PENNSYLVANIA
Westmoreland County: High school attack hearing
Alex Hribal, the teen charged with 21 counts of attempted homicide at Franklin Regional High School, appeared in court yesterday asking to be tried as a juvenile. He’s currently charged as an adult. If the transfer is made, a guilty conviction would imprison Hribal until age 21. As of Monday evening, the judge had not made a decision.
Pittsburgh: August Wilson Center
The center for African-American culture reopened bookings on June 1 for the first time after its sale last November. The center still hasn’t established a permanent board or self-generated programming, but aims to rebuild itself in the coming months.
Beaver County: Shell obtains air and water permits
On Monday, the Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] granted Royal Dutch Shell the air and water permits they needed to develop an ethane cracker site in beaver County, but it’s not yet known if they’ll go through with the proposal.
Harrisburg: The governor’s pipeline task force
The Wolf administration has set up the Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force to oversee the connection of disparate wells to pipelines with the help of the DEP. The DEP expects to create up to 25,000 miles of new pipe to connect the wells to major lines.
Statewide: E. coli concerns
Niagara Bottling issued a voluntary recall of water produced at two of their Pennsylvania manufacturing plants because of a contaminated spring source. Although the bacteria hasn’t caused any illnesses yet, recall guidelines can be found here.
NATIONAL
President Obama on racism’s long shadow
Obama said racism isn’t cured, and it’s up to the American public to acknowledge the urgency and make the necessary changes.
Returned campaign funds
Several politicians and candidates are returning campaign donations made by Earl Holt, the alleged white supremacist leader of the Council of Conservative Citizens, the hate group believed to have inspired Dylann Roof in the Charleston, S.C., shootings. Holt donated to several prominent GOP candidates, including Rand Paul, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney.
Developments in the convict manhunt
A lead appeared on Monday when investigators discovered the escaped convicts’ DNA on food at a camp 20 miles west of Clinton Correctional Facility.
Jordan Spieth wins U.S. Open
At 21, Spieth is the youngest golfer to win the tournament since 1922. His win on Sunday also made him only the sixth person to take the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year.
IN OTHER NEWS
Neanderthal crossbreeds
A study published Monday in the journal Nature reveals new evidence of Neanderthal and early Homo sapiens interbreeding. A 37,000-year-old jawbone from Romania has between 6 and 9 percent Neanderthal DNA, which is the highest ever recorded.
The daily report was compiled by Stephanie Roman, a PublicSource intern. You can reach her with questions or suggestions at sroman@publicsource.org.