U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Tae Johnson testifies before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security on the FY2024 budget request for the agency, Tuesday, April 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are jump-starting an immigration and border enforcement package. The House Judiciary Committee was digging into a proposal Wednesday that would remake immigration law. It includes giving the Homeland Security secretary the power to stop migrants from entering the United States if the secretary determines the U.S. has lost “operational control” of the border. It would also make it more difficult for migrants to apply for asylum at the border. But so far, House Republicans have failed to unify behind a plan. Some Latino Republicans want to see the House prioritize pathways to legal citizenship as well.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

The Beaver County Commissioners gathered for only twenty minutes during their April 19 work session, but the direction paved for the next several weeks ahead became clearer.

One of the biggest subjects facing the County and its Commissioners is the ongoing reassessment of properties, which Solicitor Garen Fedeles provided the latest updates. Fedeles stated that 9,974 review requests have been submitted to Tyler Technologies, with 5,257 of those requests already completed. The final numbers for the reassessment are projected to be completed by June.

Concurrent with the reassessment process for Beaver County over the last several weeks has been the response to the train derailment in nearby East Palestine, Ohio; recent concerns have been focused on agriculture and soil for growing food and other crops.

Commissioner Jack Manning spoke about the “very good results” through recent soil testing that showcase that there has been “no contamination at elevated levels” for the soil in local crops, which has led local farmers to continue growing crops as previously intended. “I would just ask that everyone in Beaver County continue to support their local Farmers’ Markets,” Manning said, saying that it’s important to carefully combat the perception that the soil is unsafe following the recent results.

Commissioner Tony Amadio echoed Manning’s statements regarding supporting the farmers: “We have to maintain the perception that it is good, because if the perception is not there,  people will not buy those goods. So we’ve got to convince them, based on our data that we’ve been receiving, that the food is safe, the meat’s safe, the water’s safe, and the soil’s safe. Until we see something to the contrary, I think we’ve got to keep continually promoting that.”

Another promotion for Beaver County’s success came from Manning, who spoke about Beaver County’s job growth over the last five years, with Beaver County being one of only five counties within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to have positive numbers during that span. “It’s not just all related to the Cracker Plant,” Manning added, “it’s also a lot of entrepreneurship, new businesses, and startups in our downtowns, and I’m pretty excited to say that.” Beaver County had a net positive of roughly 1,500 jobs over those five years; by comparison, neighboring Allegheny County lost a cumulative 50,000+ jobs over that same time period.

Commissioner Chairman Dan Camp spoke about the regionalization of the soon-to-be Beaver Valley Regional Police, comprising of the Freedom, Baden, and Conway municipalities and subsequent resources. Per District Attorney David Lozier, whom Camp spoke to during the session, the official date for regionalization is set to take place in early June. However, due to a lack of grant funding, the previous resources for the BVRPD will not be labelled with the new name.

The next work session for the Beaver County Commissioners is scheduled for April 26 at 10:00 AM.

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) today highlighted the regional winners of the ninth annual Governor’s STEM Competition. This year’s competition marks the first in-person competition since 2019. Twenty regional winning teams from across the Commonwealth displayed and demonstrated their projects for year’s theme, “Innovating the Commonwealth through Collaboration and Computing.”

 

“The Pennsylvania Department of Education applauds this year’s STEM Competition winners and appreciates all of the teams that participated,” said Acting Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin. “The thought and innovation that went into this year’s projects continues to show us why Pennsylvania has long been seen as a national leader in STEM. The Commonwealth is fortunate to have such talented, knowledgeable, and creative students.”

 

Facilitated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), the Governor’s STEM Competition challenges and engages students from high schools around the Commonwealth to create teams that work together during the school year to research, design, and present a device or project that can help improve the lives of Pennsylvanians and fulfill real-world needs.

 

This year, a total of 62 teams submitted projects for consideration. The top 20 teams represent 14 different intermediate units across Pennsylvania, and will demonstrate or display their STEM-related projects for peer review and selection as “People’s Choice Award” in the Governor’s STEM Competition.

 

The top 20 teams in the 2023 Governor’s STEM Competition included:

• Berwick Area Senior High School, Berwick Area School District (Team A)
• Berwick Area Senior High School, Berwick Area School District (Team B)
• Bishop Shanahan High School, Archdiocese of Philadelphia
• Carlisle High School, Carlisle Area School District
• Central Cambria High School, Central Cambria School District
• Conestoga High School, Tredyffrin/Easttown School District
• Downingtown STEM Academy, Downingtown Area School District
• East Stroudsburg High School North, East Stroudsburg Area School District
• Exeter Township Senior High School, Exeter Township School District
• Fox Chapel Area High School, Fox Chapel Area School District
• Garnet Valley High School, Garnet Valley School District
• Hollidaysburg Area Senior High, Hollidaysburg Area School District
• Parkland High School, Parkland School District
• Pennridge High School, Pennridge School District
• The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School
• Pottstown High School, Pottstown School District
• Waynesboro Area Senior High School, Waynesboro Area School District
• Wilson High School, Wilson School District
• Whitehall High School, Whitehall-Coplay School District
• Wyoming Area Secondary Center, Wyoming Area School District

 

Of the top 20 finalists, a total of eight winning teams will receive one time scholarship payments for placing as Grand Champion, First Runner Up, Second Runner Up, or Third Runner Up.

In addition to his plan to increase funding for computer science and STEM education through PASmart by 25 percent to support innovative education initiatives and practices for Pennsylvania learners, Governor Shapiro’s 2023-24 budget proposal includes an increase of $567.4 million for basic education funding.

