, will a stronger economy with plenty of people working make up for delayed or dashed hopes for quick and significant cuts to interest rates?

“The big payroll gains and wage gains aren’t something to be feared,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “The Fed has stepped back from its insistence that the labor market needs to weaken before inflation sustainably falls.”

He pointed to a report earlier this week that showed an increase in productivity for U.S. workers, which could help offset the effect of higher wages.

The jobs report landed on Wall Street amid a maelstrom of profit reports that could have helped move the market on their own.

Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, soared 20.8% after it reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected and said it would start paying a dividend to its investors.

Amazon rallied 7.3% after it likewise reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected.

They’re both members of a small group of Big Tech stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven” that have been disproportionately responsible for Wall Street’s run to a record. Their huge gains have set expectations very high for their growth, which they need to meet to justify the big runs for their stock prices.

Apple, another member of the Magnificent Seven, was inching up by 0.1% after erasing an earlier loss. It also reported better profit than expected.

Cigna and Chevron both climbed after reporting stronger profit for the last three months of 2023 than expected. Cigna jumped 6.6% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500, while Chevron rose 3.1%.

Keeping Chevron’s gain in check was a drop in oil prices. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude sank 2.1% to $72.27. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2% to $77.13 per barrel.

In markets abroad, stocks tumbled 1.5% in Shanghai to cap their worst week in five years. Worries about a faltering economic recovery and troubles for the real estate industry have made the market one of the world’s worst recently.

The International Monetary Fund forecast the Chinese economy would grow at a 4.6% pace this year and 4% in 2025, dropping from 5.2% last year.

Stocks were mixed elsewhere in Asia and Europe.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
(Photo/CCBC)

The Community College of Beaver County Announced on Friday that Kara Eltschlager of Peters Township was selected to serve as site manager for the Washington County College Center, where CCBC classes will be available for students in Washington, Fayette, and Greene counties.

Eltschlager has ten-plus years of experience in media and event planning, and will be overseeing the daily operations and overall growth of the new facility.

“I am excited to be back home and contribute to the expansion of CCBC in Washington County,” said Eltschlager. “I look forward to crafting meaningful relationships within the community and providing opportunities for students of diverse ages. Our mission and enthusiasm are keenly directed toward the strategic implementation of a recruitment plan aimed to elevate awareness and establish a robust community college presence in Washington County for years to come.”

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly all of the vehicles it has sold in the U.S. because some warning lights on the instrument panel are too small.

The recall of nearly 2.2 million vehicles announced Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is a sign of stepped-up scrutiny of the electric vehicle maker. The agency also said it has upgraded a 2023 investigation into Tesla steering problems to an engineering analysis, a step closer to a recall.

Documents posted Friday by the agency say the warning light recall will be done with an online software update. It covers the 2012 through 2023 Model S, the 2016 through 2023 Model X, the 2017 through 2023 Model 3, the 2019 through 2024 Model Y and the 2024 Cybertruck.

The agency says that the brake, park and antilock brake warning lights have a smaller font size than required by federal safety standards. That can make critical safety information hard to read, increasing the risk of a crash.

Tesla has already started releasing the software update, and owners will be notified by letter starting March 30.

NHTSA says it found the problem in a routine safety compliance audit on Jan. 8.

Tesla has identified three warranty claims potentially related to the problem, but has no reports of crashes or injuries.

Shares of Tesla were down 1.3% in trading before Friday’s opening bell.

In December, NHTSA pressured Tesla into recalling more than 2 million vehicles to update software and fix a defective system that’s supposed to ensure drivers are paying attention when using Autopilot.

Documents said the update will increase warnings and alerts to drivers.

The recall came after a two-year investigation by NHTSA into a series of crashes that happened while the Autopilot partially automated driving system was in use. Some were deadly.

The agency says its investigation found Autopilot’s method of making sure that drivers are paying attention can be inadequate and can lead to “foreseeable misuse of the system.”

The added controls and alerts will “further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility,” the documents said.

But safety experts said that, while the recall is a good step, it still makes the driver responsible and doesn’t fix the underlying problem that Autopilot isn’t reacting to stopped vehicles. They say that Tesla’s driver monitoring system that relies on detecting hands on the steering wheel doesn’t stop drivers from checking out.

Tesla says on its website that its Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” systems cannot drive the vehicles, and that human drivers must be ready to intervene at all times.

In February of last year, NHTSA also pressed Tesla to recall nearly 363,000 vehicles with its “Full Self-Driving” system because it can misbehave around intersections and doesn’t always follow speed limits.

The recall was part of part of a larger investigation into Tesla’s automated driving systems.

It raised questions about CEO Elon Musk’s claims that he can prove to regulators that cars equipped with “Full Self-Driving” are safer than humans, and that humans almost never have to touch the controls.

Musk at one point had promised that a fleet of autonomous robotaxis would be in use in 2020. The latest action appears to push that development further into the future.

In addition, Tesla is recalling more than 1.6 million Model S, X, 3 and Y electric vehicles exported to China for problems with their automatic assisted steering and door latch controls.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation announced the recall in early January. It said Tesla Motors in Beijing and Shanghai would use remote upgrades to fix the problems.

The recall is due to problems with the automatic steering assist function and applies to 1.6 million imported Tesla Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Ys.

When the automatic steering function is engaged, drivers might misuse the combined driving function, increasing a risk of accidents, the notice said.

