Pension contribution rates rise for 94K school employees
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pension contribution rates for tens of thousands of public school employees in Pennsylvania are rising, amid a federal investigation into some pension system actions and calls for resignations. The increases took effect Thursday for about 94,000 school employees, all hired in 2011 or after. Most will see their contribution rate rise by 0.5% of their salary, while a smaller number of them will see their contribution rate rise by 0.75% of their salary. The board of the $64 billion Public School Employees’ Retirement System voted in April to increase the contribution rates, after it had originally certified them at lower rates in December.

Dogs on display: Museum fetes 200 years of cartoon canines
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The world’s largest cartoon museum is commemorating 200 years of dogs in comic strips, editorial cartoons, comic books and animation. “The Dog Show: Two Centuries of Canine Cartoons” is on display at Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum through October. The exhibit includes more than 100 canine characters, from Little Orphan Annie’s dog Sandy to Scooby-Doo to Santa’s Little Helper from The Simpsons. The genesis for the exhibit came when the late Brad Anderson, the creator of Marmaduke, donated his collection in 2018. Cartoonist and cartoon historian Brian Walker is exhibit curator. He says dogs’ eagerness and aim-to-please personalities make them good cartoon characters.

(Hampton Twp., PaPa State Police in Gibsonia have charged the driver of the semi-truck that overturned on the Pa. Turnpike Westbound early yesterday morning. Troopers Charged Slavisa Vukosavljevic qith not driving properly on highways laned for traffic. Vukosavljevic of Clarendon Hills Illinois was driving a 2008 Volvo Semi Tractor Trailer on the Turnpike westbound at mile 29 around 3:20 AM Thursday morning when he lost control and traveled off of the roadway and into an embankment. The impact caused the truck to turnover on its right side. Troopers report that there were no injuries.

(Oakmont, Pa.) Pa State Police in Gibsonia are reporting that they were dispatched to the Oakmont Service Plaza on the Pa. Turnpike for a report of plaza personnel finding a wallet and three cell phones at the facility.
If the missing items are yours or you know who they belong to you can contact Troopers at 724-443-5907

 HARRISBURG, July 1 – Gov. Tom Wolf signed House Bill 1621 into law, announced prime sponsor Rep. Jim Marshall, R-Beaver/Butler, co-sponsor Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver/Allegheny, and Sen. Patrick Browne, R-16^th District. This increases access to 5G technology by deploying small wireless facilities, which could be as small as a backpack and attached to an existing utility pole.

 “While I know we still have work to do, I am truly hopeful this legislation will improve connectivity across the Commonwealth,” said Marshall, Republican chairman of the House Consumer Affairs Committee.  “I greatly appreciate the hard work of Sens. Browne, Phillips-Hill, and Kane – along with their staff – to help Chairman Matzie and I create a law that we all can be proud of.”

The Federal Communications Commission announced a $20.4 billion investment by establishing the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. In December 2020, the FCC reported $368 million would be awarded to bidders to provide technology to nearly 185,000 Pennsylvanians. The bidding for the next auction is expected to begin in 2022.

 “If the past year has shown us anything, it’s that access to fast, reliable broadband is a necessity in practically every aspect of life,” said Matzie, Democratic chairman of the House Consumer Affairs Committee. “The technology is out there, but we needed a seamless plan to harness it. Our legislation provides that plan by laying the groundwork for municipalities to obtain this technology while also protecting the workers who install it.

“With the governor signing our bill into law, we can now put that plan into action, bringing us one step closer to state-of-the-art connectivity for all Pennsylvanians – regardless of ZIP code.”

Municipalities will have the option to deny a permit if it creates a hazard for motorists or pedestrians, or it violates provisions within the Americans with Disabilities Act. Local governments can also create guidelines for the small wireless facilities if it does not prohibit installation.

