September 30, 2025 5:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says Republicans are trying to “bully” Democrats by refusing to negotiate as a standoff over health care and spending threatens to trigger the first U.S. government shutdown in almost seven years. Schumer says President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans have until midnight Tuesday “to get serious.” Trump is threatening retribution, saying that a shutdown could include “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.” The government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday if the Senate does not pass a House measure that would extend federal funding for seven weeks. Senate Democrats say they won’t vote for it unless Republicans include an extension of expiring health care benefits.
September 30, 2025 5:02 am
CHICAGO (AP) — The sight of armed, camouflaged and masked Border Patrol agents making arrests near famous downtown Chicago landmarks has amplified concerns about the Trump administration growing federal intervention across U.S. cities. Illinois leaders warned Monday of a National Guard deployment. Memphis, Tennessee and Portland, Oregon have also braced for a surge of federal law enforcement, residents in the nation’s third-largest city met a brazen weekend escalation of immigration enforcement tactics with anger, fear and fresh claims of discrimination. But Trump has called the expansion of federal immigration agents and National Guard troops into American cities necessary, blasting Democrats for crime and lax immigration policies.
September 30, 2025 4:57 am
Check your freezers. More than 59 million pounds of corn dogs and sausages-on-a-stick have been recalled because they may have wood in the batter. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced that the Hillshire Brands Company issued the recall. The items were packaged from March 17 to Sept. 26, 2025, and have establishment number EST-582 or P-894 on the packaging. They were sold online, shipped to retail and food service locations nationwide and sold to school districts and Department of Defense locations nationwide. The issue was discovered after the company received customer complaints. There were five incidents that caused injuries, the FSIS said. An investigation discovered that the wooden sticks entered the production process before the items were dipped in the batter. If you have the recalled items, you should throw them away or return them to the place of purchase. For more information, call Hillshire Brands at 888-747-7611.
September 30, 2025 4:53 am
CANONSBURG, Pa. — Canonsburg officials have a mystery on their hands. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of tiny rubber ducks appeared in Canonsburg. They’re lining store windows, sitting on statues, and hanging out on benches. No one seems to know where they came from or why they were left in the community. “I think it grabs somebody’s attention. You stop and you look at it and you’re like ‘Oh, what a cute rubber duck,’” said Canonsburg Borough Manager Angela Senay. The ducks are perched on East Pike Street lining store windows, sitting on light poles and covering the borough building. “We’re always about doing something different and great and you know, someone anonymously put ducks up and down Pike Street here in Canonsburg, all over the municipal building area,” said Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome. “Whenever we first arrived this morning, it couldn’t do anything but bring smiles to your face.” People are spreading the fun on Facebook. Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church called them “little bright ducks of joy.” So, what’s next for the ducks and whoever placed them? “For me, I want to leave them. They bring smiles to not only our faces but the residents’ faces,” Senay said. “As long as they’re not bothering anybody and their business, I think they’re fine to stay.” “Someone did a wonderful job to bring laughter once again back to Canonsburg,” said Rhome. So far, no one has come forward to take responsibility for the little rubber ducks.
September 30, 2025 4:46 am
QUANTICO, Va. (AP) — President Donald Trump is proposing using American cities as training grounds for the armed forces. He’s suggesting U.S. military might be deployed against what he describes as the “invasion from within.” Addressing military brass abruptly summoned to Virginia on Tuesday, Trump outlined a muscular and at times norm-shattering view of the military’s role in domestic affairs. He was joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who declared an end to “woke” culture and announced new directives for troops that include “gender-neutral” or “male-level” standards for physical fitness. The messages underscored the Trump administration’s efforts not only to reshape contemporary Pentagon culture but to enlist military resources in the president’s priorities and in everyday American civic life.
September 30, 2025 4:44 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown has begun. And it’s plunging the U.S. into a fresh cycle of uncertainty. President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline. Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed and many offices will be shuttered. Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as he seeks to punish Democrats. His administration has called for mass firings. Democrats picked this fight as they demand funding to save health care subsidies that are expiring and sending insurance costs soaring. Republicans have refused to negotiate. More voting is expected Wednesday.
September 30, 2025 1:36 am
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling, in a 4-3 vote, on Friday that says, voters that have flaws in their mail in ballots must be given the opportunity to cast a provisional ballot to allow their vote to be counted. The ruling states that the Washington County Board of Elections must inform voters of fatal flaws. That reverses the policy approved by The Washington County Board of Elections from April 2024. In a 2-1 vote the policy was established that no notice would be given to voters if their ballot contained a fatal flaw. Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman is also the Chairman of the Board of Elections. He says that he is not positive that the decision has added any clarity to how faulty ballots should be handled. He points to Pennsylvania act 77 that says ballot curing is not allowed, but the Supreme Court says that voters must be given notice of the flaw and then decide if they will file a provisional ballot. Sherman says voters will be notified by email by Pennsylvania’s SURE system if flaws on their mail in ballot are identified. Those voters will then be given the opportunity to file a provisional ballot at their polling station. Sherman says that Washington County and other counties are seeking clarity from the legislature and the governor to put this issue to rest. Currently, a decision by the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals has been sent to the US Supreme Court to rule whether incorrect dates on ballot return envelopes render a ballot ineligible. The appeals court said they are not disqualifying errors. Sherman said the county will abide by the final decision of the court, state or federal. (Photo: AP)
September 29, 2025 3:14 pm
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Authorities in the Bahamas have closed a majority of schools following mandatory evacuations for some islands in the archipelago as Tropical Storm Imelda drops heavy rain and unleashes flooding in the northern Caribbean, with one man killed in Cuba. A tropical storm warning was in effect Monday for parts of the northwestern Bahamas, including Eleuthera, the Abacos, Grand Bahama Island and the surrounding keys. Heavy rains also were forecast along the coastline of North and South Carolina. Meanwhile, Hurricane Humberto churned in open waters nearby, which forecasters said would cause Imelda to abruptly turn to the east-northeast, away from the southeastern United States coast.
September 29, 2025 9:22 am
DUBLIN (AP) — Irish police say no formal complaint has been filed regarding an early morning incident in Dublin involving Pittsburgh Steelers backup quarterback Skylar Thompson and that they haven’t established if there was a robbery. The Steelers said the 28-year-old Thompson was involved in a weekend “situation” in the Irish capital, but neither the team nor police have confirmed reports in Irish media that the player was robbed early Saturday. The Irish Independent newspaper reported that “a number of males were involved in an assault on Thompson near the Temple Bar area” and that the player’s phone was stolen. Police didn’t comment on reports of an assault.
September 29, 2025 5:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for critical talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza and developing a U.S. plan on postwar governance in the war-battered Palestinian territory. The White House has just released a Trump plan for ending the Israel-Hamas war and Gaza governance. There’s no immediate word on whether Israel or Hamas has accepted 20-point plan. The plan was unveiled by the White House shortly before Trump and Netanyahu were to hold a press conference. It calls for a temporary governing board that would be headed by Trump and include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
