March 1, 2025 4:09 am
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. That’s according to the White House. The order will allow government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in language other than English, according to a fact sheet about the impending order. The executive will rescind a mandate from former President Bill Clinton that required the government and organizations that received federal funding to provide language assistance to non-English speakers.
March 1, 2025 4:06 am
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is resting after an alarming setback in his two-week recovery from double pneumonia. The Vatican said doctors had to put him on noninvasive mechanical ventilation following a coughing fit in which he inhaled vomit that needed to then be extracted. Doctors said it would take a day or two to evaluate how and if the episode impacted Francis’ overall clinical condition. His prognosis remains guarded, meaning he isn’t out of danger.
February 28, 2025 2:56 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump berated Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for being “disrespectful” in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting on Friday, then abruptly called off signing a deal with the U.S. that he said would have moved that country closer to ending its war with Russia. The astonishing turn of events has the potential to potentially scramble international affairs in Europe and around the globe. During his visit with Trump, Zelenskyy had planned to attend sign a deal allowing the U.S. greater access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, then hold a joint news conference. Instead, Trump ordered Zelenskyy and his entourage to leave the White House.
February 28, 2025 8:47 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A key price gauge declined last month, a sign that inflation may be cooling though stiff tariffs threatened by the White House threaten that progress. Yet data released Friday by the Commerce Department also showed that Americans cut their spending last month 0.2% in January from the previous month, likely in part because of unseasonably cold weather. Still, the drop may raise alarms about whether Americans are growing more cautious amid widespread uncertainty about the economic outlook. Inflation declined to 2.5% in January compared with a year earlier, down from 2.6% in December, the government said. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices dropped to 2.6%, the lowest since June, from 2.8%.
February 28, 2025 2:28 am
More than 60 people packed a Washington County courtroom to hear the plea agreement for a Peters Township man who brutally attacked a woman with a hammer in July of 2023. William Oberschelp, 29, of McMurray pleaded guilty to attempted homicide and received a 16.5 to 33 year prison sentence for beating his ex-girlfriend Jennifer Pardini with a hammer and kicking her until she was unconscious. Several victim impact statements were read by family members accompanied by several pictures of Jennifer, depicting her skull fracture and broken jaw, while she was in the hospital. Jennifer’s father Ronald Pardini called Oberschelp a coward, fraud and a psychopath; predicting that he “will rot in hell.” Jennifer Pardini (pictured) thanked everyone for their support. She derided a voicemail that Oberschelp left her after the attack that asked her “please don’t be mad.” Pardini was proud to say that she could do all the things that doctors said may not come back. On the stand she reflected on how she can walk, she can talk and she can recall all that he did to her that night. She closed by describing a tattoo she got saying “and still I rise” and triumphantly exclaiming “I am a survivor.” In addition to his prison term, Oberschelp did express remorse for his attack. He said he was endlessly sorry for the injuries he caused her and her family and blamed his alcoholism, drug addiction and a psychotic crisis at the time. Oberschelp was also sentenced to a concurrent 20 years of probation for burglary. He also must make restitution in the amount of $27,959.07.
February 28, 2025 4:51 am
(AP) – A police officer who was shot to death while responding to an armed man with hostages inside a Pennsylvania hospital intensive care unit was remembered Friday as a dedicated public servant who did not hesitate to run toward danger and died a hero. Hundreds of fellow officers and others filled the Living Word Community Church in Red Lion for the funeral of West York Police Officer Andrew W. Duarte. West York Police Chief Matthew Millsaps said Duarte, 30, realized he had just been shot Saturday and made it to the safety of cover when he saw that a fellow officer was down and in what Millsaps described as a compromised position. “Andrew’s last physical act on the face of this earth was to run back towards the threat area,” dragging the other officer to safety and holding his hand in comfort, Millsaps said, speaking in front of Duarte’s flag-draped coffin. “When they made it to cover, Andrew collapsed and died.” Duarte was a graduate of PennWest California here in Washington County.
February 28, 2025 2:53 am
Pennsylvania American Water has lifted a mandatory water conservation order for around 70,000 customers in parts of Allegheny, Beaver and Washington counties. PAWC said the mandatory conservation notice was necessary to maintain adequate water supply and pressure while the company worked to fix an unexpected electrical issue at the Aldrich Water Treatment Plant in Elrama. Customers were being asked to temporarily limit their water use to essential purposes only, with a targeted reduction of 10-15% until further notice. Pennsylvania American Water says it notified affected customers through its automated emergency notification system. In Washington County, the following communities were affected: Amwell; Buffalo; Burgettstown; Canonsburg; Canton; Carroll; Cecil; Chartiers; City of Washington; Claysville; Cross Creek; Donegal; East Finley; East Washington; Fallowfield; Hanover; Hopewell; Houston; Independence; Jefferson; McDonald; Midway; Monongahela; Morris; Mt. Pleasant; New Eagle; North Franklin; North Strabane; Nottingham; Peters; Robinson; Smith; Somerset; South Franklin; South Strabane and West Middletown. The mandatory conservation order also affected the communities of Bethel Park; Clairton; Jefferson Borough; South Fayette and South Park in Allegheny County and Frankfort springs and Hanover in Beaver County. The order was lifted around three-thirty Thursday afternoon.
February 28, 2025 4:58 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge in San Francisco finds the mass firings of probationary employees were likely unlawful. Thursday’s decision grants temporary relief to a coalition of labor unions and organizations that has sued to stop the Trump administration’s dismantling of the federal workforce. U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the Office of Personnel Management to inform certain federal agencies that it had no authority to order the firings of probationary employees, including the Department of Defense. Lawyers for the personnel office say individual agencies made the decision to fire employees and that it had no role in ordering the firings.
February 28, 2025 5:04 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A grassroots organization is encouraging U.S. residents not to spend any money on Friday. The People’s Union USA describes it as an act of “economic resistance” to protest what the group’s founder sees as the malign influence of billionaires, big corporations and both major political parties on the lives of working Americans. The group calls the 24 hours of spending abstinence set to start at midnight an “economic blackout,” a term that has since been shared and debated on social media. Other activists and faith-based leaders are organizing boycotts to protest companies that have scaled back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and to oppose President Donald Trump’s moves to abolish all federal DEI programs and policies.
February 27, 2025 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is using a visit to Washington to press President Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine as he looks to find a quick endgame to Russia’s bloody invasion of its neighbor. With a mix of flattery and frank talk, the center-left Starmer made the case to the Republican president to remain cautious as he goes about ending the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. The British premier started the visit by delivering an invitation from King Charles III to come to Scotland for a “historic” state visit — noting it was an “unprecedented” honor since Trump already had been given the royal treatment by Queen Elizabeth II during his first term.
