July 28, 2026 5:27 am
KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) — Soldiers and emergency workers are combing through a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses looking for trapped survivors Wednesday after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 18 people in southwestern Japan. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit a day earlier in the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu. The prefectural government said it also left at least 62 people injured, six of them seriously. The tally has been steadily growing, fanning fears it may continue to rise. It remains unclear how many people might still be missing. One of the most seriously damaged places was a shopping mall, where four people died and three people are still missing.
July 29, 2026 2:48 am
Uniontown, PA – PennDOT has announced that a portion of Route 88 between Hidden Hollow Road and Beach Drive/Cardox Road in Union Township, Washington County, will close to traffic beginning Monday, August 3 at 6:00 a.m. A posted detour will remain in place through mid-August utilizing Route 3038 (Connor Road), Route 3009 (South Park Road), Route 1002 (McMurray Road), Route 1019 (Bebout Road), Route 1010 (Valley Brook Road), Route 1006 (Venetia Road) and Route 88. Local traffic and deliveries will have access to Hidden Hollow Road from the south and Beach Drive from the north. There will be no through access on Route 88 between those locations because of the open excavation. Crews from Plum Contracting Inc. will replace a pipe. An infrastructure investment of $150,000.
July 28, 2026 4:51 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans’ confidence in the economy fell this month as gas prices resumed their climb after the U.S. and Iran stepped up their fighting. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 90.8 in July from 92.2 in June. Consumers view of current business and labor market conditions fell by 3.6 points to 114.9, the third straight monthly decline. Consumer attitudes had improved modestly in June as gas prices came down to around $3.70 a gallon from more than $4.50 a gallon in late April and early May. But consumer anxiety increased in July, along with the price of gas.
July 28, 2026 2:07 am
An adult has been arrested in connection with a high school sextortion ring that was discovered earlier this year in Peters Township. Authorities say they arrested Aaron White because he was allegedly exchanging sexually explicit text messages, videos and pictures with a teenage boy who was already a victim of a sex trafficking and sextortion operation that focused on Peters High School students — and was allegedly run by their senior class president, Zachariah Meyers. Detectives say they found White’s messages when they searched the victim’s phone – and saw White was communicating with the boy through Snapchat, under the username “Whitey_1896.” Police say they were able to trace the account to a PCT.edu email address, which is the email domain for Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport. White is free on bond and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in August.
July 28, 2026 4:53 am
The Amwell Township Planning Commission has unanimously voted to recommend approval of its comprehensive plan, new zoning ordinance, and Subdivision Land Development Ordinance, known as “SALDO,” to the Board of Supervisors. Chairman Scott Hartley says the next step is for the Washington County Planning Commission to complete a review, and then thirty days to make a decision. The next public hearing is tentatively set for October 8th. John Trant, the CEO & President of the Pittsburgh based company, Strategic Solutions, is working with the township and says the comprehensive plan is to lay out future use of the land, growth and preservation infrastructure. The new zoning, its first since 1975, and SALDO are for regulations that make sure they are consistent with the community’s vision for the future. Hartley said as well that the board wants to protect all residents, keep the Township rural open space, while keeping large development out.
July 27, 2026 2:48 am
Gas prices are six cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at $4.207 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline jumped 11 cents from last week to $4.11. Twenty-eight states are now averaging $4 per gallon or higher. Rising crude oil prices are behind the spike at the pump. Volatility along the Strait of Hormuz and instability in the region have pushed crude oil prices above $80 per barrel. Today’s national average is 24 cents more than a month ago and 97 cents more than a year ago. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand increased last week from 8.84 million to 8.94 million. Total domestic gasoline supply increased from 210.5 million barrels to 211.3 million. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.7 million barrels per day.
July 27, 2026 4:59 am
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Bryan Kohberger wants to withdraw his guilty plea in the killings of four University of Idaho students. The 31-year-old filed the hand-written petition on Monday. He says his plea wasn’t voluntary and that his attorneys manipulated him by promising better prison conditions and scaring him about life on death row. That’s the opposite of what he said when he pleaded guilty to the 2022 killings and waived his rights to appeal. His attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kohberger is in Idaho Maximum Security Penitentiary serving four consecutive life sentences.
July 28, 2026 5:01 am
CAIRO (AP) — Mediators have made progress in efforts to bring the United States and Iran back to negotiations and prevent an all-out war in the Middle East. That’s according to two regional officials who spoke to The Associated Press. But scattered attacks by armed groups across the region underscored the lingering tensions. Neither the U.S. nor Iran have claimed any strikes for three days. Mediators led by Qatar and Pakistan are working to bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran. The U.S. has paused attacks after targeting Iranian areas in response to Iran firing at ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
July 28, 2026 8:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is preparing to ramp up funding by hundreds of millions of dollars for programs designed to counter China’s growing influence worldwide. It comes after having put a halt to many of those initiatives last year during a flurry of budget and personnel cuts. The administration notified Congress late last week that it intends to spend $175.8 million to replace outdated and aging undersea telecommunications cables in the Caribbean and Central America to prevent China from moving in. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the notification Monday. The funding appears to be part of a broader push to restore support for initiatives aimed at blunting Chinese influence globally that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars more.
July 28, 2026 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is remembering Sen. Lindsey Graham as “a giant of the United States Senate” and a “true American original.” Trump joined foreign leaders, lawmakers and others at a memorial service for Graham on Tuesday at Washington National Cathedral. In his remarks, Trump said Graham was “the first person to make you laugh and one of the last people that you’ve really ever wanted to fight.” Earlier Tuesday, Graham’s flag-draped casket arrived for a service at the U.S. Capitol, where the Republican served for more than 30 years. There will be two days of services for Graham, with burial Wednesday in his home state of South Carolina. He died July 11 at age 71.
