October 15, 2025 12:43 am
Washington County Commissioners gathered municipal leaders from the eastern corridor of the county to offer them vital funding information at their Local Municipal Update tour. Leaders saw a presentation about ongoing economic development projects. They were updated on projects that were done through the county’s blight mitigation program. Local Share Account grant funding was discussed as well as programs funded by the National Opioid Settlement Fund. Municipal Leaders like Donora Borough Administrator Michael Thornton had the blight mitigation fund help demolish the structurally unsafe First United Methodist Church under emergency conditions. Chartiers Township Manager Jodi Noble related success with the blight mitigation fund for demolition of structures along Pike Street. She also spoke of a multi-municipal grant awarded through the LSA program to install license plate readers on traffic lights in Chartiers and South Strabane Townships and Houston Borough. Peters Township’s Paul Lauer thanked commissioners for funding the new Police Social Services Officer. She rides along with police officers and addresses the root cause of many repeat problems that regular police do not have the training to address. Lauer says the program has been extremely successful over a very short period of time. The next update meeting will be held October 22 at the PennWest University California Campus.
October 14, 2025 4:46 pm
(AP) – D’Angelo, the Grammy-winning R&B singer recognized by his raspy yet smooth voice and for garnering mainstream attention with the shirtless “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” music video, has died. He was 51. The singer, whose real name was Michael Eugene Archer, died Tuesday, according to a statement from the family. The singer’s family confirmed in a statement Tuesday that he died after battle with cancer. His family called him a “shining star of our family and has dimmed his light for us in this life.”
October 14, 2025 10:28 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A man who scaled a security fence in the middle of the night and set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges. Cody Balmer entered the plea Tuesday for the April attack that caused millions of dollars in damage to the state-owned building in Harrisburg. Gov. Josh Shapiro and members of his family were inside and had to be evacuated. No one was injured, but authorities say the 38-year-old Balmer told them he planned to beat the governor with a small sledgehammer if he encountered him. Balmer’s family has said he has a history of mental health problems.
October 14, 2025 5:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was fatally shot last month while speaking at Utah Valley University. Tuesday’s ceremony coincided with what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday. Trump praised Kirk as “a fearless warrior for liberty” and a “beloved leader who galvanized the next generation like nobody I’ve ever seen before.” Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012 and played a significant role in conservative politics. In a sign of Kirk’s close ties to the administration, he is the first recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Trump’s second term.
October 14, 2025 4:58 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County officials will vote Tuesday on whether to declare a state of emergency that would give them power to provide assistance for residents they say have suffered financially from ongoing federal immigration raids. The move would allow the LA County Board of Supervisors to provide rent relief for tenants who’ve fallen behind as a result of the crackdown on immigrants. Opponents argue that the raids do not meet the criteria of an emergency and that it could be unfair to landlords.
October 14, 2025 4:57 am
(AP) – Fox News, the former employer of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has joined a near-unanimous outpouring of news organizations rejecting new rules for journalists based in the Pentagon. Fox signed on to a statement with ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN saying they would not agree to Hegseth’s new rules. It said “the policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections.” So far, only the conservative One America News Network has said its reporters would follow the new regulations. Hegseth has said that outlets who don’t agree to the new rules by the end of Tuesday, which restrict reporting on news not specifically approved by his team, will be evicted from the Pentagon on Wednesday.
October 14, 2025 4:55 am
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war is being tested. An Israeli military agency said Tuesday it will halve the number of trucks allowed to bring humanitarian aid into devastated Gaza over concerns about the slow return of the remains of dead hostages. The issue emerged a day after jubilation over the return of the last 20 living hostages and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange. A U.N. spokesperson says Israel has informed it of plans to halve aid into Gaza. Hamas appeared to heed the pressure. Israel’s military later said several coffins would be transferred to the Red Cross.
October 14, 2025 4:54 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is making this government shutdown unlike any the country has ever seen. The White House budget office headed by Russ Vought is deciding who gets paid or fired in an unprecedented restructuring across the federal workforce. As the shutdown enters its third week, the Office and Management and Budget said Tuesday it’s preparing to “batten down the hatches” with more reductions in force to come. The president calls budget chief Vought the “grim reaper” who’s seized on the opportunity to fund Trump’s priorities, paying the military while slashing employees in health, education, the sciences and other areas. The actions have been criticized as illegal and are facing court challenges.
October 14, 2025 4:52 am
MIAMI (AP) — Forecasters say Tropical Storm Lorenzo has gotten slightly stronger in the central tropical Atlantic Ocean but still is not threatening land. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Monday that the storm was located about 2,005 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands and had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. It was moving northwest at 13 mph. No coastal watches or warnings are in effect. Forecasters say the storm was expected to turn northward on Tuesday, with some gradual intensification possible by midweek. The forecast track through Saturday shows Lorenzo staying out in the ocean and away from land.
October 14, 2025 4:48 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A man who scaled a security fence in the middle of the night and set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges. Cody Balmer entered the plea Tuesday for the attack in April that caused millions of dollars of damage to the state-owned building in Harrisburg. Gov. Josh Shapiro and members of his family were inside and had to be evacuated. No one was injured, but authorities say the 38-year-old Balmer told them he planned to beat the governor with a small sledgehammer if he encountered him. Balmer’s family has said he has a history of mental health problems. Balmer was sentenced under a plea deal to 25 to 50 years in state prison.
