PA governor to follow through on plan to close state prison
Gov. Tom Wolf says he’ll follow through on his plan to close another state prison. Wolf’s administration made the announcement Friday after it carried out the required hearings on its plan. The move was announced originally in August as a cost-cutting step amid a declining inmate population and rising prison costs. The plan was criticized by the corrections’ officers union and state lawmakers whose districts surround Retreat state prison in northeastern Pennsylvania. Retreat, about 10 miles west of Wilkes-Barre, has about 400 employees and about 940 inmates. The administration says the closing could occur in four months at an annual savings of $40 million.

….AND NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE ‘BUSINESS MINUTE’ REPORT…BROUGHT YOU BY MINUTEMAN PRESS:

Beaver County students will have the chance to develop real-world connections with area businesses thanks to a $150,000 state grant that will fund school-business partnerships, state Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver/Allegheny, announced today. Matzie said the grant from the state Department of Labor and Industry will fund the Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board’s “Business Education Partnership” project, aimed at helping students from Beaver County and surrounding areas develop the skills they need for informed career choices…

 

The grants are fully funded through federal money made available from the Innovation and Opportunities Act. More information about the grants is available through the Department of Labor and Industry’s website.

Pennsylvania is one of 13 states suing to stop cuts into the food stamp program. Attorney General Josh Shapiro says if the cuts go through, about 80-thousand Pennsylvanians will be impacted. Shapiro says the cuts directly undermine the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. As of now, the change is set to go into effect April 1st.

Pennsylvania’s commercial casinos reached a new high in revenue last year, a record boosted by an aggressive new expansion of gambling authorized in 2017. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said Thursday that revenue at the state’s 12 casinos, as well as through fantasy sports contests and video gambling terminals at truck stops, rose in 2019 by $146 million, or 4.5%, to above $3.4 billion. It was the fifth straight calendar year that casino revenue grew in Pennsylvania. The 2019 figures had the first results from online gambling and sports betting. Pennsylvania’s commercial casinos are No. 2 in the nation in gross revenue, after Nevada’s.

Construction of new homes surged in December to the highest level in 13 years, capping a year in which falling mortgage rates and a strong labor market helped lift the prospects of the housing industry. The Commerce Department reported Friday that builders started construction on 1.61 million homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in December, up 16.9% from the November pace of home building.

U.S. stocks edged higher in early trading Friday as solid earnings from banks helped extend momentum from the previous day’s rally. State Street and Citizens Financial were among the latest banks to report encouraging financial results in a week of solid reports from larger financial institutions. Investors were also digesting the latest government housing data which showed a December surge in new home construction. The upbeat housing figures follow Thursday’s solid retail sales report that revealed consumers are still spending at a healthy pace. Communications companies also climbed broadly.

….AND THAT’S THE ‘BUSINESS MINUTE’ REPORT…BROUGHT YOU BY MINUTEMAN PRESS.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit by 21 young people who claimed the U.S. government’s climate policy harms them and jeopardizes their future. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluding the plaintiffs lack legal standing to pursue their case and that the issues they raised should be decided by other branches of the federal government.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is adding to his impeachment defense team, bringing in experience both in constitutional law and the politics of impeachment. He’s adding retired law professor Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton. The team will also include Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump personal lawyer Jay Sekulow are expected to have the lead roles on the defense team. Trump faces charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress, stemming from his pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democratic rivals as he was withholding aid from the country..

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday his government will give Canadian $25,000 ($19,122) to families of each of the 57 citizens and 29 permanent residents of Canada who perished in the downing of a Ukrainian jetliner in Iran last week.  Trudeau said he still expects Iran to compensate the families but said they need help now for funerals, travel to Iran and bills. He said any money Iran provides at a later date will go straight to the families and will not be reimbursed to the Canadian government. Trudeau said Iran bears full responsibility for having shot down the civilian plane.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon’s chief spokesman says 11 U.S. troops were flown out of Iraq for evaluation of concussion-like symptoms in the days following an Iranian missile strike. President Donald Trump had said the strike caused no harm to American forces. The spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman, told reporters that one of the 11 was flown out of Iraq two days after the Jan. 8 attack. The others were flown out Jan. 15. Hoffman said Defense Secretary Mark Esper was not informed of the injuries until Thursday, and that this was in line with normal procedure.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jury selection in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial concluded Friday after an arduous two-week process, setting the stage for testimony to begin in the next week. The lawyers and judge halted the selection process after 12 jurors and three alternates had been seated. The main jury has seven men and five women. Three alternates were also chosen. The final tally mostly erased a gender imbalance. Hours earlier, that led to complaints by prosecutors that the defense was deliberately trying to keep young women off the panel. Weinstein is charged with raping a woman and sexually assaulting another woman. He has pleaded not guilty and said any sexual activity was consensual.

UNDATED (AP) — Joe Biden has secured a weighty Deep South endorsement for his presidential campaign. Alabama’s lone Democratic House member on Friday announced her support for the former vice president. Terri Sewell marks Biden’s 11th endorsement from the Congressional Black Caucus, more than any other 2020 Democrat. Sewell also expands Biden’s footprint across the critical slate of March 3 Super Tuesday states. Sewell tells The Associated Press that Biden has a strong record on voting rights, health care and other matters critical to her district. And Sewell says Biden is Democrats’ best candidate to take on President Donald Trump. Sewell calls the Republican president the “No. 1 threat” to Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights legacy.

UNDATED (AP) — A large, colorful pest from Asia is costing the Pennsylvania economy about $50 million and eliminating nearly 500 jobs each year. That’s according to a Penn State study released Thursday. The study represents researchers’ first attempt to quantify the destruction caused by the spotted lanternfly. It was first detected in the U.S. in 2014, in Pennsylvania’s Berks County. It’s since overrun the state’s southeastern corner and spread into nearby states including New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia. Penn State economists estimated the financial impact on industries most susceptible to spotted lanternfly, including nurseries, vineyards, Christmas tree growers and hardwood producers.

The largest chocolate nut bar ever created was unveiled at the Mars Wrigley plant in Waco, Texas on Thursday. The candy bar is 12 feet long, 24 inches high, 26 inches wide, and weighs more than two tons, getting the Snickers bar into the Guinness World Record book, proving everything is bigger in Texas. The Snickers bar was built by Mars Wrigley associates using the same classic ingredients found in every snickers bar, including milk chocolate, nougat, caramel and peanuts. The company created the giant candy bar for the Super Bowl. The Snickers will appear in a Super Bowl commercial on Feb. 2. After that, it will be given to Mars employees across the country.