WJPA News

Last week’s heavy rain and flooding in Canonsburg brought business owners to the council meeting Monday night. They voiced concerns about damage to local businesses caused by the flooding and reminded council members that this has been an ongoing issue. Councilman Rich Russo says that Council will be looking at an action plan during a group meeting on Wednesday. Russo also explains that Robinson Pipe will be in Canonsburg next week to work on a pipe that is causing part of the problem. Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome says that there were multiple emergency calls during the most recent flooding. Rhome says that Council will take action and locate grants to help pay for improvements.

Gas prices are six cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at $4.191 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.  The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has fallen nine cents over the past week to $4.00. Crude oil prices are currently in the $80 per barrel range as uncertainty remains about when the Strait of Hormuz will resume normal operations. As of today, more than half of states are paying below $4 per gallon on average. Gas prices typically start going down this time of year, as many schools and universities begin fall semesters, and fewer people are taking road trips compared to earlier in the summer.  According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand decreased slightly last week from 9.04 million barrels per day to 9.03 million. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 211.3 million barrels to 209.7 million. Gasoline production also decreased, averaging 9.6 million barrels per day.

Residents in Peters Township will once again be able to accurately tell what time of day it is now that a new Town Clock has been erected. Peters Township Council dedicated the new time piece that was made possible by a grant from the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency. Their $25,000 American Spirit Grant helped replace a clock that according to Township Manager Paul Lauer, “was right twice each day.” He went on to describe how the clock is a remembrance of America’s 250^th birthday and will be a reminder to residents of the celebration of America’s 250^th birthday. Council Chairman Frank Kosir described the clock as a sturdy structure that will likely stand for decades. According to Jeff Kotula, President of the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency that sponsored the grant, the clock is one of 33 municipal projects throughout Washington County that used the funds to honor the nation’s birthday.

The Washington Post reports that President Donald Trump secretly flew out of last month’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on an alternate military aircraft due to an Iranian assassination threat. The operation involved a ruse where journalists and some White House staff believed they were on the same plane as Trump. After boarding Air Force One, Trump was secretly transferred to a smaller Air Force C-32A via an airport catering truck. The White House did not directly address the report, but issued a statement highlighting that it uses every tool at its disposal to address threats on the president. The Secret Service declined to comment.

U.S. President Donald Trump is scoffing at Iran’s demands that the U.S. pay for devastation caused by five months of war. A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry stressed Monday that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is tied to reparations from the U.S. and other concessions. Trump responded on social media that he now demands that Iran pay for hundreds of American troops killed and wounded by Iran-backed militants over several decades — including more than 600 U.S. service members killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2011.

The Democratic Party’s ideological divide moves into new territory. In Tuesday’s election, the main contest is in swing state Wisconsin where democratic socialist Francesca Hong wants to become her party’s nominee for governor. A Democratic battle for an open Senate seat in Minnesota has become a familiar contest between centrist Rep. Angie Craig and liberal Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. In Connecticut, a onetime insurgent who challenged a famed centrist from the left is now being challenged from the left himself in the governor’s primary. And South Carolina holds yet another primary, this one to select a successor to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Taylor Fresh Foods, parent company of Taylor Farms, is voluntarily recalling some products that include jalapenos because of worries about a possible salmonella contamination. The announcement comes a few weeks after Taylor Farms voluntarily recalled its iceberg lettuce products sourced from central Mexico because of a potential link to a multistate cyclospora outbreak that has sickened people across the U.S.