January 28, 2026 4:59 am
Authorities say a man who was involved in a human smuggling operation was shot Tuesday in an exchange of gunfire with the U.S. Border Patrol and after firing at a federal helicopter. The FBI says agents returned fire, striking the man and wounding him. Authorities say the 34-year-old man was transported to a hospital and was recovering from surgery Tuesday evening. He was identified as Patrick Gary Schlegel. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department says the FBI asked it to lead a use-of-force investigation of the Border Patrol. It noted that such investigations are standard when a federal agency is involved in a shooting in the county.
January 28, 2026 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve pushed the pause button on its interest rate cuts Wednesday, leaving its key rate unchanged at about 3.6% after lowering it three times last year. With the economy growing at a healthy pace and no signs of deterioration in hiring, Fed officials likely see little reason to rush any further rate cuts. While most policymakers do expect to reduce borrowing costs further this year, many want to see evidence that stubbornly-elevated inflation is moving closer to the central bank’s target of 2%. According to the Fed’s preferred measure, inflation was 2.8% in November, slightly higher than a year ago.
January 28, 2026 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board says the placement of a helicopter route so close to Reagan National Airport’s secondary runway was a key factor in causing a midair aircraft collision that killed 67 people near Washington, D.C., a year ago. The NTSB said Tuesday that air traffic controllers’ over reliance on asking pilots to avoid other aircraft also contributed to an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter colliding a year ago. The Federal Aviation Administration has taken steps to ensure helicopters and planes no longer share the same crowded airspace around the nation’s capital. An NTSB investigator says air traffic control had a big workload around the time of the crash.
January 27, 2026 12:29 pm
(AP) – A new influx of arctic air is expected to spur freezing temperatures in parts of the South already covered in snow and ice. Many people have fled to warming shelters, and crews worked Tuesday to restore power knocked out by a massive weekend winter storm. At least 35 deaths have been reported in states afflicted with severe cold. A county sheriff in Texas said Tuesday that three brothers, all under 10 years old, died after falling through ice on a pond the previous day. Other deaths included two people run over by snowplows in Massachusetts and Ohio, fatal sledding accidents that killed teenagers in Arkansas and Texas, and a woman whose body was found covered in snow in Kansas. In New York City, officials said eight people were found dead outdoors over the frigid weekend. The National Weather Service says more widespread record cold temperatures are forecast for Tuesday, with eastern Texas through western Pennsylvania under extreme cold warnings. (Photo: AP)
January 27, 2026 12:33 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — A daylong hearing was held that should make clear what caused a midair aircraft collision that killed 67 people near Washington, D.C. The National Transportation Safety Board will recommend steps to prevent similar tragedies. An American Airlines jet flying from Kansas and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided and plummeted into the Potomac River a year ago. The Federal Aviation Administration has taken steps to ensure helicopters and planes no longer share the same crowded airspace around the nation’s capital. A NTSB investigator says air traffic control had a big workload around the time of the crash.
January 27, 2026 5:44 pm
(AP) – Authorities in Arizona say one person was shot and in critical condition Tuesday in a shooting involving the Border Patrol near the U.S.- Mexico border. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said it was working with the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection in response to the shooting in Arivaca, Arizona, a community about 10 miles from the border. The FBI said it was “investigating an alleged assault on a federal officer” and that the subject was in custody. The area is a common path for drug smugglers and migrants who illegally cross the border, so agents regularly patrol there.
January 27, 2026 8:44 am
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (AP) — The chief federal judge in Minnesota says the Trump administration has failed to comply with orders to hold hearings for detained immigrants and has ordered the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear before him Friday to explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt. In an order dated Monday, Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz said Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, must appear personally in court. Schlitz took the administration to task over its handling of bond hearings for immigrants it has detained. The order says Schlitz recognizes that ordering the head of a federal agency to appear personally is extraordinary, but that the “extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary.”
January 26, 2026 5:04 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Activists say that at least 6,126 people were killed in Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests and many more are still feared dead. The new figures Tuesday came from the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in multiple rounds of unrest in Iran. The group verifies each death with a network of activists on the ground in Iran. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll given authorities cutting off the internet and disrupting calls into the Islamic Republic. Iran’s government has put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, and labeled the rest “terrorists.”
January 27, 2026 2:52 am
For the first time since 1963, Peters Township residents will have ambulance service from someone that is not VFW Post 764. In 2025, the VFW Ambulance Service notified the township that it is no longer able to provide service. That left the township with two options, absorb the current service into its realm of services or contract with an outside provider. Cost and staffing prevented the township from absorbing the service. Council awarded a five year contract to AHN Canonsburg to provide ambulance service. In December council directed staff to negotiate with UPMC Ambulance and Chair and AHN Canonsburg. According to Township Manager Paul Lauer, the decision tilted on contract terms. AHN Canonsburg said that they would provide two staffed ambulances, seven days a week 24 hours a day for the duration of the contract. UPMC Ambulance and Chair said they would provide the same for six months and then review the contract going forward. A second condition was positioning of ambulances. If both ambulances were out on calls, Ambulance and Chair said they would strive to position a third ambulance in the township. AHN Canonsburg said that they shall post a third ambulance in the township. The vote to approve AHN Canonsburg was 6-1 with councilman Gary Stiegel voting against. He is concerned that AHN seems to be losing customer areas and Ambulance and Chair is gaining customer areas. He says that maybe the township is missing something that the other municipalities are seeing. AHN Canonsburg will begin servicing Peters Township effective April 20, 2026.
January 27, 2026 4:55 am
Another drop in gas prices. AAA says they are five-cents lower this week here in Western Pennsylvania. The average now stands at $3.12 according to their East Central Gas Price Report. Here in Washington our average is a penny lower at $3.11 per gallon. As winter weather grips much of the nation, the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded has gone up six cents over the past week with the average at $2.88. Even though the national average is higher this week, prices are still 24 cents cheaper than they were one year ago.
