February 19, 2026 2:40 am
The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM) has been voted the Best Small Town Museum in the USA Today 10 Best Readers Choice Awards. After weeks of voting, readers have selected the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum as the Best Small Town Museum in America. Proudly representing the transportation museum community, PTM has garnered national attention by their inclusion in the Best Small Town Museum category. “We are deeply honored to receive this national recognition along with so many other prestigious, small town museums,” said Jeanine DeBor, Executive Director/CEO. “This distinction acknowledges the importance of transportation history in our country, specifically the important mission of preserving the Trolley Era. We are thankful to everyone who voted for us.” This national award recognizes excellence in small town museums and the nomination highlights PTM’s commitment to preserving streetcars and their impact on our communities for generations to come. Winners were announced on February 18, 2026. This is the first year PTM was selected for inclusion in this list.
February 19, 2026 5:05 am
TRUCKEE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities in California say it will be at least another day before crews can attempt to recover the bodies of eight people killed in an avalanche and one other who remains missing. Crews say there’s still heavy snow and a high risk of more avalanches Thursday in the Sierra Nevada near Lake Tahoe. The victims include a group connected to an area skiing academy. Six others were found alive by rescuers Tuesday hours after the avalanche hit on Tuesday. A mayor near San Francisco says the group included moms from the Bay Area. Authorities said Wednesday that among the survivors are one of four professional guides on the trip.
February 18, 2026 5:06 am
Experts say a weeks-long “snow drought” in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada helped set the stage for Tuesday’s deadly avalanche, after several feet of new snow fell on an earlier layer that had hardened. The new snow didn’t bond to the earlier layer before the avalanche near Lake Tahoe killed at least eight back country skiers, said San Jose State University meteorology professor Craig Clements. Six skiers survived and rescuers were searching for another who was still missing. The group was on a three-day back country trek when they were trapped by the avalanche as a winter storm pummeled the West Coast.
February 18, 2026 5:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Governors are arriving in Washington for an annual gathering that has traditionally been a show of bipartisanship. But President Donald Trump has disrupted norms by not inviting all governors to meetings at the White House. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, joined Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, both Republicans, in opening this year’s National Governors Association on a panel where they emphasized bipartisanship regardless of Trump’s actions. The break with tradition reflects Trump’s broader approach in his second term. He has taken a confrontational stance toward some state leaders, withholding federal funds from states that draw his ire and deploying federal troops to cities over the objections of local officials.
February 19, 2026 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s top economist on Wednesday urged that Federal Reserve economists be punished for research last week that showed American companies and consumers paying for nearly all the new tariffs imposed by the White House last year. Hassett’s comments represent the latest attack from the Trump administration on the Fed, which has traditionally been independent of day-to-day politics. It also suggests the White House remains sensitive to concerns about rising costs for groceries, housing, and big-ticket items such as furniture and cars, as surveys show Americans remain disgruntled about the economy.
February 18, 2026 5:02 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mark Zuckerberg and opposing lawyers dueled in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday, where the Meta CEO answered questions about young people’s use of Instagram, his congressional testimony and internal advice he’s received to be “authentic” and not “robotic.” The plaintiff, a now 20-year-old woman, is seeking to hold social media companies responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Meta and YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap settled.
February 18, 2026 4:04 pm
NEVADA CITY, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say the bodies of eight backcountry skiers have been found and one remains missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe in California. Search and rescue crews were dispatched to the Castle Peak area of the Sierra Nevada after a 911 call reporting an avalanche Tuesday morning. Six of them were found alive. Heavy snow and the threat of additional avalanches slowed the rescue effort in the mountains near Castle Peak, northwest of Lake Tahoe. Authorities have told the families the mission has moved from rescue to recovery. They say the eight victims were found fairly close together, and that three of them were found by the skiers who survived.
February 18, 2026 5:46 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mark Zuckerberg and opposing lawyers dueled in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday, where the Meta CEO answered questions about young people’s use of Instagram, his congressional testimony and internal advice he’s received to be “authentic” and not “robotic.” The plaintiff, a now 20-year-old woman, is seeking to hold social media companies responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Meta and YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap settled. (Photo: AP)
February 17, 2026 1:22 pm
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby won’t return to Canada’s Olympic quarterfinal game against Czechia after he went limping into the locker room during the second period. Crosby, also the captain for Team Canada, took three hard hits early in the second period. He was favoring his right leg on the ice after being sandwiched against the boards and two Czechia players. He was then seen doubled over on the bench soon after the third hit, then went limping down into the locker room, still favoring his right leg. At the start of the third period, analysts announced Crosby wouldn’t return due to a lower-body injury.
February 18, 2026 3:28 am
Canonsburg was the venue for a public hearing held by the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee. The hearing was centered on Senate Bill 978 that would require insurance companies and Medicaid to cover prescription protein additives from eggs and peanuts to prevent the development of allergies to eggs and peanuts. A 2015 study called the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) Study conducted by researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that early, gradual introduction of eggs and peanuts to children as young as 4 months old cut the rate of those allergies by 81%. State Senator Camera Bartolotta is the prime sponsor of the bill. She says that research conducted by UPMC determined that it would cost one cent per member to institute this policy. That figure is far less than the several hundred dollars that an epinephrine pen costs. Aside from the obvious benefit of largely eliminating egg and peanut allergies, other medical testimony pointed out additional benefits. Dr. Kelly Cleary, Medical Director of the Food Allergy Research & Education Foundation stated that 1 in 3 children are bullied because of their food allergies, sometimes using the food to cause harm. Meenal Lele, CEO of Hanimune Therapeutics pointed to the economic pain caused by food allergies. Her son is allergic to eggs. She said her son that attends school in the Philadelphia School District, does not use eggs in the preparation of French toast because of food allergies. She said that there are 200,000 students not eating eggs that day because of food allergies. She equated that to a large loss to egg farmers in Pennsylvania. Another cost is job restrictions. Senator Bartolotta highlighted the testimony that pointed out that individuals with food allergies are not allowed to serve in the military. The committee chaired by State Senator David Argall is looking to move the bill quickly through the committee in order to hold a vote. No timeline for a vote is available.
