December 3, 2025 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon’s watchdog has found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. personnel and their mission at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to convey sensitive information about a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen. That’s according to two people familiar with the findings on Wednesday. One of the people says Hegseth, however, has the ability to declassify material and the report did not find he did so improperly. Hegseth denied posting classified information regarding plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen in March. The review by the Pentagon inspector general’s office was delivered to lawmakers, who were able to review the report in a classified facility at the Capitol.
December 3, 2025 4:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration says it will withhold funds for administering SNAP food aid in most Democratic-controlled states starting next week unless they provide data about those receiving the assistance. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Tuesday that the action is looming because those states are refusing to provide requested information about the recipients, including their names and immigration status. She says it’s necessary that states comply to root out fraud in the program. Democratic states have sued to block the requirement. About 42 million lower-income Americans rely on SNAP to help buy groceries. The USDA said it is targeting states’ administrative funds, not the benefits people receive.
December 3, 2025 4:47 am
Canonsburg Council has approved its preliminary budget and it looks like residents will see a slight tax increase in the new year. According to the Observer-Reporter, the spending plan totals more than $6.5 million and would hike the millage rate by .2 mills. That would an increase of twenty-seven-dollars for the average homeowner. Council is to formally adopt the budget when they meet Monday.
December 3, 2025 2:37 am
A search warrant was executed at the Washington Community Club on North Main Street in the city of Washington, to obtain surveillance video following a shooting on Thanksgiving. Early that morning, officers responded to the area of 127 North Main Street for a reported shooting. When they arrived, they found a man who had been shot multiple times. He was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. During the investigation, Washington Police said they had made several attempts to obtain surveillance footage from the club to help identify those involved, but they received limited cooperation, so they obtained a court-authorized search warrant for the club and on Tuesday, they got the surveillance video and are currently reviewing it.
December 3, 2025 2:33 am
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh has announced the arrest of ten individuals as part of a roundup that involved numerous law enforcement organizations. Walsh tells WJPA News that seven of those arrests took place here in Washington County. Two were taken into custody in Allegheny County and one in West Virginia. Walsh says the affidavits of probable cause are sealed until the preliminary hearing per Court Order. Charges vary based on the individual but range from Riot, Corrupt Organizations, Robbery, Aggravated Assault and related offenses. Those involved in the Tuesday sweep include; Pennsylvania State Police Troop A, Troop B, Washington County Sheriffs Department, FBI, ATF, Washington Regional SWAT, Westmoreland SWAT and Pittsburgh SWAT.
December 2, 2025 5:42 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is citing the “fog of war” in defending a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean Sea in early September. During Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting at the White House, Hegseth said he did not see any survivors in the water, saying the boat “exploded in fire.” Hegseth also said he “didn’t stick around” for the remainder of the mission following the initial strike, and said the admiral in charge “made the right call” in ordering it, which he “had complete authority to do.” Lawmakers have opened investigations following a Washington Post report that Hegseth issued a verbal order to “kill everybody” on the boat.
December 2, 2025 10:58 am
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — The wife of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández says he has been released from prison following a pardon from President Donald Trump. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has confirmed his release from a penitentiary in West Virginia on Monday. Hernández was sentenced last year to 45 years for aiding drug traffickers. His wife thanked Trump for the pardon, saying it ends nearly four years of hardship. Hernández was arrested in 2022 at U.S. request and convicted in New York. Trump, speaking Sunday on Air Force One, said he believed Hernández was set up and that Hondurans had asked for his release.
December 2, 2025 9:55 am
The storm system that rolled through the region early Tuesday morning resulted in plenty of problems throughout Washington County. Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers were busy all morning with numerous calls for accidents and disabled vehicles. PennDot reduced the speed limit along Interstates 70 and 79 but that didn’t prevent countless crashed. Dispatchers told WJPA News there were no major accidents but there were several jack-knifed tractor trailers and vehicles off of the roadway into the median or jersey barriers. Washington City Police closed Murtland Avenue between Locust and Ridge because vehicles became stuck. The weather system led most area schools to switch to remote instruction while a couple did cancel classes for the day.
December 2, 2025 4:54 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican Matt Van Epps has won a special election in Tennessee for a seat in the U.S. House. Van Epps was backed by President Donald Trump. He defeated Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn to keep the 7th Congressional District in the GOP column. But the comparatively slim margin of victory fueled Democratic hopes for next year’s midterm elections. The special election followed Republican Rep. Mark Green’s resignation this summer. The race saw a surge in spending, with Van Epps receiving over $1 million from the Trump-backing super PAC MAGA Inc. The House Majority PAC supported Behn with $1 million.
December 2, 2025 4:50 am
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from making widespread immigration arrests in the nation’s capital without warrants or probable cause that the person is an imminent flight risk. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington granted a preliminary injunction sought by civil liberties and immigrants rights groups in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. An email to the department after hours Tuesday was not immediately returned. Plaintiffs’ attorneys argued federal officers were frequently patrolling and setting up checkpoints in Washington, D.C., neighborhoods with large numbers of Latino immigrants and then stopping and arresting people indiscriminately.
