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Brutally cold weather reaches deep into lower US

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Much of the U.S. remained gripped by deadly Arctic weather Sunday — with subfreezing conditions reaching as far south as Texas and Florida. But the numbing cold is expected to ease up in the coming days. Freezing rain, sleet and high wind gusts later Sunday would make traveling in parts of Kansas and Oklahoma particularly treacherous, the National Weather Service said. Wind chills in Iowa made it feel like minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 7 degrees Celsius) in some parts. But the end of subzero temperatures — which blasted into the U.S. on Friday — was ...

5 firefighters injured in Pittsburgh blaze

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Five firefighters were injured, two by falling through a roof, while battling a blaze at three buildings in a Pittsburgh neighborhood over the weekend, authorities said. Fire crews were called just before 9:30 a.m. Saturday to the Homewood neighborhood where the fire started in one home and spread to two adjacent buildings that contained apartments. Authorities said two firefighters fell through the roof of one of the homes while battling the flames. The roofs of at least two of the houses collapsed. All five injured firefighters were taken to hospitals with ...

N.J. man pleads guilty in Pa. cold case

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A New Jersey man is scheduled for sentencing this week after unexpectedly pleading guilty in the death of a teenager two decades ago in Pennsylvania. Brian Gregory Quinn, 46, of Woodbury, New Jersey, entered the involuntary manslaughter plea Friday in Columbia County Court in Pennsylvania, PennLive reported. Quinn had been awaiting trial on a homicide charge in the January 2001 death of 17-year-old Shamar Washington of Williamsport. Quinn has been in custody for about 22 months since his March 2022 arrest, and the plea agreement calls for a maximum term of ...

2 men charged in Pa. school van crash that killed teenage girl, injured 5

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Two men accused of racing on a public highway in western Pennsylvania are facing charges in a crash involving a school van that left a teenage girl dead. The crash also sent three other juveniles and two critically injured adults — including one of the defendants — to hospitals. Allegheny County police said the Serra Catholic High School van was trying to make a left turn when it was struck by a northbound sedan on Sept. 20 in Dravosburg. The medical examiner’s office said 15-year-old Samantha Lee Kalkbrenner died at the scene. Authorities said three of the ...

Mail-in ballot dating issue rises from the dead on Election Day

Here we go again. In 2020, the question of dates became a major part of the ballot counting process. When mail-in ballots were sent in by Pennsylvania voters, they had to be placed in a security envelope. That envelope was then put inside another envelope for mailing. It was part of an effort to make the ballot itself safe, but it prompted problems when signatures or dates weren’t included everywhere they needed to be. Aside from the presidential race that held the nation’s focus, there were important lower-level races to consider. Pennsylvania’s 45th Senate District battle ...

USDA announces 2022 Census of Agriculture

HARRISBURG — The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will release the 2022 Census of Agriculture data on Feb. 13, 2024. NASS concluded the data collection this summer with a preliminary national return rate of 61%. The preliminary return rate in Pennsylvania is 63%. The ag census, conducted once every five years, was mailed to more than 66,000 producers across Pennsylvania late last year. NASS plans to release the data from the 2022 Puerto Rico Census of Agriculture in summer 2024. Early next year, NASS will conduct the ...