A daily look at late-breaking news, coming events and stories that will be talked about in Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
AMTRAK DEATH TOLL 6 AFTER PHILADELPHIA DERAILMENT
Mayor Michael Nutter has confirmed the deaths as day broke Wednesday. Dozens more are injured, several critically. Train 188, a Northeast Regional, left Washington, D.C. and was headed to New York when it derailed shortly after 9 o’clock last night.
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AMTRAK DERAILMENT ALSO SLOWING PHILADELPHIA-AREA TRANSIT TRAINS
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority says service will be suspended throughout today on the Trenton Regional rail line. SEPTA says it could be suspended for the rest of the week.
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STATE HOUSE PASSES PLAN TO REPLACE NEARLY $5 BILLION IN PROPERTY TAXES WITH HIGHER SALES, INCOME TAXES
The House voted 109-86 for a Republican-drafted plan that would raise the sales tax rate in most of the state from 6 percent to 7 percent and increase the personal income tax rate from 3.07 percent to 3.7 percent. Opponents warn the plan doesn’t have a mechanism to keep school boards from eventually raising school property taxes back to their current levels.
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JUDGE HOLDS HEARING ON WHETHER TO RELEASE STUN GUN VIDEO OF FATAL POLICE SHOOTING
Today’s hearing before Dauphin County Judge Deborah Curcillo concerns the video of Hummelstown Police Officer Lisa Mearkle shooting David Kassick in the back after a vehicle chase in February. Mearkle is charged with criminal homicide in the case. Her lawyer calls it a matter of self-defense. Curcillo ordered the hearing because the prosecutor wants to give the video to the media.
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SWINGERS AT THE ZOO?
Philadelphia Zoo officials plan to unveil the $2.5 million Gorilla Treeway today. It’s the latest addition to a campus-wide system of trails for animals including gorillas, monkeys, orangutans and big cats. The elevated treeway lets five Western lowland gorillas travel about 300 feet along a protected, open-air pathway. It will be in regular use starting Saturday.
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