Category: News

Steelers’ Brown convicted of summary reckless driving count

Steelers’ Brown convicted of summary reckless driving count
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown was convicted of a summary count of reckless driving after failure to appear for a hearing.
Police said Brown was pulled over after traveling over 100 mph in a 45-mph zone in November in Ross Township, hours before the team’s game against the Carolina Panthers. He earlier paid a $426.77 fine.
Brown was represented in Tuesday’s proceeding in Allegheny County Magisterial District Court by attorney James Hankle, who declined to say where his client was or otherwise comment. The summary reckless driving conviction carries a $200 fine.
Brown, the only player in NFL history with six consecutive seasons of at least 100 receptions, has three years remaining on his current contract but has indicated on social media that he’d prefer to play elsewhere.

Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Launches His Statewide Listening Tour On Legalizing Marijuana

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR JOHN FETTERMAN HELD THE LAUNCH OF HIS STATEWIDE LISTENING TOUR TO GATHER INPUT FROM PENNSYLVANIANS ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF LEGALIZING RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA…

THE FIRST TOUR STOPS WERE HELD IN DAUPHIN AND PERRY COUNTIES.

 

State GOP Attacks Gov. Wolf’s Proposal To Raise Minimum Wage

Hearings on Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget plan kicked off with a volley of Republican attacks on raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, spurred by a proposal the Democrat is backing. Monday’s first House budget hearing featured criticism of the broader impact of a minimum wage increase. Wolf supports legislation to raise Pennsylvania’s hourly minimum to $12 this year. The Republican-controlled Legislature has blocked similar proposals. Most states have increased theirs above the $7.25 federal minimum.

PA State Troopers Could Be Impacted By Contract Dispute Between UPMC & Highmark

The union representing state troopers says a contract dispute between western Pennsylvania health giants UPMC and Highmark could have a negative impact on troopers and their families. The Pennsylvania State Troopers Association says its contract expires next year, while UPMC could stop accepting Highmark insurance at in-network rates at the start of July. The union is concerned that troopers and their families could have to pre-pay for treatment at UPMC facilities for six months or longer.

Flood Watch In Effect For Beaver County

WEATHER FORECAST FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH, 2019

 

*** FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH 1 A-M WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR BEAVER AND SURROUNDING COUNTIES. TOTAL RAINFALL OF 1.5 TO 2 INCHES IS POSSIBLE BY LATE TONIGHT. * WITH SATURATED GROUND, RIVERS, AND STREAMS FULL, ADDITIONAL RAINFALL MAY LEAD TO FLOODING. A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING BASED ON CURRENT FORECASTS. YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE FLOOD WARNINGS. THOSE LIVING IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLOODING DEVELOP. ***

TODAY – CLOUDY WITH PERIODS OF RAIN. HIGH – 45.

TONIGHT – CLOUDY WITH RAIN AND SNOW THIS EVENING. REMAINING CLOUDY OVERNIGHT. HIGHER WIND GUSTS POSSIBLE. LOW – 26.

WEDNESDAY – WINDY WITH SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MORNING. HIGH NEAR 30.

Antonio Brown Speeding Trial Scheduled For Today

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has his speeding trial scheduled for this morning. After allegedly throwing furniture off the balcony of his Miami-area apartment and before being revealed as a contestant on ‘The Masked Singer,’ Brown was cited for allegedly driving more than 100 miles per hour on McKnight Road in Ross Township. Police said Brown was heading southbound on Nov. 8th, the day of the team’s Thursday Night Football tilt against the Carolina Panthers, when he was stopped near the I-279 interchange. A Ross Township police officer was stationed near the Babcock overpass looking for a possible suspect from a bank robbery at the WesBanco in McCandless Crossing. Brown was cited for reckless driving, which is a summary offense that carries maximum penalties of 90 days in jail, a $200 fine and a six-month license suspension. Brown’s summary hearing is scheduled for this morning.

Hearings For Two Aliquippa Men Continued

THE HEARINGS FOR TWO ALIQUIPPA MEN HAVE BEEN CONTINUED…AS WE HEAR IN THIS REPORT FROM BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

Negotiators say they’ve agreed on border bill. If approved by President will avoid a Government shutdown.

