October 9, 2025 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are laboring to find a way to reopen the government but found themselves struggling to overcome a fundamental lack of trust between the two parties. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has floated an “off ramp” to the government funding impasse. He suggests that he could pledge to hold a later vote on expiring health care subsidies if Democrats would first support a stopgap spending bill to reopen the government. But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer seemed to dismiss the idea.
October 9, 2025 5:04 am
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the “first phase” of his peace plan to pause fighting and release at least some hostages and prisoners. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace,” Trump wrote late Wednesday. The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, many of them civilians. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead.
October 9, 2025 5:03 am
(AP) – The state of Illinois is urging a judge to order the National Guard to stand down in the Chicago area. The state calls the deployment a constitutional crisis and suggests that President Donald Trump’s administration gave no heed to the pending legal challenge. Federal Judge April Perry is hearing arguments Thursday. Members of the National Guard arrived Monday, and some are stationed at a Chicago-area immigration building. A Department of Justice lawyer says the Chicago area was rife with “tragic lawlessness.” He noted an incident last weekend in which a Border Patrol vehicle was boxed in and a woman was shot by an agent.
October 9, 2025 5:02 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania House has approved a budget. The vote was 105-98 sending it to the Senate. It comes with the commonwealth’s spending plan 100 days overdue. The House plan reportedly totals more than $50 billion. It now needs to be approved by the Senate and then signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro. The deadline to pass the state budget was June 30. As the standoff dragged on, some county governments and school districts were forced to borrow money, withhold payments to contractors, and scale back services.
October 9, 2025 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are laboring to find a way to reopen the government but find themselves struggling to overcome a fundamental lack of trust between the two parties. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has floated an “off ramp” to the government funding impasse. He suggests that he could pledge to hold a later vote on expiring health care subsidies if Democrats would first support a stopgap spending bill to reopen the government. But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer seemed to dismiss the idea. Pressure is growing on congressional leaders to reach a deal as rank-and-file lawmakers grew anxious about the lack of progress on ending the shutdown.
October 9, 2025 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — New York Attorney General Letitia James has been charged as part of a mortgage fraud investigation aggressively pushed by the Trump administration. She becomes the latest foe of the president to be prosecuted by his Justice Department. James, who infuriated President Donald Trump by suing him and his company for fraud in a case that played out as he was running for office, was indicted on charges of bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution. In a statement Thursday, James decried the indictment as “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”
October 9, 2025 4:54 am
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania authorities say two state police officers and a suspect have been shot while officers were responding to a call. Pennsylvania State Police say the troopers were taken to hospitals after Wednesday’s shooting. Police say they will provide an update on their conditions later along with information about the incident and suspects. Gov. Josh Shapiro says he and his wife Lori are praying for the officers and asked others to join them. State police say there is no threat to the public but “the scene remains very active.” The shooting happened in southern Franklin County, which is northwest of Baltimore.
October 9, 2025 4:49 am
SOMERSET TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Somerset Township father continues to express concerns about target shooting on property near a park. Jared Ritenour says he has called police after hearing what he called hours of gunfire in the woods by his home and next to a playground, ball field, walking track and basketball courts. He tells WPXI “It was like a war zone, and that’s when I called the police,” Ritenour said. “My goodness, it sounded like the beginning of Saving Private Ryan — pow, pow, pow, pow, pow.” Ritenour has been raising concerns on social media and at township meetings, saying the target shooting near the park is dangerous. He says he was laughed at during one of those meetings. He says this is not a Second Amendment issue. “I own guns! I own a lot of guns!” he said. “I just don’t shoot them next to a park.” The property owner, Ronnie Fordyce, defended his rights, saying they’ve been target shooting on the land for nearly four years. He says the group shoots into 300 acres of woods, not toward the park, and that they’re following the law. Fordyce pointed out that state law bans hunting near schools or playgrounds but does not prohibit target shooting.
October 8, 2025 5:56 pm
BOSTON (AP) — Joan Kennedy has died. The first wife of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy died Wednesday at the age of 89. She endured the assassinations of two brothers-in-law and stood by her husband through the Chappaquiddick scandal as well as through his failed 1980 run for president. The couple divorced in 1982. She worked for the mentally challenged and other causes but also struggled with mental health issues and alcoholism herself for much of her life, including several drunk driving arrests. Her son Patrick Kennedy praised her as a classically trained pianist and advocate for addiction recovery who helped break stigma and inspired others to seek help.
October 8, 2025 4:18 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A budget impasse in Pennsylvania is delaying financial aid for in-state college students. The PA State Grant Program gives more than 100,000 students an average of $2,000 each semester. With the state budget standoff stretching into its third month, students face another round of delays after federal glitches and software issues this summer. Even after the governor signs the budget into law, it will take at least a month for schools to begin receiving the money. Some schools are crediting students with money they expect to receive, or offering emergency grant programs. But the president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities says private schools already have tight budgets
