Pennsylvania
The Log Book: Crowley expands Wreaths Across America support to Pennsylvania
![The Log Book: Crowley expands Wreaths Across America support to Pennsylvania](https://www.freightwaves.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/26/2021-WAA-Day-PR-4611.jpg)
The Log E-book is a weekly rundown of human-interest tales associated to the transportation business. This week: Crowley provides a 3rd location to its Wreaths Throughout America sponsorship; XPO donates over 42,000 pairs of socks to the homeless; and UPS helps protected mobility habits in Bangkok.
Crowley expands Wreath Throughout America help to Pennsylvania
World logistics supplier Crowley Maritime Corp. introduced it has added a brand new location to its record of cities that it at the moment helps Wreaths Throughout America packages, a nonprofit group that coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies for American veterans globally.
For the previous three years, the corporate has been the first sponsor of Wreathsâ Puerto Rico ceremonies in San Juan and at Crowleyâs headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida. This yr, Crowley will add sponsorship of a 3rd location in Eddystone, Pennsylvania, house of the corporateâs authorities provide chain department.Â
âThis partnership is our grateful alternative for Crowley and our companions to thank women and men who served our nation in addition to the dedication and sacrifices by veterans, active-duty army and their households make daily,â mentioned Wally Gonzalez, director of enterprise improvement and provide chain administration for Crowley Options at its authorities companies enterprise unit. âWe’re proud to have the ability to contribute to Wreaths Throughout America to assist fulfill their mission and reinforce our dedication to warfighter service and help all over the world.â
On Dec. 17, Crowley will donate over $40,000 value of logistics companies, together with worker volunteers, to move and lay wreaths at veteran graves in all three places.Â
âThe joint participation of our San Juan, Jacksonville, and Eddystone groups, with our companions in these markets, demonstrates our steadfast dedication to serving the individuals of Puerto Rico. Being joined by Caribbean Produce Change, Gallery Transport and PSA Penn Terminals to honor veterans in Puerto Rico, Jacksonville and Philadelphia reinforces our appreciation for veterans and their households,â mentioned Crowleyâs Salvador Menoyo, vp of Puerto Rico and Caribbean logistics, within the information launch. âWe’re proud to share on this mission and stay up for laying wreaths in December to recollect the legacies of so many heroes.â
XPO blows away Socktober donation targets
Much less-than-truckload service supplier XPO Logistics introduced that all through October, the corporate and its workers got here collectively to donate socks towards a grassroots initiative known as Socktober.
The corporate first started supporting Socktober in 2011, the identical yr the initiative was created by Brad Montague, a New York Instances bestselling writer and illustrator who needed to assist the homeless group inside his group. He discovered that socks had been the least donated clothes merchandise to shelters.
XPOâs objective this yr was to donate 5,000 pairs of socks. It blew that quantity away by donating 42,706 pairs of socks on this yrâs Socktober marketing campaign.
Whereas the corporateâs objective this yr was to donate 5,000 pairs of socks, by way of the efforts of XPO workers, Socktober acquired 42,706 pairs of socks for the corporate.
âIt was actually about XPOâs dedication to group involvement and the constructive worker engagement that comes from working collectively as a group to make a distinction,â mentioned Nicole Neumann, XPOâs vp of human sources.Â
UPS helps security coaching overseas
The UPS Basis, the nonprofit arm of the worldwide provide chain options supplier, introduced a partnership with American Institute of Physics Basis (AIP) to develop a street security and mobility coaching course known as Security Delivered.
âAt its core, the Security Delivered program goals to scale back street crash accidents and fatalities amongst underrepresented youngsters and weak street customers by way of inclusive helmet distribution and schooling, mixed with advocacy and consciousness initiatives which goal youth, group members, civil society, and governments to deal with high-risk street behaviors,â mentioned Mirjam Sidik, chief govt officer of the AIP Basis.
