Icon will have No. 32 jersey retired Saturday night

Former Steelers running back Franco Harris, author of the most famous play in NFL history and one of the greatest players in franchise history, has reportedly died at 72.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday morning that Harris’ son, Dok, confirmed the news with no cause of death given.

“The entire team at the Pro Football Hall of Fame is immensely saddened today,” Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said in a statement. “We have lost an incredible football player, an incredible ambassador to the Hall and most importantly, we have lost one of the finest gentlemen anyone will ever meet. Franco not only impacted the game of football, but he also affected the lives of many, many people in profoundly positive ways. The Hall of Fame and historians everywhere will tell Franco’s football story forever. His life story can never be told fully, however, without including his greatness off the field.

“My heart and prayers go out to his wife, Dana, an equally incredible person, a special friend to the Hall and someone who cares so deeply for Franco’s Hall of Fame teammates.”

Mark Cuban was in Bakery Square on Tuesday, eating lunch with his friends and filming a segment for “CBS Sunday Morning.” So why Pittsburgh?

“I asked if we could do it with my Pittsburgh friends, so I am here,” Cuban explained by email.

Todd Reidbord, Jerry Katz, Steve Rosen and Stu Chaban have been friends with Cuban since his days growing up in Mt. Lebanon. The four friends were part of a segment focusing on what the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and star of the TV show “Shark Tank” was like as a kid.

“We all went to grade school and high school with him,” explained Reidbord after lunch. “I am really not sure what the other segments were about, but ours was about what kind of person he was growing up.

MSNBC host Ari Melber called the January 6 congressional committee’s criminal referrals for Donald Trump the “highest, most aggressive possible case” they could have laid out.

Committee members announced at their final hearing that they are recommending the Department of Justice charge the former president inciting an insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement, and obstruction of an official proceeding.

The committee showed a collection of findings from their investigation and even made new accusations, including that Trump and his associates allegedly offered employment to some witnesses being relied on in the Capitol riot investigation.

“This is a huge deal. They just threw the book at Donald Trump,” Melber declared on MSNBC shortly after the referrals were announced.

Melber said the committee sent a clear message to Trump, labeling him “felon, an insurrectionist, [and] someone who wanted to riot but just physically couldn’t get there. The committee is basically saying, ‘we got you. we have the receipts, we have the video, this all was planned,” he added.

HARRISBURG — Republicans in Pennsylvania’s state House could hold a functional majority until at least mid-February thanks to Democratic vacancies — and they’re considering using that advantage to pass a handful of far-reaching constitutional amendments.

The strategy coincides with GOP leaders attempting to delay special elections in two heavily Democratic Allegheny County districts as long as legally allowed. On Thursday, GOP leader Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster) attempted to formally order May 16 special election dates for those districts.

That’s the latest possible date allowed under state law. Democrats immediately criticized the move, saying that even after Democrats won more seats in the midterms, Republicans are trying to delay their switch to the minority party so they can “play politics and ram through extremist policies,” according to a spokesperson.

That concern is not just overheated rhetoric. According to rank-and-file GOP lawmakers and lobbyists, there are murmurs within the caucus of plans to use their early advantage to pass at least two amendments to voters in May 2023. The amendments would impose voter ID requirements and make it easier for the legislature to override regulations.

Subhead: Michelle Henry helped convict a former AG. Now, she will be running that powerful office

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... Now, more than half a decade later, Michelle Henry is poised to become the officer she once sent to prison [Kathleen Kane.] Currently the state’s first deputy attorney general, she will automatically assume the top job when her boss, Josh Shapiro, is sworn in as governor on Jan. 17.

When she takes over as acting attorney general, she’ll have ultimate oversight of a sprawling, immensely powerful office with a $114 million budget and hundreds of prosecutors, investigators and other staff ranging across the state.

Mr. Shapiro, who had no prosecutorial experience when he was elected in 2016, won praise for hiring her as his top deputy — not only because she became the first woman to hold the post, but also because he had offset his own lack of experience with one of the most formidable prosecutors in the state. A year after taking the job, Ms. Henry was named a fellow in the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers.

