April 18, 2025 2:02 am
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll visited the Freedom Transit in the Washington Transportation Center to discuss funding for public transit. In his address, Carroll outlined Governor Josh Shapiro’s 2025-2026 budget proposal of allocating an additional $292.5 million for public transportation. That money would be derived from sales tax contributions, a 1.75% increase over last year’s allocation from the sales tax pool. This would mean that Freedom Transit would realize $470,000 in additional funding this year. Sheila Gombita, Executive Director of Freedom Transit calls their services “lifeline services.” They not only operate fixed route services that take riders into Pittsburgh and other areas, the brunt of their services are shared ride services. Those services provide people who do not have cars a means to get to work, shop or most importantly obtain medical care. Terry Wiltrout, Vice President of Operations for UPMC/Washington Hospital said that without the shared ride services provided by Freedom Transit, patients may delay scheduled appointments. Those delays could increase medical bills due to a delay in diagnosis or a need for additional medical tests. Gombita indicated that increased funding is needed. Her organization is not in crisis mode, but without a reliable income stream, services could be reduced. The most likely cuts could be in shared ride services. Secretary Carroll said that the state house has introduced measures three time to increase spending on public transportation. All three times, the state senate refused to act. He called on the state senate to take action to properly fund public transportation.
April 17, 2025 12:48 pm
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A gunman opened fire at Florida State University, killing two people and wounded at least five others, authorities say. The 20-year-old gunman was the son of a sheriff’s deputy whose former service weapon was used in Thursday’s shooting. The two people who died were not students at the university, but the shooter is believed to be a student, Florida State University Police Chief Jason Trumbower. Five people were being treated at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, Trumbower said, and the shooter was also receiving medical attention. Students and frightened parents hid in a bowling alley and crammed into a freight elevator inside the student union after hearing gunshots outside the building.
April 17, 2025 10:24 am
U.S. President Donald Trump said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s termination “cannot come fast enough” as he reiterated his frustration that the Fed hasn’t aggressively cut interest rates. The president’s broadside Thursday came a day after Powell said in a speech that Trump’s broad-based tariffs have left the Federal Reserve seeking “greater clarity” on the impact of policy changes in areas such as immigration, taxation, regulation, and tariffs before making potential cuts.
April 17, 2025 5:12 am
The White House has put forward a new media policy that sharply curtails access to Donald Trump by the news agencies that serve media outlets around the world. It was the latest attempt by the administration to control press coverage. The move would block the AP and other wire services that serve billions of readers. It comes after a judge ruled the White House had violated the organization’s free speech by banning it because it disagreed with the outlet’s decision not to rename the Gulf of Mexico. The White House also said it will ultimately give press secretary Karoline Leavitt the final say over who gets to question her boss.
April 17, 2025 5:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS’ Direct File program. That’s the electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free. Word about the decision comes from two people familiar with the move who weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the plans and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.. The program was developed during Joe Biden’s presidency. Users credited it with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. But Republican lawmakers and commercial tax preparation companies complained the program was a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist, although they’re hard to use.
April 17, 2025 5:07 am
Federal databases show Head Start centers across the U.S. have received nearly $1 billion less in federal funding compared with this time last year. This week, the lag in funding caused some preschool classrooms for 400 low-income children to close in central Washington state. Head Start is a child development program for more than half a million of the nation’s neediest kids. The preschools are deeply reliant on the federal money they receive. Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, accused President Donald Trump’s administration of having “slow-walked” money appropriated by Congress. The administration didn’t respond to a request for comment.
April 17, 2025 5:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge says he’s found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court and could seek officials’ prosecution for violating his orders last month to turn around planes carrying deportees to an El Salvador prison. The ruling Wednesday by U.S District Judge James E. Boasberg marks a dramatic battle between the judicial and executive branches of government over a president’s powers to carry out key White House priorities. The judge warned he could hold hearings and potentially refer the matter for prosecution if the administration does not take action to remedy the violation. The Trump administration plans to appeal.
April 17, 2025 5:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump joined his economic advisers for White House negotiations Wednesday over tariffs and trade with a Japanese official. Trump recently announced a round of global tariffs but quickly paused them for 90 days after the markets tanked and recession fears mounted. Japan’s 24% across-the-board tariff is on hold. A 10% baseline tariff and a 25% tariff on cars, auto parts, steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. remain in place. Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting Southeast Asia nations and promoting his country as a more reliable trade partner. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Wednesday that Trump’s tariff policies would hurt the U.S. economy.
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 17, 2025 4:59 am
Brownsville Area School District moved to remote instruction Thursday after an intruder entered the middle school again in the early morning hours. Dr. Kristin D. Martin, Acting Superintendent of Schools, said that someone broke a window and entered the middle school, triggering the alarm system. The district’s Director of Security, Alec Hamilton, chased the intruder out of the building. State police responded and continue to investigate. Martin said the school chose to move to a remote learning day out of an abundance of caution, fo repairs to be made and for police to investigate. “At this time, there is no immediate threat to the safety of the district,” Martin said in the letter to parents. “We understand that incidents of this nature can be concerning, and we want to assure you that we are taking every precaution to ensure the continued safety and security of our students and staff. We remain committed to keeping our community informed as new information becomes available.” This comes a day after the district said an “unauthorized individual” got inside the Middle School. The person left before police arrived but troopers searched the building to make sure it was safe. The district hasn’t said if the two incidents are connected.
