In this photo released by the National Park Service, park staff assess the damage to Biscuit Basin boardwalks after a hydrothermal explosion at Biscuit Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (National Park Service via AP)

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A surprise eruption of steam in a Yellowstone National Park geyser basin that sent people scrambling for safety as basketball-sized rocks flew overhead has highlighted a little-known hazard that scientists hope to be able to predict someday.

The hydrothermal explosion on Tuesday in Biscuit Basin caused no injuries as dozens of people fled down the boardwalk before the wooden walkway was destroyed. The blast sent rocks, steam, water and dirt high into the air, according to a witness and a scientist who reviewed video footage of the event.

It came in a park teeming with geysers, hot springs and other hydrothermal features that attracts millions of tourists annually. Some, like the famous Old Faithful, erupt like clockwork and are well understood by the scientists who monitor the park’s seismic activity.

But the type of explosion that happened this week is less common and understood, and potentially more hazardous given that they happen without warning.

“This drives home that even small events — and this one in the scheme of things was relatively small, if dramatic — can be really hazardous,” said Michael Poland, lead scientist at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. “We’ve gotten pretty good at being able to understand the signs that a volcano is waking up and may erupt. We don’t have that knowledge base for hydrothermal systems like the one in Yellowstone.”

Poland and other scientists are trying to change that with a fledgling monitoring system that was recently installed in another Yellowstone geyser basin. It measures seismic activity, deformations in the Earth’s surface and low-frequency acoustic energy that could signal an eruption.

The hydrothermal explosions are believed to result from clogged passageways in the extensive natural plumbing network under Yellowstone, Poland said. A clog could cause the heated, pressurized water to turn into steam instantly and explode.

Tuesday’s explosion came with little warning.

Witness Vlada March, who captured widely-circulated video of the explosion, said steam started rising in the Biscuit Basin “and within seconds, it became this huge thing. … It just exploded and became like a black cloud that covered the sun.”

March’s tour guide, Isaac Fisher, told The Associated Press that he heard a hiss coming from Cliff Pool and told his group it was unusual. It looked like a geyser erupting 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 meters) into the air for a few seconds and then, “Ba-boom!” he said.

“You felt the shock wave hit your chest and vibrate the bones in your chest,” he said. “The explosion was so significant you felt your feet shaking. You felt the boardwalk shake and you felt everything shaking.”

He estimated the whole event lasted about 25 seconds as the debris plume climbed to about 100 meters (328 feet) into the air.

“I cannot believe nobody got hurt,” Fisher said. “There were rocks whizzing over our heads that were the size of basketballs.”

March’s mother, who was closest to the eruption, pulled her hoodie over her head and face and wasn’t injured, Fisher said.

Some of the rocks hurled into the air measured about a meter (3.3 feet) across, said Poland.

Yellowstone encompasses the caldera of a huge, slumbering volcano that shows no sign of erupting any time soon but provides the heat for the national park’s famous geysers, hot springs, mud pots and various other hydrothermal features. While far less common than geyser eruptions, hydrothermal explosions happen often enough in Yellowstone to be studied — and to be a safety concern.

Scientists don’t know if they’ll be able to devise a way to predict the blasts, Poland said.

For a geologist, seeing one in person is a payday. That’s what happened in 2009, when Montana Tech geology professor Mike Stickney and several other geologists were nearby when one happened close to the scene of Tuesday’s blast in the Biscuit Basin.

“It was very sudden and without any detectable warning, just standing on the boardwalk there. It was just was one ‘whoosh’ and it was done. No one saw it coming,” Stickney said.

Though it didn’t register on a sensitive seismometer at Old Faithful a couple miles (3.2 kilometers) away, he estimated the recent explosion was 10 times bigger.

In May, after scientists found a crater a few feet (1-2 meters) wide in the Norris Geyser Basin 18 miles (29 kilometers) north of Biscuit Basin, they consulted acoustic and seismic data from the basin’s new monitoring system and determined a hydrothermal explosion happened April 15, just a few days before roads opened for spring tourist season.

