Pennsylvania says ‘no’ to funding to aid census effort
HARRISBURG, PA. >> Pennsylvania lawmakers say a just-unveiled compromise budget package won’t include any extra money for the state to bolster federal census efforts.
House Republican officials said Monday there’s no need for the state to help fund a federal government function.
A commission tapped by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to study how to ensure an accurate census in Pennsylvania had asked for $1 per person to aid the outreach, or close to $13 million.
Some states are undertaking a similar analysis and, in some cases, devoting money to the cause.
The government takes a headcount every 10 years to allocate seats in Congress and billions in federal dollars for such things as transportation projects and education.
Wolf’s office says Pennsylvania would lose almost $2,100 a year for each person who isn’t counted.
Man arrested after suspicious device found behind hotel
MYERSTOWN, PA. >> Police arrested a Pennsylvania man after they say he placed a bomb in a parking lot behind a hotel in Lebanon County.
State troopers responded to a bomb threat at Bahney House in Myerstown on Sunday. They discovered a suspicious package and 28-year-old David Oxenrider.
The state police Hazardous Device and Explosives Section disabled the package. No one was injured.
Oxenrider is charged with manufacturing a weapon of mass destruction, causing or risking a catastrophe and reckless endangerment. He is awaiting arraignment.
Jessica Bankus tells the Reading Eagle Oxenrider was talking about making bombs for several weeks. “He said, ‘You’re going to want to get out of here; the cops are coming,’” she said. “He’s been telling me all week it was coming. He was going to do his mission.”
Apartment building fire displaces residents, but no injuries
MCKEES ROCKS, PA. >> Authorities say a fire at a western Pennsylvania apartment building has displaced several families but did not cause any injuries.
The fire in McKees Rocks was reported around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, and firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze a short time later. They also rescued some pets.
Authorities say the fire appears to have started in a second-floor unit, though the cause remains under investigation. That apartment sustained substantial interior damage, while other units had less damage.
The displaced residents were receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.
Health care giants UPMC, Highmark reach 11th-hour agreement
HARRISBURG, PA. >> Two western Pennsylvania health care giants have a deal that averts the looming breakup of their business relationship, an agreement that prevents disruption and higher costs for many patients.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Monday that UPMC and Highmark have a new contract that gives Highmark insurance customers in-network access to UPMC doctors and hospitals for the coming decade.
Shapiro, who earlier this month lost a court decision in his effort to extend the companies’ relationship, called the agreement a good deal for patients and the public.
UPMC had opposed renewing their agreement in 2012 after Highmark purchased what’s now Allegheny Health Network and became what UPMC viewed as a competitor in providing health services and insurance coverage. That led to a five-year consent decree that expires Sunday.
Police: Man not involved in bus fight, tried to intervene
PITTSBURGH >> Authorities in western Pennsylvania say a man reported earlier as having been responsible for a knife attack on a Pittsburgh bus was actually trying to intervene in a fight between two women, one of whom has been charged.
Police initially said a man attacked a woman with a knife on a Port Authority bus in the city’s Point Breeze neighborhood just after 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
But after a review of surveillance footage, investigators say the man tried to intervene in a fight between two women, and one of them pulled a knife. The man fled and was apprehended a few blocks away, but police say based on the new evidence he will face no charges. The woman with the knife has been charged with aggravated assault.
Man gets at least 2 decades in prison in 2016 slaying
PITTSBURGH >> A western Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to serve at least two decades in prison in a 2016 homicide case that also resulted in his father receiving a jury-tampering sentence.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that 21-yearold Charles Williams was sentenced Monday to more than 21½ years to more than 43 years in prison.
An Allegheny County jury convicted Williams in March of third-degree murder and firearms crimes in the slaying of 25-year-old Chauncy Howard, who was found shot inside a crashed car in Sheraden in January 2016.
His first trial ended in a mistrial after authorities said his father approached a juror. He later pleaded guilty to jury tampering and was immediately paroled on a three- to sixmonth sentence.
Homicide charges against a second man in Howards’ death were dropped.
Pennsylvania to OK $60M school security program for 2nd year
HARRISBURG, PA. >> Pennsylvania lawmakers say they’ll authorize a second year of school and community security grants, a $60 million program spurred by last year’s Florida school shooting that killed 17 people.
Republican lawmakers said Monday that a newly unveiled compromise budget package will keep the program intact for the coming school year. Officials did not have immediate details on how the program guidelines will change.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf had proposed a second year at $45 million, but lawmakers say they are diverting another $15 million from the state court system’s cash reserve to bring it up to $60 million.
Under the past year’s program, school districts could apply for a grant for a wide range of purposes, including safety and security assessments, securityrelated technology, training, counselors, police officers and anti-violence programs.