October 10, 2024 10:21 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Milton is barreling into the Atlantic Ocean after plowing across Florida. The storm knocked out power to more than 3 million customers and whipped up a barrage of tornadoes. Milton caused at least four deaths and compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct hit. The storm tracked to the south in the final hours and made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm in Siesta Key, about 70 miles south of Tampa. While it caused a lot of damage and water levels may continue to rise for days, Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was not “the worst-case scenario.”
October 10, 2024 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation last month likely reached its lowest point since February 2021, clearing the way for another Federal Reserve rate cut and adding to the stream of encouraging economic data that has emerged in the final weeks of the presidential campaign. The consumer price index is expected to have risen just 2.3% in September from 12 months earlier, down from the 2.5% year-over-year increase in August. A reading that low, likely reflecting lower gas prices and only a slight rise in food costs, would barely exceed the Fed’s 2% inflation target. A little over two years ago, inflation had reached a peak of 9.1%.
October 10, 2024 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of retirees who receive Social Security benefits will see a 2.5% cost-of-living increase to their monthly checks beginning in January. That word comes Thursday from the Social Security Administration. Agency officials say the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for retirees translates to more than $50 more on average per retiree every month. About 72.5 million people, including retirees, disabled people and children, get Social Security benefits. The agency’s commissioner says the cost-of-living adjustment will provide a measure of relief for recipients as inflation has cooled. But Martin O’Malley’s message to those who feel the increase isn’t enough is that “they’re not wrong.”
October 10, 2024 4:58 am
PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Two Bethel Park YouTubers are facing felony charges after “pranks” that police say were targeting elderly people. Andrew Janidlo and Dennis Meyers are accused of illegally recording incidents in two Peters Township neighborhoods for their YouTube channel. The two men and at least one other man covered their vehicle’s license plate and sprayed a lawn, one man dressed in HAZMAT gear. According to police, the men told the 81-year-old homeowner that unless she paid them thousands of dollars her shrubbery and flowers would die. Neighbors say the men then blocked her from going back into her home, frightening her, and causing her to shout for help. “They filmed themselves spraying shrubbery and then try and convince the homeowner they were killing their shrubs,” said Peters Township Police Chief Joseph Glover. “I don’t think any of this was funny. They were recording the people without their knowledge. There was somebody filming from a distance and the person close to them was recording with a hidden device. Pennsylvania takes wiretap laws very seriously. It’s a felony and the penalties are very stiff.” Janidlo was arraigned on a $10,000 bond, with strict orders not to post any videos. Meyers has a warrant out for his arrest. Police found more videos after Andrew’s arrest and have given them to other local police departments to investigate. Glover said this is criminal as well as morally disturbing.
October 10, 2024 2:16 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — (WPXI) – A Pennsylvania Lottery scratch-off ticket worth $5 million was recently sold in Washington County. The ticket was sold at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, which will earn a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. The ticket, MONOPOLY Own It All, is a $50 game that offers top prizes of $5 million. Scratch-off prizes expire one year from the game’s end-sale date posted at palottery.com.
October 9, 2024 3:56 pm
(AP) – Sin City blew a kiss goodbye to the Tropicana in an elaborate implosion that leveled two hotel towers. The celebration in Las Vegas early Wednesday included a fireworks display. It was the first casino implosion in nearly a decade for a city that loves fresh starts. The Tropicana closed in April after 67 years to make room for a new baseball stadium for the relocating Oakland Athletics. Once known as the “Tiffany of the Strip” for its opulence, the Tropicana was a frequent haunt of the legendary Rat Pack. Its past under the mob has long cemented its place in Las Vegas lore. (Photo: AP)
October 9, 2024 3:46 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security recipients are expected to receive a smaller cost-of-living increase in January than in recent years as inflation moderates. The Social Security Administration will announce the increase Thursday. In advance, analysts are forecasting a 2.5% increase for 2025. The announcement comes as the national social insurance plan faces a severe financial shortfall in the coming years. The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report in May that the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. If the trust fund is depleted, the government will be able to pay only 83% of scheduled benefits.
October 9, 2024 7:48 am
One person was transported to Canonsburg Hospital after a two-vehicle crash in North Strabane Wednesday morning along Interstate 79 northbound. Washington County 9-1-1 says it happened just after 7 a.m. and was a rear-end type collision near the Houston exit. There is no word on the identity or condition of the person injured. Dispatchers said one-lane was blocked but traffic was getting by.
October 9, 2024 5:06 am
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has hurled insults at his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the co-hosts of ABC’s “The View.” He said on Wednesday he had no interest in stopping his attacks, even if they turn off female voters. Trump spoke as Hurricane Milton made landfall, lashing Florida with rain, tornadoes and tropical-storm-force winds. “I don’t want to be nice,” Trump said at his first of two rallies of the day in the pivotal battleground state of Pennsylvania. “You know, somebody said, ‘You should be nicer. Women won’t like it.’ I said, ‘I don’t care.’”
October 9, 2024 4:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has arrested an Afghan man who officials say was inspired by the Islamic State militant organization and was plotting an Election Day attack targeting large crowds in the U.S. That’s according to a Justice Department announcement Tuesday. Officials say 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi of Oklahoma City had taken steps in recent weeks to advance his attack plans, including by ordering AK-47 rifles, liquidating his family’s assets and buying one-way tickets for his wife and child to travel home to Afghanistan. After he was arrested, the Justice Department said, Tawhedi told investigators he had planned an attack for Election Day that would target large gatherings of people.
