February 25, 2025 2:28 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Penn State’s president Neeli Bendapudi says declining enrollments, demographic shifts and financial pressures will require the school to close some of its 19 branch campuses. In a message posted to Penn State’s website, Bendapudi said the university’s seven largest branch campuses will remain open: Abington, Altoona, Behrend, Berks, Brandywine, Harrisburg, and Lehigh Valley. But she says she’ll decide this spring which of the other 12 to close. Bendapudi says Penn State can’t sustain a viable campus system without closing some campuses. About 23,000 students were enrolled at the campuses last fall. She says no campus will close before 2026-27 academic year ends.
February 24, 2025 5:46 pm
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine is marking the bleakest anniversary yet of its war against the Russia invasion. The country’s forces are under severe pressure on the battlefield, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration apparently embracing the Kremlin in a reversal of U.S. policy. The three-year milestone drew more than a dozen Western leaders to Kyiv for commemorative events in a conspicuous show of support. Hours after the anniversary observances, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a potential deal to end the war. Separately, Putin suggested that European countries could be part of a settlement, but he also said that he has not discussed resolving the conflict in detail with Trump.
February 24, 2025 12:45 pm
(WPXI) – Three people, including a child, are dead after a duplex fire in Kittanning early Monday. The fire in the 1400 block of North Grant Avenue in Kittanning broke out shortly before 4 a.m Kittanning Hose Co. No. 6 Chief Scott Kline said that a man, woman and 3-year-old child were killed in the fire. Two other children, 5 and 7 years old, made it out. The Armstrong County Coroner’s Office identified the victims as Kayla Whittaker, 28, Ryland Whittaker, 3, and Jason C. Blystone Jr., 26. All three were found in a bedroom, per the coroner’s office. Two firefighters were hurt after falling through the floor from the second level to the first. They were taken to Armstrong County Memorial Hospital and are expected to be Okay. The fire is under investigation by the PSP Fire Marshall and Kittanning Police.
February 24, 2025 10:41 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Roberta Flack has died at 88. The Grammy-winning singer and pianist was known for her intimate vocal and musical style on “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and other hits. Her publicist said she died Monday, surrounded by her family. Flack became an overnight star in the early 1970s after Clint Eastwood used “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” in his film “Play Misty for Me.” Flack’s other hits included “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and a duet with former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway, “Where is the Love?”
February 24, 2025 5:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration says it’s placing all but a fraction of staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave worldwide and eliminating at least 1,600 U.S.-based jobs. The notices were sent to USAID workers and viewed Sunday by The Associated Press. It comes after a federal judge on Friday allowed the administration to move forward with pulling thousands of USAID staffers off the job in the U.S. and around the world. The agency said in the notices to staffers that it’s starting to cut 2,000 U.S.-based jobs. A version of the notice posted later on USAID’s website put the number of positions to be eliminated lower, at 1,600. The administration gave no explanation for the discrepancy.
February 24, 2025 5:19 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team is eliminating jobs at the vehicle safety agency that oversees Tesla and has launched investigations into deadly crashes involving his company’s cars. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has cut a “modest” amount of positions, according to a statement from the agency. Musk has accused NHTSA of holding back progress on self-driving technology with its investigations and recalls. Asked about whether the cuts would impact any probes into Tesla, the agency referred to a statement saying it will enforce the law on all automobile manufacturers.
February 24, 2025 5:13 am
ROME (AP) — The Vatican says Pope Francis remains in critical condition but has shown slight improvement in laboratory tests. He has resumed some work activities, including calling a parish in Gaza City that he has kept in touch with since the war there began. The Vatican’s evening bulletin was more upbeat than in recent days. It said the 88-year-old Francis. suffering from pneumonia in both lungs, hadn’t had any more respiratory crises. The slight kidney insufficiency detected on Sunday was of no concern. He is continuing to receive supplemental oxygen and doctors say his prognosis remains guarded. He received the Eucharist in the morning and resumed working in the afternoon.
February 24, 2025 5:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has refused to immediately order the White House to restore The Associated Press’ access to presidential events, saying the news organization had not shown it had suffered irreparable harm in the matter. But he urged the government to reconsider its two-week-old ban. He said that case law “is uniformly unhelpful to the White House.” U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden’s told attorneys for the Trump administration and the AP that the issue required more exploration before ruling. The AP filed a lawsuit Friday saying that its First and Amendment rights were being violated. President Donald Trump said it was punishment for the agency’s decision not to entirely follow his executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
February 24, 2025 5:08 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – A pair of major public transit projects are underway, including the long-term closure of a key connection between South Hills Junction and Station Square Station. The work could be double trouble for people heading downtown during Monday morning’s commute. Over the next few days, riders should expect some delays and detours. The light rail tracks between Steel Plaza and Gateway stations remain closed heading into the week as one PRT project wraps up and another begins. The brief overlap means delays and detours for riders. The Wood Street Station is closed entirely, so riders will be shuttled between Steel Plaza and Gateway on buses. Riders can expect more detours, through October, during work on the Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel right next to Station Square Station. The tunnel will be closed for the next eight months to replace and repair more than 1,000 feet of light rail track, roadway, and overhead electric lines. During the closure, most trains and buses will be detoured through the Allentown neighborhood.
February 24, 2025 5:03 am
BUFFALO TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A driver was flown to a hospital after their vehicle crashed into a mobile home in Washington County Saturday afternoon. Washington County 911 dispatchers say the vehicle crashed into a building on State Route 40 between Club 40 and East Buffalo Church Rd in Buffalo Township just after 4 p.m. Photos posted by Bentleyville Fire-Rescue show the crash severely damaged the front of a home. First responders worked for two hours to stabilize the damaged structure. Dispatchers say no one was inside the home at the time of the crash. The driver was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital. Their current condition is not known. (PHOTO: Bentley Fire-Rescue)
