June 15, 2024 4:56 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian firepower has been improving since U.S. lawmakers approved a much-needed military aid package this spring, though not quickly enough to halt the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine. Although the influx of Western munitions has shrunk Kyiv’s glaring artillery disadvantage, Moscow’s forces are still gaining in the Donetsk region, getting closer to crucial Ukrainian supply routes and enabling them to inflict heavy losses during Ukrainian troop rotations. Kyiv has turned to a bend-but-don’t-break strategy to buy time until it can get more Western weapons and ammunition to the front. Senior Ukrainian military officials and soldiers in the field say that by ceding some territory, Ukraine has been able to fight from better defended positions.
June 15, 2024 4:50 am
Attorneys general across the U.S. have a new fight on their hands: protecting Americans from unproven and expensive stem cell treatments that salespeople claim can cure almost anything. Iowa is among the states suing companies raking in millions by injecting people with stem cells that the Federal Drug Administration says have little to no benefits and can be associated with serious side effects. One expert told The Associated Press many stem cells injected into people are already dead when they are used. The FDA has issued some 30 warning letters to consumers since 2017. The Iowa case is scheduled for trial next year.
June 15, 2024 4:45 am
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A rivalry is flaring up as Kansas lawmakers try to snatch the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs away from Missouri. The Kansas Legislature expects to consider a plan to help both the Chiefs and professional baseball’s Kansas City Royals finance new stadiums even though economists long ago concluded that subsidizing pro sports isn’t worth the cost. Kansas legislators are set to convene a special session Tuesday and review a plan to authorize state bonds for stadium construction. Decades of research concluded having a pro sports team doesn’t boost a local economy much. But for Kansas lawmakers, one-upping Missouri may be important.
June 15, 2024 4:41 am
Senator Camera Bartolotta says communities in Beaver, Greene and Washington counties will benefit from a series of grants to support affordable housing projects throughout the region. More than $5 million in grants were announced by the Pennsylvania Housing Financing Agency. In the 46th District $50,000 for Blueprints to target renters and $150,000 for Blueprints to continue a Reenty Housing and Self- Sufficiency Program. There is $735,500 for the Washington County Redevelopment Authority to make renovations at Century Plaza Apartments, replace concrete steps and install a canopy between Canon House and Canon Apartments and to replace the entry access system at the 104- unit Char House. “Without stable Housing, people don’t have a realistic chance at professional success and upward mobility. Instead, they’re forced to focus on trying to fulfill a basic need,” Bartolotta said, “When we’re able to eliminate that worry, they can put their energy into other things that also support their stability. I am pleased to know how much the Marcellus Shale Impact Fee will help communities across the state and right here in our own backyard.” The grants were awarded through the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund, which was established in 2010. Funding for the grants is provided by the impact fee taxed on natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region and the state’s existing Realty Transfer Tax.
June 15, 2024 4:24 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Mike Johnson says the House will go to court to enforce the subpoena against Attorney General Merrick Garland for access to President Joe Biden’s special counsel audio interview. The decision came hours after the Justice Department on Friday refused to prosecute Republicans’ contempt of Congress charge against Garland. In a letter to Johnson, a Justice Department official cited the agency’s “longstanding position and uniform practice” to not prosecute officials who don’t comply with subpoenas because of a president’s claim of executive privilege. The House voted Wednesday to hold Garland in contempt of Congress. Biden has asserted executive privilege to block the release of the recording and has accused Republicans of seeking it only for political purposes.
June 15, 2024 8:17 am
MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Masses of Muslims gathered at the sacred hill of Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia for worship and reflection on the second day of the Hajj pilgrimage. The ritual at Mount Arafat, known as the hill of mercy, is considered the peak of the Hajj. It’s often the most memorable event for pilgrims, who stand shoulder to shoulder, asking God for mercy, blessings, prosperity and good health. Hajj is one of the largest religious gatherings on earth. It officially started Friday when pilgrims moved from Mecca’s Grand Mosque to Mina, a desert plain just outside the city. This year, Saudi authorities expected that the number of pilgrims would exceed 2 million, approaching the pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.
June 15, 2024 4:52 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Last summer, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip celebrated the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha the way it’s supposed to be. They hosted large family feasts, shared meat with those less fortunate, and surprised their children with new clothes and gifts. But this year, after eight months of devastating war between Israel and Hamas, many families will eat canned food in stifling tents. There’s hardly any meat or livestock at local markets, and no money for holiday treats or presents — only war, hunger and misery, with no end in sight.
June 15, 2024 1:50 am
Preliminary hearings were held Friday for three of four Washington men charged in the April 13th murder of a Monongahela teen and her seventeen-year-old friend in South Franklin Township. Patrick Grimm, Washington County Court Administrator, says preliminary hearings were held for Windale Barfield, Jr., Anthony Barfield and Jeheili Cochran and all charges were bound over for court. A preliminary hearing scheduled for Karon Whitlock was not held after Whitlock waived all of his charges to court. The four are charged in connection with the shooting death of eighteen-year-old Annalaya Wilkerson and the wounding of a seventeen-year-old girl. Whitlock and Barfield are facing multiple charges, including criminal homicide. Cochran is also facing multiple charges, including hindering apprehension and destroying evidence. Wilkerson and the juvenile were found shot on the side of Jolly School Road.
June 15, 2024 1:18 am
At seven o’clock Friday morning, the Canonsburg Police Force began covering the borough of Houston. The two municipalities gathered for a brief ceremony to commemorate the merger, which had been in the discussion stage for years. The discussion centered around the need for Houston to have 24/7 seven police coverage for all of its residents and businesses. Houston had been relying on Pennsylvania State Police and on part-time officers who could only offer the borough about seventeen hours of service. Also, officials say the Houston Police Department continued to lose officers because of financial constraints, at a time when the community was seeing a growth in businesses. Under the agreement, Houston will pay Canonsburg around 337-thousand-dollars for their police services over the next three years.
June 14, 2024 10:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has struck down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, a gun accessory that allows semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns. They were used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The high court found the Trump administration did not follow federal law when it reversed course and banned bump stocks after a gunman in Las Vegas attacked a country music festival with assault rifles in 2017. A Texas gun shop owner challenged the ban, arguing the Justice Department wrongly classified the accessories as illegal machine guns. The Biden administration said it was the right call for the accessories that can allow a rate of fire similar to an automatic weapon.
