November 16, 2024 4:16 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two men are accused of helping illegally smuggle Indian nationals across the U.S.-Canada border and into Minnesota, including four members of an Indian family who froze to death in 2022. Their federal trial is set to start Monday. Prosecutors say the two, who have both pleaded not guilty, were well aware of the brutal cold that winter and the dangers migrants could face. The men are accused of being part of a sophisticated human smuggling operation feeding a fast-growing population of Indians living illegally in the U.S.
November 16, 2024 3:42 am
Firefighters were called to a structure fire in Hickory Friday night. According to County 9-1-1 dispatchers, an Amazon delivery driver reported an ongoing fire inside a home where he was to make a delivery. The fire occurred at 142 Main Street at about 8:00 PM. Several fire companies responded to the fire. Everyone inside the house escaped without injury.
November 15, 2024 4:27 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Friday that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s choice to head the Interior Department, will also head a newly created National Energy Council that will seek to establish U.S. “energy dominance” around the world. Trump said Burgum will oversee a panel that crosses all executive-branch agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation and transportation. Earlier Friday, Trump said Steven Cheung will serve as his White House communications director and Sergio Gor will run the personnel office. Both positions could be influential in the new administration.
November 16, 2024 1:50 am
Washington County 911 dispatchers tell WJPA News that emergency crews were called out to a fire at the Allenport steel mill on Wheeling-Pittsburgh Drive Friday morning just before noon. Photos from the scene showed smoke billowing from the site, which officials say is in the process of being torn down. Dispatchers say one firefighter was transported from the scene with minor, non-life threatening injuries. They say the cause of the fire isn’t known at this time, but it appears that the State Police Fire Marshal has not been called in to investigate. According to dispatchers, crews were on the scene for several hours, wrapping up shortly before four o’cock. (Photo: WPXI)
November 15, 2024 4:58 am
A federal judge will not stop the planned closure of the Pyrex Glass Plant in Charleroi. According to reports, U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan has ruled that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office failed to prove that the company’s move to close to the plant violates antitrust laws. In a 20-page opinion, he wrote that “the court is sympathetic to employees whose jobs might be at risk and a long-time local facility that may cease production, in the specific context of this case, the court must narrowly consider the requirements of federal antitrust law and determine whether they have been met, they have not.” The move would eliminate nearly 300 jobs. Late last month, they began removing equipment from the plant and the state Attorney General’s Office filed a complaint and obtained a temporary restraining order halting the action. A spokesperson for the Attorney General, however, said that although the ruling is disappointing, the decision makes clear that the case is not over, so their antitrust litigation will go on. When asked to clarify what that means – he said, “We’ll leave it at that. We have to review the decision fully and determine the next steps.”
November 15, 2024 5:00 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republicans are going to court in Pennsylvania amid vote counting in the U.S. Senate election between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick, with the contest headed toward a state-mandated recount. The Associated Press called the race for McCormick last week, concluding that not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas Casey was winning for him to take the lead. As of Thursday, McCormick led by about 24,000 votes out of more than 6.9 million ballots counted. The lawsuits filed ask courts not to allow counties to count mail-in ballots where the voter didn’t write a date on the return envelope or wrote an incorrect date.C
November 15, 2024 5:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has a vision for education that revolves around a single goal: to rid America’s schools of perceived “wokeness” and “left-wing indoctrination.” He wants to keep transgender girls out of girls’ sports. He wants to forbid classroom lessons on gender identity and structural racism. He wants to abolish diversity and inclusion offices. Throughout his campaign, the Republican depicted schools as a political battleground to be won back from the left. Now that he’s won the White House, he plans to use federal money as leverage to advance his vision of education across the nation.
November 14, 2024 5:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump spent much of his first term feeling stung and betrayed by those he’d placed in power. This time, he’s not taking chances. As he works to fill his administration a second time, Trump has turned to a head-spinning mix of candidates. Many of those he’s chosen are personal friends. Others are familiar faces on Fox News Channel or other conservative outlets. Some have extensive experience in the areas they’ve been chosen to lead, while others have seemingly none. Some seem chosen to shock and awe, some to reassure, others to unleash chaos.
November 15, 2024 5:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a resounding election victory, President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans say they have a “mandate” to govern. But it’s opening an uneasy political question: Will there be any room for dissent in the U.S. Congress? Trump is laying down a gauntlet even before taking office. He is challenging the Senate to dare defy him over the nominations of Matt Gaetz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other controversial choices for his administration. He even suggests Congress simply go on recess to allow his nominees to be installed without votes. It’s forcing Congress to decide how far it will go in confronting Trump and opposing his wishes.
November 14, 2024 5:11 am
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran as an independent in this year’s presidential race, abandoned his bid after striking a deal to give Trump his endorsement with a promise to have a role in health policy in the administration. Trump also announced Thursday that he has chosen Doug Collins, a former congressman from Georgia, to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, and said he was nominating North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to lead the Department of the Interior.
