October 13, 2023 4:56 am
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed in a nationally televised address to destroy Hamas as the army prepares for an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Palestinians began a mass exodus from northern Gaza Friday after Israel’s military told some 1 million people to evacuate toward the southern part of the besieged territory. That’s an unprecedented order applying to almost half the population ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group. The U.N. warned that so many people fleeing en masse would be calamitous. Hamas dismissed the evacuation order as a ploy and called on people to stay in their homes.
October 13, 2023 4:50 am
Food Helpers, the organization that operates the Washington County Food Bank held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate their new satellite location in the HQ at CNX in Southpointe. The more than 6000 square foot space is home to administration offices and more importantly, is the packing and distribution point for Food Helpers’ Little Moochi snack program. Little Moochi is an app that was developed by Carnegie Mellon University graduate students and given to Food Helpers to help in their mission to educate youngsters in how to eat nutritious foods. According to George Omiros, President and CEO of Food Helpers, they noticed that many students are hungry when they get home. They developed the snack program that grew from 2500 healthy snack packs per month to more than 7000. Volunteers will come to the satellite to pack and ship those packs to 13 school districts in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties. Omiros indicated that during a meeting with CNX officials he related how Food Helpers was going to embark on a capital campaign to add on to their Centerville location. CNX came up with a proposal to offer Food Helpers the space at what Board of Directors Vice Chairman Kenneth Kulak called a much better deal than what it would cost to add on to their current location.
October 13, 2023 4:48 am
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in front of the Avella High School to celebrate the arrival of public water to the area. Officials from Pennsylvania American Water announced a $21 million waterline extension project that will run more than ten miles to deliver public water to Cross Creek Township and the Avella Schools campus. The Avella Schools campus was one of the last, if not the last school district in Pennsylvania to be without a public water source. Avella Superintendent Cyril Walther is pleased with the arrival of public water not only for health reasons but for safety as well. The buildings are serviced by a 20,000 holding tank. According to Edward Powers, EMS Director of the Avella Volunteer Fire Department, if there was a fire, that water would be exhausted in about fifteen minutes. Water in a fire emergency would need to be delivered by pumper trucks. Gary Lobaugh is the Senior Manager for Government and External Affairs at PAWC. He states that the project is slated to begin in early November and its anticipated completion is in the spring of 2025.
October 13, 2023 2:42 am
NORTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A woman facing charges related to drug possession is wanted by North Strabane Township police. According to the North Strabane Township Police Department, Rhonda Lou Challinor, 45, is charged with possession of a controlled substance, use/possession of drug paraphernalia and driving while operating privilege is suspended or revoked. Challinor is described as having blonde hair and green eyes. She’s 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs 100 pounds. Challinor’s last known location was in Washington, Pennsylvania, police said. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call North Strabane police’s Criminal Investigations Unit at (724) 746-8474 or email tips@nstpd.com. Anyone who sees Challinor is asked not to approach her and instead call 911.
October 12, 2023 9:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The acting Social Security commissioner says a 3.2% increase in benefits next year “will help millions of people keep up with expenses.” The increase announced Thursday is far less than this year’s historic boost and reflects moderating consumer prices. The Social Security Administration says the average recipient will get more than $50 more per month. The AARP estimates $59 per month. About 71 million people including retirees, disabled people and children receive Social Security benefits. This year’s cost-of-living adjustment was 8.7%, triggered by record-high inflation pushing up costs of consumer goods. The cost-of-living adjustments have a big impact for people like 83-year-old Louisiana resident Alfred Mason, who says “any increase is welcomed.”
October 12, 2023 5:56 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — While revealing new details about one of the most famed CIA operations of all times — the spiriting out of six American diplomats who escaped the 1979 U.S. Embassy seizure in Iran — the intelligence agency for the first time has acknowledged something else as well. The CIA now officially describes the 1953 coup it backed in Iran that overthrew its prime minister and cemented the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as undemocratic. While other American officials have made similar remarks in the past, the acknowledgment by the CIA in a podcast about the agency’s history comes as much of its official history of the coup still remains classified 70 years after the putsch.
October 12, 2023 5:12 am
As the auto workers strike approaches the one-month mark, more Americans sympathize with the striking workers than with the three big car companies that employ them. That’s one of the findings in a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll finds that more than half of Americans sympathize with the workers or support the workers and the car companies equally. Only 9% favor the automakers over the workers. Workers went on strike Sept. 15 against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, which owns the Jeep, Dodge and Ram brands.
October 12, 2023 5:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican colleagues call Steve Scalise a fighter, but the nominee for House speaker may be in for a brawl. The affable Louisiana congressman was nominated by his colleagues to replace ousted Kevin McCarthy. First elected in 2008, Scalise has climbed the leadership ladder. Some call him an “American hero” after surviving a 2017 shooting when a gunman opened fire at a congressional baseball game practice. He recently underwent treatment for blood cancer. Scalise has been working to shore up support from Republican holdouts ahead of a House vote.
October 12, 2023 5:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says the weekend attack by Hamas militants on Israel was the deadliest against Jews since the Holocaust and called it a “campaign of pure cruelty.” Biden made the remarks while speaking Wednesday with Jewish leaders at the White House. The State Department says the number of U.S. citizens killed during the Hamas-Israel war has risen to 22, and at least 17 more Americans remain unaccounted for in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides. In a sign of U.S. support for Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was traveling there for meetings.
October 12, 2023 5:09 am
JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinians in Gaza spent the night in pitch darkness, surrounded by the ruins of pulverized neighborhoods. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush and destroy” Hamas, with the support of a new war cabinet that includes a longtime opposition critic. The death toll on both sides climbed to at least 2,400 early Thursday. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces are preparing for a ground assault but that the political leadership has not yet ordered one. A ground offensive in Gaza, the first since the 2014 war, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting.
