March 5, 2026 4:59 am
Israeli airstrikes are pounding the capitals of Iran and Lebanon as the U.S. apparently struck an Iranian drone carrier at sea. The campaign targeting the Islamic Republic’s fleet of warships is intensifying. Iran launched new retaliatory attacks early Friday against neighboring countries that host U.S. forces. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The latest strikes mark a full week of attacks affecting countries across the Middle East. The Israeli military says the fighting has destroyed most of Iran’s air defenses and missile launchers. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that strikes against Tehran were “about to surge dramatically.”
March 6, 2026 5:43 pm
CHICAGO (AP) — From former presidents to an NBA Hall of Famer to prominent church pastors, stories of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.’s influence on politics, corporate boardrooms and picket lines loomed large at a celebration honoring the late civil rights leader. Thousands of people gathered Friday at a church on Chicago’s South Side to pay a final public tribute to Jackson. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, and former Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke during the program. The ceremony honors Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate. It follows memorial services that drew large crowds in Chicago and South Carolina, where Jackson was born.
March 5, 2026 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some two dozen states are challenging President Donald Trump’s new global tariffs in court. On Thursday, the states filed a lawsuit over import taxes he imposed after a stinging loss at the Supreme Court. Democratic attorneys general leading the suit argue that Trump is overstepping his power with planned 15% tariffs on much of the world. Trump has said the tariffs are essential to address trade deficits. He imposed duties under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 after the Supreme Court struck down tariffs he imposed last year under an emergency powers law. The new suit argues that law was intended to be used only in specific, limited circumstances.
March 5, 2026 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Trump said he was nominating Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin for the position in an announcement on social media on Thursday. The announcement came after Noem faced a two-day grilling on Capitol Hill from Republicans and Democrats and as Noem faced mounting criticism over her leadership of the Department of Homeland Security. Trump says he’ll make Noem a “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas.” Noem touted her achievements on social media and thanked Trump for the new role.
March 6, 2026 5:02 am
The U.S. Postal Service is on track to run out of cash within a year unless Congress lets it borrow more. That’s according to Postmaster General David Steiner, who tells the AP that running out of cash will mean the Postal Service will not be able to pay its workers or vendors, with potentially dire consequences for mail delivery. Steiner is scheduled to testify before Congress later this month. In an interview this week, he says a decades-old $15 billion borrowing cap blocks an easy stopgap solution. He also says allowing the Postal Service to set higher stamp prices would help.
March 5, 2026 1:14 am
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Berkshire Hathaway is buying back shares for the first time in nearly two years, and new CEO Greg Abel said he has no immediate plans to sell off Kraft Heinz shares now that the packaged food giant has shelved its plan to split the company into two. Abel appeared on CNBC Thursday — less than a week after releasing his first letter to shareholders. Berkshire also took the unusual step of filing a formal notice about the share repurchases. Abel revealed that he used all $15.3 million of his take-home pay for 2026 to buy Berkshire stock, and he plans to continue doing that as long as he remains CEO.
March 5, 2026 5:43 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution that would halt President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran. Thursday’s roll call offers a snapshot of the support and opposition in Congress for the widening conflict that’s reordering U.S. priorities at home and abroad. It’s the second vote in as many days. The Senate defeated a similar measure along party lines Wednesday. Lawmakers are confronting the sudden reality of representing the nation in wartime and all that entails — with lives lost, dollars spent and alliances tested by a president’s decision to attack Iran. Republicans largely back the war, while Democrats oppose. But there are splinters in the parties.
March 5, 2026 1:58 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s replacing his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and will nominate in her place Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin. Trump made the announcement on social media on Thursday, two days after Noem faced a grilling on Capitol Hill from GOP members as well as Democrats. Trump says he’ll make Noem a “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a new security initiative that he said would focus on the Western Hemisphere. Noem is the first Cabinet secretary to leave during Trump’s second term. Noem’s departure caps a tumultuous tenure overseeing immigration enforcement tactics that have been met with protests and lawsuits. (Photo: AP)
March 4, 2026 4:47 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Demolition work on the Courthouse Square building is on hold after a 30-ton excavator toppled into a ditch on Tuesday. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has confirmed that it has opened an investigation into the incident. Officials say the operator of the excavator was not injured. Engineers with Adamo Demolition — the Michigan-based company hired by Washington County to demolish the building and parking garage — were at the site Wednesday assessing the situation. An Adamo worker told our news partners at Channel 11 that engineers still need to develop a plan to remove the excavator and that a crane will be brought in to lift the machine out of the ditch. That process may not happen until next week.
March 4, 2026 2:13 am
The Superintendent of the Bentworth School District posted on their Facebook page that a middle school student was found with a knife on Tuesday morning. Scott Martin says the student went to breakfast and then reported to the office where he turned the knife over to an adult. Martin says the student’s parents were immediately notified and the matter was referred to the school district’s police. No names were released and no reason was given as to why the student brought the knife to school.
