WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices rose at a faster pace in July as the housing market continued to show strength during the coronavirus outbreak. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index, released Tuesday, rose 3.9% in July from a year earlier, up from a 3.5% annual gain in June. The 20-city index released Tuesday excluded prices from the Detroit metropolitan area index because of delays related to pandemic at the recording office in Wayne County, which includes Detroit. Phoenix (up 9.2%), Seattle (7%) and Charlotte, North Carolina (6%), reported the biggest year-over-year gains. Sixteen of the 19 cities saw prices rise at a faster pace than they did in June.

Authorities: Man steals truck, leads police on 3-state chase
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Authorities say a man who had just been released from a county jail in western Pennsylvania stole a vehicle and eventually led police on chase that went into West Virginia before he was finally captured in Ohio. The chase began shortly before noon Monday, when a work truck was reported stolen from a construction site in Pittsburgh. The vehicle was soon stopped by police, but authorities say the driver, 24-year-old Shad Bocella, soon drove off. Authorities say an officer fired their weapon during the stop, though no one was hit by any shots. Bocella eventually drove into West Virginia and Ohio.

Keystone State News Connection

September 29, 2020

Pandemic Highlights Vital Role of Career and Technical Ed

Andrea Sears

HARRISBURG, Pa. — During the pandemic, frontline workers have shown the importance of career and technical education, and a new report outlines how Pennsylvania can become a national leader in the field.

While school closures and remote learning are challenging for all students, the impact on the kind of hands-on training offered at Career and Technical Education Centers can be huge. Kari King is president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children. She said by increasing state funding, adopting best practices from other states and improving data collection and analysis, the Keystone State can make sure students will get what they need to aid in the post-pandemic economic recovery.

“There’s no greater return on investment than the school-to-workforce pipeline, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when so many front-line workers in health care or distribution and logistics are actually CTE graduates,” King said.

The report, called “Career and Technical Education: Setting the Standard in Pennsylvania,” says the first step is to ensure sustained investments in CTE in the state education budget.

The report also looked at how CTE is structured in other states. King noted while there are many different approaches to providing training and the funding for it, no state is doing a comprehensive job.

“But what we did find is that there are customized approaches by states that we think it’s worthwhile for Pennsylvania to consider — things like specific populations, so trying to get middle schoolers engaged in career planning and if they’d want to go into a CTE pathway.”

She added that some states have focused on funding CTE in high-poverty areas and in juvenile justice settings.

King said PA Schools Work, the coalition that authored the report, is urging state lawmakers to consider a $10 million increase in funding for CTE in the next state budget.

“It should be noted our state budget is just around $34 billion, so proportionately the investment there in exchange for preparing students for a 21st-century workforce and economy, it just shows the benefits,” she said.

Police: Man angry over text from mother repeatedly stabs her
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a Pennsylvania man repeatedly stabbed his mother after she sent him a text message telling him to grow up and get a job. Twenty-three-year-old Tavin McCullough faces attempted homicide and other counts stemming from Sunday’s attack at his mother’s home in Altoona, It wasn’t known Monday if he has retained an attorney. WTAJ reports that police went to the home around 6 a.m. and found the victim, who had been stabbed at least nine times with a 10-inch kitchen knife in her bedroom. The victim was stabbed in the face, chest, stomach and back and remained hospitalized Monday in critical condition, but she’s expected to recover.

US judge orders stop to Postal Service cuts, echoing others
By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal judge in Philadelphia has joined others around the country in ordering the U.S. Postal Service to halt recent service cuts. An agency spokesperson said after the injunction was granted Monday that he had no immediate response. Officials have previously said they would consider their legal options as injunctions were issued. Critics say the new policies are causing mail delays and threatening the integrity of the presidential election. U.S. District Judge Gerald McHugh Jr. says six states and District of Columbia presented “compelling evidence” from the Postal Service itself that shows “a pronounced increase in mail delays” since July.

GOP takes Pennsylvania court’s ballot deadline to high court
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to put a hold on a court ruling in the battleground state that extends the deadline in November’s election to receive and count mailed-in ballots. In Monday’s filing, Republicans argue that the three-day extension violates federal law that sets Election Day as the first Tuesday in November and that such a decision constitutionally belongs to lawmakers, not the court. Republicans also object to a portion of the state court’s ruling that orders counties to count ballots that arrive during the three-day period even if they lack a postmark or legible postmark, unless there is proof they were mailed after polls closed.

Mother, daughter get life terms in slayings of 5 relatives
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A mother and her adult daughter have been sentenced to life in prison in the slayings of five close relatives, including three children, outside Philadelphia last year. Forty-seven-year-old Shana Decree and 21-year-old Dominique Decree were sentenced Monday in Bucks County Court after entering guilty but mentally ill pleas to five counts of first-degree murder. President Judge Wallace Bateman told the two that they had caused “unimaginable” harm. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that both women offered tearful apologies to the court and other relatives in the courtroom.

AAA: Western Pennsylvania Gas Prices Stable; National Demand Set to Drop
The average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania is steady this week at $2.537 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                  $2.537
Average price during the week of September 21, 2020                             $2.534
Average price during the week of September 30, 2019                             $2.861

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

$2.553      Altoona
$2.592      Beaver
$2.597      Bradford
$2.593      Brookville
$2.492      Butler
$2.482      Clarion
$2.573      DuBois
$2.585      Erie
$2.455      Greensburg
$2.590      Indiana
$2.223      Jeannette
$2.593      Kittanning
$2.571      Latrobe
$2.585      Meadville
$2.587      Mercer
$2.407      New Castle
$2.572      New Kensington
$2.599      Oil City
$2.514      Pittsburgh
$2.571      Sharon
$2.573      Uniontown
$2.599      Warren
$2.441      Washington

Trend Analysis:
Today’s national gas price average is $2.18, which is the same price as last week, five cents lower than a month ago, and 47 cents cheaper than a year ago. On the week, most states saw gas prices decrease or fluctuate by a penny or two.

The latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) report measures demand at 8.52 million b/d, which is a slight uptick from the previous week’s 8.48 million b/d. However, the small increase is still 850,000 b/d lower than last year at this time. Low demand, even as gasoline inventory declines, has helped pump prices move lower or hold steady across the country. This is likely to continue into the fall as the season generally sees fewer road trips, especially during the pandemic. The low demand should translate to cheaper prices for motorists.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate decreased by six cents to settle at $40.25. Domestic crude prices declined due to increased market fears as coronavirus infections increase worldwide, which could impact crude demand. Before market fears emerged, there was some market optimism that domestic demand could be starting to stabilize after the EIA’s latest weekly report revealed that total domestic crude inventories decreased. Decreasing stocks could signal that supply and demand are rebalancing, while crude production decreased by 200,000 b/d to 10.7 million b/d. For this week, crude prices could decline further if demand concerns continue to worry the market.

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

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 76 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.