Photos: Daily gallery for Feb. 19, 2025
Embark on a visual journey around the Western Pennsylvania region with TribLive’s latest collection of captivating images for Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025....
Justice Department and New York Mayor Adams face judge’s scrutiny in bid to dismiss criminal charges
NEW YORK — Justice Department lawyers and New York City Mayor Eric Adams are set to face a federal judge who is signaling that he’s unlikely to rubber stamp their request to drop the mayor’s corruption charges weeks before an April trial. Judge Dale E. Ho in Manhattan scheduled the...
Americans’ confidence in air travel safety dips slightly after Washington plane crash: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — Americans’ confidence in air travel and the federal agencies tasked with maintaining air safety has slipped a little from last year, following a recent crash in Washington, according to a new poll, but most still believe air transportation is generally safe. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center...
Trump moves swiftly on his agenda in a departure from his first-term stumbles
WASHINGTON — Months into his first term as president, Donald Trump was furious with the snowballing Russia investigation and ordered White House counsel Don McGahn to make sure that special counsel Robert Mueller got fired. “Mueller has to go,” McGahn recalled Trump saying. “Call me back when you do it.”...
Palestinian families flee West Bank homes in droves as Israel confronts militants
FAR’A REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — By car and on foot, through muddy olive groves and snipers’ sight lines, tens of thousands of Palestinians in recent weeks have fled Israeli military operations across the northern West Bank — the largest displacement in the occupied territory since the 1967 Mideast war....
Trump, Zelenskyy trade barbs as U.S.-Ukraine relations sour over war with Russia
KYIV, Ukraine — Relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump deteriorated rapidly Wednesday as Zelenskyy said Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space” and Trump called Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections” in comments that were sure to complicate efforts to end the war. Zelenskyy also...
Despite ‘tranquil night,’ the pope now has pneumonia in both lungs, Vatican says. How worrying is that?
LONDON — Vatican officials said late Tuesday that Pope Francis had developed pneumonia in both lungs, further complicating the pontiff’s recovery. The 88-year-old pope was hospitalized Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened. On Monday, doctors said he had developed a mix of infections in his respiratory tract. On...
Trump suggests Ukraine is to blame for war, saying they ‘could have made a deal’
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Top U.S. and Russian officials had their most extensive high-level engagement since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine almost three years ago, meeting for four hours Tuesday before President Donald Trump suggested that Kyiv was to blame for the conflict. Trump showed little patience for Ukraine’s objections...
Reversing enrollment decline among priorities for incoming Westmoreland Co. Community College president
As Westmoreland County Community College grapples with a decline in enrollment and recent turnover in its top leader, incoming president Kristin Mallory aims to stabilize the institution. The vice president of academic affairs at Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury, Md., Mallory was hired as the college’s president last week after...
Trump’s firing of 1,000 national park workers raises concerns about maintenance and operating hours
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has fired about 1,000 newly hired National Park Service employees who maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and perform other functions as part of its broad-based effort to downsize government. The firings, which weren’t publicly announced but were confirmed by Democratic senators and House members,...
Newly elected Democratic chairman begins national tour in Western Pa.
In his first road trip as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin made Western Pennsylvania his first stop, meeting Tuesday morning with steelworkers in Pittsburgh and campaigning in the afternoon with a state House candidate in McKeesport. Martin said the two stops signify what’s most important to him...
Trump signs order to study how to expand IVF and calls for ‘radical transparency’ from government
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to study how to expand access to in vitro fertilization and make it more affordable. The order calls for policy recommendations to “protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments,”...
Judge declines to immediately block Elon Musk or DOGE from federal data or layoffs
WASHINGTON — A federal judge refused Tuesday to immediately block billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing government data systems or participating in worker layoffs. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan found that there are legitimate questions about Musk’s authority but said there isn’t enough evidence of...
Leader of cultlike Zizians linked to 6 killings ordered held without bail in Maryland
CUMBERLAND, Md. — The leader of a cultlike group connected to six killings in three states was ordered held without bail Tuesday in Maryland, where she faces trespassing and other charges. Jack LaSota, 34, and two others arrested with her on Sunday appeared via videoconference for bail hearings in Allegany...
Massive fire at Pennsylvania aerospace plant prompts shelter-in-place order, evacuations
JENKINTOWN — Schools were closed and residents were ordered to shelter-in-place Tuesday when a large fire broke out at an aerospace manufacturer’s facility in a town north of Philadelphia, officials said. The fire broke out at SPS Technologies in Jenkintown around 9:30 p.m. Monday. Witnesses said there was an explosion...
Texas measles cases are up, and New Mexico now has an outbreak. Here’s what you need to know
The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 58 cases as of Tuesday, and eight people in neighboring eastern New Mexico also have been diagnosed with measles. New Mexico health department spokesman Robert Nott said Tuesday that the agency hadn’t “identified any direct contact” between cases in its...
New York’s governor meets top political leaders as she weighs removing Mayor Eric Adams from office
NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul held a series of meetings with key political figures Tuesday as she contemplates removing Mayor Eric Adams from his office, an unprecedented step that reflects the growing turmoil inside City Hall. The governor’s scheduled sit-downs — with a cohort of influential Black...
U.S. Postal Service head Louis DeJoy to step down after 5 years marked by pandemic, losses and cost cuts
WASHINGTON — Louis DeJoy, the head of the U.S. Postal Service, intends to step down, the federal agency said Tuesday, after a nearly five-year tenure marked by the coronavirus pandemic, surges in mail-in election ballots and efforts to stem losses through cost and service cuts. In a letter on Monday,...
What to know about the airplane that crashed while landing at Toronto’s airport
A passenger jet made a hard landing before it lost a wing, burst into flames and flipped onto its roof at Toronto’s airport, the fourth major aviation accident in North America in the past three weeks. Although 21 people were injured, all 80 people on board the Delta Air Lines...
White House says Elon Musk is not in charge at DOGE, but is advising the president
WASHINGTON — The White House says billionaire Elon Musk is not technically part of the Department of Government Efficiency team that is sweeping through federal agencies, but is rather a senior adviser to President Donald Trump. Musk’s exact role could be key in the legal fight over DOGE’s access to...
Social Security head steps down over DOGE access of recipient information: AP sources
WASHINGTON — The Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information, according to two people familiar with the official’s departure who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Acting Commissioner Michelle...
USAID shutdown is upending livelihoods for nonprofit workers, farmers and other Americans
WASHINGTON — There’s the executive in a U.S. supply-chain company whose voice breaks while facing the next round of calls telling employees they no longer have jobs. And a farmer in Missouri who grew up knowing that a world with more hungry people is a world that’s more dangerous. And...
Florida man charged with attempted murder after shooting 2 men he thought were ‘Palestinians’
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder after opening fire on two men in Miami Beach who he thought were Palestinians. According to an arrest report, Mordechai Brafman shot at the men 17 times in the “unprovoked” attack, telling officers that while...
Leader of cultlike Zizians linked to 6 killings faces bail hearing in Maryland
CUMBERLAND, Md. — The leader of a cultlike group known as the Zizians that is linked to six killings in three states faces a bail hearing Tuesday along with two others who were arrested with her in Maryland. Jack LaSota, 34, of Berkeley, California, also known as Ziz, was arrested...
Arctic air sweeping south over Plains shatters record temperatures in North Dakota
BISMARCK, N.D. — More than 95 million people are facing gripping cold Tuesday as a polar vortex sends temperatures plunging to record levels, closing schools, bursting pipes and forcing communities to set up more temporary shelters for the homeless. “Some of the coldest temperatures of the entire winter season right...
