May 23, 2025 2:14 am
GASTONVILLE, Pa. — The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down in Washington County during severe storms on Wednesday. NWS meteorologists said the strong winds came in a straight line from Finleyville. The tornado was an EF-1 and estimated to have reached a peak wind speed of 90 m.p.h. “We’ve seen damage from a tornado. We see uprooted and snapped trees, shingle damage, actually the most structural damage we’ve seen in our survey today,” said NWS meteorologist Matthew Kramar. The Chartiers Township Fire Department posted on Facebook that their department responded to multiple reports of trees and wires down. The majority of the damage was on Silver Maple, Green, Walnut and Locust Streets. Two other tornadoes were confirmed in Butler County.
May 23, 2025 4:53 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Penn State University’s trustees are backing a plan to close seven of its 19 branch campuses amid declining enrollments. Thursday night’s 25-to-8 vote by the trustees came after a nearly two-hour public meeting that was streamed live online. The campuses to close are Dubois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York. Together they enrolled slightly over 3,000 students this year. The branch campuses collectively have about 23,000 students. No campus will close before the end of the 2026-27 academic year and, under the plan, every student who begins a degree at a closing campus will have the opportunity to complete their degree at Penn State.
May 23, 2025 4:52 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Security is ramping up in Pittsburgh’s Jewish community in response to a deadly shooting in Washington, D.C. A young couple, employed at the Israeli Embassy, were gunned down after leaving an event at a Jewish museum. The suspect reportedly yelled “Free, free Palestine” after being arrested. Pittsburgh is home to the deadliest attack on Jewish people in American history. The incident in D.C. comes days after antisemitic fliers were dropped in Squirrel Hill and a week after a woman pleaded guilty to vandalizing a synagogue.
May 23, 2025 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new government-issued report reflects some of the most controversial views on vaccines, the nation’s food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs held by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The much-anticipated “Make America Healthy Again” report, led by Kennedy and other top Trump administration officials, was released on Thursday. It calls for increased scrutiny of the childhood vaccine schedule, a review of the pesticides sprayed on American crops, and describes the nation’s children as overmedicated.
May 23, 2025 4:57 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The music agency Sound Talent Group says three of its employees died on the private plane that crashed into a San Diego neighborhood on Thursday. The music agency says the dead include Dave Shapiro, the agency’s co-founder. Shapiro is listed as the owner of the plane and has a pilot’s license. Sound Talent Group has represented artists including Hanson, Sum 41 and Vanessa Carlton. The agency didn’t share the names of the other two employees who were killed. The private jet crashed early Thursday into a neighborhood of U.S. Navy-owned housing in San Diego during foggy weather, igniting at least one home and numerous vehicles parked on the street.
May 22, 2025 5:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Mint has made its final order of penny blanks and plans to stop producing the coin when those run out. That word comes from a Treasury Department official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the news. An immediate annual savings of $56 million in reduced material costs is expected by stopping penny production, according to the official. In February, President Donald Trump announced that he had ordered his administration to cease production of the 1-cent coin. The Treasury says there are about 114 billion pennies currently in circulation in the United States — that’s $1.14 billion — but they’re greatly underutilized.
May 23, 2025 4:59 am
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The U.N. children’s agency says more than 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year. Experts also warn the territory could plunge into famine if Israel doesn’t stop its military campaign and fully lift its blockade. The blockade was in place for more than two months, preventing all food, medicine and other goods from entering the territory that is home to some 2 million Palestinians. Meanwhile, Israel has carried out waves of airstrikes and ground operations. Palestinians in Gaza rely almost entirely on outside aid to survive because Israel’s offensive has destroyed almost all the territory’s food production capabilities.
May 22, 2025 2:15 am
(WPXI) – The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has announced dates for the 2025 Fish-for-Free Days. On Sunday, May 25, and Friday, July 4, residents and non-residents of Pennsylvania can legally fish without a license. Trout/salmon and Lake Erie permits are also not required on these dates. All other regulations will still apply.
May 22, 2025 3:04 pm
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The music agency Sound Talent Group said Thursday that three of its employees died on the private plane that crashed into a San Diego neighborhood. The talent group says the dead include Dave Shapiro, the agency’s co-founder. Shapiro is listed as the owner of the plane and has a pilot’s license. Sound Talent Group has represented artists including Hanson, Sum 41 and Vanessa Carlton. The agency didn’t share the names of the other two employees who died. The private jet crashed early Thursday into a neighborhood of U.S. Navy-owned housing in San Diego during foggy weather, igniting at least one home and numerous vehicles parked on the street. Members of one family were taken to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries. (Photo: AP)
May 22, 2025 4:45 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI)- Power company executives faced questions from state lawmakers about their responses to outages following April’s historic storm. Hundreds of thousands of people lost power. The public hearing was hosted by PA State Rep. Mandy Steele. “I heard so much confusion, anger and sometimes hopelessness about the situation,” Steele said. On the panel were two representatives from Duquesne Light and one from West Penn Power. Communication was a major topic. Many criticized the lack of specifics when it came to restoration times. Another topic was prioritization when dealing with seniors and others with medical needs. A Duquesne Light representative said he was “proud” that the company restored “99.9%” of customers within a week. Still, lawmakers said they expect them to be faster next time.
