July 17, 2025 4:56 am
A U.S. Army veteran arrested during an immigration raid at a California marijuana farm says he was sprayed with tear gas and pepper spray before being dragged from his vehicle on his way to work. George Retes, a native of Ventura City, California, says he was pinned to the ground by ICE officials on his back and his neck after getting caught between protesters and authorities last week at Glass House Farms in Camarillo. Retes was held for three days before being release without charges and without being allowed to contact a lawyer. He said Wednesday he plans to sue the federal government over his ordeal.
July 17, 2025 4:59 am
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Communities along a 700-mile stretch of Alaska’s southern coast ordered their residents to higher ground after a powerful earthquake, but officials quickly downgraded and then canceled a tsunami warning in the area. There were no immediate reports of significant damage. Officials said the earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, struck at 12:37 p.m. local time south of Sand Point. The first waves were projected to land there, but the state’s emergency management division said an hour after the quake that it had received no reports of damage. The earthquake was reportedly felt as far away as Anchorage, almost 600 miles to the northeast.
July 17, 2025 3:58 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials will allow Juul to keep selling its electronic cigarettes. The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that Juul’s benefits as a less harmful alternative for adult smokers outweigh the risks of teen use. “This is an important milestone for the company and I think we made a scientifically sound case for the role that menthol can play in e-vapor,” Juul CEO K.C. Crosthwaite told The Associated Press. Parents, politicians and anti-tobacco advocates wanted a ban on the devices that many blame for the recent spike in underage vaping. “It is a big step in the wrong direction to authorize sales of the product that was responsible for this public health crisis in the first place,” said Yolonda Richardson, CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in a statement. The FDA decision applies to both tobacco and menthol-flavored versions of the reusable product.
July 17, 2025 2:35 pm
(AP) – The Steve Miller Band has canceled its U.S. tour, citing extreme weather as a safety concern for fans and crew. The tour was scheduled to begin in August with stops across the U.S., including New York, Tennessee, Florida, and California. Severe heat and unpredictable flooding have disrupted a number other music events this year. In June, Bonnaroo was cut short due to heavy rain. Last week, heat illnesses affected hundreds at the Rock the Country music festival in Kentucky. Scientists say climate change is fueling extreme weather events, which is making outdoor summer events increasingly difficult to plan safely.
July 17, 2025 8:48 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Connie Francis, the wholesome pop star of the 1950s and 1960s whose hits include “Pretty Little Baby” and who would later serve as an ironic title for a personal life filled with heartbreak and tragedy, has died at age 87. Her death was announced Thursday by her friend and publicist, Ron Roberts, who didn’t immediately provide additional details. Francis was a top performer of the pre-Beatles era, rarely off the charts from 1957-64. Able to appeal to both young people and adults, she had more than a dozen top 20 hits, starting with “Who’s Sorry Now?” and including the No. 1 songs “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You” and “The Heart Has a Mind of Its Own.”
July 16, 2025 2:35 pm
KUT, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi officials say a fire engulfed a newly opened shopping center in eastern Iraq, killing more than 60 people in eastern Wasit province. Iraq’s Ministry of Interior said civil defense teams rescued more than 45 people who became trapped when the fire broke out late Wednesday in the city of Kut. The ministry says 14 charred bodies remain unidentified. The provincial governor declared three days of mourning and says the cause of the fire is still under investigation but that legal cases were filed against the building owner and shopping center owner. He did not specify what the charges were. He also said that no government official has resigned or been dismissed as a result of the fire, and that they are currently awaiting the results of the investigation. The results of the preliminary investigation will be released within 48 hours, he said.
July 16, 2025 3:36 pm
LONDON (AP) — Britain has announced plans to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 before the next national election. The center-left Labour Party pledged before it was elected in July 2024 to lower the voting age for elections to Britain’s Parliament. The government announced the move on Thursday as part of efforts to boost democratic participation. Scotland and Wales already allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections. Britain will join the short list of countries where the voting age is 16, alongside the likes of Austria, Brazil and Ecuador. Additional reforms include automatic voter registration and allowing bank cards as voter ID. Officials also aim to tighten campaign financing rules in an attempt to prevent foreign interference. The changes still require parliamentary approval. The next election is due by 2029.
July 16, 2025 2:13 pm
SOUTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A man is facing charges of endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person and leaving a child unattended in a vehicle, after police said he left an infant and a toddler inside a hot car in the parking lot of the Trinity Point Walmart in Washington. Police said two girls, 9 months old and 3 years old, had been in the car for about 45 minutes. The 3-year-old was unresponsive. The children were taken to a hospital to be cared for. The girls’ mother told police that the children were left in the care of Fritzson Charles. Charles was arrested and taken to the Washington County Prison, where he was denied bail
July 16, 2025 1:29 am
A Canon McMillan High School teacher and former varsity golf coach has been arraigned on charges of allegedly having a sexual relationship with one of his students. Forty-eight-year-old Justin Harry White is facing several charges, including 13 counts of institutional sexual assault. Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh says an investigation by North Strabane Township Police uncovered thousands of texts and emails between White and the victim, which were described as a “daily sexual, romantic and inappropriate for a student-teacher relationship.” Authorities said White and the victim, who was a senior at the time, had multiple sexual encounters, including in White’s classroom, a parking lot three miles from the high school and at the soccer fields in North Strabane Township. North Strabane Township Police say White is being held in the Washington County Jail on a 150-thousand-dollar straight bond. His preliminary hearing has been set for August 5th. (Photo: WPXI)
July 16, 2025 2:07 am
The idea of a personal warehouse development has been working its way to reality for more than a year in North Strabane Township. One additional step has been accomplished. Supervisors held a public hearing about amending the ordnance that permits a personal warehouse in the C-1 commercial district with regards to parking limits. Supervisors will entertain passage of the amendment that states that parking must be provided for one car for every 400 square feet of warehouse space. That is up from the original one car per 300 square feet of warehouse space. Additionally, a parking space in front of the door of each unit will not be counted in the total parking requirement. Township Manager Andrew Walz says the purpose is to try an minimize a “sea of asphalt” that is created when the parking is not utilized. He says it creates difficulty with storm water management. Another change is that there will be a five-acre minimum lot size for any personal warehouse development. CC Realty Advisors is the developer of the personal warehose. It is proposed for the corner of Morganza and Curry Roads. Supervisors could possibly vote on the changes in their August meeting.
