March 8, 2024 5:03 am
PARIS (AP) — France’s leaders used a press from the time of Napoleon to seal the right to abortion into the country’s constitution. Friday’s historic ceremony was open to the public and designed to show support to women across the world on International Women’s Day. France is the first country to explicitly guarantee abortion rights in its national charter with the amendment French legislators approved on Monday. The ceremony is a key event on a day focused on advancing women’s rights globally. Marches, demonstrations and conferences were held the world over, from Asia to Latin America and elsewhere.
March 8, 2024 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A sweeping bank regulatory proposal will be significantly revised by year’s end, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday, a potential victory for the large banks that have aggressively opposed the likely changes. The proposed rule, issued last summer by the Fed and other regulatory agencies, is intended to implement changes that were negotiated internationally after the 2008 global financial crisis. Among other things, the rule would require the largest banks — those with more than $100 billion in assets — to hold more funds in reserve to protect against bad loans and other potential losses. Large banks have resisted the proposal, which they say would limit their ability to lend.
March 8, 2024 5:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill that could lead to the popular video-sharing app TikTok being unavailable in the United States is quickly gaining traction in the House. Lawmakers advanced legislation against TikTok Thursday as they voiced concerns about the potential for the platform to surveil and manipulate Americans. The measure gained the support of House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday and could soon come up for a full vote in the House. The White House has provided technical support in the drafting of the bill, though White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the TikTok legislation “still needs some work” to get to a place where President Joe Biden would endorse it.
March 7, 2024 12:46 pm
State Police are searching for two people whom they say stole over $2,000 worth of cigarettes and hundreds of dollars in cash from a Greene County convenience store. Troopers said the suspects entered the BFS Foods store on Jefferson Road around 5 a.m. on Feb. 29th. They had a gun and were wearing face masks and gloves and one of the suspects was also wearing a brown fur-lined hat. State police said they stole a large amount of cigarette cartons, totaling more than twenty-one-hundred-dollars. They also got away with $220 in cash. Police say the suspects are known to be armed and dangerous and may be traveling in a dark colored vehicle.
March 7, 2024 12:42 pm
Check your tickets! A Pennsylvania Lottery Powerball ticket worth $100,000 was sold in Washington County. The ticket matched four of the five white balls and the red Powerball drawn Wednesday: 6-19-28-44-60, Powerball 10. The Powerball multiplier was two. The ticket was sold at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino in Washington, which earns a $500 bonus for selling the winning ticket, the Pennsylvania Lottery said. Pennsylvania Lottery Powerball winners have one year from the drawing date to claim prizes.
March 7, 2024 2:29 am
The Washington City Mission may get another chance to receive Local Share Account Funding (LSA) this year. At the Washington County Commissioner’s Agenda meeting on Wednesday, Democrat Larry Maggi requested that a $500,000 grant for the mission’s women’s shelter project be put on the agenda for their regular meeting on Thursday. The women’s shelter project was removed from the LSA’s final list of recipients that was approved by the commissioners last month. Republican chairman Nick Sherman, however, said the grant request needs to be sent back to the LSA Board to see if they would agree to reconsider it – and possibly – vote on it. Fellow Republican Electra Janis also agreed with that action. Commissioners say they plan to contact LSA Committee Chairman Jeff Kotula and request that the board reconvene. In an email to WJPA Thursday morning, Kotula said he has not been contacted by Commissioners concerning the City Mission project. Commissioners meet Thursday at 2 p.m.
March 7, 2024 2:51 am
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh announced on Wednesday that 53-year-old Wayne Fedrick of Monongahela plead guilty to criminal attempt homicide and aggravated assault charges in connection with an incident that occurred on September 2, 2023. Walsh says the Carroll Township Police Department responded to 83 Grant Road after a call to 911 stating that a woman was standing outside of the home yelling for someone to call 911. Police say that upon arrival they found a female covered in blood and subsequently learned that Fedrick had assaulted her (his girlfriend) and his seventy-eight-year-old mother. Authorities say his mother suffered significant injuries from being kicked and hit repeatedly by her son. They say she suffered acute blood loss, a brain hemorrhage and femur and facial fractures. Fedrick’s girlfriend suffered multiple head-related injuries, including concussion induced vertigo. Washington County Judge Brandon Neuman sentenced Fedrick to ten to twenty-years in a state prison.
March 7, 2024 4:45 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say eight teenagers in northeast Philadelphia have been injured in another shooting involving a city bus. Wednesday’s shooting is the fourth shooting on the transit system in as many days. Philadelphia’s police commissioner Kevin Bethel says students from Northeast High School were waiting for a bus when three people emerged from a car and fired more than 30 shots. Bethel says one student was critically wounded: a 16-year-old who was hit nine times. The others are in stable condition. Transit spokesperson John Golden says the injured were taken to two hospitals. Two buses were hit by gunfire, but there were no reports of passengers or the driver being hurt.
March 7, 2024 4:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to use his State of the Union address to promote his vision for a second term to a dispirited electorate who questions whether he’s up to the job and to warn that GOP front-runner Donald Trump would be a dangerous alternative. Biden’s third such address from the House rostrum on Thursday will be something of an on-the-job interview, as the nation’s oldest president tries to quell voter concerns about his age and job performance. The president hopes to showcase his accomplishments on infrastructure and manufacturing, and push for action on aid to Ukraine, tougher migration rules, restoring access to abortion, and lowering drug prices, among other issues.
March 7, 2024 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a $460 billion package of spending bills that would keep money flowing to key federal agencies through the remainder of the budget year. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation before a midnight Friday shutdown deadline. And lawmakers are negotiating a second package of six bills, including defense. A significant number of House Republicans opposed the first measure, forcing House Speaker Mike Johnson to use an expedited process to bring the bill up for a vote. Johnson says the bill gives Republicans some wins on spending and says Republicans “have to be realistic” about what they can achieve in such a closely divided government.