“This legislation provides for the uniform, efficient and predictable regulation of small wireless facilities to streamline and accelerate the deployment of the next generation of high-speed wireless broadband throughout Pennsylvania,” said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Pat Browne, who sponsored the companion legislation. “This final product is the result of significant work among wireless providers, our municipalities and groups representing workers, who do much of the deployment work, to come to this agreed-to legislation.

“I want to thank Reps. Marshall and Matzie for their leadership and for working with me on this important legislation that encourages wireless providers to deploy the most modern infrastructure throughout Pennsylvania while maintaining local government authority over their rights-of-way. I also want to thank my colleagues Sens. Lisa Boscola, Kristin Phillips-Hill and John Kane for all of their work to help usher this legislation through the Senate and to the governor.”

 

(Washington D.C.) Today, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland issued a memorandum imposing a moratorium on federal executions while a review of the Justice Department’s policies and procedures is pending.

“The Department of Justice must ensure that everyone in the federal criminal justice system is not only afforded the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States, but is also treated fairly and humanely,” said Attorney General Garland. “That obligation has special force in capital cases.”

In the last two years, the department made a series of changes to capital case policies and procedures and carried out the first federal executions in nearly two decades between July 2020 and January 2021. That included adopting a new protocol for administering lethal injections at the federal Bureau of Prisons, using the drug pentobarbital. Attorney General Garland’s memorandum directs the Deputy Attorney General to lead a multi-pronged review of these recent policy changes, including:

• A review coordinated by the Office of Legal Policy of the Addendum to the Federal Execution Protocol, adopted in 2019, which will assess, among other things, the risk of pain and suffering associated with the use of pentobarbital.
• A review coordinated by the Office of Legal Policy to consider changes to Justice Department regulations made in November 2020 that expanded the permissible methods of execution beyond lethal injection, and authorized the use of state facilities and personnel in federal executions.
• A review of the Justice Manual’s capital case provisions, including the December 2020 and January 2021 changes to expedite execution of capital sentences.

The Attorney General’s memorandum requires the reviews to include consultations with a wide range of stakeholders including the relevant department components, other federal and state agencies, medical experts and experienced capital counsel, among others.

No federal executions will be scheduled while the reviews are pending.

By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ordered California to stop collecting the names and addresses of top donors to charities. The justices voted 6-3 along ideological lines to side with two nonprofit groups, including one with links to billionaire Charles Koch, that argued California’s policy violates the First Amendment. The nonprofits had drawn strong support from groups across the political spectrum, including the American Civil Liberties Union and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. California requires all charities that collect money from state residents to give the state an IRS form identifying their largest contributors. The information is not supposed to be disclosed publicly.

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has upheld voting restrictions in Arizona in a decision that could make it harder to challenge other state limits put in place by Republican lawmakers following last year’s elections. The court reversed a lower court ruling in deciding that Arizona’s limits on who can return early ballots for another person and the state’s refusal to count ballots cast in the wrong precinct are not racially discriminatory. The federal appeals court in San Francisco had held that the measures disproportionately affected Black, Hispanic and Native American voters in violation of the landmark Voting Rights Act.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press
The Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer has surrendered to authorities ahead of an expected court appearance on the first criminal indictment in a two-year investigation into business practices at Donald Trump’s company. Allen Weisselberg was photographed walking into the the complex that houses criminal courts and the Manhattan district attorney’s office at around 6:20 a.m. Thursday. New York prosecutors were expected to announce an indictment accusing Weisselberg and the company of tax crimes related to fringe benefits for employees. The Trump Organization issued a statement defending Weisselberg, saying prosecutors were using him as “a pawn in a scorched-earth attempt to harm the former president.”

By ALAN FRAM and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has named Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and seven Democrats to a new select committee to investigate the violent Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, will lead the panel. The new committee will investigate what went wrong when hundreds of supporters of then-President Donald Trump broke into the Capitol, hunted for lawmakers and interrupted the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory. Cheney is a Wyoming congresswoman and she says she’s “honored” to serve on the committee and that “Congress is obligated to conduct a full investigation of the most serious attack on our Capitol since 1814.”