Ketamine that’s injected during arrests draws new scrutiny
By PATTY NIEBERG Associated Press/Report for America
DENVER (AP) — A drug called ketamine that’s injected as a sedative during arrests has drawn new scrutiny since a young Black man named Elijah McClain died in suburban Denver. Officers stopped him on the street and put him in a chokehold before paramedics injected him a year ago Monday. Paramedics use it often at the behest of police who believe suspects are out of control. Ketamine has become another flashpoint in the debate over law enforcement policies and brutality against people of color. An analysis by The Associated Press of policies on ketamine and cases where it was used nationwide uncovered a lack of police training, conflicting medical standards and nonexistent protocols that have resulted in hospitalizations and even deaths.

AP EXCLUSIVE: US faces back-to-school laptop shortage
By JOCELYN GECKER and MICHAEL LIEDTKE Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Schools across the United States are facing shortages and long delays in getting laptops and other equipment needed for online learning. They are this year’s most crucial back-to-school accessories.. Part of the reason is high demand and disruptions of supply chains that have jammed production of laptops and Chromebooks made by Dell, HP, Lenovo and other brands. Schools say another critical reason is the Trump administration’s recent sanctions on Chinese companies that have exacerbated massive backlogs.  Educators nationwide worry that computer shortfalls will compound inequities. They also warn of headaches for students, families and teachers.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announces $4.3 Million for Beaver County Transit Authority COVID-19 Response in Rochester, Pennsylvania

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced a $4.3 million grant award to the Beaver County Transit Authority (BCTA) in Rochester, Pennsylvania, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed by President Donald J. Trump on March 27, 2020.

BCTA will use the grant funds to support operating, administrative and preventive maintenance expenses, which are necessary to maintain transit services during the COVID-19 public health emergency. See FTA’s apportionment tables for the totals apportioned to each area. (This funding is based on the agency’s current request and may not represent the full amount the agency will receive.)

“This historic $25 billion in grant funding will ensure our nation’s public transportation systems can continue to provide services to the millions of Americans who continue to depend on them,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

“We know many of our nation’s public transportation systems are facing extraordinary challenges and these funds will go a long way to assisting our transit industry partners in battling COVID-19,” said FTA Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams. “These federal funds will support operating assistance to transit agencies of all sizes providing essential travel and supporting transit workers across the country who are unable to work because of the public health emergency.”

In addition to the CARES Act funding, FTA issued a Safety Advisory that prompts transit agencies to develop and implement policies and procedures regarding face coverings and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), cleaning and disinfection of frequently touched surfaces, physical separation, and hand hygiene consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidance.  CARES Act funding can be used to cover 100 percent of these costs.

Fixing Pennsylvania mail-in vote glitches goes down to wire
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — With barely three weeks to go before counties can begin mailing out ballots, lawsuits are filling the vacuum of action to fix problems or ambiguities with Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting laws. Closed-door talks between Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration and lawmakers are showing more signs of disagreement than agreement in the shadow of a high-stakes presidential campaign in the premier battleground state. Nothing will pass without a bipartisan compromise, and lawmakers pin the first week of September as the latest that something should pass before the Nov. 3 election. Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa says talks are slow, as lawmakers wait to see if the courts will clear up issues where Republicans and Democrats disagree.

Pittsburgh mayor overhauls how police handle civil protests
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
Pittsburgh’s mayor is putting new limits on dispatching police to civil protests and has halted the practice of having plainclothes officers in unmarked cars jump out and arrest people. Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto on Friday also ordered officers to stop wearing camouflage at protests. He’s planning to designate a commander to oversee police response to protests. Police handling of civil protests in Pittsburgh in recent months has drawn complaints, including over a “jump out” arrest of a demonstrator this weekend and the use of pepper spray to disburse protesters outside the mayor’s home Wednesday night.

Travelers lost about $900K at airport checkpoints last year
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Travelers left behind nearly a million dollars at U.S. airport security checkpoints last year, including about $19,000 in foreign currency. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports a Transportation Security Administration report said travelers lost $926,000 at 75 airports in the year that ended in September. Federal regulators say much of the lost money came from people emptying their pockets for security scans. The paper says the largest sums were lost at airports in New York, San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas and Dallas. At the newspaper’s hometown Pittsburgh International Airport, travelers parted with $5,000.

AP FACT CHECK: Dems on minimum wage and poverty
By CHRISTOPER RUGABER and AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans tuned into the Democratic National Convention were told Thursday that the higher minimum wage favored by presidential candidate Joe Biden would lift all full-time workers out of poverty. That’s not what $15 an hour is likely to do.
SEN. CORY BOOKER: “Together, with Joe and Kamala in the White House, we’ll raise the minimum wage so no one who works a full-time job lives in poverty.”
THE FACTS: That’s an improbable outcome for the $15 minimum wage supported by Biden.
A 2019 report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would lift 1.3 million Americans out of poverty, a small fraction of the roughly 38 million people living in poverty in 2018.
Moreover, the report estimated a $15 minimum wage would cost 1.3 million people their jobs because they would be priced out of the market.
Altogether, some 17 million people might see higher pay, the office said, but not enough to raise most who are below the poverty line above it.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the working poor in 2018, 3.7 million people who usually worked full-time were below the poverty level. That finding suggests that a $15 federal minimum would not take all full-time workers out of poverty. And, of course, it would still leave millions of part-time workers and the unemployed in poverty.
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Seitz reported from Chicago.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — A look at the veracity of claims by political figures.
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Dozens of WWII veterans to gather in Hawaii amid pandemic
By CALEB JONES Associated Press
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — Several dozen aging U.S. veterans will gather on a ship in Pearl Harbor next month to mark the 75th anniversary of Japan’s surrender, even if it means the vulnerable group may be risking their lives again amid the coronavirus pandemic. It comes as Oahu — Hawaii’s most populated island and the home of Pearl Harbor — has seen an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks. This has forced many restrictions to be reinstated, including a ban on gatherings of more than five people. Officials plan to keep the veterans socially distanced while they are honored in front of livestreaming cameras instead of live crowds of thousands, as was first planned.

Mariner East fined again as another spill fouls state park
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Texas pipeline company that has been heavily penalized in Pennsylvania has been fined another $355,000 for polluting waterways in eight counties during construction of a pipeline to carry natural gas liquids. The Department of Environmental Protection said Thursday that a subsidiary of Energy Transfer LP discharged drilling wastewater into creeks, wetlands and tributaries in Berks, Blair, Cambria, Cumberland, Delaware, Lebanon, Washington and Westmoreland counties between August 2018 and April 2019. The announcement of the civil settlement came as Energy Transfer deals with yet another spill along its troubled Mariner East pipeline network, this time impacting a state park in Chester County.

Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis files racial discrimination suit
By The Associated Press undefined
Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against a Pittsburgh company he had promoted for its commitment to diversity. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania. It cites breach of contract and seeks $66 million in damages. The former Steelers star and Super Bowl winner contends the energy corporation EQT Production owes Bettis’ trucking company money and dropped its commitment to use minority-owned businesses. EQT has denied any wrongdoing.