Security Delivered covers classes on site visitors security, the significance of carrying a helmet and buy the right security gear.Â
Most classes are acquired by dad and mom and academics to make sure that they’re correctly educated in instilling mobility security each out and in of the classroom.
Most just lately, this system was deployed at a college in Bangkok, educating greater than 20 academics. Classes targeted on coaching academics on make these classes interactive for college students, particularly these with studying disabilities.
Watch now: The 2023 Free Truck Giveaway With Ladies In Trucking And Arrow Truck Gross sales
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Pennsylvania
Pa. Senate passes bill encouraging school districts to ban students' phone use
![Pa. Senate passes bill encouraging school districts to ban students' phone use](https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AP22040714783493.jpg)
Pennsylvaniaâs Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to encourage school districts to start a pilot program that effectively bans studentsâ use of cellphones during the school day in an effort to improve their mental health and academic performance.
The bill, which passed 45-5, would authorize grants to school districts to buy locking bags after the district creates a policy requiring students to leave their phones in such bags for the whole school day. It now goes to the state House for consideration.
The billâs sponsor, Republican state Sen. Ryan Aument of Lancaster, said he hopes that limits on phone use will result in improvements in studentsâ mental health and academic performance.
âKids spend so much time on social media and using their smartphones that itâs taking a toll on them mentally, emotionally and academically. Smartphone restrictions have proved successful in reversing these trends,â Aument said.
Pennsylvania
PA Bars, Restaurants On Verge Of Extending Happy Hours
![PA Bars, Restaurants On Verge Of Extending Happy Hours](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/22920172/20240705/115311/styles/patch_image/public/beer___05115243030.jpg)
HARRISBURG, PA â Pennsylvania bars and restaurants soon will likely be able to offer patrons longer happy hours and combo meals that include alcoholic beverages.
Legislation that has passed the House and Senate would nearly double the weekly limit for happy hours from 14 to 24 hours. The bill, now awaiting Gov. Josh Shapiro’s signature, also would allow bars and restaurants to provide discounts on as many as two daily food and drink combination specials.
Additionally, it would permit the cost of up to two drinks to be included in the admission price for parties establishments sponsor for sporting and other special events.
Further changes would include making permanent the expanded outdoor seating that originated during the pandemic and allow employees to work in multiple licensed liquor establishments.
The provisions, included in the bill sponsored by Rep. Matt Gergely, D-Allegheny, is designed to assist bars and eateries still attempting to financially recover from the pandemic and aid them with overcoming persistent staffing challenges.
The bill was applauded by the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association.
âItâs well known that happy hours are used to pull customers into establishments through special drink offerings,â Chuck Moran, the industry organization’s executive director, said in a statement.
âBy increasing the total hours per week, weâre hopeful that through creative marketing each establishment will be able to use this tool to attract more patrons.â
Pennsylvania
GOP turns the spotlight on Sen. Bob Casey's family ties in key Pennsylvania race
![GOP turns the spotlight on Sen. Bob Casey's family ties in key Pennsylvania race](https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best/rockcms/2024-07/240701-bob-casey-vl-224p-e6bf8f.jpg)
Bob Casey Jr. rode a wave of reform to the U.S. Senate in 2006, standing out with other Democrats who vowed to end a culture of scandal and self-dealing in Washington, D.C.
A fixture of Pennsylvania politics whose late father had served as governor, Casey unveiled an ethics plan at the restaurant formerly owned by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He later seethed over an ad in which his Republican opponent questioned his integrity.
Nearly two decades later, Casey faces a tough fight for a fourth term, along with accusations that friends and family have benefited from his political career. In a family with a brand name in Pennsylvania politics, several Casey siblings have seen their own politics-adjacent careers intersect with the senatorâs.
Thereâs a brother who registered to lobby for a semiconductor manufacturer soon after Casey supported a bill to expand opportunities for the industry. Thereâs another brother whose law partner helps Casey recommend federal judges and whose firmâs employees have donated more than $225,000 to Caseyâs campaigns, according to Federal Election Commission documents. And thereâs a sister whose printing company has received more than a half-million dollarsâ worth of work from Caseyâs campaigns, records show.
