2a-stateregion031717
Temple University rethinks soda tax meal plan increase
Temple University is rethinking a meal plan fee hike that it had blamed largely on Philadelphia’s new sweetened-beverage tax.
The school had announced a 6 percent hike for its meal plan for the 2017-18 school year, and said the tax was responsible for 4.8 percent of the increase. After being criticized by Mayor Jim Kenney’s office, the school is walking back the move.
Temple says the mayor’s office has raised valid concerns about the accuracy of its estimates, and that it will review its calculations before moving forward. Spokesman Ray Betzner also says the university will ask the school’s beverage vendor to lower costs.
N.Y. police arrest man who left bomb at busy bus station
NEW YORK — Police say a man left a crude explosive device in a briefcase at a New York City bus terminal, but it didn’t detonate.
Arsenio Mason, 39, was charged Thursday with possession of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance.
The criminal complaint says Mason left a briefcase on a chair inside a deli at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey bus terminal during Wednesday night rush hour. A bomb squad detective said it contained a crude device. No injuries were reported.
Mason was arrested nearby. Police said they also found methamphetamine.
Zippo lighter factory lays off 38 workers in Bradford
BRADFORD — Pennsylvania’s iconic Zippo lighter factory has laid off 38 workers, blaming a slowdown in the company’s North American business and a glut of inventory in China. In doing so, the Bradford-based company, about 130 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, now has 533 workers.
CEO Mark Paup said the Zippo Manufacturing Co. used to ship its product to China through a Hong Kong importer. The company took control of its Chinese imports because of problems with black market counterfeit lighters and gray market lighters. Gray market lighters are legitimate Zippo products shipped to China outside legal import rules.
Delaware attorney general calls for drug laws rewrite
DOVER, Del. — Delaware’s attorney general, who has criticized an effort by a committee established by lawmakers to overhaul the state’s criminal code, is proposing a more narrowly tailored approach focusing on drug laws.
— Compiled from The Associated Press
Attorney General Matt Denn on Thursday unveiled legislation aimed at making Delaware’s drug laws less complicated and more fair while increasing penalties for repeat convictions for drug dealing.
Denn said the revision would result in a more straightforward, coherent criminal drug code to ensure fair and proportional sentences.
Sen. Harris McDowell III, chair of the Criminal Justice Improvement Committee, said reforming the state’s confusing drug laws is important, but that lawmakers should take a much broader look at Delaware’s criminal code.