Chris Christie Ends Presidential Bid; Criticizes Rivals

January 11, 2024 5:09 am

WINDHAM, N.H. (AP) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has dropped out of the Republican presidential race. He made the announcement Wednesday night at a town hall in New Hampshire just hours before the fifth debate of the 2024 election cycle kicked off without him. Christie has been under intense pressure to exit the race as Trump critics work to unify behind a viable Republican alternative to the former president. Christie did not endorsing any of his rivals and continued to criticize them in his exit speech. He was overheard on a live mic ahead of the event saying that Nikki Haley is “going to get smoked.”

Speaker Facing Push-back Over Deal With Democrats

January 11, 2024 5:07 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are off to a raucous start in their first week back in Washington after an extended holiday break. Some are openly criticizing new House Speaker Mike Johnson. Others helped sink a routine procedural vote to express their displeasure with topline spending levels that Johnson negotiated with Democrats for the current fiscal year. Most Republicans say they support Johnson, saying he is doing the best he can. But it took only eight Republicans to oust McCarthy — along with 208 Democrats. A similar revolt from just a handful of Republicans would leave Johnson vulnerable as well.

Hunter Biden Pleads Not Guilty At L.A Hearing

January 11, 2024 5:05 am

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges filed after the collapse of a plea deal that could have settled the case against him. President Joe Biden’s son was charged with nine counts of felony and misdemeanor tax offenses. The charges stem from what federal prosecutors say was a four-year scheme to skip out on paying the $1.4 million he owed to the Internal Revenue Service. A tentative trial date was set for June 20. Hunter Biden has also been charged in Delaware with lying in October 2018 on a federal form for gun purchasers when he swore he wasn’t using or addicted to illegal drugs.

Business Owner Considers Sports Facility

January 11, 2024 5:03 am

NORTH HUNTINGDON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Land owned by North Huntingdon Township could be leased to a local business owner who is looking to build a multi-million dollar sports facility. Shane Larkin, the owner of N Zone Sports Westmoreland, said it’s a big project in the works. “We’re looking to do an indoor and outdoor sports space on about a 15 to 18-acre piece of property,” he said. That property is currently owned by North Huntingdon Township for the Public Works facility. Last month, the township and Larkin had a meeting to discuss the potential of leasing that site for this project. Larkin is partnering with RocStreet Sports for this project. Larkin wants it to have indoor and outdoor turf fields, basketball courts, pickleball courts, dek hockey and inline hockey rinks, and an indoor and outdoor track. RocStreet is investing that $10 million for the development of this project – so that means if they end up leasing land from the township – it wouldn’t cost taxpayers. Atwood said while the talks are still in the very early stages, he’s excited to see the possibility of development on the western part of Route 30. If all goes according to plan, Larkin says they could break ground as early as this summer.

Beaver County Sees Surge In Republican Voters

January 11, 2024 4:57 am

BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – With just over 100,000 voters, Beaver County historically was a solid rock built by the Democratic Party to control Pennsylvania politically. “We will continue to fight to keep our democratic congressman, democratic senators, our democratic governor, our democratic president,” said Erin Gabriel who’s the Beaver County Democratic Committee Chair. That rock has started to crumble as this blue county is turning red. “We continue to trend towards being a Republican majority as far as voter registration goes. Last November we were about 2300 voters away and we knew we had the numbers and with the demographics here in Beaver County we knew we just needed to get them to switch,” said Roman Kozak who’s the Beaver County Republican Committee Chair. For the last decade, many of the county seats were won by Republicans, but for the first time there are now nearly 200 more registered Republicans than Democrats something the Republican Party hopes to push even higher come the 2024 election.

Woman’s Body Found Near Geneva College

January 11, 2024 2:24 am

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. — (WPXI) – Beaver Falls police are investigating after a woman’s body was found Thursday morning on a walking trail off College Avenue, right behind the track at Geneva College. Officers were first called to the scene just before 9:30 a.m. and spent nearly nine hours investigating along the quarter-mile trail. A school spokesperson confirmed to Channel 11 the woman was not a Geneva student or employee. Beaver Falls police have not released the name of the woman who died, but officers confirmed she is the same person they took a missing person’s report for on Tuesday. Investigators say she left her home Sunday and never returned. Sources tell Channel 11 she was in her 40s. Beaver Falls Police say they have not determined her cause of death, nor manner of death.

 

Chris Christie Dropping Out Of Presidential Race

January 10, 2024 5:38 pm

WINDHAM, N.H. (AP) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is planning to announce he’s dropping his Republican presidential bid at his New Hampshire town hall on Wednesday night. That’s according to a person with direct knowledge of the former New Jersey governor’s plans who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to disclose private discussions. Christie has been under intense pressure to exit the race as critics of Donald Trump work to unify behind a viable Republican alternative to the former president. It wasn’t clear whether Christie would be immediately endorsing one of his rivals, but he was overheard on a live mic ahead of the event saying that Nikki Haley is “going to get smoked.”  (Photo:  AP)

Alaska Airlines Cancels Flights On Boeing 737 Max 9 Jets

January 10, 2024 4:57 pm

(AP) – Alaska Airlines is canceling all flights on Boeing 737 Max 9 planes until Saturday while it waits for new instructions on how to inspect and fix the planes. The airline said Wednesday that could mean canceling up to 150 flights a day. Federal officials grounded Boeing Max 9s after a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines jet in midflight on Friday night. Alaska and United Airlines are the only U.S. carriers affected by the grounding.

At Least One Dead In Avalanche At California Ski Resort

January 10, 2024 3:56 pm

RENO, Nev. (AP) — An avalanche has roared through a section of expert trails at a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe, killing one person and injuring another. The avalanche prompted Palisades Tahoe to close 30 minutes after it opened Wednesday. Search crews combed the area to see if anyone was injured or trapped. Sgt. David Smith, a spokesperson for the Placer County sheriff, said hours later that a male victim died and another person sustained non-life-threatening injuries. He said nobody else was missing. The avalanche happened as a powerful storm was expected to bring as much as 2 feet of snow to the highest elevations by early Thursday.  (Photo:  AP)

Two Hurt In Beaver County House Explosion

January 10, 2024 12:29 pm

(WPXI) – Two people were hurt in a reported explosion in Monaca, investigators say. Beaver County dispatchers said crews were called to a house on McClellan Street at 7:28 a.m. Wednesday morning. Emergency crews said work on a water line at a house caused an explosion. The Allegheny County Bomb Squad is also at the scene. There has been no word on the nature of severity of the injuries to the two individuals.