December 18, 2024 2:17 am
North Strabane Township Supervisors unanimously voted to adopt their budget for 2025. The good news for residents is that there will be no tax increase associated with the spending plan. The last tax increase came in 2021 to better fund the fire department and parks and recreation. The $22.9 million spending plan is balanced. Some of the bigger spending items will be the completion of the public safety building and the renovation of the former Lighthouse Electric building to become the township’s new municipal building. In other business, a measure to advertise changes to the township’s zoning ordinance that defines a personal warehouse failed due to a 2-2 tie. Supervisors Marcus Staley and Emily Holmes were in favor of the changes, Bob Ross and Neil Kelly were against them. Harold Close was absent from the meeting. A motion to table the item did pass unanimously. At issue were changes in parking restrictions suggested by the applicant CC Realty Advisors. The matter will be addressed again in January.
December 17, 2024 3:45 pm
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Investigators in Wisconsin are trying to determine a motive in a school shooting that left a teacher and a student dead and two other children in critical condition. Shon Barnes, the police chief in Madison, Wisconsin, says it appears to be a “combination of factors.” He’s urging anyone who knew the 15-year-old girl’s feelings to reach out. The shooting occurred Monday at Abundant Life Christian School. The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Six people were wounded.
December 17, 2024 3:43 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO has been charged with murder as an act of terrorism. Prosecutors disclosed the indictment Tuesday as they worked to bring Luigi Mangione to a New York court from a Pennsylvania jail. The 26-year-old Mangione already had been charged with murder in the Dec. 4 killing of Brian Thompson. But the terror allegation is new. Under New York law, such a charge can be brought when an alleged crime is “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policies of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion and affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping.” Mangione’s New York lawyer hasn’t commented. (Photo: AP)
December 17, 2024 12:51 pm
DETROIT (AP) — Starting in September of 2027, all new passenger vehicles in the U.S. will have to sound a warning if rear-seat passengers don’t buckle up. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that it finalized the rule, which also requires enhanced warnings when front seat belts aren’t fastened. The agency estimates that the new rule will save 50 lives per year and prevent 500 injuries when fully in effect. The new rule will apply to passenger cars, trucks, buses except for school buses, and multipurpose vehicles weighing up to 10,000 pounds.
December 17, 2024 5:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk’s attachment to President-elect Donald Trump has created an unprecedented alliance between America’s most powerful politician and its richest businessman. Roughly the same percentages of Americans have favorable views of both of them, according to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Experts are split on whether that overlap in public opinion is a good or bad thing for Musk’s businesses or for Trump’s politics. But it could have far-reaching effects in both realms. Musk, whose net worth tops $400 billion, oversees six businesses while continuing to work closely with Trump. And for Trump, Musk is an important validator with his conservative base. (Photo: AP)
December 17, 2024 5:08 am
After months of deadlock, Israel and Hamas appear to be moving closer toward a ceasefire to end their 14-month war. Top officials from the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have resumed their mediation efforts in recent weeks and reported greater willingness by the warring sides to wrap up a deal. In a key concession, Hamas officials say they are prepared to show more “flexibility” on the timing of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza. Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said Monday that a deal is closer than ever. The agreement is expected to take place in phases and include a halt in fighting, an exchange of captive Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and a surge in aid to Gaza.
December 17, 2024 5:05 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has refused to dismiss President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity. But the overall future of the historic case remains unclear. Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan’s decision Monday blocks one potential off-ramp from the case ahead of Trump’s return to office next month. His lawyers have raised other arguments for dismissal, however. It’s unclear when — or whether — a sentencing date might be set. A jury convicted Trump in May of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump denies wrongdoing.
December 17, 2024 5:04 am
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials says Lt. General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces, has been killed by an explosive device planted near an apartment building in Moscow. Russia’s Investigative Committee said the bomb, which was triggered by the device placed in a scooter, also killed Kirillov’s assistant. Kirillov, who was named the head of Russia’s nuclear defense forces in April 2017, was under sanctions from several countries including the U.K. and Canada for his role in Ukraine. Ukraine’s Security Services on Dec. 16 charged Kirillov with the use of banned chemical weapons during Russia’s military operation in Ukraine that started in Feb. 2022.
December 17, 2024 4:59 am
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Drone-detecting devices deployed in New Jersey within the past week have shown little to no evidence of anything nefarious or threatening. That’s according to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who said Monday that 12 sightings of suspected drones were reported in the state overnight Saturday and one on Sunday. He also has echoed calls by officials in other states for Congress to give them more authority to deal with drones. Federal officials say there is no evidence that drones are being operated with bad intent or by foreign governments, and many sightings over the eastern U.S. have actually been of manned aircraft that look like drones.
December 17, 2024 4:56 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say security guards at the federal courthouse in Harrisburg shot and wounded a knife-wielding man who attempted to attack one of them. Few details of Monday’s shooting were immediately available, and authorities said the FBI was leading the investigation. In a statement, the U.S. Marshals Service says the security officers moved to stop the man after he entered the courthouse, brandishing a knife. The marshals service says the suspect attempted to attack one of the security officers before they shot him, striking him multiple times. He was in stable condition at a hospital, while the security officers were uninjured.
