August 12, 2026 2:16 am
Washington, PA – Pennsylvania State Police, Troop B, has announced the arrest of seven individuals following a five-month investigation into numerous thefts of communication wire, specifically Verizon telephone lines, occurring from January 2026 to present throughout Washington County. The investigation resulted in the identification and arrest of the following individuals, who have been charged in connection with these thefts: Ryan Michael Scott, 37, of Avella; Dennis John Kinkela, 49, of Burgettstown; Michael Douglas Hancher, 45, of Washington; Lawrence Angelo Bogo, Jr., 56, of Avella; Allen Cecil Jackson, 28, of Wellsburg, West Virginia; Justin Lee Fusarelli, 43, of Avella and Donald Edward Martin III, 36, of Bulger. On August 8th, police say an arrest warrant sweep was conducted in Washington County, resulting in the apprehension of all of the suspects with the exception of Fusarelli and Martin, who remain at large. Police are asking anyone with information regarding their whereabouts to call them at 724-223-5200. The State Police were assisted throughout both the investigation and subsequent apprehension by the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, the Jefferson Township Police Department, the Smith Township Police Department, the Hanover Township Police Department, and the Donegal Township Police Department.
August 12, 2026 5:01 am
A federal safety agency has issued its final report into a 2025 blast at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh that left two workers dead. The blast at the Clairton Coke Works plant occurred after a gas valve being flushed with pressurized water ruptured. The report by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board recommends that U.S. Steel develop a written procedure for washing valves with pressurized water in order to minimize the operation’s hazards. The report says the valve that failed was more than 70 years old and made from brittle cast iron. U.S. Steel previously was fined more than $118,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
August 11, 2026 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he slipped away from Air Force One after a trip last month in Turkey because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane” due to a threat. Trump on Tuesday downplayed the extraordinary nature of the subterfuge involved in his flight, which saw him stow away in an airport catering container to sneak onto another plane while Air Force One was sent into the sky, essentially as a decoy. He also downplayed the risk to the people — White House officials, security and support staff, and reporters — he left on the plane.
August 12, 2026 5:04 am
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Moderate Democrat David Crowley has won the Wisconsin primary for governor. He defeated democratic socialist Francesca Hong. Crowley is vying to become Wisconsin’s first Black governor. He pitched himself as the candidate best positioned to win in November against Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump. Supporters of Hong and others in the four-person field faulted Crowley for getting back in the race after he had quit in early July. Crowley locked up the backing of more mainstream Democrats, overcoming Hong’s insurgent campaign. Crowley didn’t address supporters Tuesday night but was expected at an event later Wednesday.
August 12, 2026 5:05 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan won the Minnesota Democratic Senate primary in the latest victory for an insurgent progressive over the party’s establishment. Flanagan on Tuesday defeated centrist U.S. Rep. Angie Craig with a pledge to fight the influence of corporations and confront Republican President Donald Trump. She was backed by popular progressives including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who rallied with her in the campaign’s final weeks. In the governor’s race, House Speaker Lisa Demuth won the Republican primary for governor. Among the candidates she defeated was Mike Lindell, the Trump-endorsed pillow purveyor, who has been among the most persistent advocates of the lie that Trump’s 2020 loss to Joe Biden was fraudulent.
August 11, 2026 5:07 am
Doctors worry that President Donald Trump’s new executive order on vaccines will stoke fear and confusion among parents at a time when measles is raging, immunization rates are falling and children are heading back to school. The order advocates separating the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three different single-disease shots and giving all childhood immunizations at separate appointments when possible. It also includes several changes to the childhood vaccine schedule already attempted by Trump’s health department, which have been blocked by a federal judge. Doctors say the recommendations are not based on science and worry they will worsen vaccine hesitancy and endanger kids.
August 12, 2026 5:12 am
(AP) – Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers may soon be outfitted with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks that are intended to gain compliance from combative individuals. A notice published Monday by the Department of Homeland Security says ICE plans to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices” for officers and agents by March. The devices are known as the G.L.O.V. E. That stands for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter. They’re made by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky. They have been used in recent years by some jails and police departments.
August 12, 2026 5:52 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles County grand jury has indicted Nick Reiner on murder charges in the killing of his parents, actor Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. The indictment, unsealed Wednesday, includes an allegation that Reiner was lying in wait before attacking them. The couple was stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on December 14. Nick Reiner was arrested hours later and charged two days after the incident. The indictment allows prosecutors to skip California’s preliminary hearing process. The lying in wait allegation makes Reiner eligible for the death penalty, though prosecutors haven’t decided whether to seek it.
August 11, 2026 5:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed again in July as record prices and the highest mortgage rates in more than a year prove to be an insurmountable hurdle for many prospective homebuyers. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that existing home sales fell 1.7% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million units. July sales, however, were up 0.7% compared with last year. Home prices continued to rise, hitting unprecedented levels for July. The U.S. median sales price increased 2% from a year earlier, to $434,100.
August 12, 2026 5:45 pm
MEDINACELI, Spain (AP) — Millions of people crowded cloudless cities and towns in Spain in search of the best views of a total solar eclipse, when the alignment of the sun, moon and Earth briefly plunged parts of the planet into darkness. The crowds brought lawn chairs and umbrellas as they eagerly awaited the celestial spectacle, which began early in the evening. As the sky darkened, people broke into applause and cheered. It was the country’s first total solar eclipse in more than a century. Across a wide band of northern and central Spain and Portugal, millions of people enjoyed some of mainland Europe’s best views of the eclipse.
