Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published June 11, 2024 1:53 P.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) The Aliquippa High School Marching Band is presenting the Twirling Unlimited Competition Saturday, June 15, 2024 at the high school. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. in the high school gym. Featured at the competition will be high ceiling, novice level, and instate and visitor solo, beginning and advanced show routine.  An interview clinic will be available.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s state Senate on Monday approved legislation that would outlaw the distribution of salacious or pornographic deepfakes, with sponsors saying it will eliminate a loophole in the law that had frustrated prosecutors.

The bill was approved unanimously and was sent to the House.

It comes as states are increasingly working to update their laws to respond to such instances that have included the victimization of celebrities including Taylor Swift through the creation and distribution of computer-generated images using artificial intelligence to seem real.

Under the bill, one provision would make it a crime to try to harass someone by distributing a deepfake image of them without their consent while in a state of nudity or engaged in a sexual act. The offense would be more serious if the victim is a minor.

Another provision would outlaw such deepfakes created and distributed as child sexual abuse images.

President Joe Biden’s administration, meanwhile, is pushing the tech industry and financial institutions to shut down a growing market of abusive sexual images made with artificial intelligence technology.

Sponsors pointed to a case in New Jersey as an inspiration for the bill.

The problem with deepfakes isn’t new, but experts say it’s getting worse as the technology to produce it becomes more available and easier to use.

Researchers have been sounding the alarm on the explosion of AI-generated child sexual abuse material using depictions of real victims or virtual characters. Last year, the FBI warned it was continuing to receive reports from victims, both minors and adults, whose photos or videos were used to create explicit content that was shared online.

Several states have passed their own laws to try to combat the problem, such as criminalizing nonconsensual deepfake porn or giving victims the ability to sue perpetrators for damages in civil court.

FILE – Shown is the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Jan. 5, 2021, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. Six weeks after Pennsylvania state representatives elected a Democratic speaker and have not returned to session, the Republican leader on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023 warned of chaos when they reconvene next week. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Democratic-sponsored proposal to boost public school funding by billions in the coming years and impose stricter rules on cyber-charter schools passed the Pennsylvania House on Monday in a test of political will as lawmakers haggle over the state budget.

The bill responds to a report issued in January that said Pennsylvania underfunds public school districts by more than $5 billion annually and recommended phasing in increases over several years. The proposed legislation would set up a new formula to distribute state education aid but does not include an appropriation of the money to fund it.

Five Republican lawmakers voted with all Democrats to approve the measure, which passed 107-94 and was sent to the state Senate.

Majority Leader Matt Bradford, D-Montgomery, said the state’s current system of doling out support has failed, calling it unconstitutional. Phased in over seven years, the measure would eventually increase state support by about $7 billion annually.

“What we’re doing is what the court has told us to do, to give every child in this commonwealth an equitable and fair public education,” Bradford said during floor debate. “This isn’t politics, this is a constitutional requirement, one that this body has failed for too long.”

The measure also would impose a range of new regulations on cyber-charter schools, including public disclosure requirements for budgets, taxes and reports to the state Education Department. Public schools’ payments per student to cyber-charter schools would be capped at $8,000 a year for those not in special education, a change projected to save public school districts hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Cyber-charter schools are independent public schools that offer classes through electronic means, typically over the internet.

Rep. Bryan Cutler, the Republican floor leader from Lancaster County, called the bill a massive shift in educational priorities that would hurt school choice options.

“Until we fix some of the systemic problems, more money alone will do little for students stuck in schools in crisis,” Cutler said.

It’s unclear whether these policies, drawn from the Basic Education Funding Commission’s report, will survive budget negotiations with the Republican-controlled state Senate. The commission report in January was approved 8-7, with all Republicans and one Democrat opposed.

Republican legislative leaders have called for districts to instead focus on making instructional changes that could boost student achievement.

“More money and a lot of it over the last decade or more has not enhanced student outcomes,” said Rep. Joe D’Orsie, R-York.

Supporters of a major boost in K-12 spending are hoping the time is right, thanks to a projected $14 billion state surplus available and the recent memory of a major court decision last year that found Pennsylvania’s system of funding public schools violates the constitutional rights of students in poorer districts. The state budget is due in three weeks.

School districts considered to be underfunded in Pennsylvania are often faster growing, disproportionately poor or with a student body that has a significant number of minority students. The result can be larger class sizes, underqualified teachers and outdated buildings, textbooks, technology and curriculum.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in the annual budget address in February backed a $1.1 billion increase in public school operations and instruction, a 14% increase, with much of it concentrated among the largest and poorer districts — including many with significant numbers of minority students.

The state’s school funding system currently places much of the funding burden on local taxpayers in the form of property taxes.

