June 25, 2024 4:10 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has modified Donald Trump’s gag order, freeing the former president to comment about witnesses and jurors in his New York hush money criminal trial but keeping court and prosecution staff off limits. Judge Juan M. Merchan issued his decision on Tuesday. Trump’s lawyers had wanted the gag order fully lifted. They argued there was nothing to justify continued restrictions on Trump’s First Amendment rights after the trial ended May 30 in his conviction for falsifying records to cover up a potential sex scandal. Prosecutors had urged Merchan to keep most of the gag order in place at least until Trump is sentenced on July 11, but said they’d be OK with modifying it.
June 25, 2024 4:07 am
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — U.S. citizens jailed in Russia include a Wall Street Journal reporter, a vacationing corporate security executive and a dual national visiting her family in Tatarstan. Arrests of Americans in Russia have become common recently, as relations between Moscow and Washington sink to Cold War lows. The U.S. accuses the government of President Vladimir Putin of targeting Americans for political reasons and using them as bargaining chips, but Russian officials insist they all have broken the law. Some have been exchanged for Russians held in the U.S., but for others, the prospects of being released in a swap are less clear.
June 25, 2024 3:56 am
PennDot has announced plans to close Mingo Church Road (Route 1061) between Keeney Road and Route 88 (Finleyville Rd) beginning July 1. They plan to replace the bridge that carries Mingo Church Road over Froman Run. Aside from the bridge replacement, the approaches to the bridge will be widened and repaved. There is a 6.3 mile detour that will be used as follows.
*Route 1061 Mingo Church Rd
*Route 1059 Sugar Run Rd
*Route 1006 Venetia Rd, Rankintown Rd, Washington Ave
*Route 88 Washington Ave, Brownsville Rd, Finleyville Rd
The $600,000 infrastructure improvement is expected to last through early October.
June 25, 2024 3:54 am
According to AAA, gasoline prices are continuing a downward trend. Prices are two cents lower this week in Western Pennsylvania. AAA’s East Central Gas Price Report states that gas is priced at $3.778 per gallon. In Washington County, drivers are paying a little more at $3791 per gallon. The national average is $3.44 and has been steady over the last week. Increasing supplies and demand that although is increasing, is still behind 2023 levels are recognized as the stabilizing effects. Prices are 16 cents less than last month and 13 cents less than a year ago.
June 24, 2024 5:39 pm
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new federal rule aims to ensure first responders can find out what hazardous chemicals are on a train after a derailment, so they can respond appropriately. The rule was finalized Monday. Firefighters responding to last year’s fiery Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, risked their lives trying to extinguish a blaze without knowing the right way to respond. The local East Palestine fire chief said it took 45 minutes for him to learn exactly what was on that train. A federal official says those running towards a fire need to know the unique risks they face, so they can have the right gear and evacuate everyone in danger. (Photo: AP)
June 24, 2024 5:37 pm
(AP) – A well-known Hawaii lifeguard who was killed in a shark attack on Oahu’s North Shore was a former professional surfer with acting credits to his name. Tamayo Perry died in the attack near Goat Island on Sunday. Perry was most famous as a surfer around in the early 2000s. His specialty was surfing huge Pipeline waves, and he won the Pipeline Master trials in 1999. His other passion was acting. He had several small roles credited to him, including playing a buccaneer in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” in 2011. That same year, he appeared in an episode of the television series “Hawaii Five-0.”
June 24, 2024 5:22 pm
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Civil liberties groups have filed a lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s new law mandating that the Ten Commandments must be displayed in every public school classroom. Plaintiffs in the suit filed Monday include parents of Louisiana public school children, represented by attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Opponents argue that the law is a violation of separation of church and state and that the display will isolate students, especially those who are not Christian. Proponents say the measure is not solely religious and has historical significance. In the language of the law, the Ten Commandments are “foundational documents of our state and national government.” (Photo: AP)
June 24, 2024 7:50 am
Greene County, PA-(WPXI)-A man was killed and three people hurt in a Greene County crash involving two motorcycles and a deer on Saturday. A report from Pennsylvania State Police in Waynesburg says the crash happened on N 88 Road in Jefferson Township around 4:10 p.m. as two motorcycles were traveling south. Police say a deer jumped into the road, and the first motorcycle driver, identified as Alan Tretinik, 60, of Clarksville, could not slow down. He hit the deer, lost control of the bike and fell into the center of the southbound lane. Tretinik was taken to an area hospital but died of his injuries. A passenger riding Tretinik’s motorcycle was taken to a hospital for a suspected minor injury. The driver and passenger of the second motorcycle also had suspected minor injuries but were not taken to area hospitals.
June 24, 2024 6:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will soon confront a perfect storm mostly of its own making: a trio of decisions stemming directly from the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Within days of each other, if not hours, the justices are expected to rule on whether Donald Trump has immunity from criminal charges over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and whether Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol can be prosecuted for obstructing an official proceeding. The court also will decide whether former Trump adviser Steve Bannon can stay out of prison while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the Capitol attack.
June 24, 2024 6:48 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A fire likely sparked by exploding lithium batteries has swept through a manufacturing factory near South Korea’s capital, killing 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers and injuring eight. Official say the fire began Monday after batteries exploded while workers were examining and packaging them at the second floor of the factory in Hwaseong city, just south of Seoul. An investigation is ongoing. The dead include 18 Chinese, two South Koreans and one Laotian. China has a sizable ethnic Korean minority and in recent years, some have migrated to South Korea to seek work.
