August 23, 2024 12:28 pm
(AP) – The U.S. Postal Service hopes to save $3 billion a year through a series of changes reflecting greater reliance on streamlined regional networks. The proposal, announced Thursday, would adjust mail delivery times while maintaining a commitment to a maximum five-day delivery for the flagship Ground Advantage program and a maximum three-day delivery for local first-class mail. The details were unveiled Thursday by the Postal Service ahead of a Sept. 5 meeting in which the proposed changes will be discussed before being submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission. Election mail won’t be affected because the proposed changes would begin next year. (Photo: AP)
August 23, 2024 5:07 am
PHOENIX (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy says he is suspending his independent presidential bid and is backing Donald Trump. Kennedy said Friday in Arizona that his internal polls had showed that his presence in the race would hurt Trump and help Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. He cited free speech, the war in Ukraine and “a war on our children” as among the reasons to try to remove his name from the ballot in battleground states. He made clear that he wasn’t formally ending his bid and said his supporters could continue to back him in the majority of states where they are unlikely to sway the outcome. Kennedy said the move followed conversations with Trump over the past few weeks. (Photo: AP)
August 23, 2024 5:06 am
ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump is changing his tune on Georgia’s Republican governor after delivering a series of blistering attacks at a rally just weeks ago. In a social media post, Trump thanked Gov. Brian Kemp for his help and support in Georgia. At a rally earlier this month, Trump tore into the governor, blaming him for his narrow 2020 loss in the state. Trump’s Thursday statement came moments after Kemp appeared on Fox News and told host Sean Hannity that he continues to support Trump and will help him win Georgia’s 16 electoral votes.
August 23, 2024 5:01 am
CHICAGO (AP) — Kamala Harris has summoned Americans to reject political divisions and instead chart what she called a “new way forward.” She accepted her party’s nomination with a speech Thursday that blended biography with warnings about electing Donald Trump again to the White House. Taking the stage to a thunderous standing ovation as she closed out the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the vice president argued that her personal story and prosecutorial background made her uniquely qualified to protect Americans’ interests against a former president she cast as only having his own interests in mind. “Our nation with this election has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past,” Harris said.
August 23, 2024 4:59 am
ACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (AP) — With the Federal Reserve considered certain to start cutting its benchmark interest rate next month, Chair Jerome Powell’s highly anticipated speech Friday morning at an economic conference will be closely watched for any hints about how many additional rate cuts might be in the pipeline. Powell is expected to say the Fed has become more confident that inflation is nearing its 2% target, more than two years after it hit a painful four-decade high. Yet the Fed chair may take an overall cautious approach in his remarks at an annual conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
August 23, 2024 4:57 am
No injuries are reported after fire crews were called to a house fire in the City of Washington overnight. Washington County 9-1-1 says emergency crews were called to the 400-block of W. Chestnut Street just after 11:30 p.m. Dispatchers say the fire was put out quickly. There is no word on the cause of the fire and we are told the State Police Fire Marshall has been notified.
August 23, 2024 4:53 am
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Eight students and the bus driver were injured in a school bus crash in Washington County on Thursday. According to witnesses, the bus was full of high school-aged Western Area Career and Technology Center students from the Fort Cherry School District when it ran off Westland Road near Second Street in the Westland area of Mt. Pleasant Township around 2:30 Thursday afternoon. Two students were flown by helicopter in serious condition—one to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh and the other to UPMC Presbyterian. Six other students were hospitalized with minor injuries, along with the driver of the Fort Cherry school bus. According to witnesses, the bus hit a fence before splitting the gap between a pair of trees and careening into a field. “She [the driver] had, for whatever reason, lost control and came off the road where that squad is at, came into the field, into the hill, the bus violently bounced up and down several times creating injuries to the students that they sustained,” said Chief Tom Bruce, with Fort Cherry Ambulance. It’s still unclear what caused the driver to lose control. The Pennsylvania State Police crash unit is investigating. In a statement, Fort Cherry’s superintendent, Thomas Samosky, said, in part, “We can report that all students and the driver have been assessed, and at this time, we are monitoring their condition closely. We want to extend our deepest gratitude to the first responders who arrived quickly at the scene and provided immediate care and assistance.”
August 23, 2024 4:49 am
Washington County Ambulance & Chair EMS announced their new life saving procedure that is being used at less than 100 EMS providers nationwide. With the cooperation of UPMC, Ambulance and Chair will now be able to administer blood to patients in dire need of transfusions on site. Approximately 50 EMT’s will now be able to operate two equipped vehicles that carry type O blood for patients that would be in grave danger because of long travel distances to trauma units. Larry Pollock, Executive Director of Ambulance & Chair EMS says that this will increase survivability of rural patients suffering significant trauma and medical emergencies. Larry Pantuso is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Ambulance & Chair EMS and he calls the ability to infuse blood from an ambulance a game changer in patient care in rural communities. UPMC Medical Director of Prehospital Care and Chief Medical Officer of Ambulance & Chair Dr. Vincent Mosesso says that they are grateful to be able to make a difference to people of Washington County. According to Pollock, in the last seven days Ambulance & Chair have administered blood on scene two times. Once to a woman suffering post partum hemorrhaging and the second to an accident victim that was trapped in their car over an embankment. A legislative change by the Pennsylvania Department of Health Bureau of Emergency Medical Services now allows specially trained paramedics to administer blood in the field.
August 22, 2024 5:53 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Updated COVID-19 vaccines are on their way. The Food and Drug Administration approved new shots from Pfizer and Moderna on Thursday, and the companies are set to begin shipping millions of doses. The shots are cleared for adults and children as young as 6 months, and health authorities hope far more Americans get them this year. Vaccinations could begin in days, as a summer wave of COVID-19 continues. Authorities say anyone who’s recently been infected can wait three months after recovering to get vaccinated. (Photo: AP)
August 22, 2024 5:49 pm
TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian government has ordered the country’s two major freight railroads to enter binding arbitration. Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced the decision at a news conference Thursday, moments after The Associated Press broke the news publicly. The railroads have said that once the dispute enters arbitration the trains will be able to get moving again. But it wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the union’s engineers, conductors and dispatchers will return to work. (Photo: AP)
