April 17, 2025 2:37 am
A Charleroi man accused of delivering a fatal dose of heroin laced with fentanyl pleaded no contest to a lesser charge. Aaron Mitchell, 42 faced drug delivery resulting in death, possession with intent to deliver and criminal use of a communications device felonies. His no contest plea to the criminal use of a communications device allowed him to walk free on Wednesday. Mitchell was accused of supplying Bradley Glesk of Charleroi the heroin laced with fentanyl that killed him in June of 2024. He was charged after police were able to determine that Blesk and Mitchell were communicating by phone about a heroin transaction. Prosecutors offered the plea deal to Mitchell when it was determined during the investigation that he was an intermediary contact regarding the transaction to purchase the drugs. Mitchell was sentenced to 6-12 months in jail. He was given credit for 183 days served and released. He will serve the rest of the sentence on probation.
April 17, 2025 2:38 am
A man who once lived in Canton Township was accused of felony child rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault and corruption of minors pleaded guilty to lesser charges of misdemeanor child endangerment and corruption of minors. Victor Ardeno, 81 was accused by a minor in September of 2023 that Ardeno sexually assaulted them in Ardeno’s home in 2020 when the victim was 11 years old. The victim said that their siblings were in the room and witnessed the assault that occurred. Ardeno was sentenced to 11.5 months to 23 months in jail. He was immediately paroled. He will be on probation for 5 years once the sentence is complete. A victim’s impact statement said that they have endured years of pain and still have trust issues because of the assault. The deal nearly fell apart when defense counsel disagreed with a condition that Ardeno’s contact with minors be supervised. His lawyer said that he was not told of the condition. The judge stated that they were concerned with the condition being eliminated and that they would need time to consider whether to agree to the sentence. If the condition was agreed to, Ardeno would be free immediately. After a brief discussion, Ardeno agreed to the condition. Ardeno was released on Wednesday.
April 17, 2025 4:55 am
Emotions ran high over the authorization of the district’s photography services. Jeffrey King, a parent within the district and a representative from Redford Photography — a Washington County-based studio that has served Canon-McMillan School District for the past 12 years — attended the meeting alongside a handful of other parents to advocate for keeping the business local. Redford’s current three-year contract with the district is set to expire at the end of the school year, and King said the company was blindsided by the proposed switch. Despite the concerns raised, the school board voted unanimously to approve a new agreement with M&M Photography, based in Allegheny County, which will take effect at the beginning of the 2025–2026 school year and run through June 30, 2028. The deal comes at no cost to the district. For King, the issue was less about losing the contract and more about the decision to outsource to another county. Some parents echoed King’s sentiment during the public comment portion of the meeting, expressing disappointment that a local business with more than a decade of service was passed over without a transparent selection process. Nevertheless, King remains hopeful that the door isn’t closed.
April 17, 2025 2:53 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — An independent expert will review security at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official residence after investigators accused a man of scaling a wall and setting fire to the mansion. State police say the review will be a risk and vulnerability assessment following the security breach. Authorities allege Cody Balmer scaled an iron security fence, eluded officers and set the governor’s residence ablaze early Sunday morning. Investigators are combing his background to try to determine any motive for the attack, including whether it had anything to do with Shapiro’s Democratic politics or Jewish faith.
April 17, 2025 5:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump joined his economic advisers for White House negotiations Wednesday over tariffs and trade with a Japanese official. Trump recently announced a round of global tariffs but quickly paused them for 90 days after the markets tanked and recession fears mounted. Japan’s 24% across-the-board tariff is on hold. A 10% baseline tariff and a 25% tariff on cars, auto parts, steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. remain in place. Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting Southeast Asia nations and promoting his country as a more reliable trade partner. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Wednesday that Trump’s tariff policies would hurt the U.S. economy.
April 17, 2025 5:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge says he’s found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court and could seek officials’ prosecution for violating his orders last month to turn around planes carrying deportees to an El Salvador prison. The ruling Wednesday by U.S District Judge James E. Boasberg marks a dramatic battle between the judicial and executive branches of government over a president’s powers to carry out key White House priorities. The judge warned he could hold hearings and potentially refer the matter for prosecution if the administration does not take action to remedy the violation. The Trump administration plans to appeal.
April 16, 2025 5:05 am
TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Mark Carney says who will go up against U.S. President Donald Trump is the key question in Canada’s election while his Conservative rival argued Carney doesn’t represent change after 10 years of Liberal Party rule. Opposition Conservative Pierre Poilievre says during the French-language leaders’ debate Canada needs change and Carney is just like his predecessor Justin Trudeau. Trump’s frequent attacks on Canada’s economy and sovereignty have infuriated Canadians and led to a surge in nationalism that has bolstered Liberal Party poll numbers ahead of the April 28 vote. Poilievre is imploring Canadians not to give the Liberals a fourth term.
April 17, 2025 5:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS’ Direct File program. That’s the electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free. Word about the decision comes from two people familiar with the move who weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the plans and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.. The program was developed during Joe Biden’s presidency. Users credited it with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. But Republican lawmakers and commercial tax preparation companies complained the program was a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist, although they’re hard to use.
April 17, 2025 5:07 am
Federal databases show Head Start centers across the U.S. have received nearly $1 billion less in federal funding compared with this time last year. This week, the lag in funding caused some preschool classrooms for 400 low-income children to close in central Washington state. Head Start is a child development program for more than half a million of the nation’s neediest kids. The preschools are deeply reliant on the federal money they receive. Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, accused President Donald Trump’s administration of having “slow-walked” money appropriated by Congress. The administration didn’t respond to a request for comment.
April 17, 2025 5:12 am
The White House has put forward a new media policy that sharply curtails access to Donald Trump by the news agencies that serve media outlets around the world. It was the latest attempt by the administration to control press coverage. The move would block the AP and other wire services that serve billions of readers. It comes after a judge ruled the White House had violated the organization’s free speech by banning it because it disagreed with the outlet’s decision not to rename the Gulf of Mexico. The White House also said it will ultimately give press secretary Karoline Leavitt the final say over who gets to question her boss.
