September 13, 2025 4:30 am
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Senate has passed a plan backed by President Donald Trump that could help Republicans win an additional U.S. House seat. The Senate’s vote Friday sends the measure to Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe for his expected signature. But opponents immediately announced a referendum petition that could force a statewide vote on the new map. Missouri is the third state to take up congressional redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections. Republicans in Texas passed a new House map aimed at winning five more seats. Democrats in California countered with their own redistricting plan aimed at picking up five seats, but it still needs voter approval.
September 13, 2025 4:27 am
Emergency responders were called to a motorcycle accident early Saturday morning. According to Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers, a motorcycle left the road and crashed into a tree. The accident occurred in the 1300 Block of North Main Street in South Strabane Township. When crews arrived, they found a man bleeding from the head. He was transported to Washington Hospital.
September 13, 2025 4:14 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI)-The Forbes 400 has been released, and three Pittsburgh-area business leaders made the cut for the 2025 ranking of the richest people in the United States. They are Edward Stack and family, Thomas Tull and Maggie Hardy, all repeats on the annual list. Stack, executive chairman of Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc., the Findlay Township-based retail giant, placed highest among the local contingent at No. 280, with net worth estimated at $5.4 billion. Tull, entrepreneur and philanthropist known as a producer of blockbuster films and tech and sports investments, was No. 291, with net worth of $5.3 billion. Hardy, owner and CEO of 84 Lumber Co. and celebrated resort Nemacolin, was No. 347, with net worth of $4.3 billion.
September 13, 2025 4:20 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — As Big Tech’s data centers continue to grow threatening to overload U.S. electricity grids, policymakers are considering bumping the energy-hungry data centers off grids during power emergencies. Texas moved first to try to protect residents in the data-center hotspot from another deadly blackout like the winter storm in 2021 when dozens died. Lawmakers there passed a bill in June that orders up standards for power emergencies when utilities must disconnect big electric users. Now the concept is emerging in the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid and elsewhere as massive data centers are coming online faster than power plants can be built.
September 13, 2025 4:12 am
PITTSBURGH —(WPXI)- PennDOT has granted over $100 million in funding to prevent service cuts and fare hikes to Pittsburgh Regional Transit, for now. On Friday, PRT said PennDOT will provide them with up to $106.7 million in state capital funds to fill a budget deficit. The money is expected to be used to cover operating expenses. The deficit resulted in a proposal that would have cut PRT service by 35% and introduced a 9% fare hike, starting in early 2026. While the funds create a temporary reprieve, PRT said work still needs to be done to avoid it in the future. A series of public hearings was held to discuss the impact the service cuts would have on people’s lives. PRT said it will present a resolution to its Board later this month to formally amend its operating and capital budgets in line with PennDOT’s approval.
September 13, 2025 7:08 am
CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. —(WPXI)- A local middle school teacher is facing charges as police say she had inappropriate contact with a student. Connellsville Area School District middle school teacher Ashley Autumn Mongell, 30, is charged with unlawful contact with a minor, sexual abuse of children and corruption of minors. Fayette County District Attorney District Attorney Mike Aubele announced the charges on Friday. According to court documents, police began the investigation last Thursday after receiving a Cyber Tip about messages being sent between Mongell and a teen boy. Police said they found messages sent on Instagram that were sexually suggestive. The Attorney General issued a subpoena and police obtained information about the teen, who was 14. The boy told police both he and Mongell had sent nude photographs over Snapchat .When police interviewed Mongell on Friday, they say she admitted to using the account found in the conversations, communicating with the boy she knew to be underage and said that he was in her class last year, court documents say. Police said she also admitted that she sent the boy a fully nude photo. Investigators said that photo was found on the teen’s device. DA Aubele said Mongell could face up to 7 years in prison for the felony “Unlawful Contact with a Minor” charge.
September 12, 2025 5:00 am
OREM, Utah (AP) — Utah’s governor says the Charlie Kirk assassination suspect had indicated to a family friend that he was connected to the shooting. Gov. Spencer Cox says the suspect had grown more political and was opposed to Kirk’s beliefs. The suspect in custody in connection with the assassination of Charlie Kirk is a 22-year-old from Utah. That’s according to a law enforcement official who told The Associated Press. The officials says authorities have identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson. The official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke Friday on the condition of anonymity. Calls to telephone numbers listed for Robinson in public records ring unanswered.
September 12, 2025 5:02 am
The governor of Utah struggled to find the right words to describe the question so many have been asking: What is happening in America? The silence lasted nearly 10 seconds. He looked down. He opened and closed his mouth. “Our nation is broken,” Spencer Cox finally said, hours after the killing of Charlie Kirk. The governor described violent attacks on both Democrats and Republicans, including the killing of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump and the firebombing of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official residence. His words stood out not just for the stark language about America’s troubles, but for his sober, somber acknowledgement that the violence reaches across the political divide.
September 12, 2025 9:15 am
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’ll send the National Guard to Memphis to address crime concerns there with the support of the mayor and the governor. The Republican president said on Fox News Channel on Friday “the mayor is happy” and “the governor is happy” about the pending deployment. The mayor is a Democrat, and the governor is a Republican. Trump says Memphis is “deeply troubled” and he’s “going to fix that.” Trump cited Washington, where he’s sent National Guard and surged federal law enforcement. Trump has openly mused about sending troops to some of the nation’s most Democratic cities — including Chicago and Baltimore — claiming they are needed to crack down on crime.
September 12, 2025 4:49 am
NORTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A North Strabane Township man faces animal cruelty charges after police say he tried to kill two of his dogs with a hammer and throw them away in the trash. 73 year old Daniel McCullough admitted to striking the dogs in their heads with a ball-peen hammer, on the front porch of his Angel Estates home. He said he placed them in a box and discarded the box in a trash can because he believed they were dead. One of the dogs, however, managed to escape. It was found critically injured at a neighbor’s home and received emergency veterinary care and survived. Investigators say the other dog was taken away when the trash was picked up and believed to be dead. North Strabane Police say McCullough admitted to the attack saying he did it because he had four dogs and the community recently changed the rules allowing only two dogs. His other two dogs have been removed from the home.