Casey, 64, is not accused of breaking any laws or violating ethics rules. But GOP operatives working to unseat him in one of the countryâs top Senate races this year are calling attention to those and other family ties. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has also compared Casey to President Joe Biden, whose family members have been accused of trading on their famous last name.
âItâs called the Casey Cartel,â the narrator says in an ad from the NRSC. âBecause, like Biden, Bob Casey gets elected, and his family gets richer.â
The senatorâs defenders point to a long commitment to ethics reform, including his crusade against influence peddling and revolving-door practices involving members of Congress, their staffers and Washingtonâs K Street lobbying firms. Elements of the plan Casey pushed as a candidate in 2006 made it into a bill signed into law by then-President George W. Bush.
Casey also voiced support eight years ago for former President Donald Trumpâs âdrain the swampâ push for a five-year lobbying ban on former executive branch officials.Â
In a written statement for this article, Casey campaign manager Tiernan Donohue characterized the GOP messaging as âbaseless attacksâ and a âblatant attempt to distractâ from potential liabilities for his Republican opponent, Dave McCormick. Donohue noted past media scrutiny over McCormickâs campaign finance practices, as well as Bridgewater Associatesâ investments in Chinese companies during McCormickâs time running the hedge fund. McCormick has acknowledged his work at the hedge fund while campaigning on proposals for tougher restrictions on U.S. investments in China.Â
âSenator Bob Casey is known across the Commonwealth for his commitment to high ethical standards and quality public service,â Donohue said in the statement.
The case the GOP is prosecuting against Casey mirrors a playbook that the party is using against other vulnerable Democrats this year with partisan control of the Senate up for grabs.Â
Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, facing a challenge from former aerospace executive Tim Sheehy, has come under scrutiny for his relationships with lobbyists. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is running against businessman Bernie Moreno in Ohio, faced questions in a HuffPost story this year about how his pro-labor record squares with support for a merger involving the Kroger grocery chain. Democrats, meanwhile, have branded McCormick and other GOP Senate candidates as wealthy elitists with unscrupulous business practices, from Sheehyâs work in aerial firefighting to Morenoâs days as a car salesman.
âBob Casey and his family have displayed a pattern of corruption that should infuriate Pennsylvanians,â NRSC spokesperson Philip Letsou said. âPennsylvanians are struggling to get by but career politician Bob Caseyâs top priority seems to be enriching his family.âÂ
Defeating Casey this fall wonât be easy. He won each of his three Senate terms by comfortable margins and is respected across the aisle. McCormick, meanwhile, has been criticized for the time he spends at a rental home in Connecticut.
âIâm true to my core, a Keystone State guy. Iâve known the Casey family, and the pride in the Casey family in this state is huge,â Scott Hoeflich, who served as chief of staff to the late Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the former Republican who became a Democrat while serving with Casey, said in an interview. âBob Casey Jr. is a great guy. ⊠Heâs always been an upstanding public servant with the highest integrity standards.â
Several of the Casey family ties that Republicans are scrutinizing have been covered by other news organizations in recent years. And some of the connections appear more coincidental or more at armâs-length than others. None of the family members mentioned in this article responded to requests for comment.
Caseyâs brother-in-law, Patrick Brier, registered in 2022 as a state lobbyist for Keystone First, a company that was being audited in a federal investigation of Medicaid managed care providers that Casey had called for in his role as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Aging. The connection was first reported by Broad + Liberty, a right-leaning Pennsylvania outlet. There is no record that Brier ever lobbied for the company at the federal level. The audit report, released six months after Brier began lobbying for the company, was critical of Keystone First, finding that the company âdid not comply with Federal and State requirementsâ when denying dozens of requests for care or service.Â
One of Caseyâs brothers, Patrick Casey, registered to lobby the Senate on behalf of a semiconductor company in late 2022 â a move first reported by Politico. His disclosure statement noted that his work focused on U.S. semiconductor policy and implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act, which had passed earlier that year. In January, Patrick Caseyâs firm reported that he was no longer lobbying for the client.
