March 7, 2025 5:04 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Walgreens Boots Alliance says it has agreed to be acquired by the private equity firm Sycamore Partners as the struggling retailer looks to turn itself around after years of losing money. Walgreens said Sycamore will pay $11.45 per share, giving the deal an equity value just under $10 billion. Shareholders could eventually receive up to another $3 per share under certain conditions. A buyout to take the drugstore chain private would give it more flexibility to make changes to improve its business without worrying about Wall Street’s reaction. Walgreens has been a public company since 1927.
March 7, 2025 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s ever-changing, on-again, off-again tariff war with America’s three biggest trading partners – Mexico, Canada and China — is baffling businesses and causing them to delay or cancel the investments that help drive economic growth. Trade wars complicate the decisions businesses have to make – which suppliers to use, where to locate factories, what prices to charge. During Trump’s first-term trade battles, U.S. business investment weakened late in 2019, convincing the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark interest rate three times in second half of the year to provide some offsetting economic stimulus. Trump 2.0 is proving even more unnerving to business.
March 7, 2025 5:01 am
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Police say a 17-year-old boy with a loaded shotgun boarded a plane in Australia before being restrained by a pilot and two passengers. Police and a passenger said the boy climbed through a hole in the airport fence and posed as a maintenance worker to board the plane Thursday. The boy was disarmed and detained before police arrived on the scene at Avalon Airport in Victoria state. Police said Friday the boy had been charged with unlawfully taking control of an aircraft, possessing a firearm and other crimes. Passenger Barry Clark, a former boxer and sheep shearer, said the boy got agitated when questioned by a flight attendant and he snuck behind the boy to push the gun away and restrain the boy.
March 7, 2025 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expressing uncertainty that NATO would come to the United States’ defense if the country were attacked. That’s despite the alliance doing just that after Sept. 11 in what was the only time that the Article 5 defense guarantee has ever been invoked. He also suggested Thursday that the United States might abandon its NATO commitments if member countries don’t meet defense spending targets. Trump mentioned France during his remarks, saying if he called them and said, “We got a problem,” he’s “not so sure” they would protect the United States. French President Emmanuel Macron responded by saying that he and his country are “loyal and faithful allies” to the U.S.
March 7, 2025 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has given the Trump administration until Monday to speed up payment toward some of nearly $2 billion owed to partners of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department. Thursday’s decision thaws the administration’s six-week funding freeze on all foreign assistance. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled in favor of nonprofit groups and businesses that sued over the funding freeze, which has forced organizations around the world to slash services and lay off thousands of workers. Ali issued his order a day after a divided Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s bid to freeze funding that flowed through USAID.
March 7, 2025 4:56 am
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has hit the three-week mark in his hospitalization for double pneumonia. The Vatican said the 88-year-old pope had a good night’s rest and woke up Friday morning just after 8 a.m. Doctors said they didn’t expect to give a new medical update until Saturday. Francis is in stable condition but offered a first public sign of just how weak he is on Thursday. He recorded an audio message that was broadcast to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square. In it, Francis thanked the people for their prayers. But his voice was barely discernible through his labored breaths.
March 7, 2025 4:53 am
Trinity Area School Board authorized awarding a bid proposal of $458,623 from Blueprints for developing and implementing a preschool program during the 2025-2026 school year. The program will be funded through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a federal initiative for local education. The programs will be located in Trinity East and Trinity South Elementary Schools. Another adjustment which will be done at Trinity South is the baseball field of the school has had drainage problems during heavy rainstorms and will be leveled prior to the beginning of the season. In a separate motion, the board authorized the district’s administration to reset the bidding process on a new Visual Emergency Notification System. The district would like to acquire a system with additional features of digital signage, wireless screen mirroring, and general announcements capability. The new system will be merged into the district’s existing technology infrastructure, 280 Promethean ActivPanels and 40 display/televisions used for digital signage in six buildings. In other matters, the board also approved the purchase of a new Fusion Epilog Laser Engraver from Allegheny Educational Systems, Inc at the cost of $15,636.40. The machine is funded from General Funds of Pennsylvania Education Purchasing Program for Microcomputers and will be installed in Trinity Middle School.
March 7, 2025 2:57 am
Washington City Council hired their new city administrator. Richard Cleveland has been appointed to the position that is being vacated by Donn Henderson next month. Cleveland will begin work with the city on March 18 and his salary will be $74,000. According to Mayor JoJo Burgess, Cleveland brings a wealth of experience to the city from the private sector as he performed work for several municipalities in Washington and Greene Counties. There will be an approximate 30 day overlap with Henderson to allow Cleveland to get on his feet quickly. As anticipated council adopted changes to the property maintenance ordinance adopting the 2021 edition of the International Property Maintenance Code. They also adopted changes to the quality of life ordinance raising the $25 dollar fine to $50 to cover increased costs of enforcement. At the end of the meeting, Mayor JoJo Burgess made a statement that asks all residents to treat city employees with respect. He indicated that a recent event alarmed an employee when a resident became irate with them over a policy enacted by council. Burgess simply stated that if a resident has a complaint about policy or law, come to the mayor and council. City employees only perform the tasks assigned. The argument that you have belongs between the residents and council and employees are not to receive the thrust of frustration over something they had no control over implementing.
March 7, 2025 1:52 am
An addition to the agenda to the Washington County Commissioners voting meeting shortly after the scheduled agenda meeting has caused some confusion among the board. Commissioners voted 2-1 to cancel a maintenance contract with MRA Inc. That company is the vendor for the current emergency radio system in the county. According to Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman, the contract with MRA Inc was cancelled over cost and timeline regarding a move of an antenna from the Courthouse Square Building to the Crossroads Building to allow demolition of the Courthouse Square Building to begin. Cost was also an issue according to Sherman. Though no figures were disclosed, Sherman said that the new vendor, Capital Communications, can perform the work more quickly and at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars cheaper than MRA Inc. Sherman says that Capital Communications is already under contract with the county to work on the new emergency radio system installation. Sherman went on to say that Capitol Communications is fully capable of performing the work and maintenance of equipment that MRA Inc was contracted to perform. Commissioner Larry Maggi voted against the measure, stating that this contract was cancelled last August without proper vetting, only to be reinstated in October. He says that he has not seen any figures that Sherman reports and wonders why the contract was not put out for bid.
March 7, 2025 12:13 am
Incumbent Magisterial District Judge James Saieva Jr. has announced he will seek reelection. He has served in that capacity for the past five years for the Canonsburg area. He ran for office in 2019 after retiring from the Canonsburg Police Department after more than twenty-five years as a police officer. He also worked for both the Hanover Township and Houston Borough Police Departments. In his announcement, Saieva points to instituting a campaign promise and changing office hours to accommodate citizens when scheduling their hearings and extending office hours on Monday’s until 6 p.m. He is a graduate of Canon-McMillan High School and holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Edinboro University. He also is a graduate of the Municipal Police Academy at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Saieva is a Republican but plans to cross-file.
