December 18, 2024 5:02 am
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — The suspect charged with shooting to death a health insurance company chief executive on a Manhattan street is being taken to hearings on related Pennsylvania criminal charges and efforts to extradite him to New York. Luigi Mangione faces a preliminary hearing on forgery and firearms charges and consideration of a fugitive from justice complaint on Thursday. Court officials say Mangione will attend the early morning proceedings at the courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. He’s accused of the Dec. 4 killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson.
December 19, 2024 9:18 am
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell markedly last week following a big increase the week before. Jobless claim applications declined by 22,000 to 220,000 for the week of Dec. 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 229,000 analysts were forecasting. Continuing claims, the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits, fell by 5,000 to 1.87 million for the week of Dec. 7. That was also fewer than analysts had projected. The four-week average of weekly claims, which quiets some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 1,250 to 225,500. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs.
December 18, 2024 5:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has delivered a likely death blow to bipartisan congressional budget negotiations. He’s rejecting the measure as full of giveaways to Democrats. Billionaire ally Elon Musk whipped up outrage toward the bill and cheered on Republican lawmakers who announced their opposition. Trump’s joint statement Wednesday with Vice President-elect JD Vance, which stopped the bill in its tracks, punctuated a daylong torrent of social media posts by Musk attacking the budget legislation as full of excessive spending. “Kill the Bill!” Musk wrote on his social media platform X as he dangled primary challenges against anyone who voted for the budget deal, a threat Trump later echoed in a post of his own.
December 19, 2024 2:13 am
The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission stopped by in Charleroi on Wednesday to conduct one of their “No Hate In Our State” town hall meetings. Members of the PHRC, local government and two activist organizations participated in a round table discussion on how to foster community and eliminate hate among varied community groups. Chad Dion Lassiter, Executive Director of the PHRC feels that community comes from within. Everyone knows inside of them the type of community in which they wish to live. They just need to live those values. Charleroi Borough Manager Joe Manning stated that one can not simply enact policies to diminish hate. He said that people need to elect officials that will lead the community in the type of society that they wish to live. Emily Holmes is the State Program Officer for Common Ground USA. She says that community gatherings attended by all groups are necessary to foster understanding, “it is hard to hate someone that you are having dinner with.” An audience participation segment spurred divergent opinions. John Lunt a Charleroi business owner feels that immigrants, Haitians in particular, are handed everything to them, especially drivers licenses. Jimmy Alexandre operates the Haitian Resource Center and he said his organization is looking to develop real relationships with residents of Charleroi. Borough Councilman Larry Celaschi indicated that information about the meeting was not well disseminated. He also pointed out that he would prefer that a panel be more diverse including members of the business community, residents and members of the minority communities. Prior to the meeting, information was released that up to 100 protestors would be at the meeting. Those protestors never showed.
December 18, 2024 2:40 am
The second person charged in a July 2023 driveby shooting in Canonsburg has entered a guilty plea. Jessica Chatman-Carroll, 35 of Houston, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor reckless endangerment charge. Chatman-Carroll received a two year probation sentence in exchange for the guity plea. She faced conspiracy to commit homicide and aggravated assault charges that were dropped. She was accused of driving the vehicle that carried Dillon Britt and Brett Carroll as they allegedly fired shots into a home in East End Canonsburg. Earlier this month, Brett Carroll, 31 of Washington, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment. He had a previous probationary sentence revoked and he was resentenced to 18 months to 4 years in prison on both cases. He will then serve five years probation. Dillon Britt is still facing attempted homicide and other charges relating to the incident. He is scheduled for a plea court hearing on January 25th.
December 18, 2024 2:44 am
Peter Adamo, MBA, President of the Southwest Region, will depart Penn Highlands Healthcare for a leadership position in Eastern Pennsylvania where his family still resides. Adamo joined the health system in October 2022 as the Southwest Region President with the dual role as president of Penn Highlands Connellsville and Penn Highlands Mon Valley. During his tenure, Peter oversaw the completion of the CNX Foundation Substance Recovery Unit at Penn Highlands Mon Valley and reintroduced the Innovations in Medicine community education programming. “An opportunity arose that is a great fit for my family’s needs,” said Adamo. “It has been a privilege to work with our dedicated employees in the Southwest Region and I value the friendships that I made at Penn Highlands Connellsville and Penn Highlands Mon Valley.” It’s anticipated that Adamo will remain in his current role until late January 2025. A national search for a new Regional President will begin immediately. Mark Norman, System COO, will assume interim leadership in the Southwest Region during the transition.
December 19, 2024 5:09 am
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Police say the shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin this week brought two guns to the school. The 15-year-old girl also was in contact with a man in California who authorities say was planning to attack a government building. The new details became public Wednesday in court documents and interviews with authorities investigating the teenager who took her own life on Monday after opening fire in a study hall at Abundant Life Christian School. Madison authorities also identified those killed as 42-year-old Erin Michelle West and 14-year-old Rubi Patricia Vergara. The Associated Press could not immediately reach family members.
December 18, 2024 5:10 am
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas official who’s an informal adviser to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team on immigration issues doesn’t expect mass deportations to prompt arrests of migrants at sensitive locations such as schools and churches. But Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach does expect Trump to take action that will spark a legal challenge over the citizenship status of children born in the U.S. to immigrants living in the country illegally. He also expects Trump to encourage local and state law enforcement officers to help with efforts to arrest and detain migrants. Kobach said Wednesday during an Associated Press interview that he’s in regular contact with Trump’s team.
December 19, 2024 5:05 am
Workers at seven Amazon facilities are on strike. The union said that the workers are joining the picket line Thursday after Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline the union set for contract negotiations. The workers had authorized strikes in the past few days. It will take place in New York, California, Illinois and Georgia. Amazon says it doesn’t expect an impact on its operations. The Teamsters say they represent nearly 10,000 workers at ten Amazon facilities. Amazon employs 1.5 million people in its warehouses and corporate offices.
December 18, 2024 5:48 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan to prevent a Christmastime government shutdown. Instead, he’s telling House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans to essentially renegotiate — days before a deadline when federal funding runs out. Trump’s sudden decision on Wednesday to make new demands sent Congress spiraling as lawmakers are trying to wrap up work and head home for the holidays. It leaves Johnson scrambling to salvage a new plan, days before Friday’s deadline to keep government open. “Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH,” Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance said in a statement.
