October 5, 2024 4:27 am
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Helene severely damaged drinking water utilities in the Southeast. Western North Carolina was especially hard hit. Flooding tore through the city of Asheville’s water system, destroying so much infrastructure that officials said repairs could take weeks. The Environmental Protection Agency said that, as of Thursday, about 136,000 people in the Southeast were served by a nonoperational water provider and more than 1.8 million were living under a boil water advisory. Officials in North Carolina are facing a difficult rebuilding task made harder by the steep, narrow valleys of the Blue Ridge Mountains that during a more typical October would attract throngs of fall tourists.
October 5, 2024 4:23 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran is under suspicion of trying to hack figures associated with the upcoming U.S. presidential election and plotting the assassination of former President Donald Trump. The claims come after decades of cyberwarfare both attributed to and targeting the Islamic Republic, as well as other campaigns abroad targeting opponents of its theocracy. Starting with the Stuxnet virus believed to have been deployed by Israel and the United States to destroy uranium-enriching centrifuges in Iran’s nuclear program, Tehran has seen both the value and the danger of hacking. Meanwhile, Iran has carried out assassinations abroad targeting its perceived enemies in the years since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and it has abducted others to bring back to Tehran.
October 5, 2024 4:21 am
Hamas official Saeed Atallah Ali has been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in Lebanon. The early morning strike came a day after another attack cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria. Israel has launched a ground incursion into Lebanon against the Hezbollah militant group. Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. As the war in Gaza reaches the one-year mark, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.
October 5, 2024 4:15 am
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump is setting aside what are now near-constant worries for his physical safety in order to fulfill “really an obligation.” The Republican presidential nominee plans to return Saturday to the site where a gunman tried to assassinate him in July. He’ll be joined by running mate JD Vance, Elon Musk and others on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show. The campaign is working to maximize the event’s headline-grabbing potential with just 30 days to go before voters decide between Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
October 5, 2024 1:25 am
A Charleroi man who stands accused of multiple possession with intent to deliver felonies asked Common Pleas Court Judge Traci McDonald for a Stipulated Trial. John Beebe, 50 asked for that type of trial so that a quick verdict may be reached and appeals could be made if necessary. In this type of trial, attorneys will present agreed upon written facts and present no witnesses. The judge will review those facts and render their decision. Appeals to the decision may be made by either side. Beebe faces 8 felony possession with intent to deliver charges along with seven other misdemeanor charges. He was arrested in March of 2022 when police raided his home and found drugs, multiple guns and more than $40,000 in cash. He has been incarcerated in the Washington County Jail without bond. It is unclear when the judge will render a decision.
October 5, 2024 1:21 am
The members of Teamsters Local 585 and the Washington County Housing Authority have come to a resolution regarding their strike. According to a joint statement issued by the parties the agreement allows for “well-deserved wage increases” and will get employees back to work. According to the statement, over the past several days “the Authority administration, Board of Directors, Union representatives and Leadership, and the County Commissioners were able to come together to reach a resolution that ensures the Authority, and the County can continue to provide the safe, reliable, and affordable housing to its residents across the County.” Workers will report back to work at midnight on October 7th.
October 4, 2024 10:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is planning to hit key swing states to boost Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for the White House, starting next Thursday in Pittsburgh. The Harris campaign says Obama will travel around the country over the final 27 days ahead of the election. The former president and Harris have a friendship that goes back 20 years, from when they first met while he was running for Senate.
October 4, 2024 8:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers added a surprisingly strong 254,000 jobs in September, the latest evidence that the U.S. labor market is still solid enough to support steady hiring and a growing economy. Last month’s hiring gain was up sharply from the 159,000 jobs that were added in August, and the unemployment dropped from 4.2% to 4.1%. The latest figures suggest that many companies are still confident enough to fill jobs despite the continued pressure of high interest rates. Few employers are laying off workers, though many have grown more cautious about hiring.
October 4, 2024 4:56 am
DETROIT (AP) — The union representing 45,000 striking U.S. dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports has reached a deal to suspend a three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract. The International Longshoremen’s Association is to resume working immediately. The temporary end to the strike came after the union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, reached a tentative agreement on wages. That’s according to a joint statement from the union and ports. A person briefed on the agreement said the ports sweetened their wage offer from about 50% over six years to 62%. The person didn’t want to be identified because the agreement is tentative.
October 4, 2024 4:54 am
DETROIT (AP) — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are trying to get the upper hand with working-class voters in the closing weeks of the presidential campaign. Harris is visiting the union stronghold of Flint, Michigan, on Friday. Organized labor has been a bedrock of Democratic support, but Harris has been unable to secure endorsements from some unions that backed Joe Biden four years ago. Trump is eager to make inroads with unions in the election. He’s heading to Georgia, where he’ll appear with Gov. Brian Kemp, and North Carolina on Friday.
