Wildfires expand in Oregon and California, threatening homes and prompting evacuationsVideo
Wildfires in California wine country and Central Oregon grew overnight, prompting hundreds of evacuations as firefighters worked Sunday to try to contain the blazes amid dry, hot weather. The Pickett Fire in Napa County had grown to more than 10 square miles and was 11% contained as of early Sunday,...
GOP lawmakers push for tariffs tailored to help home-state companies
Congressional Republicans are embracing Donald Trump’s tariff campaign as a way to advance home-state causes, lobbying the president to impose more import duties to protect local companies. The rank-and-file GOP lawmakers’ entreaties, which often present trade actions shoring up favored manufacturers as a winning tactic for midterm elections, bolster the...
Trump says he’ll be at Ryder Cup and he thinks captain Keegan Bradley should play
ATLANTA — President Donald Trump says he will be at the opening round of the high-charged Ryder Cup next month in New York, and he thinks U.S. captain Keegan Bradley should be playing. Trump posted Saturday night on his social media site that he would be there on Friday, Sept....
Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran-backed Houthis rock Yemen’s capital
CAIRO — Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen ‘s capital on Sunday, days after the Houthi rebels fired a missile toward Israel that its military described as the first cluster bomb the rebels had launched at it since 2023. The Iranian-backed Houthis said multiple areas across Sanaa were hit while the Houthi-run...
4 Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces while seeking aid near Gaza City, witnesses say
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces shot dead four Palestinian aid-seekers traveling Sunday through a military zone south of Gaza City that is regularly used to reach a food distribution point, a hospital and witnesses said. Gaza City is in famine after 22 months of war, while Israel’s military...
Hempfield Area drafts 3D designs for high school renovation
Five years after Hempfield Area School District approved a feasibility study for a renovation of its 1956 high school, the district is starting to nail down what the refurbished building will look like. Architect Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates laid out visions for the project in October, and the school board...
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, free for now from jail, could be deported to Uganda. Here’s what to know
The Trump administration plans to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda after he declined a plea deal involving deportation to Costa Rica, his defense attorneys told a court Saturday. He was released from a Tennessee jail on Friday after his case attracted significant attention amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown...
Railroad companies fail to join safety program after toxic Ohio derailment
Two and a half years after a derailed train spewed toxic gases across eastern Ohio, none of the nation’s largest freight railroads have fulfilled promises to join a voluntary federal close call program designed to reduce rail hazards and prevent accidents. Two railroads — BNSF and Norfolk Southern — launched...
Israeli strikes and gunfire kill 33 as Gaza City becomes focus of famine and a military offensive
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza on Saturday, including people sheltering in tents or seeking scarce food, local hospitals said as a famine in Gaza’s largest city sparks new pressure on Israel over its 22-month offensive. Israel’s defense minister has...
Texas lawmakers give final approval to redrawn congressional map favoring GOP, send to governor
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Senate gave final approval to a new, Republican-leaning congressional voting map early Saturday, sending it to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature. President Donald Trump has pushed for the map to help the GOP maintain its slim majority in Congress in the 2026 midterm elections....
Fed Chair Powell faces fresh challenges to Fed independence amid potential rate cuts
WASHINGTON — Now that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that the central bank could soon cut its key interest rate, he faces a new challenge: how to do it without seeming to cave to the White House’s demands. For months, Powell has largely ignored President Donald Trump’s constant...
Trump was once a Republican Party outsider. Now it’s his GOP and the MAGA faithful are in the lead
ATLANTA — Amy Kremer was an early tea party leader who supported Donald Trump for president in 2016. She ran for Congress from Georgia in 2017 and got less than 1% of the Republican primary vote. In 2021, she organized the rally near the White House that took place hours...
First Erik, then Lyle Menendez denied parole; California board says they pose safety risk
LOS ANGELES — Lyle Menendez was denied parole Friday by the same board that a day earlier rejected his brother Erik’s appeal for freedom after serving decades in prison for killing their parents in 1989 at their Beverly Hills mansion. The reason was the same: misbehavior behind bars. A panel...
Judge blocks Trump from cutting funding from 34 cities and counties over ‘sanctuary’ policies
A judge ruled late Friday the Trump administration cannot deny funding to Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and 30 other cities and counties because of policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration efforts. U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco extended a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from cutting...
A President’s House architect is ready to ‘fight’ the Trump administration’s potential exhibit removal next month
PHILADELPHIA — When Troy C. Leonard, who worked on designing the President’s House almost two decades ago, first found out exhibits at the site are at risk under the Trump administration, he said, he was crushed. “I was devastated that the exhibit that we had worked so hard on and...
Epstein’s former girlfriend told Justice Department she did not see Trump act in ‘inappropriate way’
WASHINGTON — Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend repeatedly denied to the Justice Department witnessing any sexually inappropriate interactions with Donald Trump, according to records released Friday meant to distance the Republican president from the disgraced financer. The Trump administration issued hundreds of pages of transcripts from interviews that Deputy Attorney...
Justice Department releases first batch of Epstein files to House committee
The Justice Department on Friday afternoon released the first batch of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation to the House Oversight Committee. The Republican-controlled Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department for the files early this month. The move to do so was initiated by U.S. Rep. Summer...
HHS moves to strip thousands of federal health workers of union rights
NEW YORK — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has moved to strip thousands of federal health agency employees of their collective bargaining rights, according to a union that called the effort illegal. HHS officials confirmed the department is ending its recognition of unions for a number of...
New York tour bus crash on interstate highway leaves 5 passengers dead and many others injured
PEMBROKE, N.Y. — A tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls with 54 people aboard crashed and rolled Friday on an interstate highway, killing five passengers and injuring many others, authorities said. The bus apparently lost control on Interstate 90 near Pembroke, about 25 miles east of...
Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed from Tennessee jail to rejoin family in Maryland, await trial
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released from jail in Tennessee on Friday so he can rejoin his family in Maryland while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges. The Salvadoran national’s case became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda after he was mistakenly deported in March. Facing...
Pa. rebuffs federal request for voter rolls containing personal data
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. Sign up for Votebeat’s free newsletters here. Pennsylvania told the U.S. Justice Department that it will not give federal officials a version of the state’s voter rolls that contains...
Powell signals Fed may cut rates soon even as inflation risks remain
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday opened the door ever so slightly to lowering a key interest rate in the coming months but gave no hint on the timing of a move and suggested the central bank will proceed cautiously as it continues to evaluate...
Trump embraces tough-on-crime mantra amid DC takeover as he and Democrats claim political wins
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump stood among several hundred law enforcement officers, National Guard troops and federal agents at a U.S. Park Police operations center in one of Washington, D.C.’s most dangerous neighborhoods. As the cameras rolled, he offered a stark message about crime, an issue he’s been hammering...
Is empathy a sin? Some conservative Christians argue it can be
WASHINGTON — Empathy is usually regarded as a virtue, a key to human decency and kindness. And yet, with increasing momentum, voices on the Christian right are preaching that it has become a vice. For them, empathy is a cudgel for the left: It can manipulate caring people into accepting...
FBI searches home and office of ex-Trump national security adviser John Bolton
WASHINGTON — The FBI on Friday searched the Maryland home and Washington office of former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton as part of a criminal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter said. Bolton, who emerged as an outspoken critic of...