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Friday, April 14, 2023. The Justice Department has charged 28 members of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel, including sons of notorious drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, in a sprawling fentanyl-trafficking investigation. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal watchdog is investigating whether the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration under chief Anne Milgram improperly awarded millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to hire her past associates. That’s according to people familiar with the probe who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Among the contract spending under scrutiny by the Justice Department’s Inspector General is $4.7 million to hire people Milgram knew from her days as New Jersey’s attorney general and as a New York University law professor – at costs exceeding pay for government officials. DEA declined to comment specifically but said in a statement it has acted to “set a new vision.”

Glenda Austin of Idabel, Okla., holds a sign with other protesters, Monday, April 17, 2023, outside the McCurtain County Commissioners meeting room in Idabel, Okla. A number of McCurtain County residents were outraged by comments made by local officials on a recording and are asking for the resignation of the sheriff, two county commissioners and others. (Lori Dunn/The Texarkana Gazette via AP)

An Oklahoma sheriff’s office says the recording in which the sheriff and others are reportedly heard discussing killing two journalists was illegal and predicted felony charges will be filed. A post on the sheriff’s office Facebook page is the first public statement since the comments by Sheriff Kevin Clardy and others were reported by the McCurtain Gazette-News. It doesn’t address the recorded comments about killing journalists and hanging Black people, but says the recording was illegal and alleges the audio was altered. McCurtain Gazette-News publisher Bruce Willingham says the recording was made March 6 because he suspected county business was being conducted in violation of the state’s Open Meeting Act and he spoke with attorneys to be sure he was doing nothing illegal.

FILE – An array of pistols are shown in the Dan Wesson display as guests browse firearms at the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Indianapolis, April 16, 2023. The roster of Republican presidential hopefuls who flocked to the National Rifle Association’s annual convention reflects the political potency of gun rights, despite the group’s eroding revenues and an opposition movement that’s growing increasingly vocal as the drumbeat of mass shootings marches on.(AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The roster of Republican presidential hopefuls who flocked to the National Rifle Association’s annual convention reflects the political potency of gun rights. That’s despite the group’s eroding revenues and an opposition movement that’s growing increasingly vocal as the drumbeat of mass shootings marches on. Even amid internal turmoil and legal woes, the gun ownership culture and movement that the NRA helped build remains formidable. And the landmark Supreme Court ruling on the Second Amendment last summer has given new strength to gun-rights activists seeking to invalidate firearm restrictions across the country. An NRA spokesperson said the organization is “financially strong and as effective as ever in its mission.”

FILE – A sign at Twitter headquarters is shown in San Francisco, Dec. 8, 2022. Twitter has quietly removed a policy against the “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,” raising concerns that the Elon Musk-owned platform is becoming less safe for marginalized groups. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter has quietly removed a policy against the “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.” The move is raising concerns that the Elon Musk-owned platform is becoming less safe for marginalized groups. Twitter enacted the policy against deadnaming, or using a transgender person’s name before they transitioned, as well as purposefully using the wrong gender for someone as a form of harassment, in 2018. TikTok and Meta both have similar policies on the books.

U.S. Secret Service uniformed division police officers carry a young child who crawled through the White House fence on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The toddler earned the title of one of the tiniest White House intruders after he squeezed through the metal fencing on the north side of the executive mansion. Officers walked across the North Lawn to retrieve the child and reunite him with his parents on Pennsylvania Avenue. (AP Photo/Nancy Benac)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A curious toddler on Tuesday earned the title of one of the tiniest White House intruders after he squeezed through the metal fencing on the north side of the executive mansion. U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division officers, who are responsible for security at the White House, walked across the North Lawn to retrieve the tot and reunite him with his parents on Pennsylvania Avenue. Access to the complex was briefly restricted while officers conducted the reunification. Officers questioned the parents before allowing them to continue on their way. It may be the first successful intrusion onto the complex since the White House fence was doubled in height to roughly 13 feet (3.96-meters) after a series of security breaches over the last several years.

FILE – Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022. The Supreme Court is deciding whether women will face restrictions in getting a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the United States, while a lawsuit continues. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is deciding whether women will face restrictions in getting a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the U.S. while a lawsuit continues. The justices are expected to issue an order Wednesday in a fast-moving case from Texas in which abortion opponents are seeking to roll back Food and Drug Administration approval of the drug, mifepristone. The drug won FDA approval in 2000. Conditions on the drug’s use have been loosened in recent years, including making it available by mail in states that allow access. The Biden administration and New York-based drugmaker Danco Laboratories want the Supreme Court to reject limits on mifepristone’s use imposed by lower courts.

This image released by the Washington County, N.Y., Sheriff, shows Kevin Monahan, 65, who was arrested on a second-degree murder charge. Kaylin Gillis, 20, was traveling through the rural town of Hebron, N.Y., with three other people Saturday night, April 15, 2023, when the group made a wrong turn onto Monahan’s property, who came out onto his porch and fired two shots. One round hit and killed Gillis, according to Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy. (Washington County NY Sheriff via AP)

When Kaylin Gillis and her friends took a wrong turn into an upstate New York driveway last weekend, they wound up on the property of a man bitter about people driving onto his land by mistake. That’s according to a neighbor of the New York landowner, Kevin Monahan. The county sheriff says Monahan opened fire on the car carrying Gillis on Saturday night, killing her. Monahan faces a murder charge. His neighbor said he had become more and more upset in recent years at people making wrong turns into his driveway. Monahan’s lawyer says the slaying was a “tragedy” but that his client is not a villain.