The data included no obvious precursors, however, that could potentially be used to develop a warning system.

Long-term study of where hydrothermal explosions and other ground disruptions can happen in Yellowstone is a focus of University of Wyoming geology professor Ken Sims, who has used ground-penetrating radar and other techniques to identify problem areas.

The information is critical to building roads and bridges in Yellowstone, he said.

“Whenever you build in a super active system like that, you have to pay attention to what’s going on,” Sims said.

A detection system takes time and money to develop, with monitoring stations that can cost roughly $30,000 each.

Yet even if explosions such as the recent one in Yellowstone could be predicted, there’s no feasible way to prevent them, said Poland.

“One of the things people ask me occasionally is, ‘How do you stop a volcano from erupting?’ You don’t. You get out of the way,” Poland said. “For any of this activity, you don’t want to be there when it happens.”

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Hanson reported from Helena, Montana, and Gruver from Cheyenne, Wyoming.

House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Mark E. Green, R-Tenn., speaks to reporters after leading a bipartisan visit on Monday, July 22, 2024, to the site of the July 13 Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Pictured from left are Rep. Carlos A. Jimenez, R-Fla., Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., rear, Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., and Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Wednesday to form a task force to investigate the security failures surrounding the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on July 13.

The vote underscores the bipartisan outrage over the shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump came within inches of losing his life. One rallygoer was killed and two others severely injured. Lawmakers have responded quickly with hearings and widespread calls for accountability.

The legislation passed by a vote of 416-0.

“Protecting the safety and security of our nation’s leaders is a responsibility that transcends party lines,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said.

The task force will be composed of 13 members and is expected to include seven Republicans and six Democrats. It will be tasked with determining what went wrong on the day of the attempted assassination and will make recommendations to prevent future security lapses. It will issue a final report before Dec. 13 and has the authority to issue subpoenas.

The bill is sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, whose hometown of Butler was the site of the shooting. Kelly was at the rally with his wife and other family members.

“I can tell you that my community is grieving,” Kelly said. “They are shocked by what happened in our backyard. The people of Butler and the people of the United States deserve answers.”

He said he was concerned when the site of the rally was picked because he thought it would be “a difficult place to have a rally of that size.” He called the task force a chance to build trust with Americans that lawmakers can work together to tackle a crisis.

House committees have already held three hearings focusing on the shooting. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday, one day after she appeared before a congressional committee and was berated for hours by both Democrats and Republicans for the security failures. She called the attempt on Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades, but she angered lawmakers by failing to answer specific questions about the investigation.

Democrats also voiced support for the task force, saying what happened in Butler was a despicable attack that never should have happened.

“We need to know what happened. We need to get to the truth. We need to prevent this from ever, ever happening again,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

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This story has been corrected to say the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump happened on July 13, not June 13.

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Mike Braun (R-IN), Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, introduced the bipartisan PACE Anytime Act. The bill will expand access to the PACE program, which provides thousands of lower-income seniors and people with disabilities with comprehensive care. PACE is a fully integrated care model that provides care through an interdisciplinary team, including medical and dental care, meals and nutritional counseling, occupational and physical therapy, prescription drugs, social services, and transportation. PACE programs provide services primarily in adult day health centers, allowing individuals to stay in their homes and communities. Currently, eligible older adults and people with disabilities can only enroll in a PACE program on the first of every month—the PACE Anytime Act remove enrollment barriers by allowing eligible individuals to enroll anytime during the month.

“PACE programs allow seniors and people with disabilities to receive all of their essential care while remaining in their communities,” said Chairman Casey. “While the PACE program provides high-quality, comprehensive care, limited opportunities to enroll have made the program unnecessarily difficult to access. My new bill will make it much easier to enroll in the PACE program and give seniors and people with disabilities the flexibility to receive the care they need.”

 

“Older Americans should be able to receive the care they need in their communities without cumbersome barriers,” said Ranking Member Braun. “The PACE Anytime Act would increase flexibility for low-income seniors and people with disabilities to enroll in the PACE Program.”

