February 12, 2025 10:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation accelerated last month as the cost of groceries and gasoline rose, a trend that will likely underscore the Federal Reserve’s resolve to delay any further interest rate cuts. The consumer price index increased 3% in January from a year ago, Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed, up from 2.9% the previous month. It has increased from a 3 1/2 year low of 2.4% in September. The figures underscore the stickiness of inflation, which created a major political problem for former President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump pledged to reduce prices in last year’s campaign, though most economists worry that his many proposed tariffs could at least temporarily increase costs.
February 12, 2025 5:45 am
Two people have been transported to Pittsburgh hospitals after a crash Wednesday morning along Route 22 in Hanover Township. Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers say it happened just before 4:30 a.m near mile-marker 4 just before the Burgettstown interchange. A pickup truck and a Jeep were involved. There is currently no information on the identities or conditions of those injured. The crash did close the eastbound lanes but traffic was flowing again by 6 a.m.
February 12, 2025 4:49 am
No injuries are reported after a mobile home fire Tuesday night in Ellsworth. Fire officials say they were called to Pear Street around 11 p.m. Officials say the home was vacant but they did find two dogs inside that had to be rescued. There is no word on the cause of the fire.
February 12, 2025 2:39 am
Washington Hospital workers announced Tuesday that they have reached a new union contract with UPMC. Union officials say the contract includes average raises of 12% over three years, with some employees getting as much as 19%, which is major progress from UPMC’s original proposal of a 1% raise per year. Union members say the new contract will help them support themselves and their families as the cost of living continues to increase. Union members say that during their contract negotiations, they took inspiration and strength from the union healthcare workers throughout the Pittsburgh region who have won historic contracts in the past year and a half. Melissa Duran, an EKG Tech at the hospital says, “All nurses and healthcare workers deserve to have a real seat at the table and a union voice in our jobs and our future. Now, we are focused and determined to make sure UPMC keeps their promises and follows through on their commitments to invest ‘a minimum of $300 million’ in our hospital. We will work arm-in-arm with our elected officials and community members to ensure UPMC invests in workers and those we care for.”
February 12, 2025 2:16 am
North Franklin Township took steps to shrink the size of the township’s Planning Commission. Supervisors unanimously approved a measure to reduce the size of the board from 7 members to 5. According to Supervisor Ben Johnson, several sitting members of the Planning Commission wished not to be reappointed and the pool of volunteers to fill board positions is rather shallow. With that, supervisors felt that it is a good time to eliminate 2 positions. The positions will be eliminated through attrition. Additionally, supervisors celebrated a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The township received a grant of $351,900 from the Community Conservation Partnership Program. According to Supervisor Chairman Bob Sabot, the money will be used to remodel their water company filter building into a pavilion, and install a myriad of park amenities. The grant comes at a good time as the township spent $164,000 on park upgrades at the end of 2024.
February 12, 2025 2:54 am
The Kremlin says that a Russian citizen has been freed in the United States in exchange for Moscow’s release of American Marc Fogel. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that the unidentified individual would return to Russia “in the coming days” and when they are in Russia their name would be revealed. Fogel is an American history teacher who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia. He has been released and was returned to the U.S. on Tuesday in what the White House described as a diplomatic thaw that could advance negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
February 11, 2025 4:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a Trump administration push to reinstate a sweeping pause on federal funding, a decision that comes after a judge found the administration had not fully obeyed an earlier order. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned back the emergency appeal, though it said it expected the lower court judge to act quickly to clarify. The Justice Department had asked the appeals court to let it implement sweeping pauses on federal grants and loans, calling the lower court order to keep promised money flowing “intolerable judicial overreach.” A group of states say the president can’t block money that Congress has approved, and some still-frozen grants and loans are causing serious problems for their residents.
February 12, 2025 4:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s most powerful adviser, Elon Musk, has made a rare public appearance at the White House to defend the swift and extensive cuts he’s pushing across the federal government while acknowledging there may be mistakes. He appeared in the Oval Office with Trump as the president praised Musk’s work slashing spending with his Department of Government Efficiency and signed an an executive order to continue downsizing the federal workforce. Musk, taking questions for the first time from reporters since he joined the Trump administration as a special government employee with sprawling influence over federal agencies, defended DOGE’s work as “common sense” and “not draconian or radical.”
February 12, 2025 4:53 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The White House blocked an Associated Press reporter from attending an event in the Oval Office after demanding the news agency alter its style on the Gulf of Mexico, which President Donald Trump has ordered renamed to the Gulf of America. It was a highly unusual move that could have constitutional free-speech implications. AP executives said the reporter tried to enter the White House event as usual Tuesday afternoon and was turned away. Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor of The Associated Press, called the administration’s move troubling and unacceptable. The Trump administration made no immediate announcements about the move.
February 11, 2025 4:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump could sign an order as soon as Wednesday to require that U.S. tariffs on imports match the tax rates charged by other countries. It’s a bet that his economic ideas can eventually deliver meaningful results for voters, even if by Trump’s own admission the import taxes could involve some financial pain in the form of inflation and economic disruptions. For all of Trump’s talk, the impact will likely depend on the details of the tariffs and how other nations respond. The tariffs could set off retaliatory measures that could roil growth around the globe and reset where the United States stands with allies and rivals alike.
