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Emporium state police investigate threatening letter….Governor says state pursuing criminal charges against Northfolk Southern….Republican lawmaker says more gaming money should go to property tax relief….

Cameron County
Emporium based state police are investigating an alleged terroristic threat discovered Sunday afternoon on West 5th Street. A 49 year old Emporium woman told police she found a threatening letter while removing an old item from a previous residence.

Statewide
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the state’s acting attorney general is investigating whether criminal charges were warranted in the derailment of a Norfolk Southern Railroad train just over the state line in East Palestine, Ohio.
Shapiro blasted Norfolk Southern’s “arrogance and incompetence” in an interview with Morning Edition’s Leila Fadel on Wednesday, saying the railroad didn’t participate in unified efforts with emergency services from Pennsylvania and Ohio after the derailment.
“We made a criminal referral to the office of attorney general. They’ll determine whether or not there was criminal activity,” Shapiro said. “What I know is that Norfolk Southern is governed every day, not by caring about the communities that they send their trains through, but by corporate greed.”
Shapiro said tests of municipal water supplies and wells haven’t shown any “concerning readings” of toxins and will continue to test “for months and months and months, if not years” to ensure that water is safe for residents.
About three dozen Norfolk Southern freight cars derailed near East Palestine, a town of roughly 4,800. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board have indicated that the derailment was likely caused by a wheel bearing failure; a preliminary report is expected next week.
In June 2006, a Northfolk Southern train wrecked near Keating Summit in McKean County resulting in a chemical spill that polluted 30miles of pristine streams and killed thousands of fish.
Criminal charges were filed against the engineer of a speeding freight train The engineer, Michael Seifert, 45, tested positive for opiates and an anti-anxiety drug following the accident, according a criminal complaint.
As a part of her ongoing effort to curb the burden of school property taxes, Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) has introduced a measure to codify the original intent of the Gaming Act.
The senator’s proposal would amend the Gaming Code by adding language that requires all new revenue generated from the expansion of gaming into the Property Tax Relief Fund.The Gaming Act was originally intended to provide the residents of Pennsylvania with property tax relief through the use of slot machines as a source of new revenue for property tax relief. At that time, the commonwealth estimated $1 billion in annual revenue would be generated for property tax relief, a figure which has never been realized.

Senate Bill 417 was referred to the Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee for its consideration.