The recall to fix the door unlock logic control for imported Model S and Model X EVs affects 7,538 vehicles made between Oct. 26, 2022 and Nov. 16, 2023. It is needed to prevent door latches from coming open during a collision.

Tesla was the top seller of electric vehicles in the world last year, but China’s BYD beat the company in the fourth quarter. BYD is the leader in the booming China market.

The steering investigation upgrade, also announced Friday in documents, covers more than 334,000 Tesla vehicles.

The probe was opened in July of last year after the agency received a dozen complaints about loss of steering control in 2023 Model Y and 3 vehicles. Now the agency says it has 115 complaints, and it received another 2,176 after requesting information from the company.

Agency documents say drivers are reporting loss of steering control, often accompanied by messages showing that power assisted steering has been reduced or disabled. Some complained of an inability to turn the steering wheel, while others said it required more effort.

A message was left Friday seeking comment from Tesla.

In one case a driver told NHTSA that they couldn’t complete a right turn and ran into another vehicle.

The agency said there have been multiple allegations of Teslas blocking intersections or roadways. Over 50 vehicles had to be towed, according to the consumer complaints.

Many of the complaints reported the problem happened between 5 mph and 35 mph. The highest reported speed that alleged an inability to turn was 75 mph, the documents said.

The agency said it is looking into possible steering rack failures.

(Sandy Giordano/Beaver County Radio)

The request for a zoning variance that would have allowed the Deewalk Promise Hands emergency shelter to operate on Main Street in Aliquippa was denied by the Zoning Hearing Board at a special meeting on Thursday night.

Aliquippa resident Rayetta Lee’s request for the variance was denied because it violates a zoning ordinance under the rules for a C2 Highway Commercial Zoning District.

The building that was being applied for is located at 1916 Main Street in Aliquippa

(AP/New York)
Wall Street pointed to strong gains before the opening bell Friday, boosted by the same technology stocks that were hammered early this week after the Federal Reserve hinted that it might keep interest rates elevated further into 2024.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 0.1%, and futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq shot up 1.1%. All were on track to finish the week with gains, a surprising development considering Wednesday’s swoon.

Thursday on Wall Street, U.S. stocks rebounded widely following their worst day since September.

Expectations are that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates in May, after pushing back expectations from March. Whenever rates do fall, it would mark a sharp turnaround after the Fed hiked its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001 in hopes of getting inflation under control.

High interest rates intentionally slow the economy and they undercut investments, particularly tech stocks.

Amazon jumped more than 7% in off hours trading after the online retail behemoth reported better-than-expected revenue and profits for the fourth quarter, driven by what Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called a “record-breaking” holiday shopping season.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, climbed nearly 17% after the bell Thursday when it reported tripling its profit on sharply higher revenue. Meta was boosted by a rebound in digital advertising as well cost cutting and layoffs in what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the “year of efficiency.”

Apple was the most notable laggard, falling 3% even as it latest financial results revealed that the iPhone maker snapped out of a year-long sales slump.

Later Friday, the government issues its first jobs report of 2024. Economists expect that hiring slowed but that the economy still added 177,000 jobs, down slightly from December but still a solid number signaling a strong economy.

Elsewhere, The Shanghai Composite index ended 1.5% lower at 2,730.15, capping its worst week of losses in five years. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.2%, to 15,533.56, as gains for technology companies offset declines in property shares.

Shanghai’s benchmark saw wild swings on worries over the economic outlook and other risks.

At one point, the Shanghai index dropped below 2,700, to 2,666.74, prompting a flood of social media comments in China, including one commentator who exclaimed, “now we’re all sitting ducks.” The benchmark is down nearly 17% in the past year and 9.3% in the past 3 months.

Analysts said the sell-off was at least partly sparked by so-called “snowball derivatives” that yield high returns on gains but likewise cause big losses when share prices fall. Selling of biotech companies was also heavy on concern over a possible U.S. move to impose controls on dealings with Chinese companies like WuXi AppTec, whose shares dropped 21%.

Also undermining confidence was a report by the International Monetary Fund, which forecast that the Chinese economy would grow at a 4.6% pace this year and 4% in 2025, dropping from 5.2% last year.

In early European trading at midday, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.7%, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.8%. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.5%.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.4% to finish at 36,158.02. Aozora Bank’s shares plunged nearly 16% after it reported losses on its U.S. property investments. On Thursday, the bank’s shares dived 27.4 percent. The lender attributed its losses to high interest rates and a weaker commercial property market during and after the pandemic, as companies switched to hybrid or remote working arrangements.

The Japanese bank’s woes are similar to those of New York Community Bancorp whose shares have fallen by more than 40% this week after it reported a loss for its latest quarter and cut its dividend to build its financial strength. New York Community Bancorp acquired much of Signature Bank last year after it and other regional banks collapsed and its losses reflect problems for the entire industry.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.5% to 7,699.40. South Korea’s Kospi surged 2.9% to 2,615.31 after the country reported strong export data.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude inched back 5 cents to $73.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 3 cents to $78.67 a barrel.

Exxon Mobil and Chevron are mixed in early trading after posting quarterly earns. Big oil continues garner massive profits despite falling crude prices.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar was little changed at 146.60 Japanese yen, up from 146.43 yen. The euro cost $1.0880, up from $1.0874.