Man accused of faking his death to avoid rape charges is found guilty of sexual assault in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY — A Rhode Island man accused of faking his death and fleeing the United States to evade rape charges was found guilty Wednesday of sexually assaulting a former girlfriend in his first of two Utah trials. A jury in Salt Lake County found Nicholas Rossi guilty of...
6 planets are hanging out in early morning skies this month. Here’s how to spot them
NEW YORK — Six planets are hanging out in the sky this month in what’s known as a planetary parade. Catch the spectacle while you can because it’s the last one of the year. These linkups happen when several planets appear to line up in the night sky at once....
Hempfield Area looks to bolster curriculum oversight at elementary schools
Hempfield Area School District is looking to add another layer of oversight to the curriculum at its five elementary schools. The school board will vote next week on assigning one chairperson per K-5 grade level. Each chairperson would help ensure continuity in learning at the district’s Fort Allen, West Point,...
Melania Trump demands Hunter Biden retract ‘extremely salacious’ Epstein comments
WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and threatened to sue if he does not. Trump takes issue with two comments Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, made in an interview this month with British journalist Andrew...
Casino lobby says illegal operators control one-third of U.S. gambling activity
Nearly one-third of all gambling activity in the United States is conducted with an illegal operator or at an unlawful site, according to the industry’s main lobbying group. A new analysis from the Washington, D.C.-based American Gaming Association claims that 31.9 percent of the total U.S. gambling market is controlled...
Man arrested for hurling sandwich at federal law-enforcement official in D.C.Video
A man has been arrested on a charge that he hurled a sandwich at a federal law-enforcement official in the nation’s capital amid a surge in law-enforcement patrols ordered by the White House, according to a court filing Wednesday. Sean Charles Dunn, 37, of Washington, D.C., approached a group of...
Federal agents will be out 24/7 on patrol in Washington, White House says
WASHINGTON — As a wary Washington waited, the White House promised a ramp-up of National Guard troops and federal officers on the streets of the nation’s capital around the clock starting Wednesday, days after President Donald Trump’s unprecedented announcement that his administration would take over the city’s police department for...
GOP plans to address budget impasse, transit shot down in Democratic-led House committees
A pair of committees in the Democrat-led state House on Wednesday shot down proposals from the GOP-controlled state Senate to end Pennsylvania’s budget impasse and address funding problems at the state’s transit agencies. Now, with the budget impasse standing at 44 days and Pennsylvania’s largest transit agency preparing to begin...
Trump administration’s lawsuit against all of Maryland’s federal judges meets skepticism in court
BALTIMORE — A judge on Wednesday questioned why it was necessary for the Trump administration to sue Maryland’s entire federal bench over an order that paused the immediate deportation of migrants challenging their removals. U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen didn’t issue a ruling following a hearing in federal court in...
Armed robbers in latest Philadelphia-area Brinks truck heist took $700,000 or more, police say
PHILADELPHIA — Police are investigating whether the armed robbery of a Brinks truck outside a Philadelphia-area store is related to four other attacks on armored vehicles in and around the city this summer. Two armed males got away with between $700,000 and $800,000 in the midday Tuesday heist at an...
Trump warns of ‘severe consequences’ if Putin does not agree to stop war after summit
BERLIN — President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that there will be “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war against Ukraine after the two leaders meet for a summit later this week in Alaska. Trump made the comment in response to a question...
Environmental concerns could halt construction at Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration jail
MIAMI — The fate of a makeshift immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “ Alligator Alcatraz ” hung in the balance on Wednesday as a federal judge considered whether building on sensitive wetlands violated environmental laws. Last week, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered a 14-day halt on...
Mother, father and child killed by fallen tree in Tennessee heavy rain, floodingVideo
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A mother, father and child were killed when a tree fell on their car during heavy rain and flooding in Tennessee, where submerged roads also led to dramatic rescues of people trapped in their cars, authorities said Wednesday. The three were killed when saturated ground caused a...