“That’s not something you apply for. You have to be invited into that,” Mr. Steele said. “That speaks volumes about her skills as a trial lawyer.”

Far from a hard-bitten agent of the law, however, Ms. Henry’s colleagues praise her as a born leader whose tireless work ethic and innate skill at forging connections with people make them want to follow her — be they colleagues or members of a jury.

HARRISBURG — Members of Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Board are publicly questioning the Wolf administration’s oversight of doctors and third-party certification companies, concerns that echo a yearlong Spotlight PA investigation into the state’s program.

During the most recent advisory board meeting in November, health department officials faced scrutiny over the rigor of telemedicine appointments for medical marijuana card approvals and advertising by medical marijuana businesses. Daniel Kambic, a physician and board member, referred to the current situation as “a little sloppy,” although it wasn’t clear whether he was specifically referring to certifications themselves, the department’s oversight, or both. “I think we need to tighten it up a little bit,” Kambic said.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of patients must receive approval from a physician if they want to legally use cannabis in the state. Some patients connect to these physicians through largely unregulated third-party companies. Spotlight PA’s reporting revealed that some of these businesses make misleading or incorrect medical claims, benefit from unequal advertising rules, and allegedly tie a doctor’s payment to patient approvals.

Department of Health officials have repeatedly insisted the agency doesn’t have oversight of third-party companies that help patients schedule appointments with doctors. But they’ve also provided few details about how the department ensures that the state’s more than 1,800 approved physicians review a patient’s available medical records and provide appropriate consultations.

Outgoing senator said bill needs greater oversight

With just weeks left in his final term, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey played a key role in blocking sweeping anti-money laundering legislation that was created to choke off the billions of dirty dollars pouring into the United States from shady operators, including drug traffickers, oligarchs and corrupt foreign leaders.

The outgoing Pennsylvania Republican pushed last week to halt the reforms from being included in the nation’s annual defense spending bill in a blow to advocates who had gained bipartisan support to wage the most comprehensive crackdown on money laundering in a generation.

Citing the flow of suspicious money into the country, lawmakers say the ENABLERS Act targets the people who have long helped drug kingpins and others move their money into the US – and hide it — including some lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors.

Mr. Toomey declined an interview request through his staff, but a top Republican aide on the Banking Committee said the veteran lawmaker objected to the legislation being tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act — a must-pass bill — without any hearings.

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania House Republicans have filed a lawsuit to block three legislative special elections from taking place in February, potentially delaying a clear-cut majority for Democrats and allowing the GOP to maintain some measure of power into spring.

The suit, filed Friday night in Commonwealth Court by House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster), argues that House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) did not have the authority to schedule the elections Wednesday after she had herself sworn in early in an unpublicized ceremony.

An accompanying request for an injunction asks for the court to “prevent a possibly unlawful special election from being held, which would cause irreparable harm in several ways, including usurping [Cutler’s] authority as Leader of the Republican Caucus of the House of Representatives and possibly Majority Leader of the House of Representatives.”

If he is majority leader, he, not McClinton, would have the authority to schedule the elections, according to the injunction — at least before Jan. 3, when the House elects its next leader.

If the courts side with Cutler, it would delay filling three empty, Democratic-leaning seats until at least March, with the May primary being the latest an election could be scheduled.

At 50 mph, they are inconspicuous blue blurs streaking past the passenger side window. But from another perspective, some 2,500 blue historical markers positioned along Pennsylvania roadways tell the Commonwealth’s story and its place in the union of American states.

With the recent approval of 36 new cast-aluminum markers, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission intends to expand and rethink its telling of the state’s story. Last December, a review of the language on some of the state’s historical markers prompted a reissuing of the signs. Those expected to be installed next year, including seven in southwestern Pennsylvania, were expected to reflect the new approach to cultural sensitivity.

Interest in documenting Pennsylvania history appears to be growing. Ninety-one marker nominations were submitted by local sponsors, nearly double the nominations in 2021. The regional additions to the marker system are expected to spotlight some of our greatest hits.