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.

Postmaster to testify in Senate on mail, Mnuchin denies role
By LISA MASCARO and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing public backlash, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is set to testify Friday about disruptions in mail delivery. A Senate committee is expected to dig into changes made ahead of the November election, just as millions of Americans are expected to vote by mail. Democrats warn DeJoy’s cost-cutting initiatives are causing an upheaval that threatens voting. President Donald Trump raised the stakes by saying he wants to block funds. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says he had no role in DeJoy’s selection. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security committee, is expected to dismiss the “false political narrative” that DeJoy is trying to “sabotage” the election, according to prepared remarks.

CORAOPOLIS – As parents of students with special needs look to their schools for help with the unprecedented school year that lays ahead, state Rep. Anita Kulik, D-Allegheny, today announced that $102,053 in COVID-19 relief funding has been awarded to local schools to assist students with special needs.

“Our special needs students are especially vulnerable to the COVID-19-prompted changes our school leaders had to put into effect this year,” Kulik said. “This money will help to make sure they continue to have access to the services and support that is critical for them to have a successful year. I am confident that our educators, with the help of this money, can give their students and their families the instruction they need during the challenges ahead.”

Grants awarded to school districts with schools in the 45th Legislative District are:

• Carlynton School District: $16,576.
• Chartiers Valley School District: $23,850.
• Cornell School District: $10,852.
• Montour School District: $19,217.
• Sto-Rox School District: $21,122.
• Avonworth School District: $$5,434.
• Propel Charter Schools – Montour: $5,000.

The Special Education COVID-19 Impact Mitigation Grant will provide $15 million statewide in financial support to local education agencies to:

• Provide enhanced real-time instruction to bolster remote services and supports for students with complex needs.
• Provide services and supports to students with disabilities who experienced a loss in skills and behavior and/or a lack of progress due to the mandatory school closures.

Funding from the program comes from federal coronavirus relief money, which states can allocate to meet local needs.