October 13, 2024 8:35 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Inflationary-weary shoppers still may wait until the first weather snap to get a basic sweater. But when it comes to seasonal items, a growing number of consumers are increasingly wanting to jump on scents and flavors from Halloween to Christmas earlier and earlier. Stores of all stripes, from food retailers like Whole Foods Market and local regional grocery player Stew Leonard’s to Bath and Body Works, are throwing the official retail calendar out the window as a result. They’re pushing Halloween costumes in July, instead of September, and featuring eggnog starting in early November instead of only December. (Photo: AP)
October 13, 2024 8:25 am
(WPXI) – A barn at the Westmoreland Equestrian Center in Hempfield Township was destroyed in a fire Saturday. Westmoreland County 911 said crews were called to 1265 Business Route 66 at 3:07 p.m. for a fully engulfed barn on fire. A dispatcher said they don’t believe anyone was injured in the fire. At least eight horses escaped the blaze. There’s been no word on a cause of the blaze.
October 12, 2024 9:22 am
The Charleroi Area Public Library will be getting a technical boost. The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) has been awarded nearly $594,000 in grant funding to bolster internet access within the community. The funding will be used for the library’s “Renovate, Elevate and Adapt for Tomorrow” (REACT) project. The project is designed to enhance the library’s infrastructure and services, ensuring it meets the evolving needs of the community. The grant, funded through the federally backed Multi-Purpose Community Facilities Program, is part of a $45 million competitively awarded initiative to support projects that bolster high-speed broadband access for essential services, including work, education, and health monitoring, using community anchor institutions. Improving internet access in schools, libraries, recreation centers and non-profit organizations, this investment ensures that these facilities remain critical hubs for public benefit.
October 13, 2024 7:33 am
Federal authorities are reportedly investigating a Charleroi company that supplies immigrant workers for a meat packing plant. The small community in Washington county has become a national flashpoint after former president Trump referred to legal Haitian Immigrants as having “invaded” the community. According to reports from WTAE in Pittsburgh, Fourth Street Foods employs approximately 700 immigrants from over 40 countries, many of them Haitian. The company makes prepared meals sold in grocery stores. The workers are mostly employed by a contractor, Prosperity Services. Court records claim Prosperity knowingly “transported and housed undocumented non-citizens for employment purposes”. Owners at Fourth Street deny knowing anything about the claims and contend all employees working for them are legal immigrants with all the necessary work permits. The local town has been in the national spotlight ever since Donald Trump mentioned Charleroi’s Haitian immigration population during a rally and implied it was an issue in the small community. Council members and the community say there are no issues.
October 12, 2024 10:24 am
(AP) – Florida residents who fled hundreds of miles to escape Hurricane Milton made slow trips home on crowded highways, weary from their long journeys and the cleanup work awaiting them but also grateful to be coming back alive. Milton made landfall Wednesday night as a powerful, Category 3 hurricane but officials say the toll could have been worse if not for the widespread evacuations. The still-fresh devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene just two weeks earlier probably helped compel many people to flee. Milton killed at least 10 people when it tore across central Florida, flooding barrier islands, ripping the roof off the Tampa Bay Rays ‘ baseball stadium and spawning deadly tornadoes.
October 12, 2024 8:51 am
(AP) The Israeli military has renewed its orders for Palestinian in the northern Gaza Strip to leave their homes and shelters as troops press on a weeklong offensive against militants. The military spokesman told people to leave parts of Gaza City and other areas in and around Jabaliya, the urban refugee camp where Israeli forces carried out several major operations over the course of the war and then returned as militants regroup. In Lebanon, authorities said Friday that 60 people were killed and 168 wounded in the past 24 hours as Israel escalates its campaign against Hezbollah.
October 13, 2024 7:00 am
It appears that efforts to keep the Charleroi glass plant open have failed. According to reports, a letter sent to Charleroi’s mayor details the timeline for closing the Corelle Brands plant. The letter says the plant has begun closing procedures and the first round of employee terminations will begin on December 9th and will continue through February 17, 2025. The Correlle plant will then be permanently closed and all 325 employees there will be left without work. The plant’s operations are being moved to Lancaster, Ohio. The glass plant closing comes shortly after the announcement that another big business in the borough, Quality Pasta, would also be closing.
October 12, 2024 8:47 am
(AP) A Texas sheriff says two workers at a Houston-area oil refinery were killed after hydrogen sulfide leaked at the plant. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says nearly three dozen other people were either transported to hospitals or treated at the scene. Thursday’s leak set off urgent warnings for residents in the Houston suburb of Deer Park to stay indoors before authorities later determined that the public was not in danger. The plant is operated by Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil company. Gonzalez says that the gas release happened during work on a flange at the facility,
October 12, 2024 7:52 am
(AP) Investigators were trying to figure out Friday what led to an elevator accident at a former Colorado gold mine that killed a tour guide. The Teller County sheriff says the elevator door was broken. Four people were injured and 12 people from a second group were trapped for hours at the bottom of the tourist attraction 1,000 feet (305 meters) beneath the surface. The elevator was descending into the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine near the town of Cripple Creek in the mountains near Colorado Springs. It had a mechanical problem about halfway down.
October 12, 2024 7:21 am
(AP) A military investigation has concluded that two U.S. Navy SEALs drowned as they tried to climb aboard a ship carrying illicit Iranian-made weapons to Yemen because of glaring training failures and a lack of understanding about what to do after a fall into deep, turbulent waters. The review obtained by The Associated Press said the drownings in January could have been prevented. Both men sank quickly in the high seas off the coast of Somalia because of the heavy equipment they were carrying. They didn’t know or disregarded concerns that their flotation devices could not compensate for the additional weight. Both were lost at sea.
