September 25, 2024 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Multiple Secret Service failures ahead of the July rally for former President Donald Trump where a gunman opened fire were “foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt that day.” That’s according to a bipartisan Senate investigation released Wednesday. Similar to the agency’s own internal investigation and an ongoing bipartisan House probe, the interim report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee found multiple failures on almost every level ahead of the Butler, Pennsylvania shooting, including in planning, communications, security and allocation of resources. Each probe has found new details that show a massive breakdown in the former president’s security.
September 25, 2024 5:03 am
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. suicides last year remained at about the highest level in the nation’s history. Preliminary data shows that a little over 49,300 suicide deaths were reported in 2023. That number that could grow at least somewhat as some death investigations are wrapped up and reported. Just under 49,500 were reported in 2022. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released more information about recent suicide trends. It’s the nation’s 11th leading cause of death overall. But it’s the second leading cause of death for people ages 10–14 and 20–34. The highest suicide rate for any group — by far — was in men ages 75 and older.
September 25, 2024 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s vice presidential candidates both entered the spotlight this summer as relative political unknowns — but as they prepare to address their biggest audience yet in next week’s debate, Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance is less popular among voters than his Democratic rival, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The findings of the new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reinforce a challenge for the Republican presidential ticket as voting begins in more and more states. In addition to Vance’s relative unpopularity among voters overall, Democrats are more enthusiastic about Kamala Harris and Walz than Republicans are about Donald Trump and Vance.
September 25, 2024 5:03 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S., France and other allies are jointly calling for an immediate 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon. The joint statement Wednesday, negotiated on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, says the recent fighting is “intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.” The statement calls on “all parties, including the Governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary ceasefire immediately.” The signatories include the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. They said they hoped both Israel and Hezbollah would accept it quickly.
September 25, 2024 5:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a temporary spending bill that would keep federal agencies funded when the new fiscal year begins next Tuesday while punting final decisions on spending for the next budget year until after the Nov. 5 election. The stopgap measure, approved Wednesday by a 341-82 vote, generally funds agencies at current levels through Dec. 20. Speaker Mike Johnson touted the measure as doing only what’s absolutely necessary in a bid to win over conservatives. The measure now moves to the Senate, which is expected to approve it later Wednesday.
September 25, 2024 5:00 am
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Fast-moving Hurricane Helene is advancing across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida and it’s been upgraded to a Category 2 storm. Forecasters say it threatens an “unsurvivable” storm surge in parts of northwestern Florida, as well as damaging winds, rains and flash floods hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern United States. Landfall is expected Thursday evening. The governors of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina have all declared emergencies in their states. In the Pacific, former Hurricane John strengthened Thursday morning back into a hurricane as it threatened areas of Mexico’s western coast with flash flooding and mudslides.
September 25, 2024 5:00 am
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Forecasters are warning that huge Hurricane Helene will intensify as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico on a path to Florida. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Wednesday that the hurricane is about 500 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, with sustained winds of 80 mph. Helene became a tropical storm Tuesday in the western Caribbean Sea and strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday. Forecasters say it is expected to become at least a Category 3 hurricane with its center making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida’s northwestern coast as soon as late Thursday. In the Pacific, former Hurricane John re-formed as a tropical storm and again threatened parts of Mexico’s western coast.
September 25, 2024 4:58 am
BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah has launched a missile at Tel Aviv in its deepest strike yet into Israel, marking a further escalation after Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed hundreds of people. The Israeli military said it intercepted the projectile, which set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel, and there were no reports of casualties or damage. The military said it struck the site from which the projectile was launched. Hezbollah said it targeted the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for the targeted killings of its commanders and for an attack in which explosives hidden in personal devices killed dozens and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members.
September 25, 2024 4:51 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Washington County violated state law when election workers refused to tell voters whether their mail-in ballot would be counted in April’s primary election, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The case is one of several election-related lawsuits being fought in courts in Pennsylvania, a presidential battleground state where November’s contest between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris could be close. Through a 2-1 decision, the statewide Commonwealth Court panel upheld Judge Brandon Neuman’s month-old order. The order requires county employees to notify any voter whose mail-in ballot is rejected because of an error — such as a missing signature or missing handwritten date — so that the voter has an opportunity to challenge the decision. It also requires Washington County to allow those voters to vote by provisional ballot. In the 19-page majority opinion, Judge Michael Wojcik wrote that the county’s past policy “emasculates” the law’s guarantees that voters can protest the rejection of their ballot and take advantage of the “statutory failsafe” of casting a provisional ballot. The local NAACP branch, the Center for Coalfield Justice and seven voters whose ballots had been rejected in the April 23 primary sued the county earlier this summer, accusing Washington County of violating the constitutional due process rights of voters by deliberately concealing whether their ballot had been counted.
September 25, 2024 4:45 am
North Strabane Township Supervisors took steps to advance a project that appeared before them earlier this spring. Supervisors voted to schedule a public hearing on the definition of a “personal warehouse.” The hearing will take place on October 15 at 6:00 PM. CC Realty Advisors is looking to develop the personal warehouse. They want to build it at the corner of Morganza and Curry Roads. Supervisors voted to not change the zoning on that parcel to industrial. It will remain under a highway commercial zoning use. Supervisors also voted to change the weight restriction on Demar Blvd. It will now have a 10 ton weight limit. According to Township Manager Andrew Walz, residents have been complaining about excessive traffic from large trucks using the road as a shortcut from Interstate 79 to Route 19. Finally, Supervisors approved a development package of $1,632,890 to remodel their new municipal building at 1957 Route 519. The Waller Corporation will be the general contractor on the project.
