Biden unveils climate change plan with energy revamp
By ALEXANDRA JAFFE, ELLEN KNICKMEYER and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden released a plan Tuesday aimed at combating climate change and spurring economic growth in part by overhauling America’s energy industry. The plan includes a proposal to achieve entirely carbon pollution-free power by 2035. It’s the latest example of Biden’s efforts to appeal to progressives as he builds out a legislative agenda as the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee. In the plan, Biden pledges to spend $2 trillion over four years on the plan. It’s a significant acceleration of the $1.7 trillion over 10 years he proposed spending in his climate plan during the primary.

Confederate statue removed from prominent spot at Ole Miss
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Confederate monument that’s been a divisive symbol at the University of Mississippi has been removed from a prominent spot on the Oxford campus. Workers removed the monument on Tuesday. It will be taken to a Civil War cemetery in a secluded area of campus. Students and faculty who pushed the university for years to move the statue have also criticized the draft plan for the new site. They say the university is attempting to placate people who favor the Confederate symbols with its plan to provide a lighted pathway to the figure, and possibly add headstones to the previously unmarked graves of other soldiers.

First George Floyd-inspired bills become law in Pennsylvania
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The first bills passed by Pennsylvania’s Legislature in response to widespread protests over police brutality and the killing of George Floyd are now law with Gov. Tom Wolf’s signature. In a news conference Tuesday in Harrisburg, Wolf, a Democrat, characterized the two bills he signed as small, but important steps toward making society fair. The two bills passed the House and Senate unanimously last month. They are designed to prevent problematic officers from continuing to find employment in police departments, provide officers with more cultural sensitivity training and provide officers with more mental health screening.

Tom Bergeron, Erin Andrews exit ‘Dancing With the Stars’
By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The dance has ended for “Dancing With the Stars” hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews. ABC said in a statement that the show is looking to “embark on a new creative direction” and host Bergeron “departs the show with our sincerest thanks and gratitude for his trademark wit and charm.” Bergeron has hosted “Dancing With the Stars” since its premiere in 2005. He took to Twitter to announce his departure, saying “it’s been an incredible 15-year run.” The network also said farewell to Andrews, who originally competed as a contestant back in 2010 and returned as co-host in 2014. No replacements were named.

Burger King addresses elephant in the room, and it’s a cow
By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer
Burger King is staging an intervention with its cows. The chain has rebalanced the diet of some of the cows by adding lemon grass in a bid to limit bovines contributions to climate change. By tweaking their diet, Burger King said Tuesday that it believes it can reduce a cows’ daily methane emissions by about 33%. Cows emit methane as a by-product of their digestion. Methane emissions from livestock comprised more than a quarter of the emissions from the agriculture sector. With an over-the-top social media campaign that teeters between vulgarity and science, Burger King is banking on the heightened awareness of climate change and its responsibility to limit its own role.

US carries out the 1st federal execution in nearly 2 decades
By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — The U.S. has carried out the first federal execution in nearly two decades, putting to death a man who was convicted of killing an Arkansas family in the 1990s in a plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. Forty-seven-year-old Daniel Lewis Lee, of Yukon, Oklahoma, died Tuesday after receiving a lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Lee said before his execution that he was innocent. His the first death row inmate to be executed since 2003. Lee’s execution came over the objection of the victims’ family and following a series of legal challenges related to the raging coronavirus pandemic.

Story by News Correspondent Sandy Giordano 

(Aliquippa, Pa.) Aliquippa High School Athletic  Director Brandon Le Donne announced yesterday that Sam Weir, Aliquippa High School girls varsity basketball coach has resigned.   Le Donne said she  sent a letter to the district  and the resignation became effective June 30.  Ms. Weir  accepted a  coaching position at Point Park University.

Interested candidates should submit  an application, resume, and updated clearances to  Brandon LeDonne , Athletic Director, 800 21st Street, Aliquippa, PA  a5001 by the close of business on Wednesday, July 22, 2020

(File Photo)

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) A postal device made for some anxious moments this morning in Pittsburgh. Someone called Pittsburgh Police and said they heard a beeping coming from a United Postal Service Mailbox on Brighton Road in the Brighton Heights Neighborhood of Pittsburgh around 6:30 this morning. Pittsburgh Police blocked off the roadway and after investigating the sound found that it was a postal device that was inside the mailbox making the noise.

