February 7, 2025 5:42 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from placing 2,200 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development on paid leave. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols sided with two federal employee associations in agreeing to a pause in plans to put the employees on paid leave as of midnight Friday. The workers associations argue that President Donald Trump lacks the authority to shut down an agency enshrined in congressional legislation. “CLOSE IT DOWN,” Trump said Friday on social media. Crews used duct tape to block out the agency’s name on a sign outside its Washington headquarters Friday, and a flag was taken down.
February 7, 2025 4:14 pm
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Searchers in Alaska are flying over stretches of ice-covered seas and scouring miles of frozen tundra for any sign of a plane that went missing just south of the Arctic Circle with 10 people on board. The Bering Air Caravan disappeared Thursday afternoon over the Norton Sound while en route from Unalakleet to Nome with nine passengers and a pilot. Authorities are working to determine the single-engine turboprop’s last known coordinates. Unalakleet is a community of about 690 people in western Alaska.
February 7, 2025 3:54 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is suggesting that Nippon Steel will no longer buy U.S. Steel as planned, but the Japanese company will instead invest in the symbolically important American business. The U.S. president mistakenly referred to Nippon Steel as “Nissan,” the Japanese automaker. But it’s Nippon Steel’s bid that generated controversy as both Trump and his predecessor in the White House, Joe Biden, vowed to block the merger. Trump said at a news conference Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba that Nippon Steel “is going to be doing something very exciting about U.S. Steel.” (Photo: AP)
February 7, 2025 9:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added just 143,000 jobs last month, but the jobless rate slipped to 4% to start 2025 and the government revised November and December payrolls higher. The first job report of Donald Trump’s second presidency on Friday suggested that he inherited a labor market that is solid but unspectacular. Economists had expected about 170,000 new jobs in January. Healthcare companies added 44,000 jobs, down from a 2024 average of 57,000. Retailers hired 34,000 workers. And government at all levels added 32,000 jobs. Mining companies shed 8,000 jobs.
February 7, 2025 4:58 am
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court has called on its member states to stand up against sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump. It said the move was an attempt to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work.” The White House issued the executive order on Thursday in response to what it called “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.” It was referring to the arrest warrant the ICC issued last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza. The Hague-based court said it “condemns” the move.
February 7, 2025 4:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s nominee for White House budget director. He is planning to use one of the most powerful positions in federal government to zealously expand the president’s power. The Thursday night vote was planned after Democrats had exhausted their only remaining tool to stonewall a nomination — holding the Senate floor throughout the previous night and day with a series of speeches where they warned Vought was Trump’s “most dangerous nominee.” Vought’s return to the White House Office of Management and Budget, which he also helmed during Trump’s first term, would put him in a role that holds key power in implementing the president’s goals.
February 7, 2025 4:46 am
ROSTRAVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A man is charged with shooting and killing his girlfriend inside their home in Rostraver Township. Just before 11 p.m. Wednesday, detectives responded to a reported shooting in the 900 block of Route 136 after a child living in the home called 911. When officers arrived, Robert Chaplin, 34, was outside of the home in the driveway. The victim, Estela Rivera Vasquez, 35, was found shot in the chest and lying on the basement floor. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead an hour later. Police found several shell casings and a black gun on the basement floor near Vasquez. The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office said Chaplin and Vasquez lived together. The three children living inside the home are safe and being cared for by relatives. Chaplin is charged with criminal homicide and was denied bail.
February 7, 2025 2:30 am
The City of Washington has begun a search for a new City Administrator. Council approved the retirement of Donn Henderson during their meeting Thursday night. Henderson says he’s looking forward to spending more time with his family. He has served as Administrator since May of 2022. His retirement will be official on April 12. He tells WJPA News that he will assist in the search for his replacement.
February 7, 2025 2:08 am
The Local Share Account grant awards have been adopted and 67 projects will be dividing $10 million dollars in funds generated by taxes levied on Pennsylvania casinos, specifically the Hollywood Casino at the Meadows. Commissioners unanimously approved the measure at their voting meeting Thursday. Commissioner Nick Sherman is happy to see the funding cover all areas of need in economic development, infrastructure and non-profits. He is particularly pleased at the way the grants are spread out to all corners of the county. Commissioners also approved a measure to begin a county airport hangar expansion. Advertisements to bid on a 14 unit T-Hangar to house aircraft at the airport will now be released. Commissioners also approved a contract with TranSystems to design the hangar. This included with runway width expansion and lengthening will prove effective in economic development for the county according to Sherman. The majority of the construction costs for these projects is funded federally from Federal Aviation Administration grants.
February 6, 2025 5:47 pm
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Thunderstorms caused flash flooding in portions of West Virginia and spawned a tornado in Kentucky, while a wintry mix coated trees and roads and even dropped “thunder ice” in several states. The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado tore apart roofs and scattered debris in south-central Kentucky. A long line of thunderstorms kept West Virginia residents awake overnight with hours of thunder and heavy rains. Several mid-Atlantic states were coated in ice before warmer temperatures moved in. In portions of Indiana, southern Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, residents and storm spotters reported seeing “thunder ice” — freezing rain accompanied by flashes of lightning in the unstable air.
