ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Aaron Judge took a smooth, mighty swing, then broke into a big smile as he trotted around the bases. Heading home, his teammates backed away, letting him touch the plate alone. At last, the New York Yankees slugger had the American League home run record all to himself. Judge hit his 62nd home run of the season Tuesday night, breaking Roger Maris’ AL record and setting what some fans consider baseball’s “clean” standard.

HARRISBURG – The Office of Inspector General filed welfare fraud charges against 63 individuals in August, including seven with local ties, officials said Tuesday. The restitution owed the commonwealth in these cases totals $252,435.58. Additional cost savings will be realized as the defendants will be temporarily disqualified from receiving public benefits in the programs they defrauded. The OIG filed 24 criminal cases of fraudulently receiving public assistance in Pennsylvania that were graded as a felony of the third degree.

In honor of Trooper Monty Mitchell, Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered the commonwealth flag to half-staff on all commonwealth facilities, public buildings and grounds in Clearfield and Jefferson counties. Mitchell died earlier this week after suffering a medical episode while on duty, officials said. He was assigned to the Patrol Section of Troop C in DuBois. “The sudden passing of Trooper Mitchell is felt by not only his loved ones, but also his fellow members of the Pennsylvania State Police and the community he served,” said Governor Wolf.

WASHINGTON (TND) — The left-wing watchdog Media Matters is laying off staffers following months of legal challenges and controversies, according to social media posts by impacted employees. Katherine Abughazaleh wrote in a post Thursday she and "a dozen colleagues" had been laid off from Media Matters. She blamed the move on "far-right billionaires" who attacked the organization with "armies of lawyers." Abughazaleh also made a reference to an specific, unnamed billionaire, likely a jab at Elon Musk.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — According to NFL Insider Adam Schefter, the Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly planning to sign free agent linebacker Patrick Queen. The 24-year-old was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2020 after playing collegiately at LSU, where he won a National Championship. Reports indicate that Queen is expected to sign a 3-year, $41 million deal with Pittsburgh. In four seasons with Baltimore, Queen appeared in all 67 career games, where he tallied 454 total tackles, 13.