The PACE program provides comprehensive care for low-income seniors and people with disabilities ages 55 and up by integrating Medicare coverage and Medicaid long-term care. PACE’s interdisciplinary approach and wrap-around care enables nearly 70,000 Americans across 32 states and the District of Columbia to remain in their homes, which is overwhelmingly where they prefer to live. PACE programs provide health care and supportive services, like adult day services, transportation, and medication management, for some of the most medically complex Americans. Enrollment in a PACE program has been shown to result in fewer hospitalizations and visits to the emergency room as well as reduced caregiver burden for family members.

Chairman Casey has long championed long term care services, especially those that allow individuals to remain in their homes and communities. Casey has fought to increase access to home and community based services and recently introduced the Long Term Care Workforce Support Act to address workforce shortages. These efforts allow older Americans to age in place. The PACE Anytime Act also builds on Casey’s work to better serve individuals that are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. In March 2024, Casey introduced the Helping States Integrate Medicare and Medicaid Act, which would provide funding to states to better integrate these two programs.

ROCHESTER – To better inform local seniors of programs and services available to them, Sen. Elder Vogel, Jr. (R-47) will be hosting his annual FREE Senior Expo on Friday, Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Community College of Beaver County located at 1 Campus Drive in Monaca.

 

Pre-registration is encouraged for this event. To pre-register, click here.

Representatives from various state and local organizations will be present to offer helpful information concerning healthcare, government services, and more to attending seniors.

Additionally, there will be refreshments, door prizes, and health screenings which are also free of charge.

Vendors for this event include, but are not limited to: Beaver County Association for the Blind, CapTel Outreach, UPMC FOR LIFE, Beaver County Library System, Anova Healthcare System, Health Plans on Demand, Pa State Police, B & B Benefits, LLC, Success Financial Solutions/American Senior Benefits, Red Hat Beauties of Beaver County, Columbia Gas of PA, and Raccoon Creek State Park.

For further information, contact Vogel’s Rochester District Office at 724-774-0444.

SGT AJ Bialk, LT John Chickos, Mayor Tina Iorfido Miller, Patrol Officer Dante Sciaretta, Patrol Officer John Bialik, Patrol Officer Eric McPhilomy
Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published July 24, 2024 2:04 P.M.

(Ambridge, Pa) Ambridge Mayor Tina Iorfido-Miller presented 5 officers with commendations at Tuesday night’s workshop meeting of council. The officers are Lt. John Chickos, Sgt. Al Bialik, Patrolemen John Bialik, Dante Sciaretta, and Eric McPhilomy for their efforts involving a drug bust that resulted in arrests. The raid was in May. Part time police officer Tina O’Brien-Jones was promoted to full time. Her official start date hasn’t been determined. The next regular meeting is Tuesday, August 13, 2024 at 6:30pm.

A view of the scene Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, as the cleanup continues at the site of of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that happened on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

Major freight railroads are rushing railcar inspections, reinforcing known safety concerns raised by unions for years, but at a House hearing Tuesday they’ll present new evidence from federal inspectors that railcar checks are routinely less than two minutes per car.

The unions have sounded the alarm often in recent years as the major railroads all adopted versions of the lean Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model and collectively cut roughly one-third of all their workers. Labor groups like the Transportation Communications Union, which represents the expert carmen who are supposed to inspect railcars, have said all the cuts have led to rushed inspections that miss problems and prompted railroads to rely on train crews too often to do limited inspections.

The disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment last year in East Palestine, Ohio, that prompted Tuesday’s hearing was caused by an overheating bearing that wasn’t caught in time by trackside sensors. The National Transportation Safety Board didn’t speculate in its final report released last month whether an inspection in a railyard might have caught the failed bearing, but it did point out that the railroad never inspected the car after it picked it up in St. Louis even though it crossed through several railyards before the crash. And more than 25% of the cars on that train had defects despite being inspected beforehand.

The TCU union’s National Legislative Director David Arouca says inspections are happening less often and with less time these days because of all the job cuts.