The Latest: Negotiators say they’ve agreed on border bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on government negotiations over border security (all times local):
8:30 p.m.
Negotiators in Congress say they have reached an agreement in principle to fund the government and avoid another partial government shutdown.
The emerging agreement was announced by a group of lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Richard Shelby and Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey, after a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill.
The talks had cratered over the weekend because of Democratic demands to limit immigrant detentions by federal authorities, but lawmakers apparently broke through that impasse Monday evening.
Now they will need the support of President Donald Trump, whose signature will be needed ahead of the deadline at midnight Friday.
If lawmakers don’t act, hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed for a second time this year.
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8:15 p.m.
Congressional negotiators say politically freighted talks on border security are back on track as they speed to avert a new federal shutdown this weekend.
Officials say an agreement could be in sight as early as Monday night. The talks had cratered over the weekend because of Democratic demands to limit immigrant detentions by federal authorities, but that impasse seems to be loosening.
A Friday midnight deadline is looming as negotiators strain to prevent a second partial government shutdown, for which there is virtually no support from lawmakers of either party.
If bargainers don’t reach an agreement and get President Donald Trump’s signature by then, hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed for a second time this year.
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4:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump is assailing Democrats over faltering border security negotiations.
Trump spoke to reporters Monday at the White House at an event attended by local sheriffs. He says construction on a border barrier is already underway, but he says of Democrats: “We’re up against people who want to allow criminals in our society.”
Border security negotiations stalled over the weekend over Democratic demands to limit the number of migrants whom federal authorities can detain. The two sides also remain separated over how much to spend on Trump’s border wall.
Republicans say Democratic demands to limit immigrant detentions are a deal breaker, eclipsing the border wall issue for now.
Trump is holding a rally in El Paso, Texas, on Monday night and says he’s going there “to keep our country safe.”
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3:55 p.m.
The top Republican negotiator for the House says talks on nettlesome border security issues are in “better shape today” and she’s optimistic that negotiations can produce a deal in time to meet a deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Texas Rep. Kay Granger gave the optimistic assessment on her way into a meeting of other top negotiators that was convened after talks collapsed over the weekend over a Democratic demand to limit immigrant detentions by federal authorities.
She says the battle over capping detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as demanded by top Democrats was one of those issues that “pop up” in negotiations.
She says there are several remaining outstanding issues.
The deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown is midnight Friday.
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3:50 p.m.
Ahead of a campaign rally in El Paso, Texas, President Donald Trump’s campaign has issued a new video calling for a border wall.
The video posted Monday offers testimonials from residents of the city advocating for the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. They say the wall is needed for public safety, arguing that El Paso’s border fence has helped the city.
The video concludes with the slogan “Finish the Wall,” an update on the “Build the Wall” chants that defined Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Trump’s Monday night rally is to take place just a few hundred yards from El Paso’s border fence. Trump has repeatedly exaggerated the impact of El Paso’s fencing on the city’s crime rate, as well as statistics about crime committed by people who have entered the U.S. illegally.
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3:40 p.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is urging Democrats to resume border security talks as Congress races to avoid another government shutdown.
McConnell complained Monday that Democrats are asking for too much from Republicans in the negotiations over President Donald Trump’s demand for money to build a wall on the Mexican border, his premier campaign promise.
In exchange for some funding for border barriers, Democrats want limits on the number of immigrants whom Immigration and Customs Enforcement can detain for illegal crossings and other violations. It’s a way to slow the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation policies.
McConnell called the detention bed limits “absurd.”
Chief budget negotiators are meeting again Monday to resume talks that sputtered over the weekend. They face Friday’s deadline to fund the government or risk another partial shutdown.
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12:30 a.m.
The White House is refusing to rule out the possibility that the federal government may shut down again.
Negotiators are clashing over whether to limit the number of migrants authorities can detain, creating a new hurdle for a border security compromise that Congress can accept.
With a Friday deadline approaching, the two sides remain separated over how much to spend on President Donald Trump’s promised border wall.
Rising to the fore is a related dispute over curbing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the federal agency that Republicans see as an emblem of tough immigration policies.
People involved in the talks say Democrats have proposed limiting the number of immigrants in the country illegally and caught inside the U.S. — not at the border — that the agency can detain.

Western Pennsylvania Gas Prices Add a Nickle; Wintry Weather Curbs National Demand

Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania are five cents more expensive this week at $2.512 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.   Only three Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states have more expensive gas price averages on the week, including Pennsylvania (+2 cents).  The rest of the region is paying less to fill-up as compared to last Monday.

