March 14, 2025 5:03 am
Canon-McMilllan School District is set to install a new crisis alert system for student and employee safety which will be funded by a grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). The system will be the first in Washington County and the second in the entire Western Pennsylvania region. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Scott Chambers states that all employees will wear badges that trigger immediate emergency alerts, including medical emergencies and intruder alerts. In other matters, the district has also opened kindergarten registration on their website for the 2025-2026 school year. According to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Mark Abbondanza, the webpage contains frequently asked questions, key facts regarding the kindergarten process, and downloadable registration forms. The district is also implementing an artificial intelligence curriculum incorporating robotics for 5th and 6th graders in Cecil Intermediate and North Strabane Intermediate Schools. The curriculum will allow students to design and code robots while learning about coding and AI offering two levels of difficulty: the uKit AI Beginner for 5th graders, featuring more than 350 building pieces, and the uKit AI Intermediate for 6th graders, with more than 550 building pieces. The pilot program will launch in April, with STEM teachers leading the effort.
March 13, 2025 5:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate finds itself in a familiar position, working to avoid a partial government shutdown with just hours to spare. Democrats confront two painful options Friday as a midnight deadline looms. They can allow passage of a bill they believe gives President Donald Trump vast discretion on spending decisions. Or they can vote no and let funding lapse. The top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said Democrats really didn’t have a choice because a shutdown would have far worse consequences for Americans. The legislation would fund the federal government through the end of September.
March 14, 2025 5:25 am
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is listing all the federal real estate leases it is ending, but new records obtained by The Associated Press show when those cancellations are expected to take effect. The documents from inside the General Services Administration, the U.S. government’s real estate manager, list dozens of federal office and building leases expected to end by June 30, with hundreds more slated over the coming months. The rapid pace of cancellations has raised alarms, with some agencies and lawmakers appealing to DOGE to exempt specific buildings. Several agencies are facing 20 or more lease cancellations in all, including the IRS, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Geological Survey.
March 14, 2025 5:28 am
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Representatives of China, Russia and Iran called for an end to U.S. sanctions on Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program and a restart to multinational talks on the issue. The talks come after U.S. President Donald Trump wrote to Iran’s supreme leader in an attempt to jumpstart talks. The letter was offered as Trump levied new sanctions on Iran as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign that holds out the possibility of military action while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached. The three nations who met Friday emphasized the necessity of ending all unilateral sanctions, their joint statement said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was due to meet with the representatives later in the day.
March 14, 2025 5:27 am
GENEVA (AP) — Iran increasingly relies on electronic surveillance and the public to inform on women refusing to wear the country’s mandatory headscarf in public, even as hard-liners push for harsher penalties for those protesting the law. That’s according to a United Nations report released Friday. The findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran come after it determined last year that the country’s theocracy was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to the death of Mahsa Amini. Her death led to nationwide protests against the country’s mandatory hijab laws and the public disobedience against them that continues even today, despite the threat of violent arrest and imprisonment.
March 13, 2025 5:22 am
A sweeping storm system moving across the U.S. threatens to bring tornadoes, blizzards and possibly wildfires to different regions of the country. The National Weather Service says an outbreak of severe storms ramping up Friday afternoon could spawn tornadoes, with the greatest risk in Missouri and Illinois as well as portions of Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. Heavy snow and high winds in the Great Plains could make travel treacherous in the Dakotas and parts of Minnesota. Forecasters say strong winds and warm, dry weather farther south pose a critical risk of wildfires in northwest Texas, Oklahoma and a portion of southeast Kansas. Severe weather threats are expected to persist into the weekend.
March 14, 2025 3:46 pm
DENVER (AP) — A fire on an American Airlines plane after it diverted mid-flight and landed at Denver International Airport sent fleeing passengers to a wing amid billowing smoke. Airport officials say 12 people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries. The incident Thursday is the latest in a spate of aviation disasters and close calls stoking fears about air travel, though flying remains a very safe mode of transport. The Federal Aviation Administration says Flight 1006 was headed from Colorado Springs to Dallas-Fort Worth but diverted to Denver after the crew reported engine vibrations. The FAA says that while taxiing to the gate, an engine caught fire. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
March 13, 2025 2:32 am
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce is merging with a neighbor. The Washington Chamber announced that it will be merging with the Southpointe Chamber of Commerce. The Washington County Chamber will not only acquire the Southpointe Chamber members, it will also take over publication rights to Southpointe Magazine and the Southpointe Chamber’s events. Don Hodor, outgoing president of the Southpointe Chamber says the merger will be the most effective networking organizations in the region, calling it a win-win for all involved especially for Southpointe Chamber’s members. Jeff Kotula, president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce thanked Hodor for his leadership, utilizing the Southpointe Chamber to fully focus on the development of the Southpointe Business Park.
March 13, 2025 2:51 am
A Washington County Court Jury deliberated for just a few hours Thursday before returning a not guilty verdict in the trial of 81-year-old Anthony Ardeno of Canton Township. Ardeno was facing multiple charges related to the alleged rape of a girl over a period of several years, from the time she was five-years-old until she was eleven. Prosecutors laid out their case during the trial by calling on the victim’s divorced parents who had entrusted the care of the victim and her brother to Ardeno several days a week when the mother had to work at night during her days of custody. Testimony revealed that Ardeno told the girl not to say anything to anyone regarding the assaults. Finally, a school counselor was told of the assaults while they were trying to figure out the victim’s chronic absenteeism at school and failing grades. Victim testimony described the assaults that started as inappropriate touching all the way to full acts of intercourse. Defense attorneys tried to poke holes in the victim’s testimony – pointing to differences in a forensic interview and direct testimony on the stand regarding the timeline of events. Ardeno’s attorney, Lane Turturice told WJPA that the verdict gives him hope for our system of justice and that things went the way for someone whom he thinks is a good man. Ardeno remains in the Washington County jail on unrelated charges.
March 13, 2025 3:15 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — American retailers say President Donald Trump’s threatened 200% tariff on European wine would harm consumers. Holly Seidewand owns First Fill Spirits in New York state and says a tariff war hurts importers, distributors and retailers but “consumers will bear the brunt.” Ronnie Sanders is CEO of Vine Street Imports in New Jersey and says customers aren’t prepared to pay two or three times more for wine. Trump on Thursday called the EU among “the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities.” The Republican complains about the lack of U.S. auto sales in Europe and about lawsuits and fines against U.S. tech companies there. The European Commission says Europe wants to “negotiate to avoid tariffs.”