“Sadly, in today’s era of railroading, many carmen have to make the difficult decision of what to inspect. Under impossible time pressures, carmen are simply unable to perform full inspections,” Arouca said.

There are at least 90 points on each side of a railcar that are supposed to be checked in an inspection — something that Arouca said can’t be done in the time allotted today. The Federal Railroad Administration study found that the major freight railroads allowed an average of 1 minute and 38 seconds per car while a federal inspector was watching, but documents showed that when an inspector isn’t there inspections are being done in about 44 seconds per car.

The FRA isn’t ready to say that the railroads’ current operating model is unsafe because more research is needed to determine whether that is the case. But FRA Administrator Amit Bose said railroads’ “safety performance has stagnated over the last decade — and by some measures, deteriorated. Despite assertions to the contrary, derailment rates for our nation’s largest rail companies have not significantly improved.”

And even though most derailments don’t cause anything like the massive black plume of smoke and lingering health worries that followed the East Palestine derailment — because many of them happen at slow speeds without spilling toxic chemicals — Bose said smaller derailments shouldn’t be dismissed as the railroad equivalent of a fender-bender because they can still be deadly.

None of the CEOs of the major railroads — which include Norfolk Southern, CSX, Union Pacific, BNSF, Canadian National and CPKC — were at the hearing, even though several of them were invited. Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden said it’s shameful none of the CEOs were willing to show up.

The railroads maintain they are committed to improving safety and have taken a number of steps since the East Palestine derailment including adding hundreds more trackside detectors to spot mechanical problems and reviewing the way they respond to temperature alerts from those devices.

Plus, the Association of American Railroads trade group continues to point out that even with derailments — which happen across the country roughly three times a day — railroads remain the safest option, with more than 99% of all hazardous chemicals arriving safely. But as the Ohio derailment shows, even one derailment can be disastrous if chemicals spill and catch fire.

Railroads also argue that new technology they are investing in can help supplement the visual inspections that workers do and spot problems while trains are moving down the tracks.

But Greg Hynes with the SMART-TD union, which represents conductors and is the largest rail union, said “in the accident’s wake little has changed.”

Ohio’s two senators — including Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance — led a bipartisan group in proposing a sweeping rail safety bill last year that included requirements for inspection standards and rules for those trackside detectors, but that bill stalled after it advanced out of committee and never got a floor vote.

Republican Rep. Troy Nehls, who leads the House subcommittee on railroads, recently introduced a similar, broad bill along with Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton. But most Republicans appear to want a more limited approach based on the findings of the NTSB investigation. A narrower bill hasn’t yet been introduced.

On Tuesday, Republican Rep. Sam Graves, the chair of the Transportation Committee, said he does not think any rail safety legislation was necessary to address the problems that led to the 2023 derailment. He added that a bill would not be emerging from his committee.

But the Chair of the NTSB Jennifer Homendy suggested that Congress should accelerate its phasing out of the older DOT-111 tank cars that are prone to rupturing in a derailment and then look at addressing the more than 200 other outstanding recommendations her agency has “repeated and repeated and repeated with zero action by the railroads and by some regulators.”

In addition to all the rail safety concerns, the NTSB said Tuesday that it is worried that a federal effort by the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana as a less serious drug could prevent train crews, pilots and other transportation workers from being tested for marijuana even though it could impair their judgment.

The NTSB said that eliminating marijuana testing for transportation workers “would create a safety blind spot that could endanger the public.”

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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report from Washington.

The USDA claims its electronic tag requirements will prevent disease outbreaks and protect beef export markets. (Jackie Nix/Adobe Stock)
Will Walkey – Keystone State News Connection

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will soon require electronic eartags for cattle and bison that cross state lines.

The USDA says its rule will affect some 11 million cattle, or about 12% of the nation’s herd.

There are more than 20,000 cattle operations in Pennsylvania, and the Center for Dairy Excellence says almost all dairy farms in the state are small and family-owned.

