November 21, 2024 5:00 am
GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland is spewing lava from a fissure in its seventh eruption since December. Iceland’s seismic monitors said the eruption started with little warning late Wednesday and created a long fissure but looked to be smaller than eruptions in August and May. Around 50 houses were evacuated after the Civil Protection agency issued the alert, along with guests at the famous Blue Lagoon resort, according to the national broadcaster. The repeated eruptions over the past year have caused damage to the town of Grindavík and forced people to relocate.
November 21, 2024 4:55 am
Philadelphia’s mass transit system has reached a tentative contract deal with its largest workers union. The agreement announced Wednesday averts a strike that could have seen thousands of employees walk off the job. The one-year deal between the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and Transport Workers Union Local 234 calls for union members to receive a 5% raise and an unspecified pension adjustment. It also has language aimed at improving the personal safety of frontline workers, including installing bulletproof enclosures for drivers since many face violence and harassment. Union President Brian Pollitt says a ratification vote will be held Dec. 6.
November 20, 2024 5:43 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on the House Ethics Committee voted Wednesday against releasing a report on their long-running investigation into President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz. That’s according to the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania. She said the ethics panel, which is evenly split between the two parties, voted at a lengthy closed-door meeting, and no Republican joined Democrats who wanted to release the report. Gaetz met for hours behind closed doors Wednesday with Republican senators who have questions about the sexual misconduct and other allegations against him. At least one Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham, decried the “lynch mob” forming against Gaetz. (Photo: AP)
November 20, 2024 5:40 pm
A severe storm system made its way through Washington, Allegheny, Westmoreland and Beaver counties Wednesday afternoon, causing massive power outages, down trees and other minor damages in its wake. At the height of the storm, which included a severe thunderstorm warning for Washington County and a tornado warning for Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, more than thirty-eight-hundred West Penn Power customers were without power in Washington County and over seventeen-thousand were left in the dark in Allegheny County. Crews were called out, but warned that the outages could rise as the winds continue to knock down trees and wires. There were no reported injuries.
November 20, 2024 12:43 pm
(WPXI) – Former late-night television host Jay Leno was injured when he fell down a hillside before a show in Greensburg last week. The Today Show reports that the former host of the “Tonight Show” arrived at his latest comedy show with an eye patch, broken wrist and bruised face. Leno said he was staying at a Hampton Inn about 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh when he wanted to have dinner at a local restaurant before his show. He decided to take a shortcut down a hillside and fell about 60 feet. Leno said he “hit a bunch of rocks,” which resulted in him being “all black and blue.” Leno said that one of the rocks hit him in the eye, which is why he needed the eye patch, and he also lost a nail on his finger. Leno performed at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg just three hours later. (Photo: AP)
November 20, 2024 12:33 pm
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — A Venezuelan man has been convicted of murder in the killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. Jose Ibarra was charged with murder and other crimes in Riley’s February death, and the guilty verdict was reached Wednesday by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard. Ibarra had waived his right to a jury trial, meaning that Haggard alone heard and decided the case. The killing added fuel to the national debate over immigration when federal authorities said Ibarra illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case. (Photo: AP)
November 20, 2024 5:43 pm
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A parole board in South Carolina has ruled unanimously that Susan Smith should remain in prison 30 years after she was convicted of rolling her car into a lake and drowning her two young sons. The 53-year-old Smith appeared before the board for the first time Wednesday and said God has forgiven her. Then her ex-husband and father of the children she killed argued along with prosecutors and his relatives that she should remain incarcerated. Prosecutors say Smith killed her 3-year-old and 14-month-old sons because she thought they were the reason a wealthy man broke up with her.
November 20, 2024 10:24 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. defense chief says the Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied antipersonnel land mines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield progress in the war. It is Washington’s second major policy shift in a week after its decision to let Ukraine strike targets on Russian soil with U.S.-made missiles. The war, which reached its 1,000-day milestone on Tuesday, has largely been going Russia’s way in recent months. Russia’s bigger army is slowly pushing Ukraine’s outnumbered army backward in the eastern Donetsk region, while Ukrainian civilians have repeatedly been clobbered by Russian drones and missiles often fired from inside Russia. The U.S. and some other Western embassies in Kyiv stayed closed Wednesday after a threat of a major Russian aerial attack.
November 20, 2024 2:00 am
North Strabane Township Supervisors gave residents a first look at the budget for 2025 at their agenda meeting. The spending plan comes in at $22,921,777. It is a balanced budget and no tax increase is proposed for 2025. Other business that supervisors could consider is an ordinance that will amend their zoning ordinance to create a definition and regulations for a personal warehouse as a conditional use within the C-1 zoning district. Supervisors will vote to approve the preliminary budget at their meeting on November 26th.
November 20, 2024 4:48 am
ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Tuesday night’s Allegheny County Council meeting was packed with people. Dozens had to be moved to an overflow space. All of this is in response to the proposed county budget and existing opposition. In County Executive Sara Innamorato’s first-ever budget, she proposed a 2.2 mill or 46.5% property tax increase. It would equal about $180 a year more for the average homeowner. That proposal has been met with opposition. Some members of council say it’s just too steep. A memo from the county manager to council was leaked. In it, he outlined what would happen if the millage was not increased calling subsequent cuts “deep” and “catastrophic.” According to the memo, the Department of Human Services would need to cut staff and funding to a number of programs and organizations. Members of those organizations showed up in force, imploring council to vote in favor of the budget proposal. Not all agreed. The budget vote is set for Dec. 3.
