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Lawmakers seek to regulate chatbots

A House committee has set a vote next week for legislation requiring safety protocols for artificial intelligence companionship chatbots. Companionship apps create virtual environments where human users interact with virtual avatars that respond in a human manner. Rep. Melissa Shusterman, D-Montgomery, said that some companionship apps boast of having 20 million users a month, a reflection of the loneliness epidemic impacting as many as half of American adults. “Some users of the AI companion have described close friendships that have led to romantic interactions with their AI ...

Williamsburg house fire kills one

One person was killed in a house fire early Monday morning in Williamsburg. According to the Blair County Coroner’s Office, Tyler Gearhart, 38, Williamsburg, was pronounced dead at the scene. Gearhart was found in a second story bedroom by firefighters, said Williamsburg Volunteer Fire ...

Spring Cove School Board raises taxes

The Spring Cove school board voted to raise taxes to help offset a budget deficit and approved the district’s business manager to act as superintendent while the district searches to replace soon-to-retire Superintendent Betsy Baker. During Monday’s meeting, the board voted 6-3 to adopt a ...

Motorists cautioned ahead of Big Boy visit

The presence of the Union Pacific’s Big Boy steam locomotive in the region between July 8-11 is generating a carload of warnings from authorities — like a mother admonishing a little boy whom she knows is about to be tempted to misbehave. The latest such warnings came in a news release ...

Superior Court upholds dismissal of SCI Huntingdon inmate’s petition

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has upheld a decision by a Blair County judge to dismiss a petition by a former Altoona man, Stephen Montier Piner, who challenged the funding of drug investigations by Operation Our Town. Piner, 67, is presently serving a 20- to 40-year prison term after ...

E-waste bill advances in House

A Pennsylvania House committee voted Monday to advance legislation to modernize and strengthen Pennsylvania’s Covered Device Recycling Act and address longstanding electronic waste, or e-waste, challenges in the state. The House Environmental & Natural Resource Protection Committee passed House Bill 2553, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Borowski, D-Delaware, updating the CDRA by expanding the devices covered, improving access to recycling options and strengthening protections for sensitive data when electronics are discarded. It also requires the state Department of Environmental Protection to ...