WEATHER FORECAST FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH, 2019

 

TODAY – MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND
SNOW SHOWERS DEVELOPING DURING THE
AFTERNOON. AREAS OF FREEZING RAIN
POSSIBLE. HIGH – 38.

TONIGHT – RAIN. LOW – 35.

TUESDAY – PERIODS OF RAIN. HIGH – 45.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar expected to join 2020 Dem race
By SARA BURNETT, Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is set to join the 2020 presidential race Sunday, becoming the most prominent Midwestern candidate as the party tries to win back voters in a region that helped put Donald Trump in the White House.
Klobuchar said she would make a “big announcement” about her political plans at an event along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. She already is scheduled to speak Feb. 21 in Iowa, site of the nation’s first caucuses on the nominating calendar.
Klobuchar, who easily won a third-term last year, has cited her broad appeal across Minnesota as she has discussed a potential campaign. She has drawn support from voters in urban, suburban and rural areas, including in dozens of counties Trump won in 2016.
She has said that success could translate to other Midwestern states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, reliably Democratic in presidential races for decades until Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.
The list of Democrats already in the race features several better-known senators with the ability to raise huge amounts of money — Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
The field soon could expand to include prominent Democrats such as former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
A Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom poll conducted by Selzer & Company in December found that Klobuchar was largely unfamiliar to likely Iowa caucus-goers, with 54 percent saying they didn’t know enough about her to have an opinion, while 38 percent had a favorable opinion and 8 percent had an unfavorable opinion.
“She starts out perhaps with a better understanding of Midwestern voters, but I think she faces the same hurdles every one of them face, which is: Are Iowans going to find them either the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump or the candidate that most aligns with their ideologies and issues?” said John Norris, a longtime Iowa-based Democratic strategist. “I don’t know that coming from Minnesota gives her any advantage with Iowans.”
Klobuchar, 58, is known as a straight-shooting, pragmatist willing to work with Republicans, making her one of the Senate’s most productive members at passing legislation.
The backdrop of Sunday’s event is the Interstate 35 bridge over the Mississippi. The span was built after the previous bridge collapsed in 2007, killing 13 people. Klobuchar had worked with then Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., to help fund the new bridge and get it completed at a faster-than-usual pace, and has cited it as an example of achieving results through bipartisan cooperation.
Klobuchar’s focus in recent months has included prescription drug prices, a new farm bill and election security. She supports the “Green New Deal,” a Democratic plan proposed this past week to combat climate change and create thousands of jobs in renewable energy.
But her legislative record has drawn criticism from both the GOP and some fellow Democrats. Some Republicans say Klobuchar is able to get things done because she pushes smaller issues. Some progressives say she lacks the kind of fire and bold ideas needed to bring significant change and excite voters.
Klobuchar, a lawyer and the former prosecutor in Minnesota’s largest county, raised her national profile during a Senate Judiciary Committee last fall for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman when they were both in high school.
When Klobuchar asked Kavanaugh whether he ever had had so much to drink that he didn’t remember what happened, he turned the question around. He asked Klobuchar, “Have you?”
Unruffled, Klobuchar continued as Kavanaugh asked again. Kavanaugh later apologized to Klobuchar, whose father is an alcoholic.
“When you have a parent who’s an alcoholic, you’re pretty careful about drinking,” she said. “I was truly trying to get to the bottom of the facts and the evidence.”
Among the other Midwestern lawmakers who could also seek the nomination are Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who has been visiting early-voting states, and Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who established an exploratory committee last month.
Klobuchar campaigned with Democrats in Iowa last fall, and in December spoke to progressive farmers and activists about the importance of bridging the divide between urban and rural areas. She said the lesson learned after the 2016 election was “we are not going to leave the Midwest behind.”
“This is the moment for the Midwest,” she said, “and we don’t want to be forgotten again in a national election.”
___
AP polling editor Emily Swanson in Washington contributed to this report.

Pennsylvania permits halted for Texas-based pipeline company
By MARC LEVY, Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania is halting construction permits for natural gas pipelines operated by a company whose pipeline exploded last year, as the governor said Friday that Energy Transfer LP has failed to respect the state’s laws and communities.
The state Department of Environmental Protection said the Texas-based company is not fixing problems related to the explosion, and piled yet another penalty onto a company project in the state.
State agencies already have imposed millions of dollars in fines and several temporary shutdown orders on Energy Transfer projects, while a county prosecutor is demanding documents from the company.
The methane gas explosion destroyed one home in Beaver County last September along the Beaver-to-Butler County pipeline. The Dallas-based firm blamed the blast on “earth movement in the vicinity of the pipeline.”
“There has been a failure by Energy Transfer and its subsidiaries to respect our laws and our communities,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement Friday. “This is not how we strive to do business in Pennsylvania, and it will not be tolerated.”
The Department of Environmental Protection said Energy Transfer hasn’t stabilized the soil and erosion around its Revolution pipeline in western Pennsylvania, as it was ordered to do in October.
As a result, it is halting construction permits on the company’s pipelines in the state, it said.
“This hold will continue until the operator corrects their violations to our satisfaction,” Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell said in a statement.
Energy Transfer said it told state officials that it is committed to bringing the Revolution pipeline “into full compliance with all environmental permits and applicable regulations.”
In a statement, it said the action did not affect the operation of any of its in-service pipelines or any areas of construction where permits have already been issued.
Energy Transfer’s pipelines in Pennsylvania include the Mariner East 1, 2 and 2X natural gas liquids pipelines across southern Pennsylvania.
A DEP spokesman, Neil Shader, said permits for the 16-inch Mariner East 2X — which has yet to start operating — are now on hold.
Construction on those three pipelines has drawn blame for causing sinkholes and polluting drinking water and waterways across the state.
That has resulted in more than $13 million in fines and several temporary shutdown orders from state agencies, including one last month by the Public Utility Commission that has kept the Mariner East 1 pipeline shut down following a sinkhole that developed in suburban Philadelphia’s Chester County.
Nearby residents worried over sinkholes along the Mariner East pipelines sued Energy Transfer last summer in federal court. Chester County’s district attorney, Tom Hogan, is demanding documents from the company as part of a criminal investigation he opened.
Energy Transfer has said it is confident that it hasn’t violated criminal laws.
Also Friday, Wolf called on the Public Utility Commission to require an independent study to determine how long the Mariner East 1 pipeline can continue operating — it is roughly 80 years old — and asked lawmakers to pass legislation giving the state the power to regulate the routes and safety features of intrastate pipelines.