But the controversial eartag mandate is worrying some small ag producers, like Judith McGeary – a rancher and executive director of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.

She said it’s expensive and unnecessary.

“We have a system that works well right now,” said McGeary. “And USDA’s own tests of that system show that a cow that crosses state lines can be traced back, in most cases, within an hour. That is more than sufficient.”

The USDA argues it will prevent future epidemics, cut down on paperwork errors, and protect international beef exports. The rule is set to go into effect in about six months.

McGeary, who supports the position of the National Family Farm Coalition on this issue, said it will be easy for large meat companies to implement but challenging for smaller family farms, which could lead to more consolidation in agriculture.

Right now, the USDA is giving away electronic tags through state veterinary offices.

But McGeary said there are other costs with this rule for an industry already on thin margins, including the fact that technology keeps changing.

“For instance, we’ve had reports of a sale barn that went and got an electronic reader to handle the cows that were coming through with electronic tags,” said McGeary, “and within a couple of years, couldn’t find batteries for those readers.”

She added that the rule could be expanded to more domestic herds.

Other stockgrowing groups have supported transitioning to electronic tags, which could cut down on quarantine times during outbreaks.

Multiple bills in Congress seek to block the USDA’s rule, but they’ve yet to build much support.

Kimberly Cheatle, Director, U.S. Secret Service, testifies during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump, on Capitol Hill, Monday, July 22, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of the Secret Service resigned Tuesday in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump that unleashed an outcry about how the agency failed in its core mission to protect current and former presidents.

Kimberly Cheatle, who had served as Secret Service director since August 2022, faced growing calls to resign and several investigations into how a gunman was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

“I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she said in an email to staff obtained by The Associated Press. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”

Cheatle’s departure was unlikely to end the scrutiny of the long-troubled agency after the failures of July 13, and it comes at a critical juncture ahead of the Democratic National Convention and a busy presidential campaign season. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have promised more investigations. An inspector general probe and an independent, bipartisan effort launched at President Joe Biden’s behest will keep the agency in the spotlight.

Cheatle’s resignation came a day after she appeared before a congressional committee and was berated for hours by both Democrats and Republicans for the security failures. She called the attempt on Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades, but she angered lawmakers by failing to answer specific questions about the investigation.

Biden said in a statement that “what happened that day can never happen again,” and he planned to appoint a new director soon, but he did not discuss a timeline.

The president and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas thanked Cheatle for her service. Mayorkas appointed Deputy Director Ronald Rowe as acting director. He has worked for the agency for 23 years.

“At this moment in time, we must remain focused,” Rowe said in a note to staff obtained by AP. “We will restore the faith and confidence of the American public and the people we are entrusted to protect.”

Congressional questioning

At the hearing Monday, Cheatle remained defiant that she was the “right person” to lead the Secret Service, even as she said she took responsibility for the failures. When Republican Rep. Nancy Mace suggested Cheatle begin drafting her resignation letter from the hearing room, Cheatle responded, “No, thank you.”

The 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to get within 135 meters (157 yards) of the stage where the former president was speaking when he opened fire. That’s despite a threat on Trump’s life from Iran that led to additional security for the former president in the days before the rally.

Cheatle acknowledged Monday that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person two to five times before the rally shooting. She also revealed that the roof from which Crooks fired had been identified as a potential vulnerability days earlier. But she failed to answer many questions about what happened, including why there were no agents on the roof.

A bloodied Trump was quickly escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents, and agency snipers killed the shooter. Trump said part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting. One rallygoer was killed, and two others were critically wounded.

Details continue to emerge about signs of trouble that day and the roles of the Secret Service and local authorities. The agency routinely relies on local law enforcement to secure the perimeter of events. Former top Secret Service agents said the gunman should never have been allowed to gain access to the roof.

After Cheatle’s resignation, Trump posted on his social media network: “The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”

The House Homeland Security Committee had asked Cheatle to testify Tuesday for another hearing on the assassination attempt, but lawmakers said she refused. Cheatle’s name was on a card on a table in front of an empty chair during the hearing, which began shortly before her decision to step down became public.

