More state officials speak out on Penn State campus closures: ‘It's disheartening'
DUBOIS, Pa. (WTAJ) — Since the Penn State Board of Trustees voted last week to close seven branch campuses, including DuBois, we've heard from several state officials who've raised concerns.
'It's disheartening to see them pull out and leave rural Pennsylvania at a loss here, so we will meet the challenges that this presents,' Senator Wayne Langerholc said.
When we spoke with a donor of the Penn State DuBois campus earlier in May, they expressed concern about the buildings that they've donated to. Langerholc says that they're working to figure out a plan so the buildings don't sit vacant.
'We've been in talks and we'll continue to talk with any entity that you know believes in rural Pennsylvania in rural Clearfield County and wants to invest. I think that anyone that's willing to invest will find that we have incredible people in this region, we have incredible work ethic, we have incredible knowledge, we have incredible drive,' Langerholc said.
More on Penn State University campus closures
Senator Langerholc also expressed concerns about another move that could hurt rural communities; the state's plan to close Quehanna Bootcamp and SCI Rockview, but he remains optimistic.
'We will meet these challenges head on, and I'm confident on that front that we'll be able to hold those prisons in as well, but we will meet the challenges head on,' Langerholc added.
The seven Penn State campuses are set to close their doors after the spring 2027 semester, but first, the closures must be approved by the department of education and governor Josh Shapiro, who seems to support the closures. He's publicly stated that he has confidence in the leadership at Penn State who made the decision.
To read more about the Penn State campus closures, you can click here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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The Hill
7 minutes ago
- The Hill
Musk takes Trump agenda bill criticism to next level
Evening Report is The Hill's PM newsletter. Sign up here or subscribe using the box below: Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here ELON MUSK UNLOADED on President Trump's agenda bill Tuesday, with fiscal hawks in the Senate digging in and promising to sink the legislation. Musk, whose time as a special government employee came to an end last week, received a stylish Oval Office send-off from Trump for his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash spending. The tech titan bit his tongue during the presidential salute last week when the issue of spending in the GOP's agenda bill came up. But he cut loose on Tuesday, and at a critical time for Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' which faces a tricky path through the Senate amid mounting concerns about spending and the deficit. 'I'm sorry but I just can't stand it anymore,' Musk posted on his social media platform X. 'This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.' Musk later threatened to oust lawmakers who fail to codify cuts made by DOGE, among other issues. 'In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,' he posted. Musk's remarks came as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was in the middle of a press briefing. 'The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,' Leavitt said. 'It doesn't change the president's opinion.' Musk had previously expressed frustration with House Republicans for the trillions in debt the bill is forecast to create. Those concerns are shared by several Republicans in the Senate, led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who says he will not vote for the bill because it raises the debt ceiling by $4 trillion. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-Ky.) can only afford to lose three Republicans for the bill to pass, and Paul says there are at least four on his side. 'I want to see the tax cuts made permanent, but I also want to see the $5 trillion in new debt removed from the bill,' Paul posted this morning, one of several social media posts and media appearances he made to blast the bill. Paul and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) appeared energized by Musk speaking out, reposting his comments with their own words of opposition. 'These numbers are nothing short of stunning,' Lee said. 'Congress has hollowed out America's middle class through reckless deficit spending and the inflation it causes.' The fiscal hawks have pointed to wobbles in the bond market, where yields are on the rise amid concerns about U.S. debt and Trump's trade war. 'It's a big deal. It is a real problem,' JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said on 'Mornings with Maria' on Fox Business Network. 'The bond markets are going to have a tough time.' Trump fired back at Paul in a post on Truth Social. 'Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially the tremendous growth that is coming,' Trump said, referring to his agenda bill. 'He loves voting 'no' on everything, he thinks it's good politics, but it's not. The BBB is a big winner!!!' For his part, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Musk is 'terribly wrong,' adding he spoke to the billionaire about it for 20 minutes on Monday. 