November 13, 2025 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of delay, Democrat Adelita Grijalva of Arizona is a member of the U.S. House. Grijalva was sworn into office Wednesday, more than seven weeks after she won a special election in Arizona to fill the House seat last held by her late father. It was one of Speaker Mike Johnson’s first actions before the House began consideration of legislation to end the government shutdown. After delivering a floor speech, Grijalva signed a discharge petition to eventually trigger a vote to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, giving it the needed 218 signatures. Grijalva’s seating brings the partisan margin in the House to a narrow 219-214 Republican majority.
November 13, 2025 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new AP-NORC poll finds U.S. adults’ opinions of how President Donald Trump is managing the federal government have dropped sharply since early in his second term, highlighting the risks posed by the government shutdown and his efforts to reshape the federal workforce. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll was conducted after Democrats notched sweeping victories in this month’s off-year elections but before Congress took major steps to try to end the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The poll finds Americans, particularly Republicans, are less likely to approve of the Republican president’s management of the government than they were in March. Trump’s overall approval remained steady since October.
November 13, 2025 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House’s list of 37 donors to President Donald Trump’s $300 million ballroom project includes crypto billionaires, powerful financiers, tobacco companies, tech giants, media companies, longtime Republican donors and several of the president’s neighbors in Florida. The list is incomplete and doesn’t include some donors who have announced their planned contributions publicly. The White House hasn’t said how much each donor is giving, and almost none has been willing to divulge that. Very few of the listed donors were willing to comment publicly on their contributions when contacted by The Associated Press.
November 13, 2025 1:30 am
The U.S. Mint in Philadelphia has printed its last penny, marking a significant step in the 1-cent coin’s demise. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump ordered the penny’s cancellation because the production costs exceed its value. The order comes more than 230 years after the first pennies were pressed in Philadelphia. The Treasury Department has estimated it will save $56 million per year on materials by ceasing to make the coin. Defenders of the penny say the cost is a bargain compared to the nickel, which costs almost 14 cents to mint.
November 12, 2025 4:56 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of delay, Democrat Adelita Grijalva of Arizona is a member of the U.S. House. Grijalva was sworn into office Wednesday, more than seven weeks after she won a special election in Arizona to fill the House seat last held by her late father. It was one of Speaker Mike Johnson first actions before the House began consideration of legislation to end the government shutdown. After delivering a floor speech, Grijalva signed a discharge petition to eventually trigger a vote to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, giving it the needed 218 signatures. Grijalva’s seating brings the partisan margin in the House to a narrow 220-214 Republican majority.
November 12, 2025 1:21 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is accusing Democrats of selectively leaking emails from disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to “create a fake narrative” to smear President Donald Trump. Epstein wrote in a 2011 email Trump had “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with a victim of sex trafficking and said in a separate message years later Trump “knew about the girls.” The emails made public by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday add to the questions about Trump’s friendship with Epstein and about any knowledge he may have had in what prosecutors call a yearslong effort by Epstein to exploit underage girls. The Republican president denies any knowledge of Epstein’s alleged crimes.
November 12, 2025 5:52 pm
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge has signaled that hundreds of people arrested and detained in the Chicago area immigration crackdown could soon be released on bond while they await immigration hearings. During a hearing Wednesday in Chicago, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings said he would order the full release of 13 detained individuals based on a 2022 consent decree outlining how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can make so-called warrantless arrests. He also gave government attorneys a Friday deadline to comb through a list of 615 people detained at jails and federal facilities nationwide to see if they qualify for alternatives to detention under the decree, such as using an ankle monitor, while their immigration cases proceed.
November 12, 2025 2:10 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Governor Josh Shapiro has signed Pennsylvania’s state budget. That ends the longest state budget impasse in recent history. On Wednesday, after multiple sessions and discussions, the state Senate voted 41-9 to pass the state budget bill. The budget is a $50.09 billion spending plan. Both parties spent much of Tuesday evening caucusing, trying to iron out an agreement. Much of the progress in moving the budget forward can be credited to removing Pennsylvania from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The initiative is essentially a co-op among a number of states attempting to lower carbon emissions, which Republicans referred to as an unfair carbon tax that stifled job growth.
November 12, 2025 1:38 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new AP-NORC poll finds U.S. adults’ opinions of how President Donald Trump is managing the federal government have dropped sharply since early in his second term, highlighting the risks posed by the government shutdown and his efforts to reshape the federal workforce. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll was conducted after Democrats notched sweeping victories in this month’s off-year elections but before Congress took major steps to try to end the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The poll finds Americans, particularly Republicans, are less likely to approve of the Republican president’s management of the government than they were in March. Trump’s overall approval remained steady since October.
November 12, 2025 4:49 am
MONESSEN, Pa. — A teen is hospitalized after a shooting Tuesday afternoon in Monessen. Monessen Police say the 16-year-old was shot along Rostraver Street near Linden Avenue. A 911 official says first responders were sent to the area after 4 p.m. for a report of shots fired. That teen was flown to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. The boy’s mother tells WPXI that he was shot in the head, but is responding to doctors. The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office says someone is in custody. Monessen School District Superintendent Robert Motte says the shooting took place near an elementary school. As a result, the district plans to have students learn remotely on Wednesday. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely and reassess conditions tomorrow. Updates will be shared with families as soon as possible,” Motte wrote. It wasn’t immediately clear if the teen shot is a Monessen School District student.