Western PA Gas Prices Hold Steady; Supply Outpaces Demand Nationwide
The average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania is steady this week at $2.473 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

Gas price fluctuation was low in most Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states this week. Delaware (+7 cent) and Maryland (+5 cents) saw the largest increases in the region and land on the top 10 list of states with the biggest changes, along with Connecticut (+4 cents) and Vermont (+3 cents).  Washington, D.C. (-1 cent) and West Virginia (-2 cents) were among a minority of states in the country to see gas prices push cheaper.

The region saw inventory levels plummet by nearly 3 million barrels. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) latest report measures total stock levels at 72.3 million barrels, which is still a healthy supply level for this time of year. While stocks could decrease further in the week ahead due to an unplanned shutdown at Phillips 66’s 265,000-b/d Bayway refinery in Linden, N.J., at the end of last week, this event has not had an immediate impact at the pump given the abnormally high level of inventory on hand.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                  $2.473
Average price during the week of July 6, 2020                                          $2.475
Average price during the week of July 15, 2019                                        $2.983

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:      

$2.484      Altoona
$2.478      Beaver
$2.497      Bradford
$2.482      Brookville
$2.458      Butler
$2.460      Clarion
$2.477      DuBois
$2.483      Erie
$2.437      Greensburg
$2.489      Indiana
$2.464      Jeannette
$2.468      Kittanning
$2.466      Latrobe
$2.490      Meadville
$2.504      Mercer
$2.420      New Castle
$2.494      New Kensington
$2.499      Oil City
$2.467      Pittsburgh
$2.489      Sharon
$2.469      Uniontown
$2.499      Warren
$2.397      Washington

On the National Front
Gasoline demand increased on the week to the highest level (8.7 million b/d) since March as stocks decreased, but the combination wasn’t enough to significantly impact gas price averages across the country. On the week, the national gas price average only increased one penny to land at $2.19. That is nine cents more than last month and nearly 60 cents less than a year ago.

EIA data show gasoline demand and supply have been on a roller coaster ride, largely as motorists react to unfolding COVID-19 information. From May to early July in 2019, gasoline demand averaged 9.5 million b/d. For the same time period this year, demand is measuring at 8 million b/d while gasoline stocks sit, on average, at a 24-million-barrel surplus. The low demand and high supply are keeping gas prices relatively cheap for the summertime.

At the end of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by 93 cents to settle at $40.55 per barrel. Domestic crude prices were volatile last week after the EIA’s weekly report revealed that total domestic crude inventories increased by 5.7 million barrels to 539.2 million. Increasing crude stocks could mean that crude production is still too high given where demand is currently.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 78 local offices in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia serving 2.7 million members.  News releases are available at news.eastcentral.aaa.com.  Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

HARRISBURG – Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) commended Senate State Government Committee Chairman John DiSanto (R-Dauphin/Perry) and members of the committee for passing his legislation that would amend the Sunshine Act to require a public agency to post public meeting agendas no later than 24 hours prior to the start of a meeting.

 “This bill is a commonsense and critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to increasing transparency and ensuring government officials think twice about letting important business fly under the taxpayers’ radar,” said Bernstine. “In today’s fast-paced world, it is important that we give our constituents the tools they need to participate in government in a meaningful way.”

House Bill 1069 would also prohibit an agency from taking official action on items not on the meeting agenda unless added by a majority vote. In addition, the legislation would require the agenda to be posted at the location of the meeting, on the agency’s public website and copies be made available to those in attendance.

“Sunshine Act reform bills have been considered by the Legislature in recent years without success,” said Bernstine. “However, House Bill 1069 was passed unanimously by the House in January and today by the Senate State Government Committee. A well-informed populace is essential to the vitality of our democratic form of government.

“It is time to eradicate backroom deals and unannounced decisions. They can have a big impact on our lives, and we deserve to know about them. It is essential that we get this legislation across the finish line and there is no better time than now.”

House Bill 1069 is now headed to the full Senate for consideration.