Investigating an ever-growing number of threats

The Secret Service is a part of the Department of Homeland Security, which includes immigration, transportation security and the Coast Guard. The department was formed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

A few years ago, there was a movement to shift the agency back to the Treasury Department, where it was housed before Sept. 11, particularly because Homeland Security’s intense focus on immigration added to the growing divide between what the Secret Service sees as its dual missions — protecting the president and investigating financial crime — and the mission of its parent department. But that movement stalled.

Roughly half of the Secret Service’s $3 billion budget is spent on protective services. It also has a robust cybercrime division, state-of-the-art forensic labs and a threat-assessment center that studies how to mitigate and train against threats.

With a workforce of 7,800 special agents, uniformed officers and other staff, the Secret Service has investigated an ever-increasing number of threats against the president and other officials under its protection. It has also managed a growing number of high-profile government figures asking for support. Staffing has not kept pace with the workload increase. Around Sept. 11 there were about 15 full-time protectees. That number has now more than doubled.

Trump is the first modern ex-president to seek another term, and because of his high visibility, his protective detail has always been larger than some others. That protective bubble got tighter in recent months as he drew closer to the nomination. All major party nominees are granted enhanced details with counterassault and countersniper teams similar to the president.

Calls for accountability

There were calls for accountability across the political spectrum, with congressional committees immediately moving to investigate and issuing subpoenas. Top Republican leaders from both the House and the Senate said Cheatle should step down.

Biden, a Democrat, ordered an independent review into security at the rally, and the Secret Service’s inspector general opened an investigation. The agency is also reviewing its countersniper team’s “preparedness and operations.”

On Tuesday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Cheatle’s resignation was “overdue.”

“Now we have to pick up the pieces. We have to rebuild the American people’s faith and trust in the Secret Service as an agency,” Johnson said.

Meanwhile, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., introduced legislation Tuesday to require Senate confirmation of future Secret Service directors.

Cheatle served in the Secret Service for 27 years. She left in 2021 for a job as a security executive at PepsiCo before Biden asked her to return in 2022 to head the agency.

She took over amid a controversy over missing text messages from around the time thousands of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, following his 2020 election loss to Biden.

During her time at the agency, Cheatle was the first woman to be named assistant director of protective operations, the division that protects the president and other dignitaries, where she oversaw a $133.5 million budget. She was the second woman to lead the agency.

When Biden announced Cheatle’s appointment, he said she had served on his detail when he was vice president and he and his wife “came to trust her judgment and counsel.”

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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Rebecca Santana, Zeke Miller and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington and Michelle Price in New York contributed to this report.

Patrick Yoes, National President, Fraternal Order of Police, right, listens as Colonel Christopher L. Paris, Commissioner, Pennsylvania State Police, left, responds to questions during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing examining the assassination attempt of July 13, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two local law enforcement officers stationed in the complex of buildings where a gunman opened fire at former President Donald Trump left to go search for the man before the shooting, the head of Pennsylvania State Police said Tuesday, raising questions about whether a key post was left unattended as the shooter climbed onto a roof.

Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris told a congressional committee that two Butler County Emergency Services Unit officers were stationed at a second-floor window in the complex of buildings that form AGR International Inc. They spotted Thomas Matthew Crooks acting suspiciously on the ground and left their post to look for him along with other law enforcement officers, he said.

Paris said he didn’t know whether officers would have been able to see Crooks climbing onto the roof of an adjacent building had they remained at the window. A video taken by a lawmaker who visited the shooting site on Monday shows a second-story window of the building had a clear view of the roof where Crooks opened fire; it was unclear if the video showed the window where the officers had been stationed.

The Pennsylvania State Police commissioner’s testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee provides new insight into security preparations for the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, but raises further questions about law enforcement’s decisions before Crooks opened fire.

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger, who oversees the emergency services unit, didn’t immediately respond to a text message Tuesday from The Associated Press. A Secret Service spokesperson didn’t respond to questions from the AP, including who gave the command for those officers to leave their post.

