December 21, 2024 4:39 am
(AP) Drivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S. The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day. The two weekends on either side of Christmas are tempting a lot of people to head out earlier. U.S. airlines expect to have their busiest days to be Friday and Sunday this week and next Thursday, Friday and Sunday. A government shutdown that could start as soon as Saturday was not expected to immediately affect flights and airport operations.
December 20, 2024 4:46 pm
A school bus crashed into a ditch in Washington Friday afternoon. Washington County 911 said crews were called to Willow Road at Jefferson Avenue just before two-thirty for a school bus that went over a hillside and ended up on its side in a ditch. It had some front-end damage and appeared to have crashed into trees. Dispatchers said there were no children on the bus. There’s been no word on what caused it to leave the road. (Photo: WPXI)
December 20, 2024 3:51 pm
BERLIN (AP) — The deputy mayor of the Germany city of Magdeburg says at least one person was killed and dozens were injured after a car plowed into a busy Christmas market in what authorities suspect was an attack. German news agency dpa reports that Regina-Dolores Stieler-Hinz said more than 50 people were injured when the car drove into the market. Authorities say the driver of the car was arrested. The suspected attack came eight years after an Islamic extremist drove into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 13 people and injuring others.
December 20, 2024 9:21 am
Former Washington County Judge John Bell has died. Bell served on the bench for two terms from 1976-1995. He did work in the criminal, civil and juvenile divisions. Bell served as a senior judge from 1996 through 2013. Bell died on December 18 surrounded by family. Friends may visit Bell at the Warco-Falvo funeral home in Washington from 2:00 pm-4:00 pm and 6:00 pm -8:00 pm on December 27. His funeral will be on December 28 at 11:00 am at the Immaculate Conception Church, St. James Parish. Bell was 88 years old. (Photo: Legacy.com)
December 20, 2024 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Veering toward a midnight government shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson is proposing a new plan. It would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster relief for a few months, but punts President-elect Donald Trump demands for a debt limit increase into the new year. Johnson inaists there will be no government shutdown. Trump doubled-down on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — and if not, he said in a morning post, let the closures “start now.” Johnson knows there won’t have enough support within the GOP majority to pass any package, since many Republicans prefer to slash federal government. He is talking with Democratic Leader Jeffries, who would be needed for passage.
December 20, 2024 4:12 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The man arrested in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO is being held without bail after a New York federal court appearance on charges including a death-eligible murder count. Luigi Mangione agreed to return to New York after a Thursday morning court appearance in Pennsylvania. He was arrested there last week in the Dec. 4 attack on Brian Thompson. Mangione’s Manhattan court appearance lasted 15 minutes. The federal complaint charges him with two counts of stalking and one count each of murder through use of a firearm and a firearms offense. Murder by firearm could bring the possibility of the death penalty.
December 20, 2024 4:09 am
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An official at the Wisconsin school where a student shot and killed a teacher and a fellow student says the 15-year-old was in her first semester there. Families of the two victims, meanwhile, made funeral arrangements public and describe them as people of deep faith. Funerals for 14-year-old Rubi Patricia Vergara and 42-year-old Erin West were announced in obituaries published Wednesday and Thursday. Vergara’s funeral is set for Saturday and West’s is Monday. Police are investigating what motivated the shooter. Investigators say Abundant Life Christian School student Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow killed herself at the school. Two injured students remain hospitalized.
December 20, 2024 4:07 am
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it deported more than 270,000 people over a recent 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade. Its report released Thursday illustrates some financial and operational challenges that President-elect Donald Trump will face to carry out his pledge of mass deportations. Deportations during the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 nearly doubled from the same period a year earlier. In a separate report, U.S. authorities said arrests for crossing the border illegally from Mexico in November fell 18% from a month earlier to the lowest level since July 2020.
December 20, 2024 4:05 am
ATLANTA (AP) — A state appeals court has removed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others. It’s the latest legal victory for the president-elect in criminal cases that once threatened his career and freedom. The case against Trump and more than a dozen others had already been stalled for months over an appeal related to a romantic relationship Willis had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to lead the case. Willis’ office filed a notice of intent Thursday to ask the Georgia Supreme Court to review the decision.
December 20, 2024 1:55 am
Washington County Commissioners formally adopted their County Buisiness Continuity and Disaster Recovery Policy and Plan. The measure comes about to insure that county information and data are protected and that the proper preventive measures are in place so that if there is another cyber attack similar to the one in January 2024, the county will be able to recoup costs associated with recovery. According to Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman the plan dictates recovery responsibilities should another cyber attack occur. It also allows the county IT department to easily communicate with vendors to make sure up to date protections are in place. Sherman says that insurance companies are the drivers behind changes made by any enterprise’s IT department. The move was made to make sure county residents do not have to foot the cost of any recovery charges should another cyber attack occur. That cyber attack in January cost the county $400,000 in ransome monies. According to Sherman, a third party vendor was found to be deficient in their protections. He said that efforts to recoup the ransome money and associated costs are still in action.
