Judge clears way for Trump’s plan to downsize federal workforce with deferred resignation program
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump ’s plan to downsize the federal workforce with a deferred resignation program. It was a significant legal victory for the Republican president after a string of courtroom setbacks. “This goes to show that lawfare will not...
House Republicans introduce blueprint to extend $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and lift debt ceilingVideo
WASHINGTON — House Republicans released a budget plan Wednesday that sets the stage for advancing many of President Donald Trump’s top domestic priorities, providing for up to $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and a $4 trillion increase in the debt limit so that the U.S. can continue financing its bills....
Former Hempfield high school boys basketball coach to retire from guidance counselor job
After resigning from his coaching duties last month, former Hempfield Area High School boys basketball coach Bill Swan will retire from his job as a district guidance counselor. The move was announced at a Hempfield School Board meeting this week. Swan declined to comment when contacted by a reporter Wednesday....
Trump’s halt of U.S. law banning business bribes abroad raises specter of a ‘Wild West’ of dealmaking
NEW YORK — To its fans, it’s an undeniable force for good in a corrupt world, a groundbreaking anti-bribery statute that has brought powerful businessmen to heel for secretly paying off foreign government officials to win contracts abroad. To detractors, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unfairly hobbles American companies while...
U.S. defense chief suggests Ukraine should abandon hope of winning all territory back from Russia
BRUSSELS — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia and instead prepare for a negotiated peace settlement to be backed up by international troops. Hours later, President Donald Trump...
Podcast: The long-awaited release of Marc Fogel from Russia
Marc Fogel, the 63-year-old Butler native and former Oakmont teacher, was released Tuesday and is back in the United States. Fogel, an American history teacher, spent 1,278 days in a Russian penal colony after being was arrested in Moscow on Aug. 14, 2021, for taking prescribed medical marijuana into the...
As DOGE hammers away at the U.S. government, Republicans stir with quiet objections
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Katie Britt has been working to make sure the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency doesn’t hit what she called “life-saving, groundbreaking research at high-achieving institutions,” including her state’s beloved University of Alabama. Kansas GOP Sen. Jerry Moran is worried that food from heartland farmers would...
Lawsuit describes Musk’s DOGE teams overseeing the ending of hundreds of USAID programs abroad
WASHINGTON — Newly filed affidavits of U.S. Agency for International Development workers describe a lieutenant of Trump ally Elon Musk and other outsiders directing the immediate termination of hundreds of American aid and foreign assistance programs abroad this week, without required documentation or justification. Other affidavits described some agency employees...
Trump upends US Ukraine policy and says he and Putin have agreed to begin negotiations on ending war
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump upended three years of U.S. policy toward Ukraine on Wednesday, saying that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war following a dramatic prisoner swap. Trump said in a social media post that he and Putin held a...
Senate confirms Gabbard as Trump’s director of national intelligence after Republicans fall in line
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence after Republicans who had initially questioned her experience and judgment fell in line behind her nomination. Gabbard was an unconventional pick to oversee and coordinate the country’s 18 different intelligence agencies, given her...
Who is Steve Witkoff? The man behind Marc Fogel’s release
When teacher Marc Fogel returned to the United States on Tuesday after three and a half years’ imprisonment in Russia, he was accompanied by a figure many don’t know much about — Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. “What a dynamic man this guy is,” Fogel said of Witkoff during a press...
Austrian far-right leader’s efforts to form a new government collapse
VIENNA — Austrian far-right leader Herbert Kickl said Wednesday that his talks on forming a coalition government with a conservative party have collapsed. Austria’s president gave Kickl a mandate to try to form a new government on Jan. 6 after efforts to put together a governing alliance with his Freedom...
Frontier makes another takeover bid for Spirit Airlines and it is rejected, again
Spirit Airlines has again rejected a third takeover bid from budget rival Frontier, saying that it would focus on its own plan to emerge from bankruptcy and stabilize its finances. The offer this week, like the last bid, offers Spirit shareholders $400 million in debt and a 19% stake in...
Musk appears at White House defending DOGE’s work but acknowledging mistakes
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s most powerful adviser, Elon Musk, made a rare public appearance at the White House on Tuesday to defend the swift and extensive cuts he’s pushing across the federal government while acknowledging there have been mistakes and will be more. Musk stood next to the Resolute...
Photos: Marc Fogel returns to U.S., greeted by Trump
Marc Fogel, an history teacher from Oakmont who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia, was released and returned to the U.S. on Tuesday. Steve Witkoff, a special envoy for President Donald Trump, left Russia with Fogel and brought him to the White House, where Trump greeted him. “I feel like...
Who are the Americans still in Russian custody?
Russia has released an American teacher imprisoned over what his family said was prescribed medical marijuana, but several other Americans remain in Russian custody. Teacher Marc Fogel was released in what the White House described Tuesday as a diplomatic thaw. Fogel was arrested in August 2021 and is serving a...
Convicted Russian criminal Alexander Vinnik being freed as part of swap for American Marc Fogel
MOSCOW — Alexander Vinnik, a convicted Russian criminal, is being freed as part of a swap that saw Moscow’s release of American Marc Fogel, two U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday. Vinnik was arrested in 2017 in Greece at the request of the U.S. on cryptocurrency fraud charges and was later extradited...
Seattle council passes bill letting police use weapons on crowds
SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council passed a bill Tuesday allowing police officers — in limited cases — to use weapons like tear gas, pepper spray and blast balls to control crowd movement during protests. Past councils greatly restricted the use of these so-called “less lethal” weapons in the wake...
Apple changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America based on Trump’s order
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps Tuesday after an order by President Donald Trump was made official by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System. The move follows Google, which announced last month that it would make the change once...
Senator accuses Kash Patel of directing FBI personnel ‘purge’
WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday accused FBI director nominee Kash Patel of acting behind the scenes to direct a “purge” of career officials at the agency, adding to what he called “myriad red flags” about Patel ahead of a panel vote set for...
Teacher questioned in stabbing death of first-grader in South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean police Tuesday were questioning an elementary school teacher who allegedly stabbed a first-grader to death in the city of Daejeon. The killing Monday during after-school care has shocked the nation and prompted the country’s acting president to order school safety standards reviewed. The female...
10 new cases of measles reported in West Texas county and New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. — Public health authorities said Tuesday that an outbreak of measles in western Texas has expanded, while a new case was confirmed nearby across state lines in New Mexico. The Texas Department of State Health Services has identified 24 measles cases in connection with the onset of...
Fugitive dog recaptured in New Orleans after gaining national fame for escapades
NEW ORLEANS — A scruffy New Orleans rescue dog famed for evading a monthslong effort to recapture him using nets and tranquilizer rifles has finally been caught and returned to domestic life Tuesday. Scrim, a 17-pound mutt who has become a Louisiana folk hero, first escaped from his adopted family...
Ex-FEMA worker who directed staff to avoid homes with Trump signs violated Hatch Act, agency says
WASHINGTON — A federal agency is seeking disciplinary action against a former Federal Emergency Management Agency worker who directed workers helping hurricane survivors to avoid homes with yard signs supporting President Donald Trump, according to a complaint filed Tuesday. The complaint with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board was filed...
Appeals court won’t halt judge’s order requiring Trump administration to unfreeze all federal cash
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Tuesday refused to immediately halt a judge’s order requiring the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in federal grants and loans that remain frozen even after a court blocked a sweeping pause on federal funding. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of...
