March 13, 2025 2:32 am
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce is merging with a neighbor. The Washington Chamber announced that it will be merging with the Southpointe Chamber of Commerce. The Washington County Chamber will not only acquire the Southpointe Chamber members, it will also take over publication rights to Southpointe Magazine and the Southpointe Chamber’s events. Don Hodor, outgoing president of the Southpointe Chamber says the merger will be the most effective networking organizations in the region, calling it a win-win for all involved especially for Southpointe Chamber’s members. Jeff Kotula, president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce thanked Hodor for his leadership, utilizing the Southpointe Chamber to fully focus on the development of the Southpointe Business Park.
March 13, 2025 1:14 am
Washington, PA – Governor Josh Shapiro and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials joined Penn Mechanical Group and local leaders in Washington County on Wednesday to plug the 300th orphaned or abandoned well under the Shapiro Administration. The Shapiro Administration has surpassed the number of wells plugged in the previous decade in just two years – the latest historic milestone under Governor Shapiro’s leadership to protect public health and create jobs by aggressively plugging these wells all across Western Pennsylvania. The 300th well was plugged in North Franklin Township under an emergency contract with Penn Mechanical Group, a family-owned and operated company located in Indiana, PA. The well – which is leaking methane – sits between two reservoirs on the site of the township’s future Waterside Park, an 89-acre park to connect residents to green-spaces, outdoor recreation, environmental education, and serve as a community hub. “When I took office, I directed the Department of Environmental Protection to move aggressively to draw down state and federal funding to make a meaningful impact plugging orphaned and abandoned wells. Today, I’m proud to announce that this well will be the 300th well plugged during my time as Governor,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “By plugging orphaned and abandoned wells, we’re tackling a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and creating thousands of good-paying jobs in the process. This is a smart, commonsense way to protect public health and create jobs – and I’m going to continue to work with DEP to put state and federal funding to good use by plugging these wells that create problems across rural Pennsylvania.”
March 12, 2025 8:41 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation slowed last month for the first time since September even as additional tariffs on steel and aluminum kicked in Wednesday that could send prices higher. The consumer price index increased 2.8% in February from a year ago, Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed, down from 3% the previous month. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose 3.1% from a year earlier, down from 3.3% in January. The core figure is the lowest in nearly four years. The declines were larger than economists expected, according to a survey by data provider FactSet.
March 12, 2025 5:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department’s civil rights branch is losing nearly half its staff in the Trump administration’s layoffs, effectively gutting an office that already faced a backlog of thousands of complaints from students and families across the country. Among more than 1,300 layoffs announced Tuesday were roughly 240 in the department’s Office for Civil Rights. Seven out of 12 regional offices were entirely laid off. It leaves thousands of cases hanging in the air, including cases from families trying to get school services for students with disabilities, allegations of bias related to race or religion, and complaints over sexual violence on college campuses.
March 12, 2025 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed legislation to avert a partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies through September. The vote provides critical momentum for the measure, which now moves to the Senate, where bipartisan support will be needed to get it over the finish line. House Republicans needed overwhelming support from their members, and they got it in the 217-213 vote. It’s one of the biggest legislative tests so far of the President Donald Trump’s second term, prompting Vice President JD Vance to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning to rally support.
March 12, 2025 5:01 am
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The Trump administration says it will immediately lift its suspension of military aid to Ukraine and intelligence sharing with Kyiv. The announcement came Tuesday, a week after the measures were imposed to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to enter talks to end the war with invading Russian forces. In a joint statement released following a lengthy day of talks between Ukraine and the United States in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine also said it was open to a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, subject to Kremlin agreement. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz both said the discussions in Jeddah had been positive.
March 12, 2025 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%. He has promised that the taxes will help create U.S. factory jobs at a time when his seesawing tariff threats are jolting the stock market and raising fears of an economic slowdown. Wednesday’s move eliminates all exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals, in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%. The U.S. president has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging “reciprocal” rates starting April 2.
March 12, 2025 4:57 am
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has announced its own countermeasures, saying they will enter into force from April 1, after the Trump administration officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that as the United States is “applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros,” or about $28 billion. The commission manages trade and commercial conflicts on behalf of the 27 member countries. Von der Leyen said that the EU “will always remain open to negotiation.” Britain, which isn’t part of the EU, meanwhile said it won’t impose retaliatory measures of its own on the U.S.
March 12, 2025 4:55 am
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Police in the Dominican Republic say the FBI has joined the search for a 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student who went missing nearly a week ago while on spring break. Police said Tuesday they are re-interviewing people who were with Sudiksha Konanki before she vanished in the predawn hours of March 6 at a beach in front of a hotel in the tourist town of Punta Cana. The hotel said her disappearance coincided with a power outage that prompted multiple guests to head to the beach. Dominican President Luis Abinader told reporters that he lamented the situation.
March 12, 2025 2:48 am
South Strabane Township Police say they have arrested 29-year-old Lindsie Spillar of Oakdale on charges of operating an escort and prostitution enterprise from the Rodeway Inn in South Strabane Township. Police say they served a search warrant on her room at the Inn and they found her actively engaged in prostitution with a male guest. Spillar was jailed on multiple charges, including possession of cocaine and heroin. Police say a search of the room revealed a small amount of cocaine and heroin, a large amount of cash and sexual paraphernalia. Police say Spillar also had an arrest warrant out of Westmoreland County for unauthorized use of a vehicle and for failure to appear. South Strabane Township Police Chief Drew Hilk says North Strabane Township Police and District Attorney Jason Walsh assisted in the investigation.
