February 6, 2025 4:53 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal government payments for subscriptions to media outlets have become the latest target of President Donald Trump’s spending hawks. A day after his press secretary cited some $8 million in spending for Politico subscriptions, Trump dubbed it a “scandal” and online sleuths started looking for evidence of payments to other organizations like the New York Times and Associated Press. Said one Trump aide online: “The U.S. government must stop paying for media subscriptions.” But it’s actually a long-running tradition, depended upon by governments around the world to help them keep up with what is going on. And, the AP noted, has been a staple of Democratic and Republican administrations.
February 6, 2025 4:50 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are working overtime to meet President Donald Trump’s demand for a big budget package. Speaker Mike Johnson had GOP lawmakers working into the night ahead of a self-imposed Friday deadline to finish up the details. They’re eyeing some $3 trillion in tax breaks, massive government program cuts and a possible extension of the nation’s debt limit. This all comes after a lengthy White House meeting Thursday where Trump’s message was simple: Get it done. The House has blown past its earlier deadline and is now racing Senate Republicans, who are preparing their own package. Senate Republicans are heading late Friday to meet with Trump at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
February 6, 2025 4:45 am
ANTRIM TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — The heist of 100,000 eggs from the back of a trailer in Pennsylvania has become a whodunit that police have yet to crack. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Police said Wednesday that four days after the theft no leads have come in. Law enforcement officials say the crime could be tied to the sky-high cost of eggs. The officials are following up with any possible witnesses and looking into surveillance footage that could help them identify the perpetrator The eggs are worth about $40,000. Police say the eggs were snatched from the back of a Pete & Gerry’s Organics’ distribution trailer Saturday night in Antrim Township, Pennsylvania.
February 6, 2025 2:51 am
The Mayor of Washington and the city’s Police Chief held a meeting on Wednesday with the owner of a business in the city that has been in the hub of recent criminal activity. Authorities arrested 62-year-old Lawrence Martin of East Washington Borough in connection with a stabbing at the Exxon on Ridge Avenue Thursday night. The male victim walked into UPMC Washington Hospital, claiming to have been stabbed. The victim, whose name has not been released, was transferred to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment of his injuries. Martin is now facing multiple charges. Mayor JoJo Burgess tells WJPA that the meeting was with the owner of the Exxon. Burgess says the owner was very agreeable to add some safety measures and Burgess says the city will closely monitor that location in the future and continue to work with the owner to ensure residents and customers are safe.
February 6, 2025 2:20 am
It took just over two hours for a jury to deliver a verdict in the trial of Jamil Carr who was convicted of killing 18 year old Antonio Martinez of Centerville, Tennessee during a fight at Jollick Manor in July of 2022. Carr was facing a criminal homicide felony charge. The jury returned a guilty verdict on a third degree murder charge. Carr was also convicted of a felony prohibited possession of a firearm charge. Reactions from family members were understandably diverse. Israel Cruz, father of Antonio Martinez said he is “glad justice was served.” Ciera King is the sister of Jamil Carr and she called the verdict “bogus” citing what she said was a lack of evidence to convict Carr. Carr will be sentenced in April.
February 5, 2025 4:49 pm
HONG KONG (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service is reversing course a day after placing a ban on all inbound packages from China and Hong Kong. The post office had announced Tuesday that it would no longer accept parcels from the China and Hong Kong after the U.S. imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods and ended a customs exception that allowed small value parcels to enter the U.S. without paying tax. The Postal Service reversed course Wednesday but gave no reason. The post office pointed to the short prepared statement on the reversal when asked for more details about the reversal Wednesday by The Associated Press.
February 5, 2025 5:03 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The Waffle House restaurant chain is putting a 50 cent per egg surcharge in place temporarily because of the biggest bird flu outbreak in a decade. The restaurant, typically a reliable spot for a cheap breakfast, said that the resulting egg shortage has led to a dramatic increase in its costs. Bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S. egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023. The chain’s two-egg breakfast, which comes with toast and a side, was listed at $7.75 on Tuesday.
February 5, 2025 5:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed Pam Bondi as U.S. attorney general. Her confirmation puts a longtime ally of Donald Trump at the helm of a Justice Department that has already been rattled by the firings of career employees seen as disloyal to the Republican president. Bondi is a former Florida attorney general and corporate lobbyist. She is expected oversee a radical reshaping of the department that has been the target of Trump’s ire over the criminal cases it brought against him. Bondi has sought to reassure Democrats that politics would play no part in her decision-making, but she has refused to rule out investigations into Trump’s adversaries.
February 5, 2025 4:59 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump’s proposal that the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents has been swiftly rejected and denounced by American allies and adversaries alike. Saudi Arabia weighed in quickly, noting the kingdom’s long call for an independent Palestinian state was a “firm, steadfast and unwavering position.” Similarly, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters that his country has long supported a two-state solution in the Middle East and that nothing has changed. the militant Hamas group, which sparked the war with its attack on Israel, called the proposal a “recipe for creating chaos” in the region.
February 5, 2025 4:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump promised voters an administration that wouldn’t waste precious American lives and taxpayer treasure on far-off wars and nation building. But just weeks into his second go-around in the White House, the Republican leader laid out plans to use American might to “take over” and reconstruct Gaza, threatened to reclaim U.S. control of the Panama Canal and floated the idea that the U.S. could buy Greenland from Denmark, which has shown no interest in parting with the island. The rhetorical shift from America First to America Everywhere is leaving even some of his allies slack-jawed — and wondering if he’s really serious.
