February 10, 2026 4:56 am
Investigators say one immigration official abused his girlfriend for years. Another admitted he sexually abused a woman in his custody. A third is charged with taking bribes. A review by The Associated Press found at least two dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020. The wrongdoing includes patterns of physical and sexual abuse and corruption. Most cases happened before Congress gave ICE $75 billion last year to hire more agents and detain more people, but experts say these kinds of crimes could accelerate. A spokesperson says ICE takes allegations of misconduct “extremely seriously” and thoroughly vets new applicants.
February 11, 2026 3:09 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — James Van Der Beek, best known as Dawson on “Dawson’s Creek,” has died at 48, according to a statement on his Instagram. The post on Wednesday says he died earlier that day. Van Der Beek shared in 2024 that he was receiving treatment for colorectal cancer. He was best known for “Dawson’s Creek,” which ran from 1998 to 2003. He also appeared in “Varsity Blues” and later leaned into jokes about his own image. He is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and six children.
February 11, 2026 4:47 am
LOWER BURRELL, Pa. — The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office has filed theft charges against the now-suspended head coach of the Burrell High School boys basketball team. Detectives said Michael Fantuzzo, 40, stole $246,000 from the Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association, a nonprofit headquartered in the eastern part of the state. Court documents say he used the money to take his family to Disney World and the Outer Banks, buy a $10,000 hot tub for his home and pay off credit cards. The DA’s office said Fantuzzo, the former treasurer of the nonprofit, also used the money to join the Hillcrest Country Club and hire a limousine service. Court documents said this all happened between May 2021 and September of 2025 and was only uncovered when a new Board of Directors was elected. This season, Fantuzzo led his high school team to the playoffs, who will face off against Belle Vernon without him on Friday. Current assistant coaches and volunteers will be in charge of the team.”
February 11, 2026 2:45 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Six former players on the women’s basketball team at the University of Pittsburgh have sued coach Tory Verdi and the school over what they call toxic coaching methods. And the players say their efforts to seek help from his supervisors were ignored. The university denied the allegations in a statement Tuesday on behalf of both the coach and the school. Lawyer Keenan Holmes says the young women understand the pressure inherent in college sports. But he says the situation went beyond basketball and “the bounds of common decency.” He says Verdi also tried to force players into the transfer portal, putting their scholarships at risk.
February 10, 2026 1:23 pm
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie more than a week ago released the first surveillance images Tuesday, showing a masked person on her porch the night she went missing. Authorities searching for the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie have not identified any suspects of persons of interest. FBI Director Kash Patel posted the images on X, saying, “The video was recovered from residual data located in back-end systems.” He said the images show “an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance.” (Photo: AP)
February 10, 2026 9:51 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers pulled back the pace of their spending in December from November, closing out the holiday shopping season and the year on a lackluster tone. The report, issued by the Commerce Department on Tuesday, raised questions about shoppers’ ability to spend this year as they worry about a slowing job market and uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s tariffs and their impact on prices. Retail sales were flat in December from November, when business was up 0.6%. Economists were expecting a 0.4% increase for December.
February 10, 2026 3:29 am
West Finley Township has never had zoning in its entire existence. It does now. Supervisors unanimously adopted a zoning ordinance to have better control over how developing industries may work in their township. The idea came about in the summer of 2025 when a Florida real estate development company knocked on the doors of supervisors to see what it would take to build a data center and an associated gas fired power plant along Nuthatch Lane. According to township supervisor chairperson Melinda Duncan, developers backed off when they heard that coal mining was on its way through the area that was under consideration. Regardless that data center request prompted residents to be concerned and got supervisors to develop zoning in the township. The ordinance has four zones. The largest, that covers the vast majority of the township, is the residential/agricultural zone. Five areas, mostly around state game lands, have been designated as a recreational district. Three areas have been designated village/commercial. One zone, in the northwest area of the township is zoned industrial. According to Duncan, that area was chosen because of already existing businesses that would be similar in nature to data centers. Henriette O’Brien was a driver for the ordinance. She and several others reached out to County Commissioners last summer when the first overtures about data centers were made. She is pleased because such entities will be limited on where to build and that would control noise, emissions and traffic that would disrupt the rural nature of the township. According to Duncan, no data center applications are in front of any township board.
February 9, 2026 4:47 am
PennDOT has announced that Interstate 70 eastbound in Westmoreland County will remain closed until noon and then a single-lane restriction will be implemented until a barrier is replaced. It’s the result of a fiery, wrong-way, multi-vehicle crash around 1 a.m. between the New Stanton and Madison exits in Hempfield Township. According to reports, two people were transported to area hospitals. The crash initially closed the westbound lanes, as well, because of debris on the highway. State Police are investigating.
February 9, 2026 4:51 am
The Washington County Magisterial District Office of Judge Eric Porter in Charleroi has temporarily moved to 250 Chamber Plaza in the borough. The move resulted after a water line break damaged Porter’s Fallowfield Avenue office last week. The building was then condemned. The office will remain at this temporary location until further notice. Court operations resumed Monday and hours of operation will be 8:30 a.m. until noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
February 9, 2026 2:40 am
Two incidents on Saturday morning in Washington are being investigated as possibly connected. The first incident is an armed robbery reported just before seven in the 100 block of Hayes Avenue. The victim told police he was approached by several younger Black males who had guns and were wearing masks. Those males reportedly forced the victim into a vehicle and took him to a bank, where he was forced to withdraw money. The suspects then took the victim to another location and demanded more money through an application-based money transfer. The second incident started as a suspicious vehicle investigation when someone reported a vehicle in his driveway off North Franklin Street that didn’t belong to him and had damage to the steering column. That person also reported seeing three juveniles, two in another vehicle and another on foot. The juvenile on foot was wearing a ski mask and reportedly repeatedly apologized for parking in the driveway, then got into the vehicle and left with the other two juveniles following. Police say the vehicle involved, a Kia Sportage – was later determined to be stolen out of Canonsburg. Investigators say “there is reasonable belief” that these two incidents are connected, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. A third incident involved reported gunfire in the six-hundred block of Allison Avenue that damaged a vehicle, and is not believed to be related. Anyone with information, surveillance footage, or video related to any of these incidents is encouraged to contact the City of Washington Police Department by emailing tips@washingtonpa.us or calling 724-223-4108.
