November 20, 2024 4:56 am
ISSAQUAH, Wash. (AP) — A major storm was sweeping across the northwestern U.S., battering the region with strong winds and rain. It caused widespread power outages and downed trees that killed at least two people. Falling trees struck homes and littered roadways in Washington, where about 460,000 customers were without power Wednesday afternoon. The deaths from fallen trees occurred Tuesday night at a homeless encampment in Lynnwood and a home in Bellevue, east of Seattle. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect. The storm system is considered a “bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly.
November 20, 2024 4:55 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv says it will shut its doors after receiving warning of a potentially significant air attack. The embassy also said in a statement on Wednesday that employees and U.S. citizens take shelter. It comes one day after Moscow said U.S.-made longer range missiles had been used in a Ukrainian attack that struck a weapons warehouse in the Bryansk region.
November 20, 2024 4:52 am
Get ready for a little blast of winter. We’ll see rain Thursday morning but that will turn over to all snow by 2 p.m. The National Weather Service says total daytime accumulation will be less than a half-inch. Tonight we will see a chance for more snow and it will be windy with gusts approaching 30 mph. Any new accumulation will be less than one-inch. As for Friday, we can expect snow before 1 p.m with any new accumulation of less than a half-inch. It will still be windy and the snow will change over to all rain by Friday afternoon.
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.
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 19, 2024 5:22 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — New York prosecutors oppose any effort to dismiss Trump’s hush money conviction, but say they are open to delaying sentencing until after his second term. In a court filing Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said it’s OK with a sentencing delay while Trump’s lawyers try to get the case tossed out in light of his election. Judge Juan M. Merchan has not set a timetable for his decision. Trump’s spokesperson characterized prosecutors Tuesday filing as “a total and definitive victory” for Trump. Sentencing had been scheduled for Nov. 26. The president-elect was convicted in May of falsifying business records. The case alleges that he covered up a scheme to influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to squelch a story of extramarital sex. Trump denies the allegations.
November 19, 2024 5:19 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he is nominating Dr. Mehmet Oz, who hosted a long-running television talk show, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Oz, who ran a failed bid to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, has been an outspoken supporter of Trump and in recent days expressed support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for the nation’s top health agency, Health and Human Services. Trump has also chosen Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition operation helping to find the team that will work in the next administration. (Photo: AP)
November 19, 2024 5:01 am
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Big money to respond to climate change is key to the United Nations talks underway in Azerbaijan. Vulnerable nations say they need as much as $1.3 trillion to cope with damage they’ve already suffered from extreme weather events, and to adapt to a warming planet. Wealthy nations haven’t been willing to pay nearly that much. One way they’re talking about bridging the big gap is through leverage. That’s the idea that big loans can attract other loans and private spending to add up quickly. Smaller nations are skeptical of any plan that depends heavily on loans. Many are already drowning in debt and fear even more.
November 19, 2024 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Donald Trump says he wants Sean Duffy to be his transportation secretary. That would position Duffy to oversee a complex system of pipelines, railroads, cars, trucks, airlines and mass transit systems, as well as funding for highways. Duffy is a former member of Congress who represented a Wisconsin district for nine years. He is the second Fox-affiliated TV host to be tapped by Trump. Duffy also has a background in reality TV, like Trump. A former contestant on MTV’s “Road Rules,” Duffy was featured on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston” in 1997. He met his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, during “Road Rules: All Stars” in 1998. Duffy later was a co-host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business until he left the network Monday. He declined to run for governor of Wisconsin in 2022, despite Trump’s urging, and is a former lumberjack athlete. (Photo: AP)
November 19, 2024 4:56 am
BEIRUT (AP) — A United States envoy has returned to Beirut, where Lebanese officials have tentatively welcomed a proposal for an Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire. There was no such optimism in the Gaza Strip, where the mass looting of aid trucks by armed men worsened an already severe food crisis. Amos Hochstein, the Biden administration’s pointman on Israel and Lebanon, arrived Tuesday as Hezbollah’s allies in the Lebanese government said it had responded positively to the proposal. It’s unclear how close they are to clinching an agreement, which would likely entail both the militants and Israeli ground forces withdrawing from a U.N. buffer zone in southern Lebanon. Israel has requested a stronger enforcement mechanism.
