January 14, 2025 5:01 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawsuit filed against Southern California Edison claims the utility’s equipment sparked the deadly Eaton Fire burning just outside Los Angeles. Monday’s lawsuit comes as Edison has acknowledged fire agencies are investigating whether its equipment may have started a smaller LA-area fire that broke out the same day. Authorities still haven’t determined an official cause for any of the fires, which began last Tuesday amid hurricane-force winds and have killed at least 24 people in the Los Angeles area. A team from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is taking the lead on the investigations and whether there is a connection between any of them.
January 14, 2025 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth vows to bring “warrior culture’” to the military if confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick. Hegseth is dismissing the sexual assault allegations against him as a “smear” campaign. The former combat veteran and TV news show host calls himself a “change agent’ as senators determine whether he is fit to lead the U.S. military. Chairman Roger Wicker says Hegseth will “shake up” the Pentagon. But the top Democrat Sen. Jack Reed says the allegations against Hegseth are “extremely alarming.” Tuesday’s hearing starts a week-long marathon as the Republican-led Senate rushes to have some of Trump’s Cabinet picks ready to be confirmed as soon as Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.
January 13, 2025 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith says in a new report that his team “stood up for the rule of law” as it investigated President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Smith says he stands fully behind his decision to bring criminal charges against the president-elect and says he believes Trump would have been convicted had he not won the 2024 election. The report, coming just days before Trump is to return to the White House on Jan. 20, focuses fresh attention on his frantic but failed effort to cling to power in 2020. The Justice Department sent the report to Congress early Tuesday after a judge refused to block its release.
January 14, 2025 3:09 pm
(AP) – U.S. food inspectors documented unsanitary conditions at several Boar’s Head deli meat plants, not just the Jarratt, Virginia, factory that was shut down last year. That’s according to newly released federal documents in response to an Associated Press records request. An outbreak of listeria food poisoning tied to the plant sickened more than 60 people and killed 10. The reports show problems at Boar’s Head plants in Indiana, Arkansas and another in Virginia. Inspectors documented meat and fat residue on equipment and walls, dripping condensation, mold, insects and other problems. U.S. Agriculture Department officials say they put stronger measures in place to control listeria. The company says the violations “do not meet our high standards.” (Photo: AP)
January 14, 2025 5:03 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 18 people overnight, including six women and four children, health officials said, as Israel and Hamas appeared to be narrowing in on a ceasefire deal to end the 15-month war and release dozens of hostages. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels meanwhile fired a missile at central Israel, setting off sirens and sending people fleeing to shelters without causing any casualties. Police said Tuesday several homes were damaged outside Jerusalem and released a photo of a missile casing that had crashed into a roof.
January 13, 2025 1:52 am
One person was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital Monday morning after an accident near the Longhorn Steakhouse on Route Nineteen in South Strabane Township. Fire Chief Jordan Cramer says they were called out around eight-thirty for reports of a vehicle over an embankment with entrapment. When firefighters arrived, Cramer says they found that a vehicle had gone through a fence in the Longhorn parking lot and had dropped about twenty-feet over a retaining wall and into a retention pond. Cramer says the vehicle landed on its roof and the driver, the sole occupant of the vehicle, was trapped. There’s been no information released on the nature of their injuries or the severity. (Photo courtesy of South Strabane Fire Department)
January 13, 2025 4:55 am
Another blast of arctic air is heading our way. Temperatures slowly dropped through Monday afternoon, bringing much colder air for the overnight hours. Tuesday and Wednesday highs will only make it to the upper teens with subzero wind chills expected and snow showers are possible again on Tuesday afternoon and night. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has issued a Cold Weather Advisory for the ridges of Westmoreland, Indiana and Fayette counties along with eastern Preston and Garrett counties in Maryland from 1 a.m. Tuesday through 10 a.m. Wednesday, where wind chills could get as low as -11 degrees. Snow showers will also be around at times starting Tuesday afternoon from lake effect snow. On and off snow showers are possible through Thursday. The big headline is the cold stretch that will continue through midweek, Wednesday morning wind chills will be back below zero. Make sure to limit time outdoors, wear warm layers if you are heading out, and keep pets inside.
January 13, 2025 5:47 pm
(WPXI) – There are still a lot of questions to answer in Beaver County, but police do believe this was a murder-suicide with the oldest son pulling the trigger and the youngest son making the 911 call from inside the home. “The family, all of them, were avid hunters and in my conversations with them, hunting always comes up. I knew they had a lot of firearms in the house,” said North Sewickley Township Police Chief Jeff Becze. That family is now gone in what Becze is calling a tragedy. “We can’t conclusively determine but it does appear it was a murder and a suicide,” said Beaver County DA Nate Bible. Police believe Clifford Hunt Jr, 19 shot his father Clifford, mother Michelle, and his 16-year-old brother all in the head before turning the gun on himself.
January 13, 2025 4:45 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A growing force of firefighters and equipment moved into the Los Angeles area as another round of powerful winds threatened to trigger new wildfires and set back recent progress in containing blazes that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people. Planes that drop firefighting chemicals and crews ready to pounce on hotspots were positioned across the city and the parched, brush-filled hillsides that surround it. Dozens of water trucks were in place to replenish supplies after hydrants ran dry last week.. LA County’s fire chief says crews are better prepared but warns that everyone in the potential fire zones should be ready to evacuate. The National Weather Service warned that the coming days could become “particularly dangerous.” (Photo: AP)
January 13, 2025 5:26 am
The driver of a sweeper truck was injured in a crash early Monday in Hanover Township. Washington County 9-1-1 says it happened just after 1:30 a.m at the two mile marker along Route 22. The truck went over a hillside and into some trees and ended up on its roof. The driver was entrapped. Dispatchers say the man was then transported by ambulance to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. There is no word on his identity or condition.
