December 9, 2024 5:21 am
Depending on who you ask, the results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election rattled the country or were cause for celebration. Is it any surprise the Merriam-Webster word of the year is “polarization”? In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Merriam-Webster editor at large Peter Sokolowski says “polarization means division, but it’s a very specific kind of division.” Originating in the 1800s, the word is now most commonly used to mean “causing strong disagreement between opposing factions or groupings.” Merriam-Webster chooses its word of the year based on data, tracking a rise in search and usage.
December 9, 2024 5:20 am
A new report says Earth just experienced its second-warmest November on record — second only to 2023 — making it all but certain that 2024 will end as the hottest year ever measured. A report Monday by the European climate service Copernicus says 2024 also is expected to be the first calendar year in which the average temperature was more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. The world’s goal is to limit human-caused warming below that threshold. Scientists say the main driver is burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.
December 9, 2024 5:17 am
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says Russia has granted political asylum to former Syrian President Bashar Assad. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally made the decision to offer asylum to Assad. Peskov wouldn’t comment on Assad’s specific whereabouts. He said that Putin wasn’t planning to meet with Assad.
December 9, 2024 5:15 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – One person was hurt after a tractor-trailer crashed in Downtown Pittsburgh. Allegheny County dispatchers say the crash happened at the intersection of Stanwix Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard at 8:26 p.m. One person was taken to a hospital from the scene. The vehicle had crashed on top of a barrier, causing the trailer to be at risk of rolling over. Channel 11 has reached out to Pittsburgh Police for more information and is waiting to hear back.
December 9, 2024 5:11 am
CANONSBURG, Pa. — A local borough is bringing back “old-fashioned Christmas.” It’s the seventh year Canonsburg has held the event. It began as a community tree lighting and has since grown into a holiday spectacle that draws thousands of visitors. “It takes over 200 volunteers to pull this together. We have people from all walks of life — I have elves here dancing around, we have all the characters, everyone’s done a great job to pull it together for us — we’re just thrilled with the attendance, and everyone just had a great time here tonight,” organizer Gloria Dunkle said. Despite the chilly weather, Dunkle estimates up to 20,000 people came out to enjoy the festivities. On top of the main event — the tree lighting ceremony — Canonsburg’s Old Fashioned Christmas featured a holiday market, kids games, food trucks, photos with Santa, stories with Mrs. Claus and visits from the Grinch. The event wrapped up with a holiday drone light show.
December 9, 2024 5:07 am
A man and a woman are dead after a crash in West Bethlehem Township. The Washington County Coroners office say it happened in the 100-block of Clarksville Road in Marianna. 36 year old Brittany Crile was the driver of the vehicle that left the roadway and traveled down an embankment. She was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected. Officials say the crash occurred between 4:15 p.m. Saturday and 9:20 a.m. Sunday when the crash was first reported. 46 year old Joseph Crile was believed to have been the front seat passenger in the vehicle. Evidence showed that he was ejected but was able to leave the scene. Marianna firefighters conducted a search with State Police and discovered his body in an empty home along that same roadway around 2:30 p.m. A cause and manner of death for both is pending. State Police are handling the investigation.
December 9, 2024 4:45 am
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — Court records show New York prosecutors have charged a man with murder in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO. Luigi Nicholas Mangione is currently being held without bail in Pennsylvania after he was arrested and arraigned on gun, forgery and other charges on Monday. He’s expected to be extradited to New York eventually. It’s unclear whether 26-year-old Mangione has an attorney who can comment on the allegations. Authorities say he was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a McDonald’s customer noticed another patron who resembled the man in security-camera photos that New York police had publicized.
December 8, 2024 8:48 am
(AP) – The U.S. government has ordered testing of the nation’s milk supply for bird flu to better monitor the spread of the virus in dairy cows. The Agriculture Department on Friday said raw or unpasteurized milk from dairy farms and processors nationwide must be tested on request starting Dec. 16. Testing will begin in six states — California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania. The move is aimed at eliminating the virus, which has infected more than 700 dairy herds in 15 states.
December 8, 2024 8:47 am
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The parents of a 14-year-old Missouri boy who fell to his death from a Florida amusement park ride has won a $310 million verdict against the attraction’s Austrian builder. The Orlando jury on Thursday ordered Funtime to pay Tyre Sampson’s parents $155 million each. The trial lasted only a day as Funtime never appeared in court to defend itself. Icon Park had already settled with Sampson’s family for an undisclosed amount. Sampson stood 6 foot, 2 inches tall and weighed 380 pounds. He fell from the Orlando Free Fall ride at Icon Park because the harness did not fit him and he wasn’t warned.
December 8, 2024 8:45 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, shortly after a meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders. He claimed Kyiv “would like to make a deal” to end the more than 1,000-day war. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed that Moscow and Kyiv have both lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a war that “should never have started.” Trump’s remarks came after a meeting Saturday with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France’s Emmanuel Macron, that Zelenskyy later described as “constructive.” Speaking to reporters later in the day, Zelenskyy insisted that any peace deal “should be just” for Ukrainians,