Likely deal would give Trump fraction of desired wall money

By ALAN FRAM and ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional bargainers are working toward a border security deal amid indications that the White House is preparing to accept a bipartisan agreement that would give President Donald Trump a fraction of the money he’s demanded for his proposed southern border wall.
Participants said they expect money for physical barriers to end up well below the $5.7 billion that Trump has sought to begin construction of the wall, which has attained iconic significance for him and his conservative supporters. Underscoring the clout he’s lost during a battle that’s dominated the opening weeks of divided government, the amount seems sure to fall much closer to $1.6 billion, the participants said, a figure that was in a bipartisan Senate bill last year.
“That’s what we’re working toward,” said Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., one bargainer.
An agreement would also avert a new partial federal shutdown next weekend. Trump has warned he might trigger a new closure of agencies if he doesn’t get his way, but that threat has become toothless because of solid opposition from GOP lawmakers burned by the record 35-day closure that he initiated in December.
One White House aide said Trump was expected to back whatever compromise emerges and acknowledged there is no will among congressional Republicans for another shutdown. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.
Coupled with a widespread expectation that the agreement would not use the term “wall,” the pact would represent a significant retreat for Trump, for whom “Build the wall!” has been a battle cry since his presidential campaign.
Democrats seemed to draw a firm line on spending.
“Throughout the talks, Democrats have insisted that a border security compromise not be overly reliant on physical barriers,” said Evan Hollander, spokesman for Democrats who control the House Appropriations Committee. “We will not agree to $2 billion in funding for barriers.”
In another signal that Trump was reluctantly preparing to give ground, the White House has been considering accepting the deal but also using executive action to secure additional barrier funding without lawmakers’ approval. That plan was described by two people familiar with White House thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Depending on what Trump does, such an action could spark lawsuits or congressional votes of disapproval.
Trump supporters have said there are other executive powers Trump could use to divert money from the budget to wall construction, though it was unclear if they would face challenges in Congress or the courts. One provision of the law lets the Defense Department provide support for counter-drug activities.
Besides the dollar figure, talks were focusing on the type and location of barriers, participants said. Also in play were the number of beds the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency could have for detained migrants and the amount of aid included for natural disaster relief.
Money for high-tech surveillance equipment and more personnel was also expected to be included.
No one ruled out last-minute problems, especially with Trump’s penchant for head-snapping turnabouts. But the momentum was clearly toward clinching an agreement that Congress could pass by next Friday. The next day, many government agencies would run out of money and have to close again without a deal.
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who leads the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, said he spoke Thursday night to Trump, who he said was in “wait and see” mode. Meadows said he expects an agreement to provide an amount closer to $1.6 billion.
“I’m not optimistic it’ll be something the president can support,” Meadows said.
A conservative House GOP aide said Freedom Caucus members wanted at least $2 billion for barriers and no restrictions on new construction, land acquisition or new types of barriers that could be built.
The aide also said the agreement need not contain the term “wall,” a word that Trump has lately alternated between embracing and abandoning. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private talks.
If there is a bipartisan deal, there would likely be enough votes to pass it without the most conservative Republicans or the most liberal Democrats.
___
AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Catherine Lucey and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

The Beaver County Humane Society is looking for information on the person(s) who abandoned a Yorkie Terrier mix at the edge of a wooded area off of Old Brodhead Road earlier this week. The dog was discovered on Tuesday and taken to the Beaver County Humane Society’s animal shelter in Center Township. Susan Salyards – the shelter’s executive director – spoke with Beaver County Radio News about what happened…

 

Salyards explains why she believes the dog was abandoned…

Salyards was asked the dog is doing now…

Salyards says eventually they will be looking for a new home for the dog…

Salyards says if anyone has any information on the person(s) who abandoned this dog to contact them ASAP:

The number to call is (724) 775-5801, ext. 110. All information will be kept confidential.

 

THE BEAVER COUNTY CORONER HAS JUST RELEASED ITS RULING IN THE DEATHS OF TWO CRASH VICTIMS IN HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS MORE. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

There’s no word yet of any charges against a Beaver County teenager accused of bringing a BB gun to school. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has more…