October 31, 2025 4:19 am
Attorneys representing Jordan Clarke of Peters Township filed a motion in Washington County court and are asking that his capital homicide case be dismissed. They claim that the prosecution has been “contaminated” by a bogus death certificate filed by the Washington County Coroner, allegedly, at the behest of the District Attorney. According to the Observer-Reporter, the 271 page extraordinary relief filing offers several options for the case ranging from dismissal to holding a new preliminary hearing to possibly subpoenaing District Attorney Jason Walsh to testify if the case goes to trial. Clarke is accused of shaking his 11 week old son in their Peters Township home in May of 2022, causing fatal injuries. The infant died in a Pittsburgh hospital. The filing makes claims of prosecutorial misconduct by Walsh with him misleading a judge to believe the child died in Washington County. No hearing date has been set for the motion. Clarke is also involved in a case brought by the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation asking for a “kings bench” ruling from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to restrict Walsh’s ability to seek the death penalty.
October 31, 2025 3:58 am
LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Democrats and their allied groups are pouring in more money and sending in the national party chairman in the final week of campaigning for a Pennsylvania Supreme Court election. The race could reshape the highest court in the largest presidential battleground as Democrats try to blunt a late-emerging Republican campaign to oust three Democratic justices. At issue in Tuesday’s election is whether the justices will each serve another term. The state’s politically divided government has left disputes over election laws and other major issues to the courts in recent years.
October 30, 2025 5:58 pm
PARIS (AP) — Authorities have tightened the dragnet around the Louvre thieves, arresting five more people in connection with the recent crown-jewels heist. The Paris prosecutor says three of the four alleged members of the “commando” team are now in custody. The late-night operations in Paris and nearby areas have increased the total number of arrests to seven. Despite the arrests, the stolen loot, valued at around $102 million, remains missing. The heist, which took place in broad daylight, has sparked a national reckoning over how France protects its treasures. Security gaps at the Louvre have been acknowledged.
October 30, 2025 5:57 pm
BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge in Boston seemed skeptical of the Trump administration’s plan to stop funding the SNAP food aid program amid the government shutdown. The hearing Thursday in front of U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani came two days before the day the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to stop replenishing accounts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Talwani says she expects to issue her ruling later Thursday. SNAP is used by 1 in 8 Americans to buy groceries and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. Democratic state officials challenged the Trump administration’s plan to freeze SNAP payments starting Nov. 1, saying the federal government has a legal obligation to keep providing the assistance.
October 30, 2025 4:39 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is calling on the Senate to scrap the filibuster. That’s so the Republican majority can bypass Democrats and reopen the shutdown federal government. Trump on social media called getting rid of the 60-vote threshold in the Senate the “nuclear option.” His call to do so came as certain senators and House Speaker Mike Johnson know it’s time for the government shutdown to come to an end. From coast to coast, fallout from the dysfunction of a shuttered federal government is hitting home. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska says, “People are stressing,” as food options in her state grow scarce. But even with Saturday’s deadline for a potential shut off in SNAP food benefits, there is no end yet to settling the political stand off with negotiations.
October 30, 2025 4:06 am
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois jury has convicted a sheriff’s deputy of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who called 911 to report a suspected prowler. The jury announced the verdict against Sean Grayson on Wednesday. Grayson arrived at Massey’s home in Springfield after she reported a prowler early on July 6, 2024. Massey was holding a pan of hot water and Grayson’s attorneys argued that he was afraid she would throw it at him. Grayson faces a sentence of four to 20 years in prison or probation when he is sentenced Jan. 29.
October 30, 2025 4:05 am
GYEONGJU, South Korea (AP) — The United States will share closely held technology to allow South Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine. President Donald Trump made the announcement on social media Thursday after meeting with the country’s president. President Lee Jae Myung stressed to Trump in their Wednesday meeting that the goal was to modernize the alliance with the U.S., noting plans to increase military spending to reduce the financial burden on America. The South Korean leader said there might have been a misunderstanding when they last spoke in August about nuclear-powered submarines, saying that his government was looking for nuclear fuel rather than weapons. Lee said that if South Korea was equipped with nuclear-powered submarines, that it could help U.S. activities in the region.
October 30, 2025 4:01 am
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (AP) — People across the northern Caribbean are digging out from the destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa as deaths from the storm climbed. Emergency relief flights began landing at Jamaica’s main international airport as crews worked to reach communities still isolated after they were directly hit by the Category 5 storm. Catastrophic flooding occurred in Haiti, where dozens were dead or missing. Eastern Cuba had blown-off roofs, downed power lines and crop damage. Hurricane conditions were forecast to continue in the Bahamas into the morning and were expected to affect Bermuda later Thursday as the storm passes.
October 30, 2025 3:36 am
South Strabane Township Supervisors are looking to make improvements to Berry Road at its intersection with Manifold Road. At their voting meeting, supervisors unanimously approved a measure to apply for a $500,000 LSA grant. The project is estimated to cost $1 million. Supervisors are considering how they would come up with the additional $500,000 matching funds, possibly with additional grants. Traffic studies have shown that between 2019-2024, there have been 50 accidents along Berry Road, one of them fatal. The improvement would be to make the intersection a “T” intersection.
October 30, 2025 2:51 am
Trick or Treat in the city of Washington has been moved up to five o’clock on Friday, October 31st to accommodate those who wish to go to the Wash High Football game. The Trick or Treat hours are now from five p.m. until 6:30 p.m. rather than 5:30 to 7 p.m.
