April 29, 2026 10:34 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and kill President Donald Trump took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes earlier, outfitted with an ammunition bag, shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife. The details are in a new court filing. Cole Allen of California was later captured when he tried to race past a security barricade near the ballroom, prompting an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service agents. Allen’s defender says he’s presumed innocent.
April 28, 2026 2:48 am
The Fayette County Coroner is urging a nationwide ban on Tianeptine, also known as “gas station heroin,” after the county’s first accidental overdose. The substance, which is described as opioid-like, is not FDA-approved for any medical use. According to the release, it is highly addictive and can cause severe withdrawal symptoms, like seizures and respiratory depression. Dr. Bob Baker said the product is sold in vape shops and online, with more popular brands labeled as TD Plus, Neptune’s Fix and Pegasus. Several states have already banned the product, but Baker said he is recommending a nationwide ban to fast-track legislation in efforts to prevent an epidemic. Baker said he is working with other agencies to bring awareness to this problem and save lives.
April 29, 2026 4:48 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s high court has ruled that spreadsheets of raw data from ballots are public records. The Democratic-majority court’s decision on Tuesday provides access to what are known as “cast vote records.” The justices say their decision helps assure the public that elections are safe, secure, and accurate while keeping individual votes secret. Lycoming County elections officials had denied access to digital copies from the 2020 presidential election. The court clarified that these records are not physical ballots but spreadsheets of raw data. The high court said it was only ruling on the issue in one Pennsylvania county and said it was possible other counties do not sufficiently randomize their election data.
April 29, 2026 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jerome Powell says he plans to remain on the board of the Federal Reserve after his term as chair ends next month “for an undetermined period of time.” He cited the recent legal actions taken by the Trump administration against the Fed as his reason for staying on. The Fed Wednesday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the third straight meeting but signaled it could still cut rates in the coming months, moves that attracted the most dissents since October 1992. The Senate Banking Committee earlier approved Powell’s successor as chair, Trump appointee Kevin Warsh, on a party-line vote. (Photo: AP)
April 29, 2026 4:58 am
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey has appeared briefly in court, kick-starting a criminal case against him that legal experts say presents significant hurdles for the prosecution and will likely be a challenge for the Justice Department to win. Comey was indicted in North Carolina on Tuesday on charges of making threats against President Donald Trump related to a photograph he posted on social media last year of seashells arranged in the numbers “86 47.” The Justice Department contends those numbers amounted to a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Comey says he did not interpret the numbers as a call to violence against the Republican president. Comey did not enter a plea Wednesday in Virginia.
April 29, 2026 4:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing questioning from lawmakers as he goes before Congress for the first time since the Iran war began. Wednesday’s hearing before the House Armed Services Committee is focused on the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion military budget for 2027, but Democrats are using the opportunity to grill Hegseth on the Iran war’s costs, President Donald Trump’s shifting justifications for the war, and the huge drawdown of critical munitions. Lawmakers from both parties also have raised concerns about Hegseth’s firing of top generals and other military leaders. While a ceasefire is now in place, the U.S. and Israel launched the war Feb. 28 without congressional oversight.
April 28, 2026 4:55 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the Trump administration’s push to end legal protections for migrants fleeing war and natural disaster. Wednesday’s argument is one in a series of immigration cases the court is considering against the backdrop of the president’s far-reaching immigration crackdown. The government is appealing lower court orders that blocked the Department of Homeland Security from quickly ending temporary protected status for people from Haiti and Syria, exposing them to potential deportation. If the justices agree with the Trump administration, authorities could potentially strip protections from up to 1.3 million people from 17 countries.
April 28, 2026 5:39 pm
Pittsburgh, PA – As part of the Shapiro Administration’s commitment to securing high-profile events across the Commonwealth, the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) mobilized significant resources and coordinated with federal, state, and local partners to make the 2026 NFL Draft safe and secure for the record breaking 805,000 fans who participated in the festivities. During the three-day event, the PSP reported no significant incidents and made only one minor arrest. Members provided aviation support and deployed the PSP tactical mounted unit, advanced communication equipment, and additional tactical assets across the area, including at various activities in Point State Park. Troopers investigated several reports of suspicious packages and determined each one was unfounded and posed no threat to the public. Troopers say they also worked with their safety partners to reunite a lost eight-year-old girl with her family. “The success of the 2026 NFL Draft further demonstrated PSP’s shared commitment with our federal, state, and local public safety partners to ensure large-scale events like this are safe and secure for everyone involved,” said Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens, Acting Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police.
April 28, 2026 3:48 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted again, this time over a social media photo of seashells arranged on a beach that officials say constituted a threat against President Donald Trump. That’s according to a person who was familiar with the matter but was not authorized to publicly discuss it and confirmed the indictment to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity Tuesday. The charge or charges against Comey are unknown. It’s the second criminal case the Justice Department has brought against the longtime Trump foe. Comey says he assumed the arrangement of shells reading “86 47” was a political message, not a call to violence against Trump, the 47th president. (Photo: AP)
April 28, 2026 3:50 pm
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates announced that it will leave OPEC effective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of its third-largest producer and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices. The UAE’s decision had been rumored as a possibility for some time, as it pushed back in recent years against OPEC production quotas it felt had been too low. Regional politics are also likely at play. The UAE has had increasingly frosty relations with Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, over political and economic matters in the Mideast, even after both came under attack by fellow OPEC member Iran during the war.
