February 1, 2025 4:16 am
A government memo aimed at implementing President Donald Trump’s order rolling back protections for transgender people has rippled through the federal government as agencies scramble to make changes to strip “gender ideology” from websites, contracts and emails. The Office of Personnel Management directed agency heads to have staff remove pronouns from their government emails, disband employee resource groups, and terminate grants and contracts related to the issue. The directive was sent Wednesday and ordered the changes instituted by 5 p.m. Friday. It also asked agencies to remove the term “gender” from government forms and swap it out with “sex.”
February 1, 2025 4:24 am
Hamas has freed three hostages as part of the ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip. Two released hostages, Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas, arrived in Israel and were on their way to an initial reception point. Along the road leading to the military base, small groups of supporters waited for the convoys waving Israeli flags. Later Saturday, American-Israeli Keith Siegel was handed over to the Red Cross. The six-week phase one truce calls for the release of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 prisoners, as well as the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid to the devastated territory. Israel and Hamas are set next week to begin negotiating a second phase of the ceasefire.
February 1, 2025 4:08 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A medical transport jet carrying a child patient, her mother and four others has crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood about 30 seconds after taking off, erupting in a fireball and engulfing several homes in flames. All six people aboard were from Mexico. The child had been treated in Philadelphia for a life-threatening condition and was being transported home. The crash comes two days after the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century, in Washington, D.C.
January 31, 2025 5:41 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — New data from Pennsylvania’s statewide elections agency indicates about 2,600 mail-in ballots were turned down in the November presidential contest for having the wrong date and nearly 2,100 for having no date at all. Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt says the rate of rejected ballots fell between the spring primary and the fall general election as his agency redesigned the ballot return envelopes and engaged in a voter education campaign. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said in mid-January it will rule on whether the envelope date requirement violates a state constitutional mandate that elections be free and equal.
January 31, 2025 5:39 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Josh Shapiro will deliver his third budget proposal to lawmakers next week, a plan that’s expected to seek substantially more aid for the poorest public schools, emphasize frugality and push for more aid to public transit and legalize marijuana. The plan to be unveiled Tuesday also is expected to carry aid for rural hospitals, boost pay for home care workers and introduce taxes on skill games. It’ll come at a time of enormous surpluses. But the state also has big deficits and numerous cost pressures. Passage will require approval from Pennsylvania’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and the Republican-controlled Senate.
January 31, 2025 2:12 pm
(WPXI) – A massive fire broke out early Friday morning at a marina along the Monongahela River in Forward Township. Fire crews were called to McCrossin’s Landing along Edsel Lane a little after 1 a.m. after a CSX train crew spotted the fire and called 911. The fire quickly grew to two alarms and crews from neighboring Westmoreland and Washington counties were called in to assist. The assistant fire chief told Channel 11 that the marina had been closed for some time but the owner says he was planning to reopen. One firefighter suffered a minor injury due to a fall. They were checked out at the scene and are expected to be okay. The owner says he is offering a $5,000 reward for any information to any type of arrest in this situation. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal is investigating.
January 31, 2025 4:54 am
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight from Kansas has killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft. That was the word from authorities Thursday as they scrutinized the actions of the military pilot after the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century. At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter apparently flew into the path of the jet late Wednesday while it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew. Three soldiers were aboard the helicopter.
January 30, 2025 2:55 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro says he wants to fast-track energy projects in Pennsylvania and offer hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for projects that produce electricity and hydrogen. Shapiro’s announcement Thursday came days before he delivers his third budget proposal to lawmakers and amid an energy crunch. Shapiro says he wants to keep pace with other states that are attracting big projects, such as data centers. Shapiro says Pennsylvania is one of 12 states that doesn’t have an entity to fast-track siting decisions for energy projects. He wants to change that. The tax credits Shapiro is proposing are aimed at large projects producing electricity, hydrogen and “sustainable” aviation fuel.
January 31, 2025 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are coming on Saturday. Trump also said he’ll “probably” decide on Thursday night whether to include oil from those countries as part of his import taxes. Trump says his decision will be based on whether the price of oil charged by the two trading partners is fair, although the basis of his threatened tariffs pertains to stopping illegal immigration and the smuggling of chemicals used for fentanyl.
January 31, 2025 4:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration changes have upended the U.S. agency charged with providing humanitarian aid overseas, with senior officials put on leave, contractors laid off and a sweeping freeze imposed on foreign assistance. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the pause, saying “the U.S. government is not a charity.” Current and former officials at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development say they were invited to submit requests to exempt certain programs from the freeze, which President Donald Trump imposed Jan. 20 and the State Department detailed how to execute on Jan. 24. Three days later, at least 56 senior career USAID staffers were abruptly placed on administrative leave.
