December 13, 2024 2:43 am
A Washington man was sentenced on his guilty plea for child pornography charges on Thursday. Trevor Korba, 23 pleaded guilty to two felony charges of possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to 6-23 months in the Washington County Jail on one charge. On the second charge he will serve two years’ probation once the first sentence is complete. Korba was arrested after State Police searched his home and found a cell phone with 20 files of child pornography in April of 2023. Immediately after the hearing, a pre-trial services hearing was held on additional charges of child pornography and criminal use of a communications device. The new offenses allegedly occurred in November. Korba’s defense attorney, Sean Logue characterized the situation as complex and is looking to review files to be able to come to a just agreement. Korba will remain in jail on those new charges on $500,000 bond. He will be arraigned on those charges on January 23rd.
December 12, 2024 2:27 pm
(AP) – The head of the Federal Aviation Administration says he will step down next month to let President-elect Donald Trump name his choice to lead the agency. Mike Whitaker announced his pending resignation in a message to FAA employees on Thursday. Since taking the helm at the FAA in October 2023, Whitaker has dealt with challenges that include a surge in close calls between planes, a shortage of air traffic controllers and antiquated equipment. He has led a tougher enforcement policy against Boeing since a panel blew off a jetliner in January.
December 12, 2024 12:24 pm
(WPXI) – There was no bomb threat made onboard a Spirit Airlines plane at Pittsburgh International Airport Thursday. Allegheny County police said they were requested to investigate a “security issue” onboard a Spirit flight that was scheduled to depart PIT for Tampa. The issue was reported to be a bomb threat. County police determined no threat was made and the situation was deemed not criminal in nature. Spokesperson for the Allegheny County Airport Authority Bob Kerlik said no injuries were reported and airport operations are unaffected.
December 12, 2024 9:47 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Twenty-two vehicles were involved in a pileup crash on the Boulevard of the Allies ramp to Oakland Thursday morning. The crash happened around 6:20 a.m. Our crews driving by could see the ramp going to Forbes Avenue blocked off by emergency vehicles. Pittsburgh Public Safety officials said five people had to be taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Several vehicles had to be towed. A public safety spokesperson said the exact cause is not known at this time but is believed to be weather-related. Icy roads were reported across the area Thursday morning.
December 12, 2024 5:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he’s picking Kari Lake as director of Voice of America, installing a staunch loyalist who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor and a Senate seat to head the congressionally funded broadcaster that provides independent news reporting around the world. Lake took a hard line against illegal immigration in both her campaigns. Also Wednesday, Trump announced Leandro Rizzuto as his choice to be the U.S. ambassador to the Washington-based Organization of American States, and said he wanted Florida personal injury attorney Dan Newlin to be U.S. ambassador to Colombia. Physician and donor Peter Lamelas is his pick for U.S. ambassador to Argentina.
December 12, 2024 5:19 am
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange after being recognized by Time magazine as its person of the year. The honors Thursday for the businessman-turned-politician are a measure of Trump’s remarkable comeback from an ostracized former president who refused to accept his election loss four years ago to a president-elect who won the White House decisively in November. At the stock exchange, Trump was accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump, daughters Ivanka and Tiffany and Vice President-elect JD Vance. Trump grinned as people chanted “USA” before he opened the trading day and raised his fist.
December 12, 2024 5:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. The White House says it’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The clemency follows a broad pardon for his son Hunter, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes. Biden is under pressure from advocacy groups to pardon broad swaths of people before the Trump administration takes over in January. He’s also weighing whether to issue preemptive pardons to those who investigated Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election and are facing possible retribution when he takes office.
December 12, 2024 5:10 am
NEW YORK (AP) — In a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine, Donald Trump weighs in on Jan. 6 pardons, immigration issues and world affairs. He says he’s open to holding detained migrants in camps as they’re processed for deportation. He insists that ally Elon Musk prioritizes the interests of the United States over his many business endeavors. When Trump was asked whether he trusted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said he doesn’t trust anyone. And Time reports on how Trump’s campaign advisers got involved when Trump seemed on the verge of backing a 16-week federal abortion ban.
December 12, 2024 5:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — China experts say Chinese leader Xi Jinping would likely see President-elect Donald Trump’s invitation to attend his inauguration as too risky to accept, and the gesture from Trump may have little bearing on the increasingly competitive ties between the two nations. The experts say they cannot see the Chinese leader coming to Washington next month to celebrate Trump’s return to the White House. Yun Sun is director of the China program at the Stimson Center. She says should Trump slap high tariffs on Chinese goods upon taking office as he’s threatened, Xi would look like a fool if he had chosen to attend the inauguration.
December 12, 2024 5:01 am
CLAIRTON, Pa. — (WPXI) – The sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel in Japan might come down to whether or not a committee on foreign investment deems it a national security concern. One local councilman believes that reason is “nonsense.” Allegheny County Councilman Dan Grzybek supports the $15 billion sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, saying it would benefit the whole region. “Nippon has already promised to put even more money into the Mon Valley, and I think it would be good for the longevity of the area,” Grzybek told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek. But, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, is reviewing the bid of the potential sale to see if there are national security concerns. Their recommendation is expected in the next 10 days. Both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have expressed the desire to block the sale. So has the United Steel Workers Union. On Tuesday, union leadership sent a letter to its members saying Nippon was resorting to bribery to get the deal across the finish line. Nippon announced it would give $5,000 to employees other than senior leadership if the deal is finalized. U.S. Steel is holding a rally at its Clairton plant Thursday at 3 p.m. in support of the sale.
