December 5, 2024 4:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s Pentagon pick, is fighting to hold on to his Cabinet nomination amid growing questions about his personal conduct as the president-elect’s team considers alternatives, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But Hegseth says, “We’re not backing down one bit.” The Trump transition team is concerned about Hegseth’s path to Senate confirmation and is actively looking at potential replacements, according to a person familiar with the matter. Hegseth is under pressure as senators weigh a series of allegations that have surfaced against him. Beyond DeSantis, there have been discussions about shifting Michael Waltz, who was named by Trump as his national security adviser, to the Defense Department.
December 5, 2024 4:09 am
CAIRO (AP) — Amnesty International accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip during its war with Hamas, saying it has sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by mounting deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure and preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid. The human rights group said in a report released Thursday in the Middle East that such actions could not be justified by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, which ignited the war, or the presence of militants in civilian areas. Amnesty called on the United States and other allies of Israel to halt arms shipments, saying they could be complicit in genocide. Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, adamantly rejected the allegations, calling Amnesty a “deplorable and fanatical organization.”
December 5, 2024 4:07 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Investigators are searching for clues that could help them identify the masked gunman who killed the leader of one of the largest U.S. health insurance companies on a Manhattan sidewalk, then disappeared into Central Park. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson died in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked to the company’s annual investor conference. Security cameras recorded the killing and the initial stages of the gunman’s escape on a bicycle. Police used drones, helicopters and dogs in an intense search, but the killer’s whereabouts remained unknown late into the night. Police had not yet established a motive.
December 5, 2024 3:59 am
(AP) – Digging crews are resuming work in the effort to locate a woman who authorities fear died after falling into a sinkhole above an abandoned Pennsylvania coal mine. Fewer than a dozen searchers, including state police and excavator operators, returned early Thursday to the spot where 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard is thought to have plummeted through a freshly opened sinkhole. Authorities say they no longer think they’ll find Pollard alive. She was last seen Monday evening, searching for her lost cat, Pepper. Her car was discovered some 10 hours later, not far from her house in the village of Marguerite, with her 5-year-old granddaughter inside, unharmed.
December 5, 2024 3:56 am
Cecil Township firefighters were dispatched to a porch fire early Wednesday evening. According to 9-1-1 dispatchers a propane tank exploded on the porch of a home on Slatemore Rd. The fire was contained to the exterior area of the home. No injuries were reported.
December 5, 2024 3:47 am
DONEGAL TOWNSHIP, Pa. —(WPXI)- Pennsylvania State Police in Washington County are offering a $5,000 reward for information that solves a cold case from 1996. Sandra Lubbert, 36, worked as a bartender at The Crossings in Leetsdale. She closed the bar at 2 a.m. on July 16, 1996. The next morning, her personal belongings, including her license and paycheck, were found scattered near her car. State police said 18 months later, a skull was found in Donegal Township. Forensics proved it was Luppert’s and more of her remains were found 500 yards from where the skull was found. Any persons with information regarding this incident are asked to contact the PSP Washington Station, at 724-223-5200 or contact PSP Tips Toll Free at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477)
December 5, 2024 1:11 am
Washington County Commissioners approved the 2025 operating budget unanimously on Wednesday. The approval was not without questions. Commissioner Larry Maggi stated before his vote that he was concerned about current spending and how that spending may affect spending in future budgets. In a statement Maggi pointed to the demolition of the Courthouse Square building and the construction of a new Public Safety building. He still is concerned about the move to Motorola for the county’s emergency response radio system and the recent purchase of several other buildings in the City of Washington. Commissioner Nick Sherman countered the arguments by stating that the projects are currently funded with ARPA funds and the contracts have a not to exceed price number associated with them. He points to creative budgeting such as the public/private arrangement at the Crossroads Building where tenants pay the county rent for space that the county owns. Improvements to the Washington County Airport will allow bigger jets to land and monies spent there will positively affect the county coffers. The budget is a balanced $132.3 million spending plan that does not include a tax raise. The last tax raise for Washington County took effect in 2017.
December 4, 2024 1:16 pm
(AP) – The U.S. government has closed its investigation into an E. coli outbreak tied to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers after determining there is no longer a safety risk. The outbreak, which was first reported Oct. 22, sickened at least 104 people in 14 states, including 34 who were hospitalized, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. One person in Colorado died and four people developed a potentially life-threatening kidney disease complication. The FDA, which conducted the investigation along with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments, linked the outbreak to yellow onions distributed by California-based Taylor Farms and served raw on Quarter Pounders at McDonald’s restaurants in Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming and other states.
December 4, 2024 10:43 am
NEW YORK (AP) — UnitedHealthcare’s CEO has been shot and killed in what police say is a “brazen, targeted attack” outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding its investor conference. The shooting rattled the city and set off a massive dragnet hours before the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting. Police say 50-year-old Brian Thompson was shot around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday as he walked alone to the New York Hilton Midtown from a nearby hotel. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch says the shooter appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes” before approaching Thompson from behind and opening fire. Police have not yet established a motive.
December 4, 2024 5:05 am
BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man has been executed for sexually assaulting and killing a 9-year-old girl, then dumping her body in a sinkhole outside of town. Christopher Collings was a friend of the family of the victim, fourth-grader Rowan Ford — so much so that he lived with the family for several months prior to Rowan’s death in November 2007. He sometimes helped Rowan with her homework. She knew him as “Uncle Chris.” Collings was executed with an injection of pentobarbital Tuesday evening at the state prison in Bonne Terre. It was the 23rd execution in the U.S. this year and the fourth in Missouri. Only Alabama with six and Texas with five have performed more executions in 2024.
