January 13, 2025 4:43 pm
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — U.S. flags at President-elect Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club are back to flying at full height. Flags are supposed to fly at half-staff through the end of January out of respect for former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29. Both President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have directed that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff for 30 days from the date of Carter’s death — or through Jan. 28. Trump has expressed annoyance that flags will be at half-staff when he takes office on Jan. 20. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday ordered flags on state buildings to be flown at full-staff on Inauguration Day.
January 13, 2025 5:26 am
The driver of a sweeper truck was injured in a crash early Monday in Hanover Township. Washington County 9-1-1 says it happened just after 1:30 a.m at the two mile marker along Route 22. The truck went over a hillside and into some trees and ended up on its roof. The driver was entrapped. Dispatchers say the man was then transported by ambulance to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. There is no word on his identity or condition.
January 13, 2025 5:17 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The wildfires that erupted this week across Los Angeles County are far from contained, but they’re already expected to be the costliest in U.S. history and among the worst natural disasters. The devastating blazes have killed at least 11 people and incinerated more than 12,000 structures since Tuesday. While California is no stranger to major wildfires, they have generally been concentrated in inland areas that are not densely populated. That’s far from the case this time, with one of the largest conflagrations destroying thousands of properties across the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, home to many Hollywood stars and executives with multimillion-dollar properties.
January 13, 2025 5:16 am
HONG KONG (AP) — China’s exports in December grew at a faster pace than expected, as factories rushed to fill orders to beat higher tariffs that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose once he takes office. Exports rose 10.7% from a year earlier. Economists had forecast they would grow about 7%. Imports rose 1% year-on-year. Analysts had expected imports to shrink about 1.5%. Trump has pledged to raise tariffs on Chinese goods and close some loopholes that exporters now use to sell their products more cheaply in the U.S. If enacted, his plans would likely raise prices in America and squeeze sales and profit margins for Chinese exporters.
January 13, 2025 5:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Joe Biden prepares to leave office next week, he remains insistent that his one-term presidency has made strides in restoring American credibility on the world stage and has proved that the U.S. remains an indispensable partner around the globe. That’s the message that will be at the center of a capstone address he will deliver on Monday reflecting on his foreign policy legacy. Yet, Biden’s case for his foreign policy achievements will be shadowed and shaped, at least in the near term, by the messy counterfactual that American voters are returning the country’s stewardship to Donald Trump and his protectionist worldview.
January 13, 2025 5:14 am
CAIRO (AP) — Officials say U.S. and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight toward brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but a deal has not been reached yet. Three officials said Monday that progress has been made and that the coming days would be critical for ending more than 15 months of fighting that has destabilized the Middle East. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks. On several occasions over the past year, U.S. officials have said they were on the verge of reaching a deal, only to have the talks stall.
January 13, 2025 5:09 am
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will hold off enforcing a requirement laid out in an executive order this month that Nippon Steel abandon its $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel. The companies made the announcement over the weekend. President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel’s planned acquisition of U.S. Steel on national security grounds on Jan. 3, and his Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week that the proposed deal had received a “thorough analysis” by interagency review body, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The delay will give the courts time to review a legal challenge brought by the parties earlier this month against Biden’s order. The parties previously had 30 days to unwind their transaction. In a joint statement the companies said; “We are pleased that CFIUS has granted an extension to June 18, 2025 of the requirement in President Biden’s Executive Order that the parties permanently abandon the transaction.” “We look forward to completing the transaction, which secures the best future for the American steel industry and all our stakeholders,” they said. U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel alleged in a lawsuit that the CFIUS review was prejudiced by Biden’s longstanding opposition to the deal, denying them of a right to a fair review. They asked a federal appeals court to overturn Biden’s decision to allow them a fresh review to secure another shot at closing the merger.
January 13, 2025 4:58 am
HENRY CLAY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – State police are looking for the person who damaged multiple vehicles belonging to a business in Fayette County with a pellet gun. Troopers said windshields on multiple vehicles had been shot with a pellet gun. The vehicles belonged to The U Company LLC and the incident happened at the 400 block of Mae West Road in Henry Clay Township. Multiple company trucks and a skid steer had been shot. The damage was valued at $3,800. A suspect has not been identified at this time. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Pennsylvania State Police’s Uniontown barracks by calling 724-439-7111.
January 13, 2025 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith says in a new report that his team “stood up for the rule of law” as it investigated President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Smith says he stands fully behind his decision to bring criminal charges against the president-elect and says he believes Trump would have been convicted had he not won the 2024 election. The report, coming just days before Trump is to return to the White House on Jan. 20, focuses fresh attention on his frantic but failed effort to cling to power in 2020. The Justice Department sent the report to Congress early Tuesday after a judge refused to block its release.
January 13, 2025 4:55 am
Another blast of arctic air is heading our way. Temperatures slowly dropped through Monday afternoon, bringing much colder air for the overnight hours. Tuesday and Wednesday highs will only make it to the upper teens with subzero wind chills expected and snow showers are possible again on Tuesday afternoon and night. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has issued a Cold Weather Advisory for the ridges of Westmoreland, Indiana and Fayette counties along with eastern Preston and Garrett counties in Maryland from 1 a.m. Tuesday through 10 a.m. Wednesday, where wind chills could get as low as -11 degrees. Snow showers will also be around at times starting Tuesday afternoon from lake effect snow. On and off snow showers are possible through Thursday. The big headline is the cold stretch that will continue through midweek, Wednesday morning wind chills will be back below zero. Make sure to limit time outdoors, wear warm layers if you are heading out, and keep pets inside.
