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Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Sprawling patches of Japanese knotweed are choking creekbanks and roadsides all over Northeastern Pennsylvania this summer, highlighting the persistence of the invasive species. What makes knotweed especially challenging is not just how fast it grows, but how easily it spreads and how resistant it is to removal. Those traits have made it one of the region’s most challenging invasive plants, a problem rooted in the biology of the species itself.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... SUGARLOAF TWP. — After 15 years as supervisor, Rick Weaver decided he served long enough. Weaver had intended to retire by the end of the year, but he accelerated plans after a special meeting on July 3 was punctuated by shouts, insults and profanity. “That meeting broke the camel’s back for me.

Here’s who is playing in the 2026 men’s World Cup today, July 18, in the third-place match. MORE: 2026 men’s World Cup bracket World Cup TV Schedule July 18 Third-Place Match France vs. England, 5 p.m. ET, 2 p.m. PT, Miami Stadium (FOX, Telemundo, Peacock) Note: Matches on Telemundo and Peacock are in Spanish.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Today is Saturday, July 18, the 199th day of 2026. There are 166 days left in the year. Today in History: On July 18, 1964, nearly a week of rioting erupted in New York’s Harlem neighborhood following the fatal police shooting of a Black teenager, James Powell, two days earlier. Also on this date: In 1536, the English Parliament passed an act declaring the authority of the pope void in England.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Greater Hazleton Area Third Annual Rockin’ the Mountain Music Series: Area open 3 p.m.; show starts 4 p.m. Saturdays, July 18 and 25. City View Park, Hazleton. All welcome; all ages; free. Food trucks, beer tent. Outside food and adult beverage not allowed. Bring folding chairs or a picnic blanket. July 18, BonPoison with opening act Tori V and the Karma; July 25, A Proud Monkey tribute to Dave Matthews Band with opening act Triple Fret.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Let’s start by ignoring what we know to be true. Cast aside the fact that no widespread fraud was discovered in the 2020 general election. Overlook the mountains of evidence discovered that noncitizens did not cast ballots in result-altering droves. Ignore the fact that many of Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters publicly conceded that the Republican lost that election to Democrat Joe Biden.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... The need to reform Social Security — to keep by far the most important government assistance program solvent — has long been obvious. The Baby Boom from 1946 to 1964 kept the ratio of workers paying Social Security taxes to the number of retirees receiving Social Security benefits at a healthy level for decades.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Flyers have agreed to terms with defenseman Jamie Drysdale on a four-year contract worth $26 million. Drysdale will count $6.5 million against the salary cap through the 2029-30 NHL season. “We’re excited to have Jamie remain a key part of our organization for years to come,” Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said in a statement on Friday.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... By SARAH RAZA SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota cannot enforce its abortion advertising ban against a reproductive health nonprofit, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler issued a preliminary injunction blocking South Dakota from enforcing the recently adopted state law against New York-based Mayday Health and plaintiff Nancy Turbak Berry. The judge said the nonprofit was likely to win the case.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... By JOSH KELETY A federal appeals court ruled Friday that New Jersey’s bans on assault firearms and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds are unconstitutional. This is the first time a federal appeals court has struck down a state ban on such weapons, and it comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider whether bans on semiautomatic rifles violate the Second Amendment.