“When we do not fully fund schools here, your local government is forced to raise taxes,” said Appropriations Chairman Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia.

A state judge early last year ruled that Pennsylvania’s system of funding public schools is inadequate and violates students’ constitutional rights. Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer’s 800-page ruling found the state has been violating students’ rights of a “comprehensive, effective, and contemporary” education.

FILE – Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin listens during a press conference in Pittsburgh, Friday, March 15, 2024. Tomlin signed an extension with the Steelers on Monday, June 10, that will keep the NFL’s longest-tenured coach in Pittsburgh through at least 2027. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke, File)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The NFL’s longest-tenured head coach isn’t leaving Pittsburgh anytime soon.

The Steelers signed Mike Tomlin to a three-year extension on Monday that will carry through at least the 2027 season. Tomlin was about to enter the final year of the deal he agreed to in April 2021.

The 52-year-old Tomlin is 173-100-2 since taking over for Hall of Famer Bill Cowher in 2007. Tomlin has yet to endure a losing season and despite speculation late last season that he was considering taking some time off, he remains intent on trying to help the Steelers stay in the mix in a highly competitive AFC.

“I am appreciative for this contract extension and thankful for Art Rooney II for his support during my first 17 years in Pittsburgh,” Tomlin said in a statement. “We are continuing to work diligently to get back to where we belong — sustained playoff success with the ultimate goal of winning the franchise’s seventh Lombardi Trophy.”

Pittsburgh is coming off an eventful 10-7 season that ended with a first-round playoff loss to Buffalo. Tomlin was asked in the immediate aftermath about his future status and rather than answer he abruptly stormed off the podium.

A few days later the relentlessly energetic Tomlin hardly sounded like someone on the verge of burnout, stressing he was “on go” as he looked to 2024 and beyond.

“I coach football, that’s what I do,” Tomlin said in January. “I’m respectful of the position that I hold. I have no sense of entitlement in terms of what I do. I just got a high level of respect for what we all do in this space, and I try to earn it daily.”

While Pittsburgh has been consistently competitive under Tomlin, the franchise also hasn’t won a postseason game since the divisional round of the 2016 playoffs, an eight-year drought that marks the club’s longest since the “Immaculate Reception” in 1972.

Tomlin’s decision to stick around extends an unmatched level of continuity atop an organization that’s had just three head coaches since 1969. Yet the Steelers have also made a series of moves of late that suggest the team is no longer content on merely being in the mix in mid-January.

In the past year alone Tomlin fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada in midseason, the team’s first in-season dismissal of a high-level coach since World War II.

Pittsburgh spent the offseason completely overhauling its quarterback room, signing Russell Wilson in free agency, trading away Kenny Pickett and acquiring Justin Fields from Chicago.

Tomlin has used the word “excited” in recent months to talk about Pittsburgh’s immediate future. The new contract indicates owner Art Rooney II’s commitment to letting Tomlin try and find a difference-maker at quarterback, something that’s been an issue since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement following the 2021 season.

“Mike Tomlin’s leadership and commitment to the Steelers have been pivotal to our success during his first 17 years as head coach,” Rooney said in a statement. “Extending his contract for three more years reflects our confidence in his ability to guide the team back to winning playoff games and championships, while continuing our tradition of success.”

The Steelers have mandatory minicamp this week then take a break before reporting for training camp at Saint Vincent College on July 24.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is seen at the Senate Subway on Capitol Hill Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was treated at a hospital for a bruised shoulder after a car accident Sunday morning, according to a statement from his Senate office. He was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon.

Fetterman, a Democrat, and his wife Gisele were “involved in a car accident with another driver,” the statement said, and were both evaluated at a local hospital and discharged within hours. The senator returned to his home in Braddock, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be back in the Senate for votes this week.

A spokeswoman for Fetterman, Carrie Adams, said that the senator was driving the car and the accident was on Interstate 70 in Maryland. The condition of the other driver is unclear.

Fetterman, 54, suffered a stroke in May 2022 as he was campaigning for his seat. As a result, he still has some trouble speaking fluidly and quickly processing spoken conversation, and he often uses devices in congressional hearings and routine conversations to transcribe spoken words in real time.

FILE – President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden leaves after a court appearance, July 26, 2023, in Wilmington, Del. House Republicans plan to hold their first hearing next week in their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over his family’s business dealings. The Sept. 28 hearing is expected to focus on “constitutional and legal questions” that surround allegations of Biden’s involvement in his son Hunter’s overseas businesses. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden has been convicted of all three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when, prosecutors argued, he lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. Jurors found Hunter Biden guilty of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days. First lady Jill Biden arrived to the courthouse minutes after the jury delivered its verdict and was not in the courtroom when it was read. The judge did not set a sentencing date.

