May 4, 2026 5:15 pm
Gas prices are 49 cents higher in Western Pennsylvania this week at $4.654 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. After ticking down for nearly two weeks, gas prices are going back up again with the national average seeing a 34-cent hike in one week. The national average is $1.29 higher than it was this time last year, as oil prices surge above $100/barrel with no indication of when the Strait of Hormuz will reopen. Gas prices are the highest they’ve been in four years, since late July 2022. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand increased last week from 9.05 million barrels per day to 9.10 million. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 228.4 million barrels to 222.3 million. Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging 9.8 million barrels per day.
May 4, 2026 1:50 pm
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A United Airlines passenger jet carrying 221 passengers from Venice, Italy, struck a light pole on the New Jersey Turnpike on Sunday afternoon as it was coming in for a landing at Newark Liberty International Airport, authorities said. The airline said none of the passengers or 10 crew members aboard United Airlines Flight 169 were injured. The New Jersey State Police said a landing tire and the underside of the plane also hit a truck, and the light pole then struck a Jeep that was on the highway. The driver of the truck was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and was released, said the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration said the Boeing 767 aircraft landed safely after it “came into contact with a light pole” on its final approach to Newark. (Photo: AP)
May 4, 2026 5:12 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has restored broad access to the abortion pill mifepristone, blocking a ruling that had threatened to upend one of the main ways abortion is provided across the nation. The order issued Monday allows women seeking abortions to obtain the pill at pharmacies or through the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor. Those rules had been in effect for several years until a federal appeals court imposed new restrictions last week. Most abortions are obtained with medication, normally mifepristone and a second drug, misoprostol. The availability of those drugs has made abortion accessible to women in states with bans. Louisiana sued, saying mifepristone’s availability undermined the ban there.
May 4, 2026 12:37 pm
Two corrections officers and a former inmate are facing charges for alleged drug trafficking at SCI Fayette. Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office announced Monday that following the recommendation of a grand jury, charges were filed against Beau Angelo, 37, and Charity Thompson, 40 — the officers — and Vadol Lewis, 33. Each person is charged with felony counts of corrupt organizations, conspiracy, contraband and delivery of a controlled substance. Sunday says the charges are connected to trafficking that was discovered in late 2024. “This case involves a betrayal of sworn oaths to protect the public, and conduct that threatens the public’s confidence in all officers with duties to keep their communities safe,” Attorney General Sunday said. Sunday says, per the investigation and grand jury testimony, Angelo and Thompson brought K2 and Suboxone into the prison on their persons and distributed the drugs to inmates in exchange for payment. Lewis, a former inmate at the prison, is accused of sending the drugs to the officers. Angelo and Thompson, who are no longer employed as corrections officers, turned themselves in on Monday and were each given $50,000 unsecured bail. Lewis is incarcerated on unrelated charges in Allegheny County, but is also expected to be arraigned on Monday. The cases will be prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General’s Drug Strike Force Section.
May 4, 2026 12:24 pm
A national hoax impacted a local school district’s operations on Monday. In a letter sent to district families, Upper St. Clair School District officials said they were informed of a general threat that local and federal law enforcement deemed to be a national hoax. While the investigation was underway, all Upper St. Clair schools were put in a secure status as a precaution. All schools have since resumed normal operations. District officials say an investigation into the source of the hoax is ongoing. Officials reminded families that concerns about school safety can be shared with principals, school police officers, teachers or other trusted adults. Anonymous tips can be made through the Safe2Say Something program.
May 4, 2026 4:06 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump has announced “Project Freedom” to help ships leave the Strait of Hormuz, starting on Monday. He says the project aims to assist “neutral and innocent” countries affected by the Iran war. Iran has rejected it. Trump also says ongoing discussions with Iran could lead to positive outcomes. Two ships around the strait were attacked on Sunday, according to the British military. Meanwhile, Tehran is reviewing a U.S. response to its proposal to end the war and says nuclear issues are not included.
May 4, 2026 4:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities have determined that buckshot from the gun of the man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in an attempt to kill President Donald Trump struck a Secret Service agent. That word comes from the federal prosecutor overseeing the investigation. Jeanine Pirro said last week there was no evidence the agent was hit by friendly fire during the incident at a Washington hotel on April 25. But the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia went beyond that Sunday in saying a shot from one of Cole Tomas Allen’s weapons hit the officer’s bullet-resistant vest. Allen was injured during the attack but wasn’t shot. The officer survived.
May 4, 2026 3:57 am
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The World Health Organization says that a suspected hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean has killed three people and sickened at least three others. The U.N. health agency, in a statement to The Associated Press on Sunday, said an investigation was ongoing but that at least one case of hantavirus had been confirmed. One of the patients was in intensive care in a South African hospital, the U.N.’s health agency said. The company that runs the cruise said it was trying to evacuate two crew members who were sick and still onboard. The outbreak happened on the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship.
May 4, 2026 3:54 am
NABLUS, West Bank (AP) — A Palestinian man was killed and four others were seriously wounded during an Israeli military raid in Nablus on Sunday. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man as Nayef Firas Ziad Samaro. His wife was in labor at a local hospital when she learned of his death. The Palestinian Red Crescent said a 12-year-old was among the wounded. The raid occurred as schools were letting out, in an area crowded with civilians. The United Nations says at least 42 Palestinians have been killed since the year began. There has been worsening violence near Jewish settlements and outposts in the West Bank.
May 4, 2026 3:52 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine has launched a wave of strikes against Russia’s oil export infrastructure, hitting a key loading port on the Baltic Sea and three tankers that Ukraine alleges were illegally used to transport Russian crude. A nighttime drone strike sparked a blaze at Russia’s largest oil exporting port on the Baltic Sea, according to Russian regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko. The port of Primorsk lies over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Ukraine. Elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had hit two tankers in the Black Sea that had been used to transport Russian oil in violation of Western sanctions.