'For him to come out and pan the whole bill is to me just very disappointing, very surprising in light of the conversation I had with him yesterday,' Johnson said. The White House sent its recissions package to Capitol Hill on Tuesday. It seeks to claw back just under $10 billion, much of it from funding for NPR, PBS and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Trump has been actively involved in discussions with GOP senators, already holding talks with Thune and Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) this week. Hawley is concerned about potential cuts to Medicaid, while Johnson is among the fiscal hawks opposing the bill over spending and debt. Hawley says Trump told him there would be no 'Medicaid benefit cuts,' as the Trump administration makes the case that cuts to the program will only affect those in the country illegally or people who are capable of working but choose not to. CRITICAL WEEK AHEAD It's a big week for Senate Republicans, who have a self-imposed deadline of July 4 to pass Trump's agenda bill. Thune said he won't overrule the Senate parliamentarian, who will decide soon whether the bill adheres to rules that would allow Republicans to bypass a Democratic filibuster. Some Senate Republicans argue that decision should be up to Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). 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Age has been a growing topic of discussion among congressional Democrats, and three House Democrats have died in office this year. The Hill's Julia Muller writes: 'The trend comes amid renewed anxiety within the party over the issue of age, spurred by new revelations about former President Biden and the recent deaths of several older House members.' One key early test will come later this month in the battle to replace former Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) as the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), 44, threw her hat in the ring on Tuesday. The other candidates vying for the position range in age from 47 to 76. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) set a September special election election to replace Connolly, who died of cancer last month. The seat has been blue since Connolly first won it in 2008. This comes as Democrats are seeking a new identity during President Trump's second term in office, after the 2024 election found the nation tilt to the right. Trump this week reiterated his support for Republican Jack Ciattarelli in the New Jersey governor's primary, saying the state is 'ready to pop out of that blue horror show' and elect a Republican. Trump lost New Jersey by 6 points in 2024, after losing it by 16 points in 2020. The state last went red in a presidential election in 1988. MEANWHILE… CNN's polling analyst Harry Enten underscored Democratic struggles with the middle class voters they once counted as a core constituency. '[Democrats] have traditionally been the party of the middle class. No more,' Enten said. 'Donald Trump and the Republican Party have taken that mantle away. And now a key advantage for Democrats historically has gone. Adios amigos. And now there is no party that is the party of the middle class. Republicans have completely closed the gap.' Democrats have turned their attacks on immigration, where Trump polls the strongest, making the case that the administration's overreach is imperiling American citizens. Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) are demanding an investigation after Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers pushed their way into Nadler's office and handcuffed one of his staffers. The incident began after protesters at an immigration court were permitted entrance to Nadler's office, which is in the same building. The DHS accused Nadler's office of 'harboring rioters' and briefly detained one of his staffers. 'These types of intimidation tactics are completely unwarranted and cannot be tolerated,' Nadler and Raskin wrote. 'The decision to enter a congressional office and detain a congressional staff member demonstrates a deeply troubling disregard for proper legal boundaries.' And Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka (D) on Tuesday sued interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba over his arrest last month outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. The lawsuit alleges false arrest, malicious prosecution and defamation, and accuses Habba of acting as a 'political operative, outside of any function intimately related to the judicial process.' Baraka and three Democratic members of the New Jersey congressional delegation — Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver — were visiting the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark last month when a scuffle broke out between them and several ICE officers. Baraka was charged with misdemeanor trespassing, although Habba's office later dismissed the charge and instead charged McIver with assaulting law enforcement. ELSEWHERE… The Trump administration is also keying in on immigration, emphasizing it after the anti-semitic attack in Boulder, Colo., over the weekend. The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, is an Egyptian national who was granted asylum in 2022 but overstayed his visa in February 2023. 'This tragedy is a sobering reminder of the consequences of the Biden administration's failed policies,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. 'This is the predictable result of allowing anti-American radicals and illegal immigrants pour into our country,' she added. The family of the suspect is set to be taken into federal custody, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday. DHS is revamping its ICE tip line following the attack. Soliman allegedly shouted 'Free Palestine' as he used a flame thrower and threw Molotov cocktails at a group of people who were marching in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Twelve victims between the ages of 52 and 88, including a survivor of the Holocaust, were badly burned. 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Wall Street Journal
7 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
The Knicks Just Fired Their Best Coach in Decades. Are They Back to Being the Knicks?
