June 19, 2025 5:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its key rate unchanged Wednesday as it waits for additional information on how tariffs and other potential disruptions will affect the economy this year. The Fed’s policymakers signaled they still expect to cut rates twice this year, even as they also project that President Donald Trump’s import duties will push inflation higher. They also expect growth to slow and unemployment to edge up, according to their latest quarterly projections. Fed policymakers had cut their rate three times late last year but have since have been on hold.
June 19, 2025 5:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department says it’s restarting the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas but says all applicants will now be required to unlock their social media accounts for review. The department says consular officers will be on the lookout for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile to the United States, its government, culture, institutions or founding principles. In a notice made public Wednesday, the department said applicants who refuse to set their social media accounts to “public” and allow them to be reviewed may be rejected as the refusal could be a sign they are trying to evade the requirement or hide their online activity.
June 19, 2025 5:09 am
PUERTO ESCONDIDO, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Erick has made landfall in western Oaxaca state in Mexico. Earlier, forecasters upgraded Erick to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane before lowering it to a Category 3. Early Thursday, the hurricane’s center was located about 20 miles east of Punta Maldonado. Its maximum sustained winds were clocked at 125 mph (205 kph). It was moving northwest at 9 mph,
June 18, 2025 4:54 am
Today is Juneteenth. The federal holiday commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, marking when enslaved people in Texas received news of the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation was issued on Sept. 22, 1862, and enacted on Jan. 1, 1863, but because of the Civil War and the delays in messages getting to Texas, it didn’t get to Texas until June 19, 1865, just months before the 13th Amendment was ratified. Texas was the first state to declare the day a state holiday, but it was made a federal holiday by former President Joe Biden in 2021. Because it is a state and federal holiday there will be closures. They include; no regular mail delivery, no trading on Wall Street, banks, some state government offices and federal offices.
June 19, 2025 5:08 am
A SpaceX rocket being tested in Texas has exploded, sending a dramatic fireball high into the sky. The company says the Starship “experienced a major anomaly” at about 11 p.m. Wednesday while on the test stand at Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site at the southern tip of Texas. The company says in a statement on X that “all personnel are safe and accounted for.” SpaceX says there are no hazards to nearby communities. It has asked people not to try to approach the site.
June 18, 2025 4:46 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel say they’ve finalized their “historic partnership,” a year-and-a-half after the Japanese company first proposed its deal to buy the iconic American steelmaker for nearly $15 billion. The bid by Nippon Steel was buffeted by national security concerns and presidential politics, delaying the transaction for more than a year after U.S. Steel shareholders approved it. It also forced Nippon Steel to expand the deal, including giving the federal government a say in some matters. The combined company will become the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, and bring what analysts say is Nippon Steel’s top-notch technology to U.S. Steel. In exchange, Nippon Steel gets access to a robust U.S. steel market.
June 18, 2025 2:52 am
Pittsburgh legend, singer-song writer Lou Christie has died. He was eighty-two. Born Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco, Christie was a graduate of Moon Area High School, who went on to be a big success soon after that. Christie had two, top ten hits in 1963, “Two Faces Have I” and “The Gypsy Cried”. He hit #1 with “Lightnin’ Strikes” in 1965. Christie performed until 2023 and one of his last shows was at the Palace Theater in Greensburg in 2021. (Photo: Lou Christie Facebook)
June 18, 2025 4:43 pm
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — A jury has found Karen Read not guilty of second-degree murder in death of her Boston police officer boyfriend but guilty of a lesser charge of drunken driving. The jury handed down its decision Wednesday after deliberating for at least 22 hours since June 13. The verdict comes nearly a year after a separate jury deadlocked over whether Read killed John O’Keefe in 2022. Along with the second-degree murder charge, Read also faced charges of manslaughter and leaving the scene for allegedly striking O’Keefe with her SUV during a blizzard and leaving him to die in the snow. The case attracted international attention, with many people siding with the defense argument that Read was framed by police. (Photo: AP)
June 18, 2025 10:19 am
It’s official. Japan’s Nippon Steel has finalized its $14.9 billion takeover of U.S. Steel. The companies making the announcement Wednesday morning. In addition, the companies have entered into a national security agreement with the federal government to mitigate concerns about a Japanese company having control over a domestic steelmaker. Nippon has committed to investing some $11 billion in U.S. Steel facilities by 2028 and keeping its headquarters in Pittsburgh. The federal government will have a so-called “golden share” in the company giving the president veto power over some matters, including reductions in capital investments, relocating its headquarters, transferring jobs outside the country and closing existing facilities.
June 18, 2025 8:53 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dipped to 245,000 last week amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s trade policies. U.S. jobless claims ticked down from 250,000 the week before. Economists had forecast 250,000. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose to 245,500, the highest since August 2023. The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits the week of June 7 slid to 1.95 million.
