February 4, 2025 4:54 am
PITTSBURGH — A messy winter storm will bring a few light snow showers during the day Wednesday and the threat of freezing rain or sleet by early Thursday morning. Temperatures during the day Wednesday will climb above freezing, so any snow that falls will melt — leaving roads mainly wet. Colder temperatures after dark will set the stage for a wintry mix of light snow, freezing rain and possibly sleet around midnight. A light glaze of ice from I-70 north could develop by 5 a.m., leaving roads and sidewalks slick. It is also possible that some areas see a switch from freezing rain to rain over a short distance, so plan for quickly changing road conditions and hazardous travel.
February 4, 2025 2:41 am
The trial of a Washington man accused of shooting a Clarksville, Tennessee teenager in July of 2022 began on Tuesday. Jamil Carr, 25 faces a homicide charge and an illegal weapons possession charge in the death of 18 year old Antonio Martinez. It is alleged that during a fist fight, Carr shot Martinez killing him. The morning was highlighted by testimony from Glendale Smith. Smith was called in to testify and he vehemently refused to enter the court room prompting the prosecution to ask the judge to compel Smith to enter using force if necessary. Smith’s testimony was laced with expletives, indicating that he knew nothing of the events. Prosecutors pressed him on statements to police and testimony in a preliminary hearing and Smith said that he was high during those events. The prosecution read into the record Smith’s testimony from the preliminary hearing where he detailed the events of the fight and shooting and positively identified Jamil Carr as the shooter. The afternoon was dedicated to police and detective testimony about securing the crime scene and video evidence used to determine Carr as the shooter. Testimony resumed Wednesday morning.
February 5, 2025 4:59 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump’s proposal that the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents has been swiftly rejected and denounced by American allies and adversaries alike. Saudi Arabia weighed in quickly, noting the kingdom’s long call for an independent Palestinian state was a “firm, steadfast and unwavering position.” Similarly, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters that his country has long supported a two-state solution in the Middle East and that nothing has changed. the militant Hamas group, which sparked the war with its attack on Israel, called the proposal a “recipe for creating chaos” in the region.
February 5, 2025 4:38 am
(AP) – President Donald Trump has signed an executive order designed to prevent people who were biologically assigned male at birth from participating in women’s or girls’ sporting events. Wednesday’s order, which Trump signed the document during an afternoon ceremony, marking another aggressive shift by the president’s second administration in the way the federal government deals with transgender people and their rights. The president put out a sweeping order on his first day in office last month that called for the federal government to define sex as only male or female and for that to be reflected on official documents such as passports and in policies such as federal prison assignments.
February 5, 2025 4:49 pm
HONG KONG (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service is reversing course a day after placing a ban on all inbound packages from China and Hong Kong. The post office had announced Tuesday that it would no longer accept parcels from the China and Hong Kong after the U.S. imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods and ended a customs exception that allowed small value parcels to enter the U.S. without paying tax. The Postal Service reversed course Wednesday but gave no reason. The post office pointed to the short prepared statement on the reversal when asked for more details about the reversal Wednesday by The Associated Press.
February 4, 2025 4:57 am
HONG KONG (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service said it was temporarily suspending inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong, effective Tuesday. The move comes a day after an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump came into effect. Canada and Mexico, which face 25% tariffs, managed to negotiate a month-long reprieve with the U.S. The USPS move will likely impact Chinese e-commerce companies like Shein and Temu, which have in recent years gained e-commerce market share in the U.S for selling affordable clothing and other goods mostly from China. Costs are kept low as these firms often ship products to consumers directly from China, using a “de minimis” exemption that allowed shipments to go tax-free if the value is under $800.
February 5, 2025 5:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed Pam Bondi as U.S. attorney general. Her confirmation puts a longtime ally of Donald Trump at the helm of a Justice Department that has already been rattled by the firings of career employees seen as disloyal to the Republican president. Bondi is a former Florida attorney general and corporate lobbyist. She is expected oversee a radical reshaping of the department that has been the target of Trump’s ire over the criminal cases it brought against him. Bondi has sought to reassure Democrats that politics would play no part in her decision-making, but she has refused to rule out investigations into Trump’s adversaries.
February 4, 2025 2:38 am
Washington Hospital workers voted Monday by over 97% to authorize a strike, if necessary, to make UPMC invest in quality care and good jobs for their local community. When UPMC executives took over Washington in June of last year, they vowed to “invest a minimum of $300 million” and now workers want them to keep their word. The union contract for the 300 hospital workers expired January 31st and the union says UPMC’s latest proposals include raises that do not even keep up with inflation, along with a wide range of deep cuts. The Washington workers include many job titles that provide hands-on care and keep the hospital running, such as certified surgical technicians, care partners, physical therapy assistants, carpenters, licensed maintenance workers, dietary aides, medical records clerks, housekeepers, unit secretaries, master plumbers, cooks, engineers, patient transporters and others. Union officials say they are far apart on wages and health care benefits, but they do have two more bargaining sessions this week and they are still hopeful they can avoid a walkout. Should a strike occur, the union says it will give ten days notice before walking off their jobs.
February 5, 2025 2:41 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will seek more money for public schools and public transit in his new budget proposal to lawmakers. The Democrat’s proposal unveiled Tuesday also reprises his support for legalizing marijuana and introducing taxes on skill games. Shapiro’s spending proposal requests $51.5 billion for the 2025-2026 fiscal year beginning July 1, or 9% more. About $2 billion more would go to toward human services, including medical care for the poor, and another $1 billion more would go toward K-12 schools and higher ed. The proposal holds the line on personal income and sales tax rates, but uses about $4.5 billion in reserve cash to balance the budget. Passage will require legislative approval. Local lawmakers are responding to the Governor plan. Republican State Senator Camera Bartolotta called it ‘ludicrous’ and ‘insane’ saying “he was claiming numbers that no one knows where he came up with them”. Republican State Representative Tim O’Neal called it ‘more of the same’. O’Neal says ‘instead of tightening the reins for the coming fiscal year, the governor wants to increase spending by 7.5%. This makes no sense and is not sustainable”. Bud Cook, the Republican State Representative in the 50th Legislative District questioned the 7.5% increase but also called out the governor’s “trend of pushing harmful energy taxes that kill jobs here in Western Pennsylvania and could directly tax coal and natural gas power plants, which would force customers into higher energy bills”.
February 5, 2025 5:03 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The Waffle House restaurant chain is putting a 50 cent per egg surcharge in place temporarily because of the biggest bird flu outbreak in a decade. The restaurant, typically a reliable spot for a cheap breakfast, said that the resulting egg shortage has led to a dramatic increase in its costs. Bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S. egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023. The chain’s two-egg breakfast, which comes with toast and a side, was listed at $7.75 on Tuesday.
