February 13, 2025 4:57 am
Joann Fabric has announced it will be closing more than 500 of its approximate 850 locations amid its bankruptcy restructurings. A company spokesperson called it “a very difficult decision” but that it would be “right-sizing our store footprint is a critical part of our efforts to ensure the best path forward,” CNN reported. There will be closings in all 50 states, according to court filings. California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington will be hit the hardest. Ten locations in the Pittsburgh area will be closed including stores in Bridgeville, Belle Vernon, Greensburg and Pleasant Hills.
February 13, 2025 4:52 am
The Bentworth School District had a remote instruction day Thursday and will have one more on Friday due to illnesses. The district says they have been monitoring those illnesses for the past few days. Officials say they wanted to prevent the spread to other healthy students. An exact number of students was not provided. Officials say the pause will provide the custodial staff time to clean the buildings. All on campus after school activities are cancelled. Students will follow a two-hour delay schedule while on remote learning and these days will not need to be made up during their spring break.
February 12, 2025 5:13 pm
MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms is urging users to stay vigilant about “romance scams” ahead of Valentine’s Day, warning of unsolicited messages through its apps and other social media platforms, as well as general text messages. Scammers tend to pose as “attractive, single and successful individuals,” Meta says. They build trust over a period of time before asking their targets for money. (Photo: AP)
February 12, 2025 3:00 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence. The vote Wednesday came after Republicans who had initially questioned her experience and judgment fell in line behind her nomination. Gabbard was an unconventional pick to oversee and coordinate the country’s 18 different intelligence agencies. She had made past comments sympathetic to Russia, she once met with now-deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad and had expressed previous support for government leaker Edward Snowden. Gabbard is a military veteran and a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii. She has no formal intelligence experience and has never run a government agency or department. (Photo: AP)
February 12, 2025 10:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation accelerated last month as the cost of groceries and gasoline rose, a trend that will likely underscore the Federal Reserve’s resolve to delay any further interest rate cuts. The consumer price index increased 3% in January from a year ago, Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed, up from 2.9% the previous month. It has increased from a 3 1/2 year low of 2.4% in September. The figures underscore the stickiness of inflation, which created a major political problem for former President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump pledged to reduce prices in last year’s campaign, though most economists worry that his many proposed tariffs could at least temporarily increase costs.
February 12, 2025 6:55 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Cyndi Lauper, OutKast and Phish are some the 2025 nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It’s a list that also includes two sets of musical brothers who have had public feuds and recent reunions — the Black Crowes and Oasis. The Hall revealed the list of 14 performer nominees Wednesday, including Bad Company, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Maná, Soundgarden and the White Stripes. The 2025 Inductees will be revealed in late April. Nominees will be voted on by more than 1,200 artists, historians and music industry professionals.
February 12, 2025 5:45 am
Two people have been transported to Pittsburgh hospitals after a crash Wednesday morning along Route 22 in Hanover Township. Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers say it happened just before 4:30 a.m near mile-marker 4 just before the Burgettstown interchange. A pickup truck and a Jeep were involved. There is currently no information on the identities or conditions of those injured. The crash did close the eastbound lanes but traffic was flowing again by 6 a.m.
February 12, 2025 5:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump promised as a candidate that he could easily conquer inflation, but the reality is proving tougher than he expected. Wednesday’s consumer price index report showed that Trump could end up facing the same challenges that dragged down his predecessor, President Joe Biden. The annual inflation rate has risen over the three months since the November election to 3%. Gasoline prices in particular have climbed despite Trump’s claims that his return to the presidency would signal increased oil production that would lower energy costs. It’s a humbling reminder that even U.S. presidents are subject to the invisible hand of supply and demand, rather than the masters of it.
February 12, 2025 4:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s most powerful adviser, Elon Musk, has made a rare public appearance at the White House to defend the swift and extensive cuts he’s pushing across the federal government while acknowledging there may be mistakes. He appeared in the Oval Office with Trump as the president praised Musk’s work slashing spending with his Department of Government Efficiency and signed an an executive order to continue downsizing the federal workforce. Musk, taking questions for the first time from reporters since he joined the Trump administration as a special government employee with sprawling influence over federal agencies, defended DOGE’s work as “common sense” and “not draconian or radical.”
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.
