February 12, 2025 4:53 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The White House blocked an Associated Press reporter from attending an event in the Oval Office after demanding the news agency alter its style on the Gulf of Mexico, which President Donald Trump has ordered renamed to the Gulf of America. It was a highly unusual move that could have constitutional free-speech implications. AP executives said the reporter tried to enter the White House event as usual Tuesday afternoon and was turned away. Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor of The Associated Press, called the administration’s move troubling and unacceptable. The Trump administration made no immediate announcements about the move.
February 12, 2025 4:49 am
No injuries are reported after a mobile home fire Tuesday night in Ellsworth. Fire officials say they were called to Pear Street around 11 p.m. Officials say the home was vacant but they did find two dogs inside that had to be rescued. There is no word on the cause of the fire.
February 12, 2025 2:54 am
The Kremlin says that a Russian citizen has been freed in the United States in exchange for Moscow’s release of American Marc Fogel. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that the unidentified individual would return to Russia “in the coming days” and when they are in Russia their name would be revealed. Fogel is an American history teacher who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia. He has been released and was returned to the U.S. on Tuesday in what the White House described as a diplomatic thaw that could advance negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
February 12, 2025 2:39 am
Washington Hospital workers announced Tuesday that they have reached a new union contract with UPMC. Union officials say the contract includes average raises of 12% over three years, with some employees getting as much as 19%, which is major progress from UPMC’s original proposal of a 1% raise per year. Union members say the new contract will help them support themselves and their families as the cost of living continues to increase. Union members say that during their contract negotiations, they took inspiration and strength from the union healthcare workers throughout the Pittsburgh region who have won historic contracts in the past year and a half. Melissa Duran, an EKG Tech at the hospital says, “All nurses and healthcare workers deserve to have a real seat at the table and a union voice in our jobs and our future. Now, we are focused and determined to make sure UPMC keeps their promises and follows through on their commitments to invest ‘a minimum of $300 million’ in our hospital. We will work arm-in-arm with our elected officials and community members to ensure UPMC invests in workers and those we care for.”
February 12, 2025 2:16 am
North Franklin Township took steps to shrink the size of the township’s Planning Commission. Supervisors unanimously approved a measure to reduce the size of the board from 7 members to 5. According to Supervisor Ben Johnson, several sitting members of the Planning Commission wished not to be reappointed and the pool of volunteers to fill board positions is rather shallow. With that, supervisors felt that it is a good time to eliminate 2 positions. The positions will be eliminated through attrition. Additionally, supervisors celebrated a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The township received a grant of $351,900 from the Community Conservation Partnership Program. According to Supervisor Chairman Bob Sabot, the money will be used to remodel their water company filter building into a pavilion, and install a myriad of park amenities. The grant comes at a good time as the township spent $164,000 on park upgrades at the end of 2024.
February 11, 2025 5:36 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — The 50th anniversary celebration of “Saturday Night Live” is so big, it’s not even on Saturday. Airing Sunday and spanning three hours, the live “SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration” will assemble a dream team of stars who have helped the show become an enduring pop culture force. That includes alumni like Tina Fey and Eddie Murphy, notable hosts like Dave Chappelle and Steve Martin and at least four of the surviving original cast members. Musical guests are a whole different who’s who, with Paul McCartney, Bad Bunny, Miley Cyrus and Sabrina Carpenter among those set to appear. “SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration” airs live Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC. (Photo: AP)
February 11, 2025 5:22 pm
(AP) – Not only are eggs expensive because of the ongoing bird flu outbreak. Now they are sometimes hard to find. And even when stores do have eggs, consumers might face limits on how many they can buy. Eggs have become such a hot commodity that there have even been a couple of heists where thieves seem to be treating the yolks as if they were made out of gold. The problem isn’t going away because the virus continues to infect more birds. The shortages do tend to be isolated. But there’s no way to predict when a massive farm with millions of birds might get hit, and just one of those cases can cause supply problems. (Photo: AP)
February 11, 2025 5:18 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says Americans’ bank accounts are safe despite the Trump administration’s shutdown of a consumer financial regulatory agency. Powell, testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, said “bank accounts overall across the economy are safe” and backed by government deposit insurance. Sen. Elizabeth Warren who initially conceived of the CFPB in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and recession, said she would have concerns about doing business with a giant bank “when there’s no cop on the beat.”
February 11, 2025 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House and has renewed his insistence that Gaza could somehow be emptied of all residents, controlled by the U.S. and redeveloped as a tourist area. It’s an audacious, but highly unlikely, scheme to dramatically remake the Middle East and would require Jordan and other Arab nations to accept more refugees from Gaza — something Abdullah reiterated that he opposes. The president also suggested he wouldn’t withhold U.S. aid to Jordan or Egypt if they don’t agree to dramatically increase the number of people from Gaza they take in. That contradicts previous suggestions from Trump that aid from Washington could be held back.
February 11, 2025 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk has long railed against the U.S. government, saying numerous investigations and safety programs have stymied Tesla, his electric car company, and its efforts to create fleets of robotaxis and other self-driving automobiles. Now, Musk’s close relationship with President Donald Trump means many of those headaches could vanish. On the potential chopping block: crash investigations into Tesla’s partially automated vehicles; a Justice Department criminal probe examining whether Musk and Tesla overstated their cars’ self-driving capabilities; and a government mandate to report crash data on vehicles using technology like Tesla’s Autopilot. The consequences of such actions could prove dire, say safety advocates who credit the investigations and recalls with saving lives.