The revelation comes amid growing questions about a multitude of security failures that allowed the 20-year-old gunman to get onto the roof and fire eight shots with an AR-style rifle into the crowd shortly after Trump began speaking. One spectator was killed and two others were injured. Trump suffered an ear injury but was not seriously hurt.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned earlier Tuesday, a day after she was berated for hours by Democrats and Republicans over the agency’s failure to protect the Republican presidential nominee. Cheatle told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Monday that the assassination attempt was the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades.

The Homeland Security Committee also had asked Cheatle to testify but lawmakers said she refused. Cheatle’s name was on a card on a table in front of an empty chair during the hearing, which began shortly before her decision to step down became public.

Several investigations into the shooting by the Biden administration and lawmakers are underway. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday they are supporting a bipartisan task force to investigate the attempt on Trump’s life. The House could vote as soon as Wednesday to establish the task force, which will be comprised of seven Republicans and six Democrats.

Local law enforcement began to search for Crooks after they noticed him acting strangely and saw him with a rangefinder, a small device resembling binoculars that hunters use to measure distance from a target. Officers didn’t find him around the building and a local officer climbed up to the roof to investigate. The gunman turned and pointed his rifle at him. The officer did not — or could not — fire a single shot. Crooks opened fire toward the former president seconds later, officials have said.

Cheatle acknowledged that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person two to five times before the shooting, but there was no indication at that time that he had a weapon. She also revealed that the roof from which Crooks opened fire had been identified as a potential vulnerability days before the rally. Cheatle said Trump would never have been brought onto the stage had Secret Service been aware there was an “actual threat,” but Crooks wasn’t deemed to be a “threat” until seconds before he began shooting.

Authorities have been hunting for clues into what motivated Crooks but have not found any ideological bent that could help explain his actions. Investigators who searched his phone found photos of Trump, President Joe Biden and other senior government officials. He also searched for the dates for the Democratic National Conventional as well as Trump’s appearances and searched for information about major depressive disorder.

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Lauer reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press reporters Michael R. Sisak in New York and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Two residents of New Castle, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to charges of  violating federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today. Kevin  Tulla Torres, age 28, pleaded guilty to distributing and conspiring to distribute cocaine. Luis Rivera  Otero, age 37, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine. Tulla Torres, with the help of Rivera  Otero, managed a drug trafficking operation that sold drugs in Western Pennsylvania, specifically in  the New Castle/Lawrence County area. The arrests of Tulla Torres, Rivera Otero, and another co 

conspirator, as well as 14 others charged by separate Indictment, were the result of a 13-month investigation into drug trafficking in and around Lawrence County. 

According to information presented to the Court, members of the group utilized the United  States Postal Service to receive drug shipments from a supplier in Puerto Rico. Tulla Torres, Rivera  Otero, and others then worked together to sell the cocaine as part of an ongoing criminal drug trafficking conspiracy within Western Pennsylvania. 

With regard to Tulla Torres, the law provides for a maximum total sentence of life in prison,  a fine of up to $10,000,000, or both for the most serious offense. The total maximum sentence for  Rivera Otero is not more than 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000,000, or both. Under the  federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of  the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of each defendant. 

Assistant United States Attorney Carl J. Spindler is prosecuting this case on behalf of the  United States. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation leading to the Indictments in this case in close collaboration with the Lawrence County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area  (HIDTA) Task Force, United States Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal  Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New Castle City Police Department, Ellwood City  Police Department, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, United States Department of  Agriculture, Union Township Police Department, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Homeland Security  Investigations, and Pennsylvania State Police. 

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF)  investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money  launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using  a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal,  state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Lawrence County is one of six western Pennsylvania counties officially designated as a High  Intensity Drug Trafficking Area by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy. The  county received its HIDTA designation in July 2022, allowing it to receive dedicated federal  resources to coordinate federal, state, and local governments in fighting drug trafficking and abuse.