May 2, 2025 1:51 pm
A man has pleaded guilty to shooting and killing a man who authorities say tried to stop him from robbing a bank inside the South Strabane Giant Eagle in 2013. Keith Wilk pleaded guilty Friday to killing Vincent Kelley during the robbery. He is sentenced to 20-40 years in prison. Kelley ran after Wilk, who was fleeing the Citizens Bank inside the store. Vincent tackled the robber, which caused the bank dye to explode, before police said Wilk shot and killed him. Around 9 years later, in 2022, Washington County officials said DNA linked Wilk to the case and charges were filed.
May 2, 2025 1:48 pm
The former police chief of Greensburg was sentenced earlier this month to fifteen months in federal prison for narcotics charges, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced on Friday. United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Shawn Denning, 44, of Delmont. Denning pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to distribute fifty grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine and a quantity of cocaine. According to information presented to the court during the time that he was the Greensburg police chief, Denning was involved in a nationwide drug conspiracy and had helped numerous individuals purchase narcotics from suppliers in California. Those narcotics included cocaine and methamphetamine disguised as counterfeit Adderall pills. One of the individuals with whom Denning conspired was former Greensburg police officer Regina McAtee, who also pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and will be sentenced later this month. Despite Denning’s argument during the sentencing hearing that he should not serve any time in prison, Judge Bissoon sentenced Denning to 15 months in federal prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release, and a $2,000 fine. Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Bissoon stated that “When law enforcement becomes the bad guys, our civil society cannot function.”
May 2, 2025 12:42 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ruth Buzzi, who rose to fame as the frumpy and bitter Gladys Ormphby on the groundbreaking sketch comedy series “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” and made over 200 television appearances during a 45-year career, has died at age 88. Her agent Mike Eisenstadt says Buzzi died at her ranch in Texas. Buzzi won a Golden Globe and was a two-time Emmy nominee for the NBC show that ran from 1968 to 1973. She was the only regular to appear in all six seasons, including the pilot. She was first spotted by “Laugh-In” creator and producer George Schlatter playing various characters on “The Steve Allen Comedy Hour.” (Photo: AP)
May 2, 2025 9:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — American employers added a better-than-expected 177,000 jobs in April as the job market showed resilience in the face of President Donald Trump’s trade wars. Hiring was down slightly from a revised 185,000 in March and came in above economists’ expectations for a modest 135,000. The unemployment rate stayed at 4.2%. President Donald Trump’s aggressive and unpredictable policies – including massive import taxes – have clouded the outlook for the economy and the job market and raised fears that the American economy is headed toward recession.
May 2, 2025 5:12 am
A federal judge has barred the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans from South Texas under an 18th-century wartime law and says President Donald Trump’s invocation of it was “unlawful.” U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. is the first judge to rule that the Alien Enemies Act cannot be used against people whom the Republican administration claims are gang members invading the United States. In March, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation claiming that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was invading the U.S. He said he had special powers to bypass usual court proceedings and deport immigrants claimed by his administration to be gang members.
May 2, 2025 5:10 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione‘s lawyers are urging a judge to throw out his state murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. They argued in court papers Thursday that the New York case and a parallel federal death penalty prosecution amount to double jeopardy. If that doesn’t happen, they want terrorism charges dismissed and prosecutors barred from using evidence collected during Mangione’s arrest last December, including a 9 mm handgun, ammunition and a notebook in which authorities say he described his intent to “wack” an insurance executive. The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it would respond in court papers.
May 2, 2025 5:09 am
China’s Commerce Ministry says Beijing is evaluating multiple approaches by the Trump administration for trade talks. However, in a ministry statement it said one-sided tariffs of up to 145% imposed by President Donald Trump remain an obstacle and undermine trust. The statement reiterated China’s stance that is open to talks, but also that Beijing is determined to fight if it must. The statement cited an unnamed ministry spokesperson as saying that Beijing had taken note of various statements by senior U.S. officials indicating a willingness to negotiate over tariffs. But it emphasized that China would regard overtures without a change in President Donald Trump’s sharp tariff hikes as insincere.
May 2, 2025 5:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aiming to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR as he alleged “bias” in the broadcasters’ reporting. The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies “to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS” and further requires that that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations. The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets “receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.’” It’s the latest move by Trump and his administration to utilize federal powers to control or hamstring institutions whose actions or viewpoints he disagrees with. Since taking office, Trump has ousted leaders, placed staff on administrative leave and cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to artists, libraries, museums, theaters and others, through takeovers of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The broadcasters get roughly half a billion dollars in public money through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and have been preparing for the possibility of stiff cuts since Trump’s election, as Republicans have long complained about them.
May 2, 2025 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been thrown into two top national security roles at once after President Donald Trump appointed him to temporarily replace Mike Waltz as national security adviser. Just 100 days into his tenure as America’s top diplomat, the former Florida senator now becomes just the second person to hold both roles, following only the late Henry Kissinger. Rubio is a one-time Trump rival and hawkish conservative who the president derided as “Little Marco” during the 2016 presidential campaign. He’s proven adept at aligning himself with Trump’s “America First” foreign policy positions and turning away from previously held priorities.
May 2, 2025 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Detailed Army plans for a potential military parade on President Donald Trump’s birthday in June call for more than 6,600 soldiers, at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands and potentially a couple thousand civilians. The Associated Press obtained the planning documents, which are dated April 29 and 30. They represent the Army’s most recent blueprint for its long-planned 250th birthday festival on the National Mall, which just happens to coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday on June 14. The slides don’t include any price estimates. But it would likely cost tens of millions of dollars to put on an event of that size.
