September 27, 2025 6:00 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that Pittsburgh’s so-called jock tax discriminates against visiting professional athletes and performers. The city has been charging them a 3% tax for income earned at publicly funded stadiums, while charging resident athletes 1% plus a 2 % school tax. The city says the net effect is the same, but the high court disagreed Thursday. The court notes that state lawmakers authorized the tax in the early 2000s to boost city finances, not to help pay for the stadiums. The city had collected about $2.6 million from the tax so far this year.
September 27, 2025 6:00 am
Washington, PA – Washington County Commissioners have hired a new Director of Public Relations. If the name Nicole Ford sounds familiar, that’s likely because of her extensive media experience and deep ties to the region. She has spent the past decade as a reporter, covering key issues across southwestern Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Washington County, Ford worked in the Pittsburgh TV market for both WPXI and KDKA, reporting on topics ranging from local government and education to the courts. Her work has earned recognition at the highest levels of journalism, including a National Edward R. Murrow Award and multiple Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards. County officials say her strong understanding of local issues, media dynamics, and community engagement will allow her to oversee county communications and strengthen the flow of information between Washington County, members of the media, and residents. “I’m excited to take on this role and serve the community I’ve spent years reporting on in a new capacity,” said Ford. “I look forward to working with county leaders and residents to build strong lines of communication and share all the good news coming out of Washington County.” Ford’s first day with the county will be Monday, September 29, 2025.
September 26, 2025 4:57 am
RED LION, Pa. (AP) — Three Pennsylvania detectives shot to death last week while attempting to arrest a stalking suspect were remembered as exemplary officers and devoted family men at a funeral. The service was held Thursday for Northern York County Regional Police detectives Cody Michael Becker, Mark Edward Baker and Isaiah Emenheiser. It’s been more than a week after they were ambushed by a man who had been inside the home of a woman he was accused of stalking. Two other officers were also hurt. The stalking suspect died in an exchange of gunfire with police.
September 26, 2025 4:56 am
CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — The Connellsville Police Department is seeking the public’s help in identifying a woman who attempted to use counterfeit money at a Family Dollar store. Authorities have released an image of the woman and are urging anyone with information to come forward. Police have provided a contact number for tips: 724-628-2020 ext 160.
September 27, 2025 4:32 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal immigration agents have arrested the leader of Iowa’s largest school district in a targeted enforcement action that shocked students and educators. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Des Moines Public School Superintendent Ian Roberts was in the country illegally and had no work authorization. Roberts, who is from Guyana in South America, was considered an ICE fugitive because he was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024. ICE said that it targeted Roberts for arrest by initiating a traffic stop on Friday while he was driving in his school-issued vehicle. After he fled, officers discovered his vehicle abandoned near a wooded area. He was located and taken into ICE custody with the help of Iowa State Patrol officers.
September 27, 2025 4:30 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has fired agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. That’s according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press. The bureau had reassigned the agents last spring but has since fired them. The FBI declined to comment. The number of FBI employees terminated was not immediately clear, but two people said it was roughly 20.
September 27, 2025 4:28 am
MAGNOLIA, Ky. (AP) — American soybean farmers are worried about where they’re going to sell their crops and whether they’ll lose money this year because China hasn’t bought any for months. Beijing traditionally has snapped up at least a quarter of all soybeans grown in the U.S. but it is in effect boycotting them. It’s in retaliation for the high tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese goods and to strengthen its hand in negotiations over a new overall trade deal. Farmers like Caleb Ragland in Kentucky hope there will be a trade deal soon, but some significant aid might be needed to help them survive. Trump says he’s considering an aid package.
September 27, 2025 4:26 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Surrounded by critics and protesters at the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told fellow world leaders that Israel “must finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza. He gave a defiant speech despite growing international isolation over his refusal to end the devastating war in Gaza and said Israel wouldn’t buckle under the pressure. He spoke after dozens of delegates from multiple nations walked out of the U.N. General Assembly hall en masse as he began speaking. Responding to countries’ recent decisions to recognize Palestinian statehood, Netanyahu said it would encourage terrorism against Jews and others.
September 26, 2025 8:44 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge accelerated slightly in August from a year earlier. The Commerce Department reported Friday that its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index was up 2.7% in August from a year earlier, up from a 2.6% year-over-year increase in July and most since February. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE inflation showed a 2.9% increase in prices from August 2024, same as in July. The increases were what forecasters had expected.
September 26, 2025 5:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — James Comey has been charged with making a false statement to Congress and obstruction of a criminal proceeding. The charges come in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies. The indictment Thursday makes Comey the first former senior government official to face prosecution in connection with one of Trump’s chief grievances: the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump and his supporters have long derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign.
