WJPA News

South Strabane Township Supervisors heard testimony for three hours from approximately 100 people gathered at the Fire Hall on Oaks Springs Road and dozens more on line regarding the draft version of their ordinance governing data centers. Solicitor Dennis Makel conducted the public hearing. He began by demonstrating on a map the boundaries of the land. He said that the property is being marketed as 1400 acres, but 200 acres are not available for development as that land is located across Interstate 79. After all setbacks are incorporated, Makel says the land available to build is approximately 736 acres. Highlights of the draft ordinance call for 1000 foot setbacks, noise and light control requirements and noise testing. Public opinion was varied with several calling for an outright ban of data centers. Makel cautioned the audience that banning them is illegal. Several area trade organizations touted land owners CNX Corporation as a company willing to work with residents. Others spoke of the construction jobs that would be created. Residents were quick to point out that the data centers, once they are built, will actually, employ very few people. Washington County Real Estate Agent Dorothy Walsko indicated that changes in home appraisal practices, coming in November, will take into account the view and noise of a neighborhood, probably lowering a homes market value. Resident Kathy Pienkowski stated that according to the New York Times, $156 billion in data center investment is being held up by educated residents, a statistic that has Wall Street investors concerned that the trillion dollar promises from data center developers may be in question. Makel says comment from the public hearing could introduce tweaks in the current ordinance.

The City of Washington Police Department is advising motorists that beginning on Monday, April 6th at six a.m. until June 30th, a portion of West Beau Street will be closed in both directions as part of the Courthouse Square demolition work.  The closure on Beau will only be from the Crossroads visitors lot to North Franklin Street, so that the parking lot and the city parking garage will remain open and accessible from North Main Street.

ROSTRAVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A bicyclist was taken to an area hospital after a hit-and-run crash in Westmoreland County. The Rostraver Township Fire Department said emergency crews were called to the C Vance DeiCas Highway near the intersection of Patton Road just before 7:30 p.m Tuesday evening. Investigators say the driver of the vehicle fled the scene. There is no word on the bicyclist’s identity or condition.

UNIONTOWN, Pa. — Police in Fayette County say a child was being pushed out of an apartment window while another was being drowned in a bathtub. The woman accused of this is out on bond, and the District Attorney said the kids are lucky to be alive. “We are very happy that mom was in the area and was able to become involved and protect the children,” said District Attorney Michael Aubele. He says Vira Zabudko is now charged with assaulting two children and their mother in a Uniontown apartment. According to police, the mother, Karen Garcia, left her kids with Zabadko while she moved a few personal items. When she returned, she found Zabudko trying to push her 5-year-old child out of a third-story window. Police said, “Vira Zabudko told the child to get into the shower to wash the sins out because he is dirty.” She’s accused of dunking their heads into an overflowing tub of water. Police said Garcia and Zabudko started fighting and the kids eventually escaped with their mother and called 911. According to the district attorney the kids had no obvious physical injuries but additional charges may be added as the investigation continues. A preliminary hearing is set for April 9th.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to tighten voting rules by creating a national list of eligible voters and limiting mail ballots. The order signed Tuesday directs the Department of Homeland Security to work with the Social Security Administration on state-by-state voter lists. It also seeks to stop the Postal Service from sending absentee ballots to people not on approved lists. The order calls for adding barcodes on ballot envelopes and threatens to withhold federal funds from states that do not comply. Democratic election officials in Oregon, Arizona, and Maine quickly promised lawsuits and non-compliance. Legal experts also question the order’s constitutionality.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran hit a tanker off the coast of Qatar and Kuwait International Airport as Tehran acknowledged for the first time that Washington had been in direct contact about a possible ceasefire. Israel sounded warnings of incoming fire from both Yemen and Iran on Wednesday, while launching its own attacks in Lebanon that killed at least five people. An airstrike on Tehran appeared to have hit the former U.S. Embassy compound, which has been controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard since the 1979 hostage crisis. With no sign of the war abating and more than 3,000 lives already lost, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested it could be over within two weeks even as he moved to bring thousands more troops to the region.

HONG KONG (AP) — Oil has fallen below $100 per barrel and Asian shares are sharply higher, after U.S. stocks soared to their best day in almost a year over renewed hopes that the Iran war could soon end. A barrel of Brent crude oil fell more than 4% on Wednesday to around $99 a barrel. South Korea’s Kospi was up 8.4% and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 5.2%. The renewed optimism comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States will be done attacking Iran probably within two to three weeks. Trump is expected to deliver an address on the Iran war Wednesday evening.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to suspend its construction of a $400 million ballroom where it demolished the East Wing of the White House. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington granted a preservationist group’s request for a preliminary injunction that temporarily halts President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project. Leon wrote that the president is a steward of the White House, not its owner. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued for an order pausing the ballroom project until it undergoes multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say an American journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad and security forces are pursuing her captors. The journalist was identified as freelancer Shelly Kittleson by one of the outlets she worked for. A U.S. official blamed the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah. Two Iraqi security officials said the journalist was kidnapped on Tuesday and that she has U.S. citizenship. They said that two cars were involved in the kidnapping, one of which crashed while being pursued near the town of Al-Haswa in Babil province southwest of Baghdad. The journalist was the transferred to a second car that fled the scene. The U.S. Embassy had warned about kidnapping risks to U.S. citizens during the Iran war.