December 25, 2024 6:19 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he’ll “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions. Trump criticized Biden’s decision on Monday to change the sentences of 37 of the 40 condemned people to life in prison without parole. Trump said that he will direct the Department of Justice to pursue the death penalty “as soon as I am inaugurated.” Trump was vague on what specific actions he may take.
December 25, 2024 6:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has made it official: The bald eagle is now the national bird of the United States. Biden signed a bill into law on Tuesday to correct what had long gone unnoticed and designate the bald eagle as the national bird. The bald eagle has been a symbol of the United States for more than 240 years, appearing on the nation’s Great Seal since the design was finalized in 1782. That year, Congress also designated the bald eagle as the national emblem. But the honor of becoming the national bird had remained elusive until now.
December 25, 2024 6:14 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has opened the great Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. The ceremony kicks off the 2025 Holy Year. It’s a celebration of the Catholic Church that is expected to draw some 32 million pilgrims to Rome. And it will test the pope’s stamina and the ability of the Eternal City to welcome them. This begins the Christmas Eve Mass. The ceremony inaugurates the once-every-25-year tradition of a Jubilee. Francis has dedicated the 2025 Jubilee to the theme of hope.
December 25, 2024 6:09 am
The South Strabane Fire Department was called to a fire near the ramp of Exit 21 (Interstate 79 South) at 3:14 pm on Tuesday. According to Washington County 9-1-1 officials, brakes on a tractor trailer caught fire. One lane of traffic was shut down for about 15 minutes during the incident. The fire was extinguished quickly. No injuries were reported. (Photo: South Strabane Fire Department Facebook)
December 25, 2024 6:07 am
North Strabane Township emergency responders were called to a two vehicle accident near the Exit 45 (Canonsburg) off ramp at approximately 8:00 on Tuesday evening. According to Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers, both the fire department and police department responded to the wreck on McClelland Road. No injuries were reported. The accident scene was cleared in about 45 minutes.
December 25, 2024 6:05 am
PITTSBURGH —(WPXI)- A local bakery known for its Terrible Towel cookies created a new design for a potential superstar’s visit to the Steel City. In honor of the Steelers-Chiefs Christmas Day game — and a possible visit from pop star Taylor Swift — Bethel Bakery made hundreds of “Taylor’s Coming to Town” cookies. The cookies show Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce as gingerbread people next to a Christmas Tree. Those at the shop said they wanted to give all the Swifties and Steelers fans a sweet stocking stuffer. “We’re the only bakery like this to make those Terrible Towel cookies, so that’s a great Steelers sweet treat to enjoy during the game too,” Natalie Lacek said. The shop made around 700 “Swiftmas” cookies, selling out both in-store and online.
December 24, 2024 8:53 am
American Airlines flights were cleared to fly by regulators early Tuesday after a brief grounding due to systemwide technical issue. Just before 7 a.m. Eastern time, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered all American Airlines flights grounded in the U.S. at the airline’s request. American had reported a technical issue affecting its entire system with millions traveling for the holiday. The ground stop, according to the time stamps on the FAA’s orders, lasted exactly one hour. The groundings couldn’t come at a worse time for the millions of travelers expected to fly over the next 10 days.
December 25, 2024 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful government panel has failed to reach consensus on the possible national security risks of a nearly $15 billion proposed deal for Nippon Steel of Japan to purchase U.S. Steel. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States on Monday sent its long-awaited report to President Joe Biden, a longtime opponent of the deal. Some federal agencies represented on the panel were skeptical that allowing a Japanese company to buy an American-owned steelmaker would create national security risks. That’s according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. Both Biden and President-elect Donald Trump opposed the merger and vowed to block it. Nippon Steel says it is confident the deal will go ahead.
December 24, 2024 5:04 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – An internet outage that delayed T rail cars and threw several of Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s systems offline last week was related to a ransomware attack. Adam Brandolph, spokesperson for PRT, said the attack was first detected on Thursday, Dec. 19. Upon discovering the incident, PRT immediately launched an investigation, activated its Cyber Incident Response Team, notified law enforcement and engaged nationally recognized third-party cybersecurity and data forensics experts. While rail service experienced temporary disruptions on Thursday morning, transit services are currently operating as normal, Brandolph said. However, some other rider services remain negatively impacted, including PRT’s Customer Service Center, which is temporarily unable to accept or process Senior and Kid’s ConnectCards. PRT will continue to provide updates as appropriate, Brandolph said.
December 24, 2024 5:10 am
CONNEAUT LAKE, Pa. — Multiple people were rescued while canoeing on a lake in western Pennsylvania. The Conneaut Lake Volunteer Fire Department said at around 5:30 a.m., crews were dispatched for a reported water rescue in the area of Lake Front Street just south of Hotel Conneaut in Conneaut Lake, Crawford County. The initial report said three people were in a canoe and one person was in the water, officials said. The person in the water was able to get back onto the canoe. The scuba team utilized the hovercraft to reach the people on the water and bring them back to shore safely, with the last rescue happening at 6:36 a.m.
