News

Murderer denied chance to argue for another trial

Local News August 29, 2026

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio has refused the request of John E. Drummond Jr. to argue for a new trial based on allegedly newly discovered evidence. Drummond, 49, is on death row in the 2003 shooting death of 3-month old Jiyen C. Dent Jr. on Rutledge Drive on Youngstown’s East Side. Attorneys for Drummond filed a motion in July 2025, asking Donofrio to allow them to file a “delayed” request for a new trial, saying they obtained affidavits from two men who testified at Drummond’s trial, one of whom now says the incriminating ...

Groups make plea for voting rights on anniversary of historic DC march

National News August 29, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters are rallying Friday on the National Mall in support of voting rights and racial justice ahead of the midterm elections, following a wave of changes to voting laws and redistricting that civil rights groups have condemned as detrimental to black ...

Three-year college degrees grow more popular in the US; critics aren’t sold

Business News August 29, 2026

Giles Sims, 34, was sick of getting passed over for jobs because he didn’t have a college degree. But with a wife and a widowed mother to help support, he needed a quick solution. So the laid-off web developer turned to one of a growing number of three-year degree programs. “I can’t ...

Trump loses bid to erase hush-money conviction

National News August 29, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Friday once again spurned Donald Trump’s effort to erase his hush-money conviction, rejecting the president’s bid to move the state court case to federal court and have it dismissed on presidential immunity grounds. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein reiterated his earlier finding against Trump, saying that the reasons Trump cited for renewing his request were “neither new nor legally sufficient.” The judge added: “He has failed to show good cause and diligence.” It is the third time Hellerstein has blocked Trump from having the U.S. ...

Fed Chair Warsh signals rate hikes may be needed with US inflation stubbornly elevated

Business News August 29, 2026

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said Friday that inflation is still too high and suggested the central bank may have to raise interest rates in the coming months to bring it down, a clearer signal than he has previously sent about his economic outlook. In his first high-profile speech at the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Warsh acknowledged that recent U.S. reports show that inflation has cooled a bit, but “they do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.” “We must be confident that underlying inflation is ...