October 9, 2025 5:04 am
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the “first phase” of his peace plan to pause fighting and release at least some hostages and prisoners. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace,” Trump wrote late Wednesday. The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, many of them civilians. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead.
October 9, 2025 5:09 am
TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian government official familiar with the matter says Prime Minister Mark Carney raised the prospect of reviving the contentious Keystone XL pipeline project during his White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump this week. A Canadian company pulled the plug on it four years ago after the Canadian government failed to persuade then-President Joe Biden to reverse his cancellation of its permit on the day he took office. It was to transport crude from the oil sand fields of western Canada to Steele City, Nebraska. President Donald Trump previously revived the long-delayed project during his first term after it had stalled under the Obama administration. The Canadian government official says Trump was receptive to the idea.
October 9, 2025 5:07 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities have charged a 29-year-old man with igniting the January fire that destroyed Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli says Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida on Tuesday. He faces charges including malicious destruction by means of a fire in the New Year’s Day fire that burned down much of the Pacific Palisades a week later. Rinderknecht appeared briefly in court Wednesday. His public defender did not respond to requests for comment. The Palisades Fire killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 homes and buildings in the wealthy coastal neighborhood of LA.
October 8, 2025 10:36 am
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey has pleaded not guilty to lying to Congress five years ago. Comey is set to make his first court appearance Wednesday in a Justice Department criminal case accusing him of lying to Congress five years ago. The Comey case has amplified concerns President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is being weaponized in pursuit of the Republican president’s political enemies. Comey is expected to plead not guilty. That will kick-start a process of legal wrangling in which defense lawyers will almost certainly move to get the indictment dismissed before trial, possibly by arguing the case amounts to a selective or vindictive prosecution.
October 7, 2025 2:38 am
The second day of testimony in the trial of Joshua George, accused of violently shaking his infant son and delivering him to his grandparents for baby sitting has concluded. Morning testimony was a continuation of cross examination of the infant’s grandmother Cheska Rotellini, supplemented by video of her interviews with police. Defense attorneys tried to show Rotellini’s qualities as a baby sitter as deficient and unqualified to care for a child. They pointed to several instances of bruising and a battered lip on the infant that was in her care in the month leading up to his death. Afternoon testimony featured expert witness testimony from independent forensic pathologist Dr. Jennifer Hammers. She described her report provided to prosecutors on the cause and manner of death of the infant. She classified the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head. The manner was homicide. Defense attorneys concentrated on timelines of when someone several months old could develop bruising and brain swelling associated with a skull fracture. Hammers testimony said that especially in the case of infants, those symptoms can be immediate or delayed by several hours. She did say the force needed to fracture the infant’s skull would have needed to be significant.
October 8, 2025 4:18 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A budget impasse in Pennsylvania is delaying financial aid for in-state college students. The PA State Grant Program gives more than 100,000 students an average of $2,000 each semester. With the state budget standoff stretching into its third month, students face another round of delays after federal glitches and software issues this summer. Even after the governor signs the budget into law, it will take at least a month for schools to begin receiving the money. Some schools are crediting students with money they expect to receive, or offering emergency grant programs. But the president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities says private schools already have tight budgets
October 7, 2025 1:19 am
The fate of West Alexander – and whether it will become a borough again – won’t be known for at least another 30 days. A Washington County judge on Tuesday delayed a hearing until Nov. 7 to determine whether the West Alexander community can separate from Donegal Township. Dennis Makel, a lawyer for residents leading the charge, met with lawyers for the township for about 45 minutes in Judge Brandon Neuman’s chambers before returning to the courtroom and announcing the delay. He told Dr. Kathleen Miller, coordinator of the West Alexander Borough Project, and about 15 supporters in attendance that the township agreed to drop challenges related to the map and population of the proposed borough but is questioning the legality of some of the signatures the residents were required to gather to petition for the change. Miller said the residents submitted signatures from 2,042 of the 4,056 landowners within the proposed borough, 14 more than the required 50 percent.
October 8, 2025 4:57 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republicans and Democrats have begun pouring money into an election this November for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. It’s the latest example of how state high court races have become proxy battles for the biggest issues roiling the country, from abortion to voting rights to redistricting. Both parties are expected to spend millions of dollars on campaign flyers, digital and TV ads and get-out-the-vote efforts. At stake is whether the highest court in the most populous presidential swing state will keep its liberal majority. But overall spending in Pennsylvania is nowhere near the $100 million spent this year in Wisconsin — a record amount for a state supreme court race.
October 7, 2025 5:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration is warning of no guaranteed back pay for federal workers during a shutdown. That would be a reversal of what’s been long-standing policy for some 750,000 furloughed employees. Trump said some people “don’t deserve” to be taken care of during an event at the White House. A memo being circulated by the White House on Tuesday says legislation the Republican president signed into law in 2019 does not require back pay. The memo says it’s up to Congress to provide the funds. The move was widely seen as a negotiating tactic. But Democratic Sen. Patty Murray calls it a “scare” tactic since the law is clear that workers will be paid.
October 8, 2025 5:01 am
ELWOOD, Ill. (AP) — National Guard troops are positioned outside Chicago and they could soon be in Memphis as the Trump administration pushes ahead with an aggressive policy toward big-city crime whether local leaders support it or not. National Guard members from Texas had settled in at an Army Reserve center in Illinois by early Wednesday, despite a lawsuit and vigorous opposition from Democratic elected leaders. In Memphis, Tennessee, meanwhile, police Chief Cerelyn Davis said Guard troops could arrive by Friday. President Donald Trump’s bid to deploy the military on U.S. soil over local opposition has triggered a conflict with blue state governors.
