April 1, 2026 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump sought to explain his rationale for the war against Iran in a primetime address Wednesday. It was his first address on the war and it came at a pivotal moment at home and abroad as he amasses extraordinary executive authority to prosecute the military operation. Notably missing was his oft-repeated assertion that negotiations with Iran were underway. He softened his insults against NATO allies and did not indicate he was preparing to send in ground troops, particularly to retrieve Iran’s enriched uranium. But he gave no definitive end date for the conflict.
April 2, 2026 5:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’ll soon sign an order to pay all Department of Homeland Security employees who have gone without paychecks during the partial government shutdown that has reached 48 days. He announced the unilateral move in a social media post Thursday. He’s blaming Democrats for the impasse while thanking Republican leaders for their work this week in trying to end the standoff. The Republican president used a similar maneuver to resume pay for the Transportation Security Administration. Trump’s latest intervention is expected to apply to other non-law enforcement employees at the department, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard and support staff.
April 2, 2026 9:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remain sparse despite a softening labor market and rising energy costs due to the Iran war. The number of Americans applying for jobless aid for the week ending March 28 fell by 9,000 to 202,000 from the previous week’s 211,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 212,000 new filings analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting and within the range of the past several years. Filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.
April 2, 2026 4:22 pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s moon-bound astronauts have reason to celebrate, and not just because their launch went so well. Their toilet is now working. The so-called lunar loo malfunctioned as soon as they reached orbit Wednesday evening. Mission Control guided astronaut Christina Koch through some plumbing tricks and she finally got it going. The bad news is that it’s so cold inside the Orion capsule that the four astronauts are digging into suitcases for long-sleeved clothes. The three Americans and one Canadian are on track to bust out of orbit around Earth on Thursday night and zoom to the moon for a fly-around. To set the mood, Mission Control’s wakeup music for the crew was “Green Light” by John Legend featuring Andre 3000.
April 1, 2026 5:06 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts have embarked on a high-stakes flight around the moon, humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century. It’s the thrilling leadoff in NASA’s push toward a lunar landing in two years. The 32-story moon rocket blasted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Wednesday evening, carrying three Americans and one Canadian. The Artemis II crew will spend a day in orbit around Earth checking their capsule before firing the main engine that will propel them to the moon. The nearly 10-day mission will see them fly around the moon and set a distance record, before coming straight back home.
April 1, 2026 2:46 am
Washington County 911 tells WJPA News that a body was discovered near Chartiers Creek along South Central Avenue around three-thirty Wednesday afternoon. According to a supervisor, the body was that of a female who was believed to have been the victim of a fall. He tells us that her body was taken to a local hospital. Canonsburg Mayor Dave Rhome tells WJPA News that it was likely a medical issue.
April 1, 2026 4:58 pm
(AP) – Passover, a major Jewish holiday, began Wednesday night and is celebrated over the course of a week each spring. It commemorates the Exodus of ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Bible. The central ritual of Passover is the Seder meal. It is celebrated around family dinner tables and at communal banquets, where the dramatic story of liberation is retold. As in recent years, this year’s celebrations occur amid a sober backdrop. There are anxieties over the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, widespread antisemitism marked by recent synagogue attacks, divisions within the Jewish community over Israeli policies and the raw aftermath of the Israel-Hamas war.
April 1, 2026 5:15 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seems poised to reject President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship in a consequential case that was magnified by his unparalleled presence in the courtroom. The justices on Wednesday heard the Republican president’s appeal of a lower-court ruling from New Hampshire that struck down the citizenship restrictions, which have not taken effect anywhere in the country. Trump’s order declares that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. Conservative and liberal justices questioned whether Trump’s order comports with the Constitution or federal law. Trump spent just over an hour inside the courtroom, staying only for arguments by the government’s lawyer.
April 1, 2026 1:49 pm
A Greensburg man accused of causing a fiery wrong-way crash in Hempfield Township is now facing charges. State Police recently filed 15 charges against eighty-year-old Daniel Oliver, including risking a catastrophe, driving under the influence, three counts of recklessly endangering another person and multiple traffic violations. Authorities say Oliver drove several miles in the wrong direction on I-70 on February 10th, eventually crashing into three tractor-trailers just before one a.m. One of those trucks spilled diesel, which caused a massive fire. Only one of the drivers involved in the crash was taken to a hospital for treatment. The crash shut down the highway and caused bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours. Police say Oliver submitted to a breath test on scene and the breathalyzer showed a positive presence of alcohol. Chemical blood testing done afterwards showed he had a blood alcohol concentration of .095% and had THC in his system.
April 1, 2026 9:13 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump says he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages” if the Islamic Republic doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s remarks in a Truth Social post Wednesday come a day after he said he was nearly ready to wind down the war once he was sure Iran wouldn’t be able to build a nuclear weapon. The contradictory messages have again brought the world’s attention to the crucial Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s is shipped. Trump also claimed Wednesday that Iran’s president wanted a ceasefire, but Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman called the claim “false and baseless.”
