News

Trump: All states joining Medicaid drug pricing model

National News September 18, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that all 50 states will join in on a program set to provide Most Favored Nation pricing to some drugs within the Medicaid program, bringing the net price of selected drugs down to prices paid in certain other countries. The Trump administration claims that Medicaid will save billions on prescription drug costs as a result of the plan, dubbed the Medicaid “GENEROUS” model. Experts say the savings are unclear since the content of the deals isn’t public. “This one thing alone should win us the midterms,” Trump told ...

Daily Briefing

National News September 18, 2026

District of columbia Testosterone testing mandatory for troops WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has rolled out formal guidance for mandatory testosterone testing for male service members 30 and older. The policy leaves out women for now and faces questions from medical experts about the need for such a program. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in July that a new program to screen troops for “testosterone deficiency” was necessary to allow them to operate at their “absolute best.” The new clinical guidance was released late Thursday. It clarifies that the mandatory ...

Intergovernmental Stormwater Committee exceeds requirement for sediment reduction

Local News September 18, 2026

During the past seven years, the Intergovernmental Stormwater Committee has exceeded its requirement to reduce the amount of sediment that annually flows into area streams by more than 700,000 pounds per year, according to ISC stormwater coordinator Chelsey Weyant. The requirement of the seven-year Department of Environmental Protection permit cycle — initially five years long — was to shrink the amount of sediment washed into area streams in the committee’s nine-municipality urbanized area in central Blair County by 1.4 million pounds per year. That represented a 10% ...

Iran war’s cost at $43.6B in new US estimate

National News September 18, 2026

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military’s price tag for the Iran war has grown to $43.6 billion as of Sept. 3, according to a new estimate provided this week to lawmakers. The figure from U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, offers the most up-to-date cost for the conflict since it was launched by the United States and Israel on Feb. 28. A Congressional Budget Office report released Tuesday said the war had cost $38 billion through Aug. 1 and will continue to rack up expenses of about $3 billion a month depending on the conflict’s intensity. The new ...

Pennsylvania unemployment rate dips to 3.7%

Local News September 18, 2026

The number of people working in Pennsylvania hit another record high in August while the number of people looking for work dropped, new data from the Department of Labor and Industry shows. It’s the third month in a row state officials have touted a record-breaking number of people working in Pennsylvania. There are, however, some indications that things are not as rosy as they appear. The unemployment rate was down 0.2%, dipping to 3.7%, the lowest rate since May 2024. The unemployment rate was down 0.7% from August 2025. The number of people looking for work in August was down ...

China’s porcelain city carries centuries-old heritage

National News September 18, 2026

JINGDEZHEN, China — Chinese porcelain artist Chen Qing has a vivid memory of her grandfather. It was the only time he wrote down the formula for her family’s distinctive red pigment. He asked her mother to memorize it and burned the paper minutes later. The secret has since been passed down orally from one generation to the next. “My mother did not reveal the formula to me until I was over 30,” Chen said. Her family has practiced the craft since around 1860 in Jingdezhen, known as China’s “Porcelain Capital.” It is located in Jiangxi province, about 735 miles ...