July 23, 2025 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard this month declassified material that she claimed proved a “treasonous conspiracy” by the Obama administration in 2016 to politicize U.S. intelligence in service of casting doubt on the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s election victory. But a review by The Associated Press of reports produced by federal prosecutors and congressional committees casts doubt on that claim and others made by the nation’s top intelligence official.
July 24, 2025 5:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has unveiled an “AI Action Plan” shaped by Silicon Valley tech leaders who supported his campaign. The plan, disclosed Wednesday, focuses on boosting artificial intelligence technology exports, streamlining permits for energy-intensive data centers and exporting American AI around the world. Trump gave his tech advisers six months to come up with new AI policies after revoking President Joe Biden’s AI guardrails on his first day in office. Opponents of the Republican president’s AI agenda argue it prioritizes the needs of Big Tech over people. More than 100 groups have come together to sign a resolution calling for a “People’s AI Action Plan” that would preserve safeguards for the American public.
July 24, 2025 2:37 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff says the United States is cutting short Gaza ceasefire talks and bringing its negotiating team home from Qatar after the latest response from Hamas “shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.” Witkoff said Thursday mediators made a great effort but Hamas “does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith.” Witkoff says the U.S. will “consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.” A breakthrough in talks on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has eluded Trump’s Republican administration for months as conditions worsen in Gaza.
July 24, 2025 2:28 pm
(WPXI) HOMESTEAD, Pa. — Police have charged a man in connection with a shooting that injured a man in Homestead Wednesday night. Allegheny County police say Joseph Poole, 37, is facing multiple charges, including aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person. Poole is being held in the Allegheny County Jail ahead of his preliminary arraignment. Police say a call came in at 10:44 p.m. for a man who’d been shot in the 300 block of East 13th Avenue. Emergency crews found a man in a home who’d been shot in the leg. He was taken to a hospital in stable condition. In court records, police say the victim would not talk about what happened. Later, Poole reportedly went to the West Homestead police station and told officers, “I just shot somebody on 13th,” before being arrested. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the County Police Tip Line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
July 24, 2025 2:02 am
(WPXI) BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A retired Brighton Township police captain has been charged with possessing child pornography. Peter James Benedict Jr., 68, of Beaver, is charged with 11 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and one count of criminal use of a communication facility. According to court records, a CyberTip was received June 6 for activity with a suspected file of child pornography. Investigators subpoenaed information from an internet service provider and were able to track the activity to Benedict’s address. Police executed a search warrant at Benedict’s home, where he reportedly confessed to viewing child pornography on a home computer. Benedict is being held in the Beaver County Prison with bail set at $500,000.
July 23, 2025 1:55 pm
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — jUDGE Steven Hippler has ordered Bryan Kohberger to serve life in prison without parole for killing four University of Idaho students. Friends and relatives delivered powerful statements of love, anguish and condemnation at the sentencing hearing Wednesday. Kohberger killed the students in their rental home. Madison Mogen’s stepdad Scott Laramie told the court Wednesday that he and his wife had extraordinary lives because they had Mogen. Roommate Dylan Mortenson sobbed as she described the loss of her friends. She called Kohberger hollow and remorseless. (Photo: AP)
July 23, 2025 2:12 am
South Strabane Township Supervisors held a public hearing to consider a conditional use application for a residential plan that would be situated behind the Speedway convenience store on Route 19. The Meadows Landing development proposed by MLD Meadows Landing, LLC will consist of 401 residential units of varying types on 144 acres. Plans call for 170 single family ranch style homes, 141 three story townhomes and 90 ranch style duplex units. Included in the development is a clubhouse and swimming pool. Access to the plan will be from Helen Dr. through the roundabout. The second access will be 1000 feet south from Landings Drive. Neighbors of the property expressed concerns. Linda Rumbaugh is concerned about congestion and privacy. The townhomes would directly abut her property. She worries about the ability of first responders to effectively enter the development if Route 19 would be shut down. Chester Patrina also abuts the development. His concern is trespassing. He has a home on his property that is 110 years old and vehicles stored in his garage. Neighbors were able to negotiate a fence built by the developer to protect their properties. Ryan Klousnitzer, a consultant for the developer says the customer base for the project will be empty nest families. He said that because of Pennsylvania’s aging population, developments with this style of housing is becoming very popular. Price ranges for the homes are predicted to range from $300,000 to $700,000. Supervisors approved the plan unanimously.
July 23, 2025 2:35 am
Washington County Coroner Tim Warco has identified the man who died in a fiery head-on crash Tuesday morning on Route 40 as 18-old Chayse Allen of South Strabane Township. The crash happened just after five o’clock when Allen was traveling east on Route 40 and collided with another vehicle traveling west in the 1600 Block of East National Pike near Valleyview Road. Warco says both vehicles were engulfed in flames and it’s unknown at this time if Allen was wearing a seat-belt. The driver of the other vehicle was flown from the scene by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital. Route 40 was closed for several hours after the crash. State Police are handling the investigation.
July 23, 2025 2:33 am
A Belle Vernon man has been sentenced in federal court to thirty months in prison and ordered to pay $3,630,479.13 for his convictions of failing to pay employment taxes and harboring individuals who were not legally authorized to be in the United States. United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on 28-year-old Andy Ha after he pleaded guilty to the charges in February of 2025. According to information presented to the Court, Ha was the president and owner of the Charleroi staffing agency Prosperity Services, Inc., where he employed individuals who were not legally authorized to be in the United States, and paid for such workers to stay in a former hotel. Ha signed false employment tax returns on behalf of the agency, in which Ha reported less than 10% of Prosperity’s employees. Ha and Prosperity failed to pay taxes on the other unreported employees, resulting in a tax loss of at least $3.1 million over the course of a year.
July 23, 2025 2:42 am
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) released findings of a preliminary report on the cause of the intermittent outages within the Next-Generation 911 (NG911) system across the Commonwealth earlier this month. The preliminary root cause analysis found that the issues were due to a defect in an operating system, which resulted in intermittent disruptions to NG911 call delivery. The disruptions are not believed to be the result of a cyber-attack. “As soon as the intermittent outages started, our vendors and partner public safety organizations began to investigate the cause and take steps to resolve the issue,” said PEMA Executive Deputy Director Jeff Boyle. “We activated the Emergency Alert System and issued Wireless Emergency Alerts as a precautionary measure to notify everyone in Pennsylvania of the issue and to follow county-based back up plans should they not be able to reach the 911 centers by calling the traditional three-digit phone number.” Next Generation Core Services (NGCS) are the systems and components used to process and route calls from phones to 911 centers. There are four instances of the NGCS which are located at two data centers within the NG911 system in Pennsylvania. PEMA suggests as a part of your personal preparedness plan, save your county 911 center ten-digit non-emergency number on your cellphone or write it down in an easily accessible place if you have an emergency and for some reason cannot reach 911.
