January 20, 2025 5:12 am
One of the Israeli hostages freed on the first day of the Gaza ceasefire said Monday in her first comments since being released that she has “returned to life.” Emily Damari, 28, was one of three hostages freed Sunday after spending 471 days in captivity. Officials at a hospital that received them said their condition was stable. In an Instagram story, which was shared by Israeli media, Damari thanked her family and the large protest movement that coalesced to advocate for the release of the hostages. “Thank you thank you thank you I’m the happiest in the world,” she said. Damari is a dual Israeli-British citizen.
January 19, 2025 4:34 pm
(AP) – TikTok said Sunday it was restoring service to users in the United States just hours after the popular video-sharing platform went dark in response to a federal ban, which President-elect Donald Trump said he would try to pause by executive order on his first day in office. Trump said he planned to issue the order to give TikTok’s China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer before the ban takes full effect. He announced the move on his Truth Social account as millions of U.S. TikTok users awoke to discover they could no longer access the TikTok app or platform. Google and Apple removed the app from their digital stores to comply with the law, which required them to do so if TikTok parent company ByteDance didn’t sell its U.S. operation by Sunday. The law, which passed with wide bipartisan support in April, allows for steep fines. (Photo: AP)
January 19, 2025 8:31 am
Steady, light snow is still expected from Pittsburgh to points south and east. Accumulation will generally be light in Pittsburgh, but because it’s so cold, roads could turn slick. Several inches are expected south and east toward the mountains, where impacts from snow will be highest. PennDOT is putting several speed and vehicle restrictions in place for expected snowfall. Steady snow is expected to fall in the Western Pennsylvania area over the next twenty-four hours. The restrictions will reduce roads to a 55 mph or 45 mph speed limit. Commercial vehicles will only be allowed to travel in the right lane. Several restrictions are planned to go into effect to keep the roads safe during the snowfall.
Sunday morning, the speed limit on I-79 from the West Virginia line to I-70 South Junction was reduced to 45 mph. That restriction ended approximately 1;30 pm Sunday.
Central & eastern Pennsylvania restrictions began Saturday evening, based on PennDOT’s 5-tier system. Tier 1 guidelines are in effect for:
- PA Turnpike I-76 from Carlisle (Exit 226) to Morgantown (Exit 298).
- I-81 from the Maryland border to I-78 (Exit 89).
- I-83, entire length.
- I-283, entire length.
Under Tier 1 restrictions, the following vehicles are not permitted on affected roadways:
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- Tractors without trailers.
- Tractors towing unloaded or lightly loaded enclosed trailers, open trailers or tank trailers.
- Tractors towing unloaded or lightly loaded tandem trailers.
- Enclosed unloaded or lightly loaded cargo delivery trucks/box trucks that meet the definition of a CMV.
- Passenger vehicles (cars, SUV’s, pickup trucks, etc.) towing trailers.
- Recreational vehicles/motorhomes.
- School buses, commercial buses and motor coaches.
- Motorcycles.
January 18, 2025 8:47 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of TikTok users in the United States are no longer able to watch videos on the social media platform as a federal ban on the immensely popular app takes effect. The company’s app was removed Saturday evening from prominent app stores, including the ones operated by Apple and Google, while its website told users that the short-form video platform was no longer available. The blackout began just hours before the law took effect. Apple said in a statement on its website that TikTok and ByteDance apps are no longer available in the U.S. and visitors to the country could have limited access. (Photo: AP)
January 19, 2025 8:49 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip has taken hold, raising hopes for an end to the devastating 15-month Israel-Hamas war and the release of dozens of militant-held hostages. A last-minute delay by Hamas put off the start of the truce by nearly three hours on Sunday and highlighted its fragility. Celebrations erupted across the war-ravaged territory and some Palestinians began returning to their homes despite the delay. The truce, which started at 11:15 a.m. local time, is just the first step toward ultimately ending the conflict and returning nearly 100 hostages abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack. (Photo: AP)
January 19, 2025 8:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s the day before Donald Trump’s inauguration and he plans a series of Washington events that celebrate his return to power and his “Make America Great Again” movement. Sunday marks Trump’s first full day back in the capital since the November election. He’ll have a chance to fire up his core supporters before Monday’s big dose of official pomp, including the swearing-in. His schedule Sunday includes a wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery and addressing a downtown rally. Trump began Sunday by posting in praise of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas taking hold in the Gaza Strip. He also declared “SAVE TKITOK!” after a U.S. ban making the app temporarily unavailable too effect. (Photo: AP)
January 19, 2025 8:53 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Events honoring Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and advocating for his vision of a just, nonviolent society will occur the same day as Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration. The coincidence has been met with mixed feelings by civil rights leaders who broadly reviled Trump’s rhetoric and stances on race and civil rights during his third presidential campaign. But many leaders, including King’s own family, see the juxtaposition as an opportunity to reflect and refocus the work of advancing civil rights in a new political era.
January 19, 2025 9:01 am
(WPXI) – The Penn Hills community is remembering a beloved social studies teacher, father and mentor who was killed in a crash along the Parkway East on Friday. Josh Willy worked at the Penn Hills school district for 23 years. High School junior Chase Delehanty, 17, said his social studies teacher had a way with coworkers and parents, but especially with his students. State police are still investigating the crash. Willy died Friday morning after police said he veered off the Parkway East just past the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and went over a guardrail. His car plunged more than 80 feet into the ravine below.
January 19, 2025 8:44 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump will choose to lead the U.S. Secret Service one of the agents who covered him after a gunmen opened fire at the candidate during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump Jr. said his father will be naming Sean Curran, who heads the president-elect’s personal detail as special agent in charge, to be Secret Service director. “Sean is a great patriot and will stop all the insanity once and for all. There’s not a better person to be in this position!” Trump Jr. posted on X on Friday. The agency has been under scrutiny and pressure after Trump was wounded in the assassination attempt at a July 13, 2024 ,rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and after a second failed assassination attempt at his Florida golf course on Sept. 15. In the first attempt, Trump’s right ear was grazed by a bullet. He wasn’t injured in the second one. One of the main criticisms was that local and federal law enforcement agencies weren’t communicating effectively and that the lapse allowed the Pennsylvania gunman to climb to a rooftop and open fire on Trump. A counter-sniper shot and killed the gunman. (Photo: AP)
January 18, 2025 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly eight years since its historic first march, the Women’s March is returning to the nation’s capital just before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Rebranded and reorganized, Saturday’s rally has a new name — the People’s March — as a means to broaden support. The march is expected to be about one-tenth that size of the first Women’s March in 2017 and comes amid a restrained moment of reflection as many progressive voters navigate feelings of exhaustion, disappointment and despair after Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss in November. A goal of the organizers is to help progressive voters find their political homes in various participating organizations at the local, state and national level.
