May 31, 2025 7:55 am
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Manitoba’s premier says the Canadian prairie city of Flin Flon hasbeen virtually deserted and more evacuees were expected as wildfires raged in the province. Premier Wab Kinew told a news conference that the mayor, councilors, health-care staff and other officials have had to depart Flin Flon, a city of 5,000 people. The evacuees are among 17,000 people reported so far to have left their homes due to a number of wildfires burning in remote regions from Manitoba’s northwest to the southeast. Kinew said as the fires grow, thousands more evacuees can be expected and that communities like Winnipeg, Thompson and The Pas have already stepped up to help provide food and shelter.
May 31, 2025 5:10 am
SINGAPORE (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reassured allies in the Indo-Pacific that they will not be left alone to face increasing military and economic pressure from China. Hegseth spoke on Saturday at the Asian Defense Summit in Singapore. He said Washington will bolster its defenses overseas to counter what the Pentagon sees as rapidly developing threats by Beijing. Hegseth said China is no longer just building up its military forces to be able to take Taiwan by 2027, it’s “actively training for it, every day.” He said the threat China poses “is real — and it could be imminent.”
May 31, 2025 5:02 am
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s doubling the tariff rate on steel to 50%, a dramatic increase that could further push up prices for a metal used to make housing, autos and other goods. Trump made the announcement Friday at U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, where he announced investments by Japan’s Nippon Steel. The price of steel products has increased roughly 16% since Trump became president in January, according to the government’s producer price index. Trump later added that aluminum tariffs would also be doubled to 50% and said both tariff hikes would go into effect Wednesday.
May 30, 2025 4:12 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — Loretta Swit, who won two Emmy Awards playing Major Margaret Houlihan, the demanding head nurse of a behind-the-lines surgical unit during the Korean War on the pioneering hit TV series “M.A.S.H.,” has died. She was 87. Publicist Harlan Boll says Swit died Friday at her home in New York City, likely from natural causes. Swit and Alan Alda were the longest-serving cast members on “M.A.S.H.,” which was based on Robert Altman’s 1970 film, which was itself based on a novel by Richard Hooker, the pseudonym of H. Richard Hornberger. The CBS show aired for 11 years from 1972 to 1983, revolving around life at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, which gave the show its name. The two-and-a-half-hour finale on Feb. 28, 1983, lured over 100 million viewers, the most-watched episode of any scripted series ever. (Photo: AP)
May 30, 2025 11:43 am
(WPXI) PITTSBURGH — Giant Eagle Pharmacy Inc. has announced an agreement to transfer customer prescriptions from 78 Rite Aid Locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio. A Giant Eagle spokesperson says the prescriptions will be transferred to the Giant Eagle Pharmacy location most convenient for customers. Closing on the purchase of the prescriptions is expected to come in waves during June. Giant Eagle will assume operations of two Rite Aid pharmacy locations immediately after Rite Aid departs, with no planned interruptions, officials said. The agreement is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, officials said. Additional details are expected as the closing dates approach. Officials say Giant Eagle and Rite Aid are working closely to ensure a smooth and seamless transition for patients, with Giant Eagle reaching out to inform affected Rite Aid customers. “We’re excited to welcome new patients to our Giant Eagle Pharmacy,” said Bill Artman, president and CEO of Giant Eagle. “
May 30, 2025 11:40 am
ABUJA, Nigeria — (AP) — At least 111 people were confirmed dead in central Nigeria on Friday after floods submerged the market town of Mokwa in the country’s Niger State following torrential rains, officials said. The heavy rains lasted for several hours Thursday, and media reports quoting local government officials said a dam collapse in a nearby town had worsened the situation. The flooding displaced large amounts of people, the reports said. Rescuers continued to find more bodies into the afternoon Friday. Earlier reports said 88 people had died, but then at least 23 more bodies were found, Niger State emergency agency spokesman IIbrahim Audu Husseinit told The Associated Press in the afternoon. That brought the toll to 111, but that could go higher as the search continued. “More bodies have just been brought and are yet to be counted, but we have at least 111 confirmed already.”
May 30, 2025 11:38 am
(WPXI) – A new sedative used in veterinary medicine is showing up in street drugs, leading to severe health complications and frequent intensive care unit admissions, local emergency physicians warn. Medetomidine is the latest drug to be found mixed into opioids sold on the street. “Almost never would we have to admit or hospitalize someone for the treatment of opioid withdrawal prior to October 2024,” said Dr. Simon Ostrowski, an emergency medicine physician with UPMC. “Since then, we are regularly hospitalizing people for opioid withdrawal treatment — and not just hospitalizing them, but in the intensive care unit.” UPMC is currently admitting multiple patients to the ICU daily as a result of withdrawal symptoms. Physicians note that Narcan, a common opioid overdose reversal medication, is largely ineffective against the sedative — similar to the challenges faced with xylazine. “It’s very difficult to reverse,” said Dr. Brent Rau, ER medical director at Allegheny General Hospital. “Like in the case of xylazine there were severe skin reactions, severe wounds that can develop, that can cause amputations and other issues. It does feel like every year it’s something new.” There is currently no rapid test available in hospitals to detect medetomidine, which makes diagnosis and treatment more challenging.
May 30, 2025 11:36 am
(WPXI) PITTSBURGH — Port Authority Police are investigating an attempted robbery on a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus. Per a PRT spokesperson, initial reports indicate a “few juveniles” tried to rob an elderly man while they were all riding on a bus around 9 p.m. at the intersection of Carson and 26th streets in Pittsburgh’s South Side. The spokesperson says one of the juveniles dropped a handgun onto the bus floor. The juveniles fled, and the victim picked up the gun and held it until police arrived. Officials say the victim was not injured.
May 30, 2025 11:16 am
(WPXI) WEST HOMESTEAD — Sandcastle Waterpark has postponed its opening for the second time this year due to weather. The waterpark in West Homestead announced over social media that its opening has been pushed back to Sunday, June 1, because of “unseasonably chilly temperatures.” Originally set for May 24, the park’s 2025 season kickoff was delayed to Saturday, May 31, due to inclement weather. Sandcastle now says the park will be closed on Saturday. However, all 2025 Sandcastle passholders can visit Kennywood for free on Saturday. “We know, Mother Nature has not been cooperating… but we’re getting there,” the park stated on social media. Sandcastle also announced it has extended its opening sale.
May 30, 2025 8:15 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. – (WPXI) – The man who police believe is responsible for the deadly shooting of Nasstylejah Wilkerson near an elementary has been arrested. Trevon McCrary, 30, was picked up by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and McKeesport Police in McKeesport Friday morning. McCrary is charged with criminal homicide, recklessly endangering another person and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The City of Washington police filed charges against McCrary in April and an arrest warrant was granted. Chief Steve Devenney says that while processing the crime scene for evidence, investigators identified and found a vehicle of interest. The “amount of evidence collected” in the first 24 hours after the crime is why police felt they had “enough information” to apply for an arrest warrant. (Photo: WPXI)
