PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh: Potential for new park
Developer Chuck Betters and the mayor’s office are considering turning Betters’ 600-acre site in Hays into housing and a park. Betters, who would keep mineral rights to the area, may also be interested in gas drilling in the area, but Mayor Peduto says he won’t allow this during his tenure.
Pittsburgh: Developer gets buying deadline
Continental Real Estate Companies, which is planning to build an apartment complex in North Shore, has until Nov. 30 to buy the land where construction would take place. This would be the parking lot between PNC Park and the Hyatt Place Hotel.
Pittsburgh: Airport cuts charge due to drilling profit
A $101.2 million budget approved Friday allows for a reduction in what airlines pay to fly out of the Pittsburgh International Airport. The 2016 budget is nearly $3.4 million more than the 2015 one, largely because of revenue from gas drilling on airport property.
Harrisburg: Study says gas drilling leads to premature births
Pregnant women in the Pennsylvania shale-gas region are 40 percent more likely to have premature births if they’re exposed to natural gas drilling, a Johns Hopkins University study reports. The drilling process might pollute the air or stress the women out, causing pregnancy-related problems.
Vandergrift: Steelworkers to lose health care
Allegheny Technologies Inc. will nix the healthcare plans of more than 2,000 workers on strike by Nov. 30. The workers, who have been locked out for eight weeks, are protesting unfair labor practices.
State College: Wal-Mart evacuated after bomb threat
A store in Central Pennsylvania evacuated customers Thursday evening in response to its fourth bomb threat in three weeks.
NATIONAL
University shootings across the U.S.
Police say student Steven Jones killed one student and wounded three others at Northern Arizona University on Friday. Another shooting at Texas Southern University left one dead and another injured. Meanwhile, President Obama visited the families and survivors of last week’s Oregon shooting.
Family agrees to shooting settlement
The family of Walter Scott accepted a $6.5 million settlement for his death in April. Michael Slager, the ex-police officer who was charged with shooting Scott when he ran unarmed from a routine traffic stop, is in solitary confinement, awaiting trial.
SeaWorld orca breeding banned
The California Coastal Commission will give SeaWorld San Diego $100 million to expand its orca tanks. But, the commission says the aquarium can no longer breed the whales.
No pork for prisoners
New regulations are wiping pig products from prison menus and substituting them with “economically viable” turkey bacon. Inmates can still buy pork rinds and bacon from the prison convenience store, but they have to pay for it with their own money.
WORLD
Pentagon scales back Syria rebel training
The Pentagon will start providing weapons support to rebel commanders instead of its current program of training a grassroots rebel army.
IN OTHER NEWS
Pumpkin problems
The dominant canned pumpkin producer Libby’s Pumpkin may run out of their product early because a premature rain season caused the harvest to end a month early. It predicts it’ll have enough product through Thanksgiving.
The daily report was compiled by Elaina Zachos, a PublicSource intern. You can reach her with questions or suggestions at ezachos@publicsource.org.