FILE – People shop at an Apple Store in Beijing, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021. Apple disclosed serious security vulnerabilities Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022 for iPhones, iPads and Macs. The software flaws could potentially allow attackers to take complete control of these devices, Apple said. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple’s annual World Wide Developers Conference on Monday is expected to herald the company’s move into generative artificial intelligence, marking its late arrival to a technological frontier that’s expected to be as revolutionary as the invention of the iPhone.

The widely anticipated display of AI to be embedded in the iPhone and other Apple products will be the marquee moment at an event that traditionally previews the next version of software that powers the company’s hardware lineup.

And Apple’s next generation of software is expected to be packed with an array of AI features likely to make its often-bumbling virtual assistant Siri smarter, and make photos, music, texting — and possibly even creating emojis on the fly — a more productive and entertaining experience.

True to its secretive nature, Apple hasn’t provided any advance details about Monday’s event being held at the company’s Cupertino, California, headquarters.

But CEO Tim Cook recently dropped strong hints that Apple is poised to reveal its grand plans to enter the AI race that has been fueling an industry boom during the past 18 months.

AI mania is the main reason that Nvidia, the dominant maker of the chips underlying the technology, has seen its market value rocket from about $300 billion at the end of 2022 to about $3 trillion. The meteoric ride allowed Nvidia to briefly surpass Apple last week as the second most valuable company in the U.S. Microsoft earlier this year also eclipsed the iPhone maker on the strength of its so-far successful push into AI.

But analysts have been have been getting increasingly worried that Apple may be falling too far behind in the rapidly changing AI space, a concern that has been compounded by an uncharacteristically extended slump in the company’s sales. Both Google and Samsung already have released smartphone models touting AI features as their main attractions.

That’s why analysts such as Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities view Monday’s conference as a potential springboard that catapults Apple into another robust phase of growth. Ives believes infusing more AI into the iPhone, iPad and Mac computer will translate into an additional $450 billon to $600 billion in market value for Apple.

Monday’s conference “represents the most important event for Apple in over a decade as the pressure to bring a generative AI stack of technology for developers and consumers is front and center,” Ives wrote in a research note.

Apple definitely could use the boost that AI may be able to provide, particularly for its 13-year-old assistant Siri, which Forrester Research Dipanjan Chatterjee now calls an “oddly unhelpful helper.”

Meanwhile, OpenAI’s ChatGPT is getting increasingly conversational — so much so that it recently sparked accusations of intentionally copying a piece of AI software voiced by Scarlett Johansson — and Google last month previewed an AI “agent” dubbed Astra that can seemingly see and remember things.

Besides using AI to spruce up Siri, Apple may also team up with OpenAI to bring some elements of ChatGPT to the iPhone, according to a wide range of unconfirmed reports leading up to Monday’s conference.

This will be the second straight year that Apple has created a stir at its developers conference by using it to usher in its entrance into a trendy form of technology that other companies already had been making inroads.

Last year, Apple provided an early look at its mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, which wasn’t released until early this year carrying a $3,500 price tag that has been a major impediment to gaining much traction. Nevertheless, Apple’s push into mixed reality, tweaked with a twist that it bills as “spatial computing,” has raised hopes that what is currently a niche technology will turn into a huge market.

Part of the optimism stems from Apple’s history of releasing technology later than others and then using sleek designs and services combined with slick marketing campaigns to overcome its tardy start to unleash new trends.

“Apple’s early reticence toward AI was entirely on brand,” Forrester’s Chatterjee wrote in a preview of the developers conference. “The company has always been famously obsessed with what its offerings did for its customers rather than how it did it.”

Bringing more AI into the iPhone, in particular, will likely raise privacy issues — a topic where Apple has gone to great lengths to assure its loyal customer base that it can be trusted not to peer too deeply into their personal lives.

One way Apple could reassure consumers that the iPhone won’t be used to spy on them is to leverage its own chip technology so most AI-powered features are handled on the device itself instead of remote data centers, often called “the cloud.” Going that route also would help protect Apple’s profit margins because AI technology through the cloud is far more expensive than when it is run solely on a device.

FILE – President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden leaves after a court appearance, July 26, 2023, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A prosecutor told jurors Monday that “no one is above the law” as he urged them to convict President Joe Biden’s son Hunter on charges that he lied about his drug use when he bought a gun in 2018.

In his closing argument, prosecutor Leo Wise told jurors to focus on the “overwhelming” evidence against Hunter Biden and pay no mind to members of the president’s family sitting in the courtroom, including first lady Jill Biden.

“All of this is not evidence,” Wise said, extending his hand and directing the jury to look at the gallery. “People sitting in the gallery are not evidence.”

The prosecutor pointed to deeply personal testimony, text messages, photos and Hunter Biden’s own words in his 2021 memoir to argue that the president’s son clearly knew he was in the throes of a crack addiction when he marked on mandatory gun-purchase form that he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.

