FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A jury is set to hear closing arguments in Johnny Depp’s high-profile libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard. Each side will have two hours Friday to summarize their case in a trial that has stretched on for six weeks. Depp is suing Heard in Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” His lawyers say he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name. Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim against Depp after his lawyer called her allegations a hoax.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street was pointing higher before markets opened early Friday, putting major benchmarks in a position for their first week of collective gains after a seven-week losing streak. Future contracts for the Dow Industrial Average were up less than 0.1% and the same for the S&P 500 rose 0.2%. It would take a major selloff Friday to drag benchmarks back into negative territory for the week after a strong set of earnings from retailers on Thursday propelled markets solidly higher. For the week, major benchmarks are up between 3.4% and 4.4% heading into Friday’s trading session.

(Aliquippa, PA)  Aliquippa Police Chief John Lane reported on Thursday that the PD’s K-9  gun bash ticket sales have been pulled.  The sale began last month and the funds were to be given to the widow of Police Chief Robert Sealock and his family. Chief Lane said several individuals in the community  were upset,  expressing disapproval in light of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas where students and teachers were killed on Wednesday.  Aliquippa Police Chief John Lane reported late Thursday that anyone that donated to the police department gun bash will receive refunds. Some residents’ disapproval of the fundraiser prompted the police department’s decision, the chief said.

HARRISBURG, May 26 – State Rep. Rob Matzie announced today that he will be introducing a package of bills to strengthen the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, including a bill to ensure the state fully distributes the annual federal funding it receives to residents in need.

Matzie, who is Democratic chairman of the PA House Consumer Affairs Committee, said he is introducing the legislation to end an arbitrary state practice that is hurting low-income families.

“Every year, Pennsylvania receives federal funding for home energy assistance, and even though that funding arrives annually, the state makes a policy decision not to use all of it, but to hold some of it back for the following year,” Matzie said. “Some years, the unused portion is $10 million, but this year, it’s estimated to be between $50 million and $100 million.

“This funding helps hundreds of thousands of people with a real and immediate need – paying the gas, oil and electric bill. That need doesn’t disappear after the state arbitrarily ends funding for the year. We need to do a better job of driving out those federal dollars – particularly now, with rising inflation and gas prices leaving more families struggling.”

Matzie said his five bills would:

• Require the state Department of Human Services to expend all the federal money it receives annually from the federal government.
• Create the Retail Electric and Gas Customer Assistance Program, which would use $500 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to help electric and gas customers with accounts in arrears during the COVID pandemic pay down their accounts.
• Create a new LIHEAP program in Pennsylvania that is open year-round to assist with both home heating and cooling. The bill would be funded by the current federal funding along with a supplemental state appropriation to make up the difference. There are 11 other states with year-round programs.
• Codify the makeup of the LIHEAP Advisory Council and add legislative appointments.
• Require the state to create a plan identifying how it can leverage resources to provide more assistance to those in need.

Funding under LIHEAP is distributed via cash and crisis grants. More information about the current program is available at this link: https://www.dhs.pa.gov/Services/Assistance/Pages/LIHEAP.aspx.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing long-term single-lane closures on Business Loop 376 (Route 3160) in Moon Township, Allegheny County will resume Tuesday, May 31 weather permitting.

Single-lane closures in both directions on Business Loop 376 will occur from 9 a.m. Tuesday continuously through mid-July as crews conduct storm inlet and median barrier removal and replacement work. The lane closures will occur between the eastbound Halverson Drive on-ramp and the I-376 Moon (Exit 57) interchange. Crews will work in an approximate one mile segment of roadway before moving to the next section.

Lindy Paving is the prime contractor on this $6.09 million project which includes milling and paving, shoulder and base repairs, drainage improvements, guide rail updates, signage and pavement marking installation, and other miscellaneous construction activities. The overall project will conclude in the fall of 2022.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.

POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say at least four people have been killed and others might still be missing after a house explosion in a suburb northwest of Pennsylvania. Pottstown Borough Manager Justin Keller confirmed in a press conference that the explosion occurred Thursday just after 8 p.m. in Pottstown, about 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Two other people were hospitalized. Their conditions are unknown. It is not immediately known what caused the explosion. Police have not yet named those who were killed or injured in the explosion. No additional details have been released.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Just 910 votes separate the two leading candidates in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate. That means counties are preparing to start a recount in the race between celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick. Oz has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. At least six counties — Bedford, Clinton, Crawford, Lehigh, Montour, Tioga and Warren — said they’ll begin Friday. Most other counties will begin next week. Some counties were still counting remaining votes from last week’s primary election. The winner will take on Democrat John Fetterman in November.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of senators is trying to find a compromise on gun legislation. That’s after Democrats’ first attempt at responding to the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, failed Thursday in the Senate. Republicans blocked debate on a domestic terrorism bill that would’ve opened debate on hate crimes and gun policy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he’ll give negotiations about two weeks while Congress is in recess. The bipartisan group of senators met after the vote and focused on background checks for guns purchased online or at gun shows, red-flag laws designed to keep guns away from those who could do harm and school security measures.

(AP)- Ray Liotta, the actor best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” and baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams,” has died. He was 67. An official at the Dominican Republic’s National Forensic Science Institute who was not authorized to speak to the media confirmed the death of Ray Liotta and said his body was taken to the Cristo Redentor morgue. Representatives for Liotta told The Hollywood Reporter and NBC News that he died in his sleep Wednesday night in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming a new movie. Liotta’s most iconic role, as real life mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” came in 1990.