Over-the-counter soap recalled for ‘life-threatening sepsis’ risk
Over a dozen soap and sanitizer products are being recalled because they could cause health complications. DermaKleen lotion soaps, Perigiene antiseptic and KleenFoam soap are among those recalled, according to the Friday announcement by DermaRite Industries LLC, People reported. The products were sold nationwide and in Puerto Rico, the manufacturer...
6 people dead after a truck crashed into a van carrying members of an Amish group in Michigan
CARO, Mich. — A pickup truck went through a stop sign in rural Michigan and crashed into a van carrying members of an Amish community, killing at least six people, authorities said. The crash occurred Tuesday afternoon in Tuscola County’s Gilford Township, 100 miles north of Detroit. Thirteen people were...
Harvard and the Trump administration are nearing a settlement including a $500 million payment
WASHINGTON — Harvard University and the Trump administration are getting close to an agreement that would require the Ivy League university to pay $500 million to regain access to federal funding and to end investigations, according to a person familiar with the matter. The framework is still being sorted out...
Appeals court lets Trump administration suspend or end billions in foreign aid
WASHINGTON — A divided panel of appeals court judges ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration can suspend or terminate billions of dollars of congressionally appropriated funding for foreign aid. Two of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that grant recipients challenging...
Trump announces George Strait, Sylvester Stallone, Kiss for Kennedy Center Honors; says he’ll host the awards show
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday named country music star George Strait, “Rocky” actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, the rock band Kiss and actor-singer Michael Crawford among the first batch of Kennedy Center Honors nominees under his leadership as the center’s chairman and said he’ll host the awards...
Gallery: Photos from August 13, 2025
Embark on a visual journey around the Western Pennsylvania region with TribLive’s latest collection of captivating images for Wednesday, August 13, 2025. From the rustic landscapes of Western Pa. to diverse corners of the globe, experience the shared moments of humanity....
Amazon expands its perishable delivery service, putting pressure on traditional grocers
NEW YORK — Amazon is now rolling out a service where its Prime members can now order their blueberries and milk at the same time as basic items like batteries and T-shirts and get them within hours. The online juggernaut said Wednesday that customers in more than 1,000 cities and...
Cuban exiles honored at Miami’s ‘Ellis Island of the South’ as Trump ramps up immigrant arrests
MIAMI — For decades, its powerful lighthouse illuminated Miami’s Biscayne Bay, and during the height of the Cold War, what was known as the Freedom Tower stood as a beacon of hope for hundreds of thousands of Cubans fleeing communist rule. The 14-story Spanish Revival skyscraper was where, from 1962-74,...
Blue swirl in sky spurs sighting reports across Western Pa. and beyondVideo
National Weather Service staff at its Moon office got a few odd calls Tuesday night about a strange-looking blue swirl moving across the sky. “We had a couple of calls on the overnight shift,” said NWS Meteorologist Andrew Kienzle. The swirl was created by a SpaceX rocket launch, experts said....
Tennessee town approves deals to turn closed prison into immigration detention facility
MASON, Tenn. — Officials in a rural Tennessee town voted Tuesday to approve agreements to turn a former prison into an immigration detention facility operated by a private company, despite loud objections from upset residents and activists during a contentious public meeting. The five-member Board of Aldermen in Mason, plus...
Clashes erupt at Serbian anti-government protests, with dozens injured
BELGRADE, Serbia — Clashes erupted at protests in Serbia between opponents and supporters of the government in an escalation of tensions following more than nine months of persistent demonstrations against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. Incidents first started on Tuesday evening in Vrbas, northwest of the capital Belgrade, where riot police...
French president says Trump wants to achieve ceasefire at Alaska summit; Zelenskyy says Putin ‘is bluffing’
BERLIN — President Donald Trump was “very clear” in a virtual meeting Wednesday with European leaders that the U.S. wants to achieve a ceasefire at the upcoming U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska, French President Emmanuel Macron said. In the same meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, he told the group that...
