June 1, 2024 2:19 am
Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry has reached an agreement with UPMC, advancing the acquisition of Washington Hospital. Henry said the agreement will preserve affordable access to health care in Washington and Greene counties. UPMC and Washington Health Care Services reached an agreement to integrate Washington Health Care Services into UPMC’s network. The Office of Attorney General reviewed the proposed transaction to ensure compliance with Pennsylvania laws and regulations, and acted on behalf of the public to preserve affordable access to quality healthcare. “This transaction will keep Washington Hospital open and available to thousands of Pennsylvanians,” Attorney General Henry said. “It is essential that the transaction promotes the interests of patients, hospital employees, and the community. My office did a comprehensive review and reached this agreement with UPMC and Washington Health Care Services to ensure those protections are in place.” As outlined in the agreement, UPMC Washington, the renamed hospital facility, must negotiate with any willing health insurance plans. UPMC will continue to honor all existing employment contracts, subject to legal requirements, and may not impose any non-compete agreements more restrictive than those that currently exist within Washington Health Care Services, Henry said.
May 31, 2024 5:21 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has announced he has switched his registration to independent. The move on Friday raises questions about his political plans since it could help his chances should he seek elected office again in a state that has turned heavily Republican. Manchin, 76, has often been at odds with the Democratic Party. But he played a central role in helping President Joe Biden get a landmark climate change and health care bill over the finish line in 2022. He says neither party is willing to compromise to find common ground and “to stay true to myself” and “put country before party,” he decided to register an an independent with no party affiliation.
May 31, 2024 2:54 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has attacked the judge and the star witness in his hush money criminal trial and criticized New York’s criminal justice system while trying to repackage his conviction as fuel, not an impediment, to his latest White House bid. Trump spoke to reporters at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Friday, his return to campaigning a day after he was convicted. President Joe Biden responded by blasting Trump’s response, saying the Republican former president “was given every opportunity to defend himself.” The Democratic president says it’s reckless, dangerous and irresponsible ”for anyone to say this is rigged just because they don’t like the verdict'”
May 31, 2024 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a sluggish 1.3% annual pace from January through March, the weakest quarterly rate since the spring of 2022, the government said in a downgrade from its previous estimate. Consumer spending rose but at a slower pace than previously thought, a sign that high interest rates and lingering inflation are pressuring household budgets. The Commerce Department had previously estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services — expanded at a 1.6% rate last quarter. The first quarter’s GDP growth marked a sharp slowdown from the vigorous 3.4% rate in the final three months of 2023.
May 31, 2024 5:03 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Joint British-U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed at least 16 people and wounded 35 others. That’s according to comments from the rebels Friday. That is the highest publicly acknowledged death toll strikes carried out over the rebels’ attacks on shipping. The U.S. and Britain acknowledged carrying out the strikes on Hodeida, Sanaa and elsewhere. The Houthis focused on a strike that hit a building housing Hodeida Radio and civilian homes in the port city on the Red Sea. It aired images of wounded people being treated in a hospital. The Houthis have stepped up attacks on shipping, demanding that Israel end the war against Hamas.
May 31, 2024 5:02 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts marks the end of his historic hush money trial but the fight over the case is far from over. Now comes the sentencing and the prospect of a prison sentence. A lengthy appellate process. And all the while, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee still has to deal with three more criminal cases and a campaign that could see him return to the White House. The Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records after more than nine hours of deliberations over two days. Trump angrily denounced the trial as a “disgrace,” telling reporters he’s an “innocent man.”
May 31, 2024 4:57 am
Two people were trapped on the second floor of a burning home in Westmoreland County on Thursday morning and had to be rescued. The fire broke out just after 4 a.m. in the 400 block of Silvis Farm Road in Youngwood. The owner of the house told Channel 11 there are two apartments in the two-story building, with five people living there. A woman who lives on the first floor said she heard a popping noise in the garage, then saw flames. The fire quickly spread to the house. Youngwood Fire Chief Lloyd Crago said there were about eight motorcycles in the garage, as well as tires, propane and gas tanks. The two people who lived upstairs couldn’t get out, so the downstairs tenants took swift action, putting a ladder up so they could climb down. A woman was taken to an area hospital with burns on her arms. The fire chief told Channel 11 the house is a total loss.
May 31, 2024 4:52 am
DERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A confirmed EF-0 tornado touched down in Westmoreland County Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh says. NWS said it touched down in the Mcchesneytown-Loyalhanna area, East of Labtrone, around 6:16 p.m. An aerial survey by NWS showed damage along Route 982, including tree limbs snapped and shingles removed from a home.
May 30, 2024 5:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hopes for interest rate cuts this year by the Federal Reserve are steadily fading, with a stream of recent remarks by Fed officials underscoring their intention to keep borrowing costs high as long as needed to curb persistently elevated inflation. A key reason for the delay in rate cuts is that the inflation pressures that are bedeviling the economy are being driven largely by lingering forces from the pandemic — for items ranging from apartment rents to auto insurance to hospital prices. Though Fed officials say they expect inflation in those areas to eventually cool, they’ve signaled that they’re prepared to wait as long as it takes.
May 30, 2024 5:13 am
ConocoPhillips is buying Marathon Oil in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $17.1 billion as energy prices soar and big oil companies reap massive profits. The deal announced Wednesday is valued at $22.5 billion when including $5.4 billion in debt. Marathon Oil shareholders will receive 0.2550 shares of ConocoPhillips common stock for each share of Marathon Oil common stock that they own. ConocoPhillips said Wednesday that the transaction will add highly desired acreage to its existing U.S. onshore portfolio.
