July 25, 2025 4:45 am
CHARLEROI, Pa. — Looks like the shuttered Charleroi glass plant may have new life. Reports say a company is in the process of buying the former Corelle Brands Glass Plant, with plans to reopen it as an industrial glass facility by the end of the year. “Everybody said, ‘Oh, it’s dead now. Charleroi’s dead. They lost Corelle, they’re dead.’ Well, guess what…we are still alive,” said Mayor of Charleroi, Gregg Doerfler. “That’s all we’ve ever been known for is glass. So for it to continue, even though it’s not Pyrex or whatever, to know it’s still a glass factory is an amazing thing.” According to our news partners at Channel-11, sources said the new owners plan on investing 10’s of millions of dollars into renovating the plant. The news comes just over three months after the plant closed its doors after 132 years, leaving hundreds out of work. Daniele Byrne, the vice president of Local Union 53G, said she’s still waiting for details on the potential sale. “We took our little severance that we got, but…nobody has contacted anybody from the union,” said Byrne. “I talked to the president today, and she said no one contacted her either about the plant opening up.” Byrne and her husband both lost their jobs due to the closing. She said the plant workers were like family and that she would go back in a heartbeat. “If they called me tomorrow, I would go back,” said Byrne. Sources tell Channel 11 they are currently doing soil and environmental checks at the plant and will be looking to rehire over 250 workers soon.
July 25, 2025 2:13 am
DUNBAR TOWNSHIP, Pa. — One of the survivors of a Fayette County house fire is speaking out after the harrowing incident. He hopes that, by sharing his story, he can encourage others to be prepared and have a plan. “I’m going to go on. I was there for a reason and I’m still here for a reason,” said Anthony Masterbray. Masterbray is the caretaker for a paralyzed man. He’s lived alongside the man, his father and his mother for 15 years. “They are my family,” said Masterbray. The fire began around 2 a.m. July 16 on Miles Road in Dunbar Township. Masterbray says that, when he and the father realized he physically could not carry the son out of the home, Masterbray told the father to get help and that he would stay inside the burning home with his son, sharing the son’s oxygen tank to stay alive. All four were taken to the hospital. The mother died in the days following the fire. State police say the fire is under investigation, but said it was accidental.
July 25, 2025 2:04 am
(WPXI) CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A second worker has been charged with abusing children at a local daycare. Charges were filed against Richa Gupte, 38, an assistant group supervisor at Allie Alligator Learning Center off Commerce Park Drive in Cranberry Township. Investigators say she broke a 2-year-old’s elbow in early June. According to the police report, the child was reaching for a toy when Gupte forcefully pulled on the child’s arm. About a month earlier, police arrested 26-year-old Joshua Branstetter. They said he pushed a 3-year-old’s face into a bed frame during nap time, causing swelling to the child’s head. Gupte is set to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on August 29, and Branstetter’s hearing is set for August 15.
July 24, 2025 5:51 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department’s No. 2 official has met with Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The meeting between Maxwell and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is part of a Justice Department effort to cast itself as transparent following backlash from parts of President Donald Trump’s base over an earlier refusal to release additional Epstein records. A lawyer for Maxwell says she “answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability.” Maxwell was convicted of helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 awaiting trial. (Photo: AP)
July 24, 2025 3:40 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell bickeredface to face over the cost of the Fed’s renovations as the president visited the construction site. Trump claims the project costs $3.1 billion, while the Fed estimates it at $2.5 billion. The disagreement surfaced during a tour of the unfinished project on Thursday. Trump, a former real estate developer, joked about firing someone for such cost overruns. He also suggested he might back off Powell if interest rates were lowered. The renovation has become a point of contention, with Trump using it as a potential reason to push for Powell’s removal, though he recently stated he has no plans to do so.
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 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 5:00 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University has reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government. The agreement was made to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus. The Ivy League school announced the agreement Wednesday. It will pay a $200 million settlement over three years to the federal government. The White House says it will also pay $21 million to resolve alleged civil rights violations against Jewish employees that occurred following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The school had been threatened with the potential loss of billions of dollars in government support,
July 24, 2025 4:56 am
PITTSBURGH — Summer heat and humidity through the weekend is going to make it feel more like the mid to upper 90s, so plan ahead before heading outdoors. Temperatures will quickly climb from the low 70’s soon after sunrise to near 90 by early afternoon. Do your best to stay cool and limit time outdoors for pets, too. Friday will also be steamy, with heat indices above 90, and scattered showers and storms, especially after lunch into the evening. Storms will bring heavy downpours, which will raise the threat for localized flooding, along with frequent lightning and the threat for damaging winds. Areas from Pittsburgh south may see the strongest storms. Scattered showers and storms stick around Saturday and Sunday, mainly during the afternoon and evening.