Tom Thibodeau has been sacked as head coach of the New York Knicks following a season in which he led this comically forlorn franchise to the edge of the NBA Finals for the first time in a quarter-century. I used to feel happiness for whomever got fired as a Knicks coach—finally, they are free from this cave! Fly away! This time, it's hard not to feel bad for Thibs, a grinding lifer who transformed one of the most thankless jobs in sports. You can look at the team's decision a couple of ways. I'll do the optimistic rendering, naturally followed by the irritated, pessimistic one. This Shows the Knicks are Serious. An optimist may choose to see Thibodeau's ouster as a signal that New York's front office believes the team is close to a championship, and only a few key changes are needed to get them over the hump. Under this theory, relieving Thibodeau—a former head coach in Chicago and Minnesota who was hired by the Knicks for the 2020-21 campaign—is a painful but necessary move. It's painful because Thibodeau was undeniably successful: He built the Knicks into an overachieving unit that finished in third place in the Eastern Conference, and knocked off both Detroit and defending champion Boston in the playoffs. He wrung the best out of imperfect lineups and gave the freedom to Jalen Brunson to become a generational New York superstar. He carved Josh Hart and OG Anunoby into warriors. Thibodeau also coached Karl-Anthony Towns for 18 playoff games without opening a bottle of bourbon on the sideline. Thibodeau isn't for everyone. He's a no-nonsense obsessive who always looks like he can't find his rental car. He isn't going to get a job hosting the 'Today' show, although I would totally watch that. Instead he gave the Knicks an identity to match their city: tough, resilient, hard to kill. His team, Brunson especially, is beloved. Thibs's resistance to change could be maddening, but Madison Square Garden rocked in a way it hadn't since the Ewing/Starks days. As for why his firing is necessary…well, the Knicks must feel they are ready to go up a level, and didn't think Thibodeau was the guy to get them to take the leap. Maybe they've been ready to do it for a while, and then this playoff run made the optics weird. Much has been said about Thibodeau's stubbornness about using rookies and bench players, which led to him milking a ton of minutes from his starters. This led to injury worries, plus some frustrating moments in the playoffs, especially when Thibodeau needed to dust off his bench versus the frantic Indiana Pacers. Moving on from Thibodeau signals a change in approach, which presumably means utilizing the bench more and keeping the team fresher into May and June. But still! They just won 51 regular-season games and went deeper in the playoffs than any Knicks team in eons! They reached the postseason in four of Thibodeau's five seasons! Do you realize how sad this team was not long ago? Do you remember the soul-crushed atmosphere in the Garden, the easy punchlines about ownership and ineptitude? Do you think Kylie Jenner was going out on a date to watch THAT? Absolutely not. Under Thibs, New York found hope again. Do you see how old those Clyde Frazier and Earl Monroe championship banners are in the rafters? They're old enough to still be reading a sports column in a newspaper. Which leads to this natural but nagging worry: This Shows the Knicks are Still the Knicks. This is the fear: that maybe the Knicks maxed it out this season, shocked a Boston team that didn't take them seriously, and might not be as close to a title as they appear. The Celtics aren't looking like a huge threat as long as injured Jayson Tatum is out, but Indiana's clearly arrived, the Cavs should be solid, Detroit's rising, and Orlando might be ready to get serious. (I'm choosing to completely ignore the Western Conference and the loaded Oklahoma City Thunder, which might fire Indiana into the sun when the Finals begin on Thursday.) Maybe the Knicks are being irrational here, dismissing a coach who knew how to win basketball games, and will now do what irrational teams do, which is to find a shiny new replacement who will struggle to match the prior coach's success. The Knicks have historically craved big names, and you can expect some to surface soon. Whoever's hired will say the right things, and hit the right notes, but it doesn't mean anything until next year, when you find out if they can find a way to stop Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. Here's the panic: Maybe this spring was as good as it got. Maybe the Knicks are heading backward, moving fast and breaking up a good thing. There will be intense pressure on who comes next—not just as coach, but to supplement Brunson, Towns and the overworked starters. There will be agony if it doesn't work. New York City, a hard-to-please town, got used to losing a lot of basketball games. Tom Thibodeau taught it how to win again. Write to Jason Gay at
CBS News
8 minutes ago
- CBS News
Meta and Constellation sign 20-year nuclear power deal in Illinois to power AI
