May 26, 2023 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Days from a deadline, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are narrowing in on a two-year budget deal that could unlock a vote for lifting the nation’s debt ceiling. They are racing for agreement this weekend. As soon as June 1, Treasury says it could run short of funds to pay the bills. A federal default on the nation’s debt would send the economy into chaos. The budget flow isn’t the only hang-up. One thorny issue is a Republican demand opposed by Democrats for stiffer work requirements on people who receive government aid. Any compromise needs support from both Democrats and Republicans to pass in Congress.
May 25, 2023 2:50 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was sentenced Thursday after a landmark verdict convicting him of spearheading a weekslong plot to keep former President Donald Trump in power. He’s the first of the Jan. 6 defendants convicted of seditious conspiracy to receive his punishment. Rhodes’ sentencing comes just weeks after former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy. In remarks before the judge handed down his sentence, Rhodes called himself a “political prisoner.” But in a first for an insurrection case, the judge agreed to apply enhancement penalties for “terrorism.”
May 25, 2023 4:18 am
The unofficial start of the summer travel season is here, with airlines hoping to avoid the chaos of last year and travelers scrounging for ways to save a few bucks on pricey airfares and hotel rooms. Some travelers say they will settle for fewer trips than they hoped to take, or they will drive instead of fly. Others are finding different money-saving sacrifices. AAA predicts that 37 million Americans will drive at least 50 miles from home this weekend, an increase of more than 2 million from Memorial Day last year but still below pre-pandemic numbers in 2019. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 10 million travelers between Friday and Monday, a 14% increase over the holiday in 2022 and slightly more than in 2019.
May 25, 2023 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are pushing debt ceiling talks to the brink. As they prepare to leave town Thursday for a long Memorial Day recess, it’s a display of risky political bravado. They’re just days out from a potentially devastating debt default if Congress fails to act to raise the borrowing limit. The fallout could hurl the global economy into chaos. A defiant House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the debt ceiling standoff was “not my fault” as Republicans try to reach a budget-slashing deal with President Joe Biden. But it’s clear the Republican speaker leading a Trump-aligned party whose hard-right flank lifted him to power is now staring down a potential crisis.
May 25, 2023 4:14 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Ron DeSantis’ entry into the 2024 White House race against former President Donald Trump sets up a clash of the Republican Party’s two leading figures. Trump has spent months working to hobble the Florida governor, whom he and his team have long viewed as his most serious challenger. DeSantis so far has tried to remain above the fray, ignoring Trump’s escalating attacks. The rollout of his campaign Wednesday made clear that, at least for the time being, DeSantis intends to leave the dirty work of attacking Trump to his allies, who see openings that they plan to exploit, particularly on policy.
May 25, 2023 4:04 am
A Washington man accused of downloading child pornography to his Drop Box account will stand trial. Darion Thompson, 23 is accused by Pennsylvania State Police of downloading several files to his devices that contain child pornography. Thompson had his preliminary hearing on Wednesday where he through an interpreter agreed to have all charges held for court without a hearing. He faces 20 charges of child pornography and one charge of criminal use of a communications device. Through a search warrant served by state police in April, Thompson was found to have as many as 20 files of child pornography on two cell phones. One of the files depicted a child younger than a year old. Thompson was free on bond from an earlier incident where he was charged with child pornography and criminal use of a communications device when the new charges were levied. Thompson is in the Washington County Jail without bond. He will be arraigned on June 29.
May 25, 2023 4:03 am
The Canon-McMillan School Board met Wednesday and formally adopted the preliminary general fund budget for the 2023-2024 academic year. The proposed budget is a $106,813,772 spending plan. It includes a .26 mill tax increase. According to Superintendent Michael Daniels, mandated contracts, salaries and transportation costs drove costs higher and necessitated the tax increase. The budget as presented includes a $74,085 surplus. Directors will vote on the final budget at their June voting meeting. In other business, the board elected Bernard Price to serve as its treasurer for the next year.
May 25, 2023 2:59 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Tina Turner has died at age 83. She teamed with husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows and survived her horrifying marriage to triumph in middle age with the chart-topping “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” She was also known for such songs as “Proud Mary,” “River Deep, Mountain High” and “We Don’t Need Another Hero.” Her trademarks were her growling contralto, her bold smile and strong cheekbones, her palette of wigs and her muscular, quick-stepping legs. Turner’s manager says she died Tuesday after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland,
May 25, 2023 2:49 am
(WPXI) – A Bethel Park police lieutenant has been taken into federal custody by the FBI. Federal court documents said that Lieutenant Blake Babin is facing a felony charge of transporting an illegal alien. Babin is in charge of patrol, traffic officers and the dispatch center. He has worked for Bethel Park since 1990.
May 25, 2023 2:24 am
(WPXI) – A jury is now seated in the trial for the man accused of shooting and killing 11 people in a Squirrel Hill synagogue. Robert Bowers is accused in the racially-motivated attack and faces 63 counts. The charges include 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religion resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. Sixty-nine people made up the pool from which 12 jurors and six alternates were picked. Alternates will be seated among the main jury. Officials will not know who is an alternate or a juror until deliberations begin. The jury is made up of seven men and 11 women. All of them are white except one Asian-American woman. The trial will begin Tuesday, May 30. Jurors will arrive at 8:30 a.m. and the trial will begin at 9 a.m.
