October 11, 2024 4:51 am
BENTLEYVILLE, Pa. — A major drug bust was made in Bentleyville on Wednesday. Police said they pulled over a car with an expired plate, but it turned out that the driver had a warrant out for his arrest and a car full of drugs. Kenton Pinson, of Bentleyvillle, is now behind bars. Officers say they confiscated, a gun with a homemade silencer attached, an array of drugs and paraphernalia, including 22 ounces of methamphetamine, cash and more. Pinson was taken to the Allegheny County Jail and will be transferred to Washington to face new drug charges.
October 11, 2024 4:55 am
NEW EAGLE, Pa. — Ringgold has postponed its home football game with Thomas Jefferson as the school district investigates misconduct allegations. In a statement on the District’s website, Superintendent Randall Skrinjorich said that the “District was made aware of alleged incidents of misconduct. Given the serious nature of the alleged incidents that involve members of the football team, the District has made the difficult decision to postpone the football game.” The statement went on to say “We are continuing to gather information and will take all the appropriate steps to address these allegations.” WPIAL officials are handling the situation as a postponement at this moment and will address the situation later should the teams not be able to re-schedule.
October 11, 2024 5:07 am
PITTSBURGH — Former President Barack Obama made his first campaign stop in the City of Pittsburgh, rallying the vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. Joined by top state leaders like Gov. Josh Shapiro, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, and Senator Bob Casey, his visit comes as the race for the White House remains close. “We are ready for a better story Pennsylvania, we are ready for a President Kamala Harris,” Obama said. Thursday night was Obama’s first visit to the city since 2022, his stop a part of a nationwide swing through battleground states – rallying support for Harris. During his speech, the former president laid out what he said is the stark contrast between Vice President Harris and former President Donald Trump. “Donald Trump is a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems,” Obama said. He continued by addressing the crowded auditorium, “What I cannot understand is why anyone would think that Donald Trump would shake things up in a way that is good for you, Pennsylvania,” he questioned. This visit marks the first of several stops for the former president who is expected to make visits in other battleground states ahead of the election, while Harris will visit Erie on Monday.
October 11, 2024 5:11 am
Hurricane Milton brought powerful winds, storm surge and flooding to much of Florida after making landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm. It weakened as it plowed through Florida late Wednesday into Thursday. In its wake, it has left widespread power outages and caused at least eight deaths. The cyclone had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph when it roared ashore in Siesta Key, south of the populated Tampa Bay region. A storm surge affected a long stretch of Florida’s Gulf Coast, including densely populated areas such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.
October 11, 2024 5:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A pair of unwelcome and destructive guests named Helene and Milton have stormed their way into this year’s presidential election. The unprecedented back-to-back hurricanes have jumbled the schedules of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, both of whom devoted part of their Thursdays to tackling questions about the storms. The two hurricanes are forcing basic questions about who as president would best respond to deadly natural disasters. And just weeks before the Nov. 5 election, the storms have disrupted the mechanics of voting in several key counties and forced the candidates to alter their plans.
October 11, 2024 5:13 am
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s health ministry says at least 22 people have been killed and 117 wounded in Israeli airstrikes that hit two areas in central Beirut. An Associated Press photographer who went to the scene Thursday evening said the first strike, in Ras al-Nabaa, appeared to have hit the lower half of an apartment building and explosions were ongoing inside the building. The second strike, in Burj Abi Haidar, collapsed an entire building, which was engulfed in flames. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reported strikes. Earlier in the day, a strike on a central Gaza school-turned-shelter killed 27 people.
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 5:40 pm
DETROIT (AP) — Donald Trump on Thursday lobbed new complaints about the federal response to a pair of hurricanes that ravaged large swaths of the Southeast, as he again seeks to increasingly turn two deadly storms to his political advantage ahead of the November election. Trump offered empathetic messages to people affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which came ashore Wednesday night. Trump also suggested that the federal response had been lacking, particularly in North Carolina, where he alleged the government after Helene had “not done what you’re supposed to be doing.” “They’ve let those people suffer unjustly,” said Trump, who has for several days promoted falsehoods about the response of President Joe Biden and emergency management officials. President Joe Biden has repeatedly slammed Trump for spreading misinformation about federal assistance available to victims, including falsely claiming that such assistance is capped at $750. In reality, that is just for immediate needs, the first potential payout rather than the total.
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 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.”