“The evidence was personal. It was ugly, and it was overwhelming,” Wise said. “It was also absolutely necessary.”

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell told jurors the prosecution did not meet its burden of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense has argued there’s no evidence Hunter Biden was actually using drugs in the 11 days that he possessed the gun. What the president’s son later wrote in his memoir is irrelevant, Lowell argued.

“There was no actual witness to the drug use in this period of time,” Lowell told jurors.

The defense suggested Hunter Biden was lying about where he was in text messages to his brother Beau’s widow. The prosecution suggests those texts show drug use and drug deals in the days following the gun purchase.

“At any given time, he would lie to her about where he was,” Lowell said.

Closing arguments came shortly after the defense rested its case without calling Hunter Biden to the witness stand. He smiled as he chatted with members of his defense team and flashed a thumbs-up to one of his supporters in the gallery after the final witness — an FBI agent called by prosecutors in their rebuttal case.

The first lady, the president’s brother James and other family members sat in the first row of the Wilmington, Delaware, courtroom. At one point, Hunter Biden leaned over a railing to whisper in his mother’s ear. She has sat through most of the trial, missing only one day last week to attend D-Day anniversary events with the president in France.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to three felony charges stemming from the October 2018 purchase of a gun he had for about 11 days. He has accused the Justice Department of bending to political pressure from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans to bring the gun case and separate tax charges after a deal with prosecutors fell apart last year.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers last week called three witnesses — including his daughter Naomi — as they tried to show that he did not consider himself an “addict” when he filled out the form.

The case has put a spotlight on a turbulent time in Hunter Biden’s life after the death of his brother, Beau, in 2015.

Jurors have heard emotional testimony from Hunter Biden’s former romantic partners and read personal text messages. They’ve seen photos of him holding a crack pipe and partly clothed, and video from his phone of crack cocaine weighed on a scale.

His ex-wife and two former girlfriends testified for prosecutors about his habitual crack use and their failed efforts to help him get clean. One woman, who met Hunter Biden in 2017 at a strip club where she worked, described him smoking crack every 20 minutes or so while she stayed with him at a hotel.

Jurors have heard him describe at length his descent into addiction through audio excerpts played in court of his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things.” The book, written after he got sober, covers the period he had the gun but doesn’t mention it specifically.

A key witness for prosecutors was Beau’s widow, Hallie, who had a brief, troubled relationship with Hunter after his brother died of brain cancer. She found the unloaded gun in Hunter’s truck on Oct. 23, 2018, panicked and tossed it into a garbage can at a grocery store in Wilmington, where a man inadvertently fished it out of the trash.

From the time Hunter returned to Delaware from a 2018 trip to California until she threw his gun away, she did not see him using drugs, Hallie told jurors. That time period included the day he bought the weapon. But jurors also saw text messages Hunter sent to Hallie in October 2018 saying he was waiting for a dealer and smoking crack. The first message was sent the day after he bought the gun. The second was sent the following day.

The defense has suggested Hunter Biden had been trying to turn his life around at the time of the gun purchase, having completed a detoxification and rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018.

“It was only after the gun was thrown away and the ensuing stress … that the government was able to then find the same type of evidence of his use (e.g., photos, use of drug lingo) that he relapsed with drugs,” defense lawyer Abbe Lowell wrote in court papers filed Friday.

Joe Biden said last week that he would accept the jury’s verdict and has ruled out a presidential pardon for his son. After flying back from France, the president was at his home in Wilmington for the day and was expected in Washington in the evening for a Juneteenth concert. He was scheduled to travel to Italy later this week for the Group of Seven leaders conference.

Last summer, it looked as if Hunter Biden would avoid prosecution in the gun case altogether, but a deal with prosecutors imploded after the judge, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, raised concerns about it. Hunter Biden was subsequently indicted on three felony gun charges. He also faces a trial scheduled for September on felony charges alleging he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years.

If convicted in the gun case, he faces up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.

___

Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Wilmington and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published June 10, 2024 9:47 A.M.

(Center Township, Pa) 68 year old Reverend Myron Knox of 133 Radcliff Drive in Center Township was arrested early last Friday morning when police assisted by the DA’s Anti-Drug Task Force and the county’s ESU used flash bangs to enter the home. Knox was charged with several felony and misdemeanor narcotic and firearm charges. Among the drugs found was crack cocaine and marijuana. Police Chief Aldo Legge reported on Monday morning that trends in narcotic sales have changed, which include traffickers and dealers camouflaging within smaller, quiet communities so as to draw attention to their nefarious and dangerous activities. The chief said the police department is dedicated to providing and maintaining a safe environment for the community and its residents.