Meta has cut a 20-year deal to secure nuclear power to help meet surging demand for artificial intelligence and other computing needs at Facebook's parent company. The investment with Meta will also expand the output of a Constellation Energy Illinois nuclear plant. The agreement announced Tuesday is just the latest in a string of tech-nuclear partnerships as the use of AI expands. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. Constellation's Clinton Clean Energy Center was actually slated to close in 2017 after years of financial losses but was saved by legislation in Illinois establishing a zero-emission credit program to support the plant into 2027. The agreement deal takes effect in June of 2027, when the state's taxpayer funded zero-emission credit program expires. With the arrival of Meta, Clinton's clean energy output will expand by 30 megawatts, preserve 1,100 local jobs and bring in $13.5 million in annual tax revenue, according to the companies. The plant currently powers the equivalent of about 800,000 U.S. homes. George Gross, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois. estimates that 30 additional megawatts would be enough to power a city with about 30,00 residents for one year. "Securing clean, reliable energy is necessary to continue advancing our AI ambitions," said Urvi Parekh, Meta's head of global energy. Surging investments in small nuclear reactors comes at a time when large tech companies are facing two major demands: a need to increase their energy supply for AI and data centers, among other needs, while also trying to meet their long-term goals to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions. Constellation, the owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, said in September that it planned to restart the reactor so tech giant Microsoft could secure power to supply its data centers. Three Mile Island, located on the Susquehanna River just outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was the site of the nation's worst commercial nuclear power accident in 1979. Also last fall, Amazon said it was investing in small nuclear reactors, two days after a similar announcement by Google. Additionally, Google announced last month that it was investing in three advanced nuclear energy projects with Elementl Power. U.S. states have been positioning themselves to meet the tech industry's power needs as policymakers consider expanding subsidies and gutting regulatory obstacles. Last year, 25 states passed legislation to support advanced nuclear energy, and lawmakers this year have introduced over 200 bills supportive of nuclear energy, according to the trade association Nuclear Energy Institute. Advanced reactor designs from competing firms are filling up the federal government's regulatory pipeline as the industry touts them as a reliable, climate-friendly way to meet electricity demands from tech giants desperate to power their fast-growing artificial intelligence platforms. Still, it's unlikely the U.S. could quadruple its nuclear production within the next 25 years, like the White House wants. The United States lacks any next-generation reactors operating commercially and only two new large reactors have been built from scratch in nearly 50 years. Those two reactors, at a nuclear plant in Georgia, were completed years late and at least $17 billion over budget. Additionally, Gross recommends that the U.S. invest more in the transmission grid that moves that power around. "That's my biggest concern," Gross said, adding that spending on the grid has actually fallen off in recent years, despite the voracious demand for energy. Amazon, Google and Microsoft also have been investing in solar and wind technologies, which make electricity without producing greenhouse gas emissions. Shares of Constellation Energy Corp., based in Baltimore, were flat Tuesday. Is the U.S. ready for nuclear-powered AI? France has touted its ample nuclear power — which produces about 75% of the nation's electricity, the highest level in the world — as a key element in its pitch to be an AI leader. Hosting an AI summit in Paris earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron cited President Donald Trump's "drill baby drill" slogan and offered another: "Here there's no need to drill, it's just plug baby plug." In the U.S., however, most of the electricity consumed by data centers relies on fossil fuels — burning natural gas and sometimes coal — according to an April report from the International Energy Agency. As AI demand rises, the main source of new supply over the coming years is expected to be from gas-fired plants, a cheap and reliable source of power but one that produces planet-warming emissions. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind account for about 24% of data center power in the U.S., while nuclear comprises about 15%, according to the IEA. It will take years before enough climate-friendlier power sources, including nuclear, could start slowing the expansion of fossil fuel power generation. A report released by the U.S. Department of Energy late last year estimated that the electricity needed for data centers in the U.S. tripled over the past decade and is projected to double or triple again by 2028 when it could consume up to 12% of the nation's electricity. Why does AI need so much energy? It takes a lot of computing power to make an AI chatbot and the systems they're built on, such as Meta's Llama. It starts with a process called training or pretraining — the "P" in ChatGPT — that involves AI systems "learning" from the patterns of huge troves of data. To do that, they need specialized computer chips — usually graphics processors, or GPUs — that can run many calculations at a time on a network of devices in communication with each other. Once trained, a generative AI tool still needs electricity to do the work, such as when you ask a chatbot to compose a document or generate an image. That process is called inferencing. A trained AI model must take in new information and make inferences from what it already knows to produce a response. All of that computing takes a lot of electricity and generates a lot of heat. To keep it cool enough to work properly, data centers need air conditioning. That can require even more electricity, so most data center operators look for other cooling techniques that usually involve pumping in water.