âPat Casey is not lobbying Senator Caseyâs office,â Casey spokesperson Mairead Lynn said in an emailed statement. âSenator Casey supported and voted for the 2007 law prohibiting family members from lobbying Senate offices, and he abides by that law.â
Away from the lobbying scene, Caseyâs state and federal campaigns have spent nearly $600,000 with Universal Printing Co., the Scranton-area print shop run by the senatorâs sister, Margi McGrath, who identifies herself as the companyâs CEO and business owner, according to FEC records. McGrath and her husband, William, a Universal executive, have donated more than $50,000 to Caseyâs campaigns and affiliated PACs over the years, records show. The New York Post first reported on Caseyâs use of his sister as a campaign vendor last year.
Casey, who before being elected to the Senate served as a state auditor general and treasurer and lost a 2002 primary for governor, paid Universal more than $255,000 for work on those campaigns, according to state documents. The $325,000 his Senate fund has paid his sisterâs firm accounts for a third of his campaign printing expenditures and roughly 15% of Universalâs $2.1 million in federal campaign work since 2005, records show. Universalâs political client list has included the Democratic National Committee and several presidential campaigns.
Hiring a relative for campaign services is legal, so long as the campaign pays fair market value for the services, said Kedric Payne, the vice president, general counsel and senior director for ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan voter advocacy group.
âIn this situation where you have someone who not only has other clients who they provide these services for, but they seem to be providing legitimate services to that member, it would be difficult to argue that there is a violation,â said Payne, who saw no legal jeopardy in the other issues that Republicans have raised against Casey.
Casey has also forged close political ties with Ross Feller Casey, a personal injury law firm co-founded by his brother, Matt Casey. The firmâs employees have donated more than $225,000 to Caseyâs campaigns since 2005, according to campaign finance disclosures first reported by the New York Post. The firm also contributed $100,000 in 2017 to PA Values, a super PAC that at the time was backing Caseyâs re-election campaign. The firm has not donated since then to the super PAC, which remains active, having recently produced an ad that uses former President Donald Trumpâs words in a misleading way to discourage voting by mail.
Sen. Casey has called on one of Ross Feller Caseyâs other founding partners, Robert Ross, frequently over the years to lead committees that screen candidates for federal judicial nominations, according to news releases from his office. Senators from the sitting presidentâs party typically have the most influence when recommending nominees. During the Obama administration, Casey continued a tradition, established under his Republican predecessors, of running a bipartisan vetting process that gave his GOP counterparts the ability to pick screening committee members.
Ross did not respond to questions for this article.
Defenders of the process, including Republicans, assert that it has yielded quality judges. Former Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican who succeeded Specter, has spoken highly of the work he and Casey did together.
âThe bipartisan, nonpartisan nominating committee has been and is the gold standard for how senators should vet and nominate candidates to the U.S. courts,â Hoeflich, the former Specter aide, said when asked about GOP attacks on the process. âThis is politics at its worst â trying to manipulate the information to create false narratives and distract people from the real issues.â
Others offered differing views. One source familiar with Toomeyâs role in the process recalled it as being more tilted in Caseyâs favor during the Obama years and argued that Toomeyâs picks for the screening panels had more serious legal chops, while a former Toomey staffer had a more favorable recollection of Caseyâs work. Both requested anonymity to share their insights.
âWe were proud of the process,â the second source said. âI think that bears out when you look at all the judgeships we were able to fill in a pretty timely manner, and they were all high caliber.â
A former senior staffer to former Sen. Rick Santorum, the Republican whom Casey unseated in 2006, said GOP operatives are making âmuch ado about nothingâ with their attacks.
âIâve never, ever questioned Bob Caseyâs ethics, even when he was our opponent in that â06 election,â said the staffer, who requested anonymity to share candid opinions about GOP messaging. âI never found the Caseys to be anything other than stand-up people.â
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