January 23, 2025 1:26 am
The City Council of Washington held a special meeting Wednesday dedicated to the passage of modifications to the Mercantile Tax and Business Privilege Tax ordinances. According to Mayor JoJo Burgess, the crux of the changes is to allow stricter enforcement of penalties and more aggressive collection strategies. Burgess did not disclose those details but he reiterated his stance that everyone must pay their fair share of taxes. The ordinances will also see increases in penalty amounts but Burgess had no details on that. He called the tax arrearage significant and pledged to collect all delinquent business related taxes regardless of age. The action was perpetuated by a residential tax increase in Washington for 2025.
January 22, 2025 5:19 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, the far-right extremist group leader convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, has visited Capitol Hill after President Donald Trump commuted his 18-year prison sentence. Rhodes’ appearance on Wednesday came the day after he was released from prison as a result of Trump’s order of clemency benefiting the more than 1,500 people charged with federal crimes in the Jan. 6 attack. Rhodes was convicted in one of the most serious cases brought by the Justice Department over the riot that left more than 100 police officers injured. Meanwhile, Trump has defended his decision to pardon people convicted of assaulting police officers during the attack on the Capitol and suggests there could be a place in U.S. politics for the Proud Boys extremist group. (Photo: AP)
January 22, 2025 4:11 pm
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Police say a female student was killed and another student was wounded in a shooting in a Nashville high school cafeteria. Metro Nashville Police spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news conference that the 17-year-old shooter later shot and killed himself with a handgun. Aaron says the shooting happened Wednesday morning at Antioch High School, where the gunman and his victims were students. Police Chief John Drake says the shooter “confronted” a 16-year-old female student in the cafeteria and opened fire, killing her. Drake says police are looking into a motive and whether the students who were shot were targeted.
January 22, 2025 5:05 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) -Greene County Regional Police are investigating why the death of a loved one wasn’t reported sooner after Chief Will DeForte said family members were living with the decomposing body for several months. Officers found Michael Bebout, 64, dead in his bed inside a home on Hayes Avenue in Canton Township in Washington County. Chief DeForte said they made the gruesome discovery on Thursday, Jan. 16 after a family member called 911 for a welfare check. “Upon arrival, we met the brother. The brother was distraught and basically stated that his brother had passed away,” he said. “That’s where things took a turn, a very interesting turn.” DeForte told Channel 11 the body had been in the home since the start of summer. “My officer who was dispatched to that particular location, found the decedent in an advanced state of decomposition,” DeForte said. “The estimates right now are roughly around six to seven months.” DeForte said at least three family members were living in the home with their dead relative during those months and in filthy conditions. Detectives don’t believe Bebout died from any foul play, but Chief DeForte said they’re investigating whether Bebout’s checks were illegally cashed after he died.
January 22, 2025 4:51 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Police say a shooting at a Nashville high school has left one student dead and another wounded. Metro Nashville Police spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news conference that the 17-year-old gunman later shot and killed himself with a handgun. Aaron says the shooting happened Wednesday morning at Antioch High School. The gunman and his victims were students at the school. Police Chief John Drake says the shooter “confronted” 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante in the cafeteria and opened fire, killing her. Drake says police are looking into a motive and whether the students who were shot were targeted.
January 22, 2025 4:45 am
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s promise to deport “millions and millions” of immigrants will hinge on securing money for detention centers. The Trump administration has not publicly said how many immigrant detention beds it needs to achieve its goals, or what the cost will be. However, an estimated 11.7 million people are living in the U.S. illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement currently has the budget to detain only about 41,000 people. Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S. border with Mexico leverages the U.S. military to shore up mass deportations and provide “appropriate detention space.” The American Civil Liberties Union estimates that ICE is considering an expansion of immigrant detention space across at least eight states.
January 22, 2025 4:44 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Evacuations have been ordered for remote communities near a new wind-driven wildfire in mountains north of Los Angeles. The Hughes Fire broke out late Wednesday morning and quickly burned through hundreds of acres of trees and brush, sending up a huge plume of dark smoke near the Lake Castaic area. The fire comes as parched Southern California could get some badly needed rain this weekend. But even a small amount of precipitation could create new challenges like toxic ash runoff. Meanwhile, red flag warnings for critical fire danger are in effect through Thursday.
January 22, 2025 4:41 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As President Donald Trump cracks down on immigrants in the U.S. illegally, some families are wondering if it is safe to send their children to school. In many districts, educators have sought to reassure parents that schools are safe places for their kids, despite the president’s campaign pledge to carry out mass deportations. But many migrants’ fears intensified when the Trump administration announced Tuesday it would allow federal immigration agencies to make arrests at schools, churches and hospitals, ending a decades-old policy.
January 22, 2025 4:40 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration is moving to end affirmative action in federal contracting and is directing that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs that could touch on everything from anti-bias training to funding for minority farmers and homeowners. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and insisted on restoring strictly “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by President Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients.
January 22, 2025 4:37 am
(AP) – The winter storm spreading snow, sleet and freezing rain across the southern United States has broken records, treating the region to unaccustomed perils and seasonal joy. From Texas through the Deep South, down into Florida and to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the snow and ice made for dangerous driving and inventive sledding on Wednesday. At least three cold-weather deaths have been reported. The Arctic air also plunged much of the Midwest and the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze, grounding hundreds of flights. But while the United States shivers, the world as a whole is breaking heat records. It’s been the warmest winter yet in data tracked since 1940.