With regional utilization up 2.2 percent to 74.6 and an increase in imports, the region’s gasoline stocks built by 2.3 million barrels for the week ending February 1 – the largest of any region according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.  Total stocks register at 71.3 million barrels, which is a number not seen in the region since early 2017, and should help keep fluctuation in gas prices relatively moderate in the week ahead.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average               $2.512
Average price during the week of February 4, 2019                               $2.463
Average price during the week of February 12, 2018                             $2.881

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

$2.464      Altoona
$2.486      Beaver
$2.558      Bradford
$2.541      Brookville
$2.334      Butler
$2.592      Clarion
$2.540      Du Bois
$2.560      Erie
$2.434      Greensburg
$2.568      Indiana
$2.555      Jeannette
$2.568      Kittanning
$2.421      Latrobe
$2.590      Meadville
$2.515      Mercer
$2.390      New Castle
$2.563      New Kensington
$2.522      Pittsburgh
$2.503      Sharon
$2.506      Uniontown
$2.599      Warren
$2.447      Washington

On the National Front
On the week, the national gas price average is two cents more expensive, landing at $2.28.  At the start of the workweek, nearly half of all state averages also saw jumps – some at or more than a dime increase.

Frigid temperatures across much of the country have contributed toward a half a million barrel per day drop in demand to measure at 9 million barrels – a level consistent with a year ago according to the EIA.  At the same time, gasoline stocks saw a nominal 513,000-barrel increase for a total of 257.8 million barrels.  While demand is mostly flat year-over-year, total stocks sit at a 124-million-barrel surplus.

Crude oil has remained relatively cheap since the beginning of the year, moving between $51- $55 per barrel.  At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, WTI increased eight cents to settle at $52.72.  Oil prices were volatile last week, following the release of new data from the EIA showing that at the end of the previous week, total domestic crude oil inventories rose less than expected – a build of only 1.3 million barrels to total 447.2 million.

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

 

Youth smoking decline stalls, and vaping may be to blame

Youth smoking decline stalls, and vaping may be to blame
By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Cigarette smoking rates have stopped falling among U.S. kids, and health officials believe youth vaping is responsible.
For decades, the percentage of high school and middle school students who smoked cigarettes had been declining fairly steadily. For the past three years, it has flattened, according to new numbers released Monday.
There may be several reasons, but a recent boom in vaping is the most likely explanation, said Brian King of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We were making progress, and now you have the introduction of a product that is heavily popular among youth that has completely erased that progress,” King said.
The CDC findings come from a national survey conducted last spring of more than 20,000 middle and high school students. It asked if they had used any tobacco products in the previous month. Some of the findings had been released before, including the boom in vaping.
Experts attribute the vaping increase to the exploding popularity of newer versions of e-cigarettes, like those by Juul Labs Inc. of San Francisco. The products resemble computer flash drives, can be recharged in USB ports and can be used discreetly — including in school bathrooms and even in classrooms.
According to the new CDC data, about 8 percent of high schoolers said they had recently smoked cigarettes in 2018, and about 2 percent of middle schoolers did. Those findings were about the same seen in similar surveys in 2016 and 2017.
It also found that about 2 in 5 high school students who used a vaping or tobacco product used more than one kind, and that the most common combination was e-cigarettes and cigarettes. Also, about 28 percent of high school e-cigarette users said they vaped 20 or more days in the previous month — nearly a 40 percent jump from the previous year.
Smoking, the nation’s leading cause of preventable illness, is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths each year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration bans the sale of e-cigarettes and tobacco products to those under 18.
E-cigarettes are generally considered better than cigarettes for adults who are already addicted to nicotine. But health officials have worried for years that electronic cigarettes could lead kids to switch to smoking traditional cigarettes.
“I think the writing is on the wall,” with research increasingly suggesting e-cigarettes are becoming a gateway to regular cigarettes, said Megan Roberts, an Ohio State University researcher.
There is, however, some split of opinion among health researchers. Some had linked e-cigarettes to an unusually large drop in teen smoking a few years ago, and they say it’s not clear to what extent the decline in smoking has stalled or to what degree vaping is to blame.
Cigarette smoking is still declining in some states. And another large survey found that smoking has continued to drop among 12th graders, though not in younger school kids.
“It’s not clear yet what’s going on and it’s best to not jump to any conclusions,” said David Levy, a Georgetown University researcher.
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The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.