PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE: The temperature in the Legislature for a severance tax on natural gas cooled considerably on Thursday, as Senate Republicans look at putting together a state budget without new tax revenue despite a $1.4 billion deficit. “They (Republicans) told us they’re heading down a path of passing a budget without new revenue,” said Senate […]
Excessive Drinking Kills 1 in 10 Americans
… If people moderated their alcohol intake and avoided excessive drinking, it would prevent 10 percent of the deaths that occur in this country every year in people between the ages of 20-64. Tallying up all the potential years of life lost annually due to alcohol-related deaths, the total reaches 2.5 million years.
Ukraine signs EU association agreement
USA TODAY: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Friday signed a broad deal with the European Union covering closer trade and political ties despite objections from Russia, which also warned that the deal will have grave consequences. Deadly protests broke out this winter when the-then Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych decided not to sign the EU trade […]
Statement of PA Dutch CVB President Kathleen Frankford
While we wanted Penn Square Partners to join the rest of the key stakeholders in contributing to this agreement, after further discussion today, we felt that signing the agreement was the best available alternative to risking a loan default for the facility, along with higher interest rates, and a harmful impact on the county’s finances.
High court rebukes Obama on recess appointments
Problem is, the court said, the Senate was not actually in a formal recess when Obama acted…
Supreme Court Strikes Down Abortion Clinic Buffer Zones
NEW YORK TIMES: The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously struck down a Massachusetts law that barred protests near abortion clinics. The law, enacted in 2007, created 35-foot buffer zones around entrances to abortion clinics. State officials said the law was a response to a history of harassment and violence at abortion clinics in Massachusetts, including […]
Engineers grade Pa.’s infrastructure C-minus
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Pennsylvania’s infrastructure has not improved since 2010, and the ongoing deterioration of its bridges and the near-failing condition of its roads remain a major economic problem for the state, according to a report card released Wednesday by the American Society of Civil Engineers… Pennsylvania’s roads remained a sore spot, earning a grade of […]
GM tells dealers to stop Cruze sales for air bag issue
USA TODAY: General Motors has told dealers in the U.S. and Canada to stop selling 2013 and 2014 Chevrolet Cruzes because of a potential defect in air bags made by beleaguered air bag supplier Takata. “Certain vehicles may be equipped with a suspect driver’s air bag inflator module that may have been assembled with an […]
U.S. population growth tilts toward Asians
USA TODAY: Slowing Hispanic immigration and birth rates are shifting the USA’s growth toward Asians, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. For the second straight year, net immigration by Asians topped that of Hispanics, the agency reported. About 338,000 Asians immigrated to the USA in the 12 months ending July 1, 2013, up about 68% since […]
Twelve seconds of national fame
A call from the management company for our hotels and apartment complexes concerning its practice of drug testing employees brought back memories from at least two decades ago. I was sitting in my Lancaster office when I received a phone call from a colleague in the drug policy reform movement with whom I was not […]
Can bipartisan group save this government?
USA TODAY: …A bipartisan group that includes former Senate majority leaders, Cabinet secretaries, governors, White House officials and others is releasing a 109-page report full of ideas large and small that the group says could help ease the friction that has contributed to fiscal cliffs, government shutdowns and a record low public approval rating for […]
Supreme Court rules warrantless search of cellphones unconstitutional
ALJAZEERA: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 9–0 vote Wednesday that police officers must obtain a warrant before searching an arrested suspect’s cellphone in most cases. The court did not say whether its decision extends to other digital data devices such as tablets. In an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court […]
Press release from Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau
Pursuant to Commissioner Martin’s announcement on June 18, the board of the PA Dutch CVB voted today not to support the latest version of the Collaboration Agreement designed to resolve the immediate financial challenges facing the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority (LCCCA). The support of the bureau has always been based on an agreement that […]
Tea Party Narrowly Loses in Mississippi
DAILY BEAST: The Republican establishment dodged another potentially embarrassing Tea Party challenge with the help of Mississippi’s African American voters. Like Lazarus, Thad Cochran rose from the dead on Tuesday in Mississippi. In a Republican primary runoff where turnout surged compared to that in the first round of voting, Cochran escaped with a narrow 51-49 […]