March 17, 2025 2:41 am
(WPXI) – The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down near Josephine in Indiana County on Sunday. This is the third tornado confirmed to have touched down in that area. The National Weather Service also confirmed two more tornadoes, an EF-1 near Ligonier (from the same part of the line that produced the tornado in Donegal), and an EF-1 near Josephine in Indiana County. Two of those tornadoes spun up in Westmoreland County. Officials say the first tornado traveled from Bear Rocks to Acme to Donegal. A second tornado touched down just southwest of Ligonier.
March 17, 2025 5:42 pm
PLANTERSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Residents and work crews in the South and Midwest are beginning to clean up and survey the destruction from a three-day outbreak of severe weather. The storms started Friday. They kicked up wildfires, tornadoes and dust storms. The severe weather barreled across eight states and left at least 41 people dead. Wind-driven wildfires across Oklahoma destroyed more than 400 homes. Four deaths were blamed on the fires or high winds. In North Carolina, two boys were killed when a 3-foot-wide tree fell on their home. And in Missouri, scattered twisters killed at least a dozen people.
March 17, 2025 10:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — US shoppers stepped up their spending a just bit in February after a sharp pullback the previous month, signaling that Americans are shopping more cautiously as concerns about the direction of the economy mount. Retail sales rose just 0.2% in February, a small rebound after a sharp drop of 1.2% in January, the Commerce Department said Monday. Sales rose at grocery stores, home and garden stores, and online retailers. Sales fell at auto dealers, restaurants, and electronics stores. The small increase suggests Americans may be growing more wary about spending as the stock market has plunged and President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and government spending cuts have led to widespread uncertainty among consumers and businesses.
March 16, 2025 5:01 am
Strong storms rolled through Washington County on Sunday leaving behind some downed trees and power outages. According to West Penn Power’s outage map, there were still more than 200 customers without power as of 11 a.m. Monday. Areas impacted include; Fallowfield Township, Califonria, Centerville, Cokeburg and Donegal Township. According to their website. service is expected to be restored by 3 p.m. The Beth Center School District switched to remote instruction because a power outage in the district.
March 16, 2025 5:15 am
Foreboding predictions of dangerous weekend weather came true as a dynamic storm spawned tornadoes, dust storms and wildfires that killed more than three dozen people. Hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed. The weakening but still volatile weather system is moving east with forecasters warning of dangerous winds from Florida to New Jersey on Monday, while heavy rain was likely across New York and New England.
March 17, 2025 5:07 am
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A man is accused of posing as a tree trimmer, then stealing guns and credit cards from a local home. The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office alleges the incident happened last fall. They say Bobby Bryer, 33, of Greensburg, went to a Hempfield Township home in October to solicit business for a tree trimming service, but his offer was declined. He reportedly then later broke into the house and stole a passport, six guns and nine credit cards while the homeowner was at work. Bryer then reportedly spent $1,900 on the stolen credit cards at various retail stores over two days. Police say the victim learned his home was burglarized after his credit card company notified him of the charges. A neighbor told investigators that he saw a man walking around the victim’s home and leaving with a sack over his shoulder on the night of the alleged burglary. Police say surveillance video from the retail stores where the credit cards were used helped them identify Bryer as the suspect. Bryer now faces several charges, including theft, burglary, criminal trespass and access device fraud. He was already in jail for unrelated pending cases when new charges were filed. A woman seen with Bryer on surveillance videos is also facing charges of access device fraud, corrupt organizations and receiving stolen property.
March 17, 2025 5:03 am
PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic — The man identified as a person of interest in the case of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, who disappeared while on vacation in the Dominican Republic, was seen on the beach with investigators early Sunday morning. NBC News reports Joshua Riibe was spotted on a Punta Cana beach with his father and attorney, pointing toward the sea. Riibe, a tourist from Iowa, was possibly the last person to see 20-year-old Konanki. NBC previously reported that in an interview with local authorities, he said he had rescued her from drowning shortly before she disappeared. Riibe’s attorneys, in an email to NBC News, said that his passport was confiscated Friday as part of the ongoing investigation, and he’s “permanently escorted by the police anywhere he goes.” The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office told our news partners at Channel 11 that Riibe is considered a person of interest in the investigation, which is still being investigated as a missing persons case and is not a criminal case. Authorities in the Dominican Republic, on Thursday, said no one is considered a suspect.
March 17, 2025 5:11 am
The Trump administration has transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members. Flights were in the air at the time of the ruling. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued an order Saturday evening blocking the deportations but lawyers told him there were already two planes with immigrants in the air — one headed for El Salvador, the other for Honduras. Boasberg verbally ordered the planes be turned around, but they apparently were not and he did not include the directive in his written order.
March 16, 2025 5:16 am
President Donald Trump’s supporters are echoing some of the rhetoric and actions that elsewhere have preceded attacks on the judiciary as the courts deliver a series of setbacks to his dramatic attempt to change the federal government without congressional approval. Trump’s supporters in Congress have raised the specter of impeaching judges who have ruled against the administration. Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump backer whose Department of Government Efficiency has ended up in the crosshairs of much of the litigation, has regularly called for removing judges on his social media site, X. Despite the rhetoric, the Trump administration has so far not openly defied a court order and is appealing decisions it doesn’t like.
March 17, 2025 5:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump told reporters that he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. He disclosed the upcoming conversation while flying from Florida to Washington on Air Force One on Sunday evening. Trump said his team was making good progress toward ending the war in Ukraine, which began when Russia invaded three years ago. The U.S. leader suggested there could be an announcement of some kind on Tuesday, and he said there’s talk of “dividing up certain assets” to reach an agreement.
