March 12, 2026 2:53 am
HARRISBURG – Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-46) announced on Thursday, that a $193,493 state grant was awarded to Natural Streams Foundation, Inc. to support the initial planning work for an abandoned mine land reclamation project in Smith Township, Washington County. The grant is part of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Abandoned Mine Land and Abandoned Mine Drainage Grant Program, which recently awarded funding for 15 environmental restoration projects across the state. The funding will support engineering design and permitting work needed to begin removing more than 250,000 cubic yards of coal refuse from a nearly five-acre site in the township. “Projects like this are an important step in restoring land affected by historic mining,” Bartolotta said. “This funding enables essential planning so the site can be reclaimed, improving environmental conditions and supporting safer, more productive land use.” Pennsylvania has the largest inventory of abandoned coal mines in the nation. Funding for the program comes through Pennsylvania’s federally supported Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program.
March 12, 2026 4:57 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has launched multiple attacks on Gulf Arab states including sending dozens of drones toward Saudi Arabia. The attacks on Friday followed warnings from Iran’s new supreme leader about hosting American bases. U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening new major retaliation. Trump said Friday on social media to “watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today.” Intense airstrikes hit around Iranian capital Tehran as well as outlying areas. It was not immediately clear what had been targeted. The price of Brent crude oil remained over $100 per barrel as Iran kept its stranglehold on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
March 12, 2026 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a rare bipartisan effort for a deeply divided Congress, the Senate has passed a broad bill to make U.S. housing more accessible and affordable. The bill passed on Thursday would reduce regulations, regulate corporate investors and expand how housing dollars can be used to build affordable homes and rentals. It now heads back to the House, which passed a separate version earlier this year. It is unclear whether President Donald Trump would sign it after declaring last weekend that he won’t sign any new measures unless Congress passes legislation that would require voters to show proof of citizenship.
March 12, 2026 5:00 am
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — Investigators are working to understand the exact reason a man with a rifle crashed into a Michigan synagogue in what federal officials say was an attack carried out by a naturalized citizen born in Lebanon. Officials say 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was killed by security after ramming into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit, Michigan, on Thursday. Authorities say he drove down a hallway in a vehicle that then caught fire. The FBI is leading the investigation and described the attack on one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues as an act of violence targeting the Jewish community. DHS says Ghazali was granted U.S. citizenship in 2016.
March 13, 2026 5:01 am
The United States is getting slammed by a stretch of weather extremes, from flooding rain to record heat and late-season snow. On Wednesday, Washington, D.C., hit a record 86 degrees, then snow fell on Thursday. Meteorologists say the Southwest faces a heat dome with prolonged triple-digit temperatures. Polar cold will push into the Midwest and East. Two northern storms are likely to dump feet of snow, with one strengthening into a rare inland bomb cyclone. Hawaii is dealing with an atmospheric river and flash flooding. Experts link the wild swings to a sharply dipping jet stream.
March 12, 2026 2:31 pm
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — A man armed with a rifle rammed a vehicle into a major synagogue in a Detroit suburb and was fatally shot by security. That’s according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday. The person said the vehicle caught on fire after crashing into the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township. Investigators are still working to identify the man and a possible motive for the attack. The person cautioned that the investigation is still in the early stages The person could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
March 12, 2026 1:24 pm
(AP) – Old Dominion University police say a gunman and one victim are dead, and two other victims are hurt after a shooting at the school on Thursday morning. The F-B-I has identified the gunman as 36-year-old Mohamad Jalloh, a former national guardsman who pleaded guilty nearly a decade ago to providing material support to ISIS. He was sentenced to serve 11-years in prison, but he was released early, in late 2024. Old Dominion University Police Chief Garrett said officers responded after it was reported that people were being shot in a classroom in the business school building, Constant Hall. The Norfolk, Virginia, university canceled classes and suspended all operations on its main campus through Friday and urged people to avoid the area in and around Constant Hall while emergency officials continued to work. Sentara Health says one patient remains in critical condition, and another was released from a different emergency department facility.
March 11, 2026 2:48 am
Demolition work continues on the Courthouse Square building and Washington City Police are asking motorists to avoid East Beau Street from Main to Franklin on Thursday from six a.m. until noon. Crews will be working in that area once again so there will be no through traffic and no parking. Police say if you need to access the Crossroads Building, use the parking garage.
March 12, 2026 4:52 am
A Pennsylvania lawmaker has proposed a way to save drivers money as fuel costs continue to rise. State Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-District 18) says she plans to introduce legislation to temporarily suspend Pennsylvania’s gasoline tax. The move comes as conflict in the Middle East disrupts the global oil industry. “My legislation would temporarily suspend the state gasoline tax for 60 days to provide immediate relief at the pump for commuters and working families across the Commonwealth,” Boscola said in a request for co-sponsors. Boscola, who proposed similar legislation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, says the state would use bonding to cover any short-term loss to the Motor License Fund so road projects and state police funding would not be affected. That measure, however, never made it out of the Senate Transportation Committee.
March 12, 2026 4:58 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Unrelenting Iranian attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure again pushed oil above $100 a barrel. Iran on Thursday hit a container ship off the coast of Dubai, caused a blaze near Bahrain’s international airport, targeted a major Saudi oil field with a drone attack and forced Iraq to halt operations at all the country’s oil terminals after an attack on its Basra port on the Persian Gulf. Meantime, American and Israeli strikes pounded the Islamic Republic with no sign of an end to the war in sight. Sirens wailed before dawn in Jerusalem after Israel said it was working to intercept missiles launched from Iran.
