PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh: Grand jury indicts five Pittsburgh men
A federal grand jury indicted five men in three cases involving the sale of heroin that caused overdose and death for its users.
Harrisburg: Gov. Wolf recommends social services borrow money
In the midst of the budget stalemate, nonprofit social services are not receiving the checks they’re supposed to. Gov. Tom Wolf acknowledges that they may need to borrow money that won’t be reimbursable by the state. But he hopes they share the goal of “doing the right thing for Pennsylvania.”
Harrisburg: A bill of rights for the disabled
State Rep. Thomas Murt introduced legislation that would create a bill of rights for Pennsylvanians with disabilities. The bill would require the state Department of Human Services to resolve the 14,000-person waiting list for disability services within five years.
Philadelphia: Former traffic court judge receives probation
On Friday, Fortunato Perri Sr. was sentenced to two years of probation. Perri admitted to throwing out traffic tickets in exchange for bribes, which included shrimp, crab cakes and pornography. Perri was the fifth judge to be sentenced in the court’s corruption case.
Statewide: Congress considers bigger trucks, but Sen. Casey says ‘no’
Appropriations bills are likely to require states to allow “twin 33s,” which are double trailers each 33 feet in length, to maneuver through them. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., is critical of the plan, believing that bigger trucks only cause bigger problems, especially considering Pennsylvania’s bad winters and structurally deficient bridges.
Statewide: Pennsylvania’s Election Code deemed unconstitutional
A federal judge ruled that Pennsylvania’s third party election law, which requires candidates to garner signatures equal to 2 percent of the vote count in the prior election, is unconstitutional and unfair. The Legislature will now have to redraft the ballot requirements.
NATIONAL
Louisiana shooting leaves three dead
A gunman, identified as John Russell Houser, opened fire on a movie theater audience Thursday night. He killed two people and then himself, and also wounded nine others. Police are searching for a motive. According to Houser’s family, he was mentally ill and had been involuntarily institutionalized in 2008.
Potentially classified information in Hillary Clinton’s emails
The Justice Department has been asked to open a criminal investigation as to whether Hillary Clinton’s private email account contained sensitive government information while she was secretary of state, but no moves were made as of Friday afternoon.
Senate provision could delay train safety features
The U.S. Senate is considering a provision that would delay the installation of Positive Train Control (PTC), which is required by a 2008 law to be implemented by the end of the year. PTC automatically slows down trains if they approach curves at fast speeds, and likely could have prevented the deadly Amtrak 188 crash in May. For more train and derailment news, see our weekly roundup.
Anthem acquires Cigna for $54 billion
The merger creates the largest health insurer by enrollment. Anthem needs to obtain various regulatory approvals by antitrust authorities before the deal can actualize.
IN OTHER NEWS
All traces of Hulk Hogan in the WWE suddenly vanish
The WWE officially terminated Hogan’s contract (and removed all evidence of his existence) after a Florida court transcript revealed what appears to be a racist tirade. Hogan has since apologized.
The daily report was compiled by Stephanie Roman, a PublicSource intern. You can reach her with questions or suggestions at sroman@publicsource.org.
