February 23, 2025 7:47 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Donald Trump says he may put the U.S. Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department in what would amount to an executive branch takeover of the independent agency. Trump made the remarks Friday at the swearing-in of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. He called the move a way to stop losses at the $78 billion-a-year agency, which has struggled to balance the books with the decline of first-class mail. The Post Office was created during the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775, when Benjamin Franklin became the first postmaster general. In recent years, the Postal Service has fought calls from Trump and others that it be privatized. (Photo: AP)
February 23, 2025 7:44 am
PARIS (AP) — Thieves used a stolen card to buy a winning French lottery ticket worth 500,000 euros or $523,000. But they vanished before cashing in. And now they’re among France’s most famous fugitives. The man whose card was stolen is offering to split the cash with the lucky winners. Prosecutors could try to seize the winnings by considering them illegally obtained gains. The thieves meanwhile face the risk of arrest if they turn in the ticket. The victim’s lawyer has launched a national appeal asking them to come forward so that they can share the money. France’s state lottery operator said that no one had submitted the ticket to cash out as of Saturday.
February 23, 2025 7:42 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked Congress to approve nearly $40 billion in aid to help the Los Angeles area recover from January’s devastating wildfires. Newsom sent a letter Friday asking for support from lawmakers. Newsom vowed that the funding would be used to rebuild homes, infrastructure, business, schools, churches and health care facilities. More than 16,200 structures were destroyed as flames ripped through Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Pasadena and Altadena. The governor said the fires could become the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Estimates of the total economic loss have been estimated to top $250 billion. (Photo: AP)
February 23, 2025 7:38 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have little more than 48 hours to explain what they accomplished over the last week. The order is part of billionaire Elon Musk’s crusade to slash what he describes as “waste everywhere” in the federal government. Musk, who serves as President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting chief, shared the extraordinary request on his social media network on Saturday. He said that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” Shortly afterward, federal employees received a three-line email telling them to share “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager.” Thousands of government employees have already been forced out of the federal workforce during the first month of Trump’s administration.
February 23, 2025 7:36 am
ROME (AP) — The Vatican says Pope Francis is still receiving high flows of supplemental oxygen after doctors earlier said that the 88-year-old pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, was in critical condition. On Saturday morning, he suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection. He also had blood transfusions to treat a low platelet count. He had a peaceful night and rested. The Vatican said he was still receiving supplemental oxygen on Sunday and more clinical tests were being conducted. (Photo: AP)
February 23, 2025 7:32 am
(WPXI) – The Pittsburgh Penguins and their fans came together Saturday for the first time since the death of legendary announcer Mike Lange. For everyone in attendance, it was more than just a game. Fans and players converged not only for a hockey night in Pittsburgh but to honor Lange. Signs throughout PPG Paints Arena displayed some of the key phrases he used that families came to know and love. “You can’t even describe it. Hearing it on the radio isn’t anything of what he was like in real life. Just a larger-than-life personality,” said Ashlee Gallagher who once job-shadowed with Lange and Phil Bourque. Broadcasting friends like Joe Brand, Josh Getzoff, Eddie Olcyk, Paul Steigerwald and the Ol’ Two-Niner Phil Bourque lined up on the ice to pay their respects. They were joined by Lange’s sons and their families as a touching tribute video played overhead. After the video ended, a simple but emotional sigh was shown to the audience from Lange’s son Ian as he wiped away a tear. The sign said, Thank you, Pittsburgh. Fans also had a chance to take photos with Lange’s legendary headset inside the arena.
February 23, 2025 7:28 am
(WPXI) – A high-profile mystery in Butler County remains unsolved years after 8-year-old Cherrie Mahan vanished. Janice McKinney is still haunted by unanswered questions about what happened to her little girl 40 years ago Saturday. “Nobody understands how much I would love to have my daughter back in my life,” McKinney said. On February 22, 1985, Cherrie mysteriously disappeared near her home in rural Butler County after getting off the school bus. There’s been no trace of the 8-year-old ever since. After four decades of exhaustive searches, tips and leads turned up empty, Cherrie’s mom has never given up hope. “Never, ever,” McKinney said. “Not until I have a bag of bones, not until I have that child standing in front of me. And I know that she’s not a child but until I know for sure, I’m never giving up. Friends, family and even strangers packed the VFW in Saxonburg Saturday to try to breathe new life into a case that’s gone cold. Trooper Jim Long with Pennsylvania State Police said they’re still actively investigating every lead they get. “It’s been decades, so the information that we have, a lot of it is the same information we’ve had before – misidentification of vehicles, things like that, so the more time passes the more difficult it gets.” State police said there is nothing new in the case. They are asking anyone with information on Cherrie’s disappearance to call PSP Butler at 724-284-8100.
February 23, 2025 7:21 am
YORK, Pa. (AP) — A man armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties entered a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit Saturday and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police in a shootout that also left an officer dead, authorities said. Three workers at UPMC Memorial Hospital, including a doctor, a nurse and a custodian, and two other officers were shot and wounded in the attack, York County District Attorney Tim Barker said. A fourth staffer was injured in a fall. Gunfire erupted after officers went to engage the shooter, whom Barker identified as Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49. He said Archangel-Ortiz was holding at gunpoint a female staff member who had her hands bound with zip ties when police opened fire. “This is a huge loss to our community,” Barker said at a press conference following the shooting. “It is absolutely clear, and beyond any and all doubt, that the officers were justified in taking their action using deadly force.” Barker added that while the investigation is in its early stages, it appears Archangel-Ortiz had previous contact with the hospital’s ICU earlier in the week for “a medical purpose involving another individual” and he intentionally targeted the workers there. (Photo: UPMC)
February 23, 2025 7:00 am
PennDOT has announced upcoming single-lane restrictions on Interstate 70. Roadwork in the eastbound lanes is scheduled for Monday, February 24 between Smithton and Route 51 in Rostraver Township. The daytime restrictions will be from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. All work depends on weather and operations. This work is part of the $120.6 million Interstate 70 Project involving the widening and reconstruction of the highway along with the reconstruction of the Route 51 Interchange to replace it with a Diverging Diamond Interchange. To accommodate the new interchange, the plans include one mile of reconstruction and widening on Route 51, and several intersecting roadways, including the relocation of Finley Road and Route 981. The project is anticipated to be complete in October 2027.
February 23, 2025 5:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Confusion and chaos loom as hundreds of thousands of federal employees begin their workweek on Monday. They’re facing an 11:59 p.m. EST deadline from President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting chief, Elon Musk, to explain their recent accomplishments or risk losing their jobs. Musk’s unusual weekend demand faced resistance from key U.S. agencies led by the president’s loyalists that instructed their employees not to comply. Lawmakers in both parties said that Musk’s mandate may be illegal, while unions are threatening to sue. Trump over the weekend called for Musk to be more aggressive in his cost-cutting crusade through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and posted a meme on social media mocking federal employees.
