PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh: Senate healthcare subcommittee addresses heroin epidemic
Sens. Bob Casey, a Democrat, and Pat Toomey, a Republican, listened as a panel of experts convened at Allegheny Health Network to address the problems of inappropriate and overprescribing of opioid painkillers, one of heroin’s gateway drugs. Drug Enforcement Administration officials will hire drug diversion investigators in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh: City Paper’s ‘Best Of’ edition
From athletes to drag queens, bars to pet shops and furniture stores to nonprofit organizations, City Paper released its “Best of Pittsburgh” annual readers’ poll roundup.
Harrisburg: Countdown to AG Kane’s suspension
Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s law license goes into indefinite suspension Thursday, and her office staff doesn’t seem to know what her duties will be when that happens. Regardless, Kane can be brought before a judge if there’s disagreement, and she will face opposition from criminal defense lawyers.
Harrisburg: Possible fantasy sports limitations
Nevada shut down FanDuel and DraftKings Thursday because they don’t have gambling licenses, and now Pennsylvania is considering a similar move. Legislation will go to a House vote next week that would limit fantasy sports to those run by state casinos.
Statewide: Gaming funds diverted to charter schools
School districts are finding out that the Department of Education is diverting gaming revenue funds to charter schools. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association is calling this unlawful, stating that the gaming funds are for taxpayers, while charter advocates say that charters are lawfully entitled to whatever state funds are available.
Statewide: Maximizing Marcellus shale economic impact
Gov. Tom Wolf, along with the governors of Ohio and West Virginia, agreed to sign a three-year cooperation plan. The agreement addresses how to implement marketing, workforce development and academic research to bring value to the local economies.
NATIONAL
Obama reaffirms ties to South Korea
At a news conference, President Obama asserted that the U.S.’s ties to South Korea won’t waver at the threat by North Korea; he also addressed the Iran nuclear deal, stating that the U.S. will pressure Iran into following the agreement; and he concluded that Russia’s military efforts in Syria are designed to fail, and that Russia should work with the United States.
Federal heart research database
Clinical heart trials have wasted a lot of money: the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute spent $2 billion on 200 trials over a decade where only two out of five studies were published. The heart institute will now publish all trials in a federal database, even if they never make it to a journal.
Sleep study could change popular conceptions
Everyone knows people are supposed to get eight hours of sleep per night, but a new study in Current Biology shows that hunter-gatherer populations without industry (TV, caffeine, city lights, the Internet) only sleep about 6.5 hours a night. They have a similar sleep efficiency — 81 to 86 percent — to modern populations.
IN OTHER NEWS
100 worst places to live in PA
The same website that ranked states by the Ashley Madison hack has ranked the worst places to live. They assessed the economies, school systems, employment, crime and other metrics to make the list. In Pennsylvania, the worst places to live are Newcastle, Nanticoke and Johnstown.
The daily report was compiled by Stephanie Roman, a PublicSource intern. You can reach her with questions or suggestions at sroman@publicsource.org.
