April 17, 2025 5:02 am
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Crews are working to restore power to Puerto Rico after a blackout across the entire island that affected the main airport, several hospitals and hotels filled with Easter vacationers. The blackout left 1.4 million customers without electricity and 328,000 without water. About 12% had power back at the end of the day Wednesday. The blackout snarled traffic, forced businesses to close and left those unable to afford generators scrambling to buy ice and candles. It’s the second islandwide blackout in less than four months. The cause wasn’t yet known, but Puerto Rico has had chronic outages due to hurricane damage and a lack of maintenance and investment in its power grid.
April 16, 2025 1:50 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge says he’s found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court for violating his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg said Wednesday he could refer the matter for prosecution if the administration does not “purge” its contempt. Boasberg said the administration could do so by returning to U.S. custody those who were sent to the El Salvador prison in violation of his order so that they “might avail themselves of their right to challenge their removability.” If the Justice Department declines to prosecute, Boasberg said he will appoint another attorney to prosecute the contempt matter.
April 16, 2025 8:52 am
President Donald Trump’s administration announced a lawsuit Wednesday against Maine’s education department for not complying with the government’s push to ban transgender athletes in girls sports, escalating a dispute over whether the state is abiding by a federal law that bars discrimination in education based on sex. Also, a federal judge has said she’ll order sworn testimony by Trump administration officials to determine if they complied with her orders to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to a notorious El Salvador prison.
April 16, 2025 2:47 am
The Washington County Republican Party kicked off the primary election season by hosting a Meet the Candidates Forum. Nearly 60 people listened to the unopposed row office candidates, Sheriff Tony Andronas and Recorder of Deeds Carrie Perrell join the four candidates vying for the position of County Controller for a panel discussion. Current Acting Controller Heather Sheatler, Pat Phillips, Tony DeLost and Brenda Davis are all seeking nomination for the controller seat in the May 20 primary election. The four answered prepared questions regarding their desire for the office, their qualifications for the office and what accomplishments they would like to have if they became controller. Office transparency, integrity, efficiency, and a removal of politics from the office were all goals of each candidate. Audience questions ranged from how long have you been a republican, to have you ever taken campaign contributions from a democrat? In a more serious note, people did want to know how all candidates would keep political influence out of their offices. Each candidate emphasized the importance of voters to get out and vote on Election Day.
April 16, 2025 4:47 am
Plans were announced in North Strabane Township to apply for Pennsylvania Small Water and Sewerage Grants to help fund stormwater improvement projects on McGregor Drive and Curry Avenue. The proposed project on McGregor Drive is expected to cost approximately $47,902, while the Curry Avenue project is estimated at $250,596.Vince Seyko Project Manager of Gibson-Thomas Engineering for North Strabane Township states that part of Curry Avenue is sinking and is a safety issue. The higher cost of the Curry project compared to McGregor is due to the sinking road needing to be repaved with asphalt. Since the projects will be funded by the state, Seyko says that residents will not face a tax increase. The timeline of the project has not been determined. In addition to stormwater work, the township is preparing to move forward with repairs to the Vandale Bridge. The board discussed authorizing the preparation and advertisement of bids for the bridge project, signaling the next step in securing a contractor to handle the repairs. Also on the agenda was a request from the Canonsburg-Houston-Strabane Veterans Council on a proposed donation to support the council’s annual Memorial Day Program.
April 16, 2025 2:56 am
Washington City Police and State Police are investigating an accident involving a pedestrian Monday evening in the city. Police Chief Steve Devenney tells WJPA News that a juvenile, who was believed to be operating a motorized scooter, was struck a vehicle along W. Chestnut Street at Washington Street near the Post Office. Devenney says the unidentified juvenile was then flown by medical helicopter to UPMC Childrens’ Hospital with life-threatening injuries. There has been no update on their condition. Devenney says the driver of the vehicle remained and the scene and has been fully cooperative. A State Police accident reconstruction team was brought in. Devenney says there were multiple witnesses to the accident but police are asking anyone who may have additional information to contact the police department.
April 15, 2025 5:02 am
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge says she will order sworn testimony by Trump administration officials to determine if they complied with her orders to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He was mistakenly deported to a notorious El Salvador prison last month. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to return him. But the administration has so far refused. It claims he’s in the MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys deny the allegations and say he was never charged with a crime. The president of El Salvador also said he would not return Abrego Garcia, likening it to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”
April 16, 2025 5:03 am
DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump is considering a delay of auto tariffs. A temporary pause won’t be enough for automakers to adjust their vast global supply chains but exemptions on parts could be key to the industry. It may also give car buyers a little more time to decide before vehicle prices are expected to rise significantly.
April 16, 2025 5:01 am
BANGKOK (AP) — China’s economy expanded at a robust 5.4% annual pace in January-March, supported by strong exports ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s rapid increases in tariffs on Chinese exports. Analysts forecast that the world’s second largest economy will slow significantly in coming months, however, as tariffs as high as 145% on U.S. imports from China take effect. Exports were a strong factor in China’s ability to attain a 5% annual growth rate in 2024 and the official target for this year remains at about 5%. Beijing has hit back at the U.S. with 125% tariffs on American exports, while also stressing its determination to keep its own markets open to trade and investment.
April 16, 2025 4:59 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk’s federal cost-cutting team is touting its latest finding: Hundreds of millions of dollars in allegedly fraudulent unemployment claims. But the fraud the Department of Government Efficiency is claiming to have uncovered seems to mimic work that federal investigators already reported years ago. And when they looked into the fraud, they found far more than what DOGE is now trumpeting. DOGE says its review found abuse including filings made by people with birthdates indicating they were just children, over the age of 115 or not even born yet. The Department of Labor’s own inspector general found major problems in pandemic unemployment benefits.
