WJPA News

A pair of Washington County fire departments will receive grants to fund the purchase of specialty gear. The Charleroi Fire Department will receive $4,620 and the Marianna Volnteer Fire Company will receive $3,066 from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The grant is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The funding may be used for the purchase of critical wildfire suppression equipment, protective gear, communications tools and training.

North Strabane Township emergency responders were dispatched to an accident on Interstate 79 North on Wednesday night. According to Washington County 9-1-1, at 11:55 pm a tractor trailer and a car collided at mile marker 45. One person was treated for injuries at the scene. Traffic lanes were restricted for about one hour. No other details are available.

The City of Washington Police Department has announced upcoming traffic restrictions due to site preparation work for the planned demolition work at Courthouse Square on West Beau Street.  Those restrictions will take effect early Friday morning and are expected to be in place until the end of business on Tuesday.  Police say temporary mid-block stop signs will be installed to allow alternating traffic through the work zone;  parking meter restrictions will be in place on West Beau Street in the active demolition area.  As a result – parking will be prohibited there during this time and police say you can expect minor traffic delays as well.  As for visitors who need to access the Crossroads Building at 95 West Beau Street, you are being asked to please utilize the parking garage for convenient access during this time.  Police are suggesting as well, that if you can find an alternate way around this area, it will help keep everyone safe and reduce congestion.  Police say they will be monitoring the area to assist with traffic flow and ensure safety.  Washington County Commission Chair Nick Sherman says the big equipment is being brought in on Friday but the actual demolition work won’t start till Tuesday.  He says that work was expected to start earlier, but engineers said a wall needed to be created to shore up the foundation.  Sherman says they are excited for the new building since the current one was in pretty bad shape.

WEST MIFFLIN, Pa.-(WPXI) — Phase three of the Mon/Fayette Expressway is about to get underway, bringing new construction to parts of Jefferson Hills and Duquesne. At an open house on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Turnpike leaders outlined plans for the next section of the long-running project. This phase will extend the toll road from Route 51 in Jefferson Hills to Route 837 in Duquesne. Construction will impact areas near Camp Hollow Road and Pittsburgh McKeesport Boulevard. Crews plan to excavate land, close some roads for weeks at a time and build noise walls. The expressway is funded through oil company franchise tax revenue, toll revenue and a state transportation funding law signed in 2013. Turnpike officials said limited funding has created challenges in completing the overall project. Officials said that because funding is evaluated based on state revenue, which remains low, there is no set timeline for when the entire expressway will be finished.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says it is looking into whether it improperly withheld documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files. The announcement Wednesday comes after several news organizations reported that records involving uncorroborated accusations made by a woman against President Donald Trump were not among those released to the public. The reports say the Justice Department did not release some summaries of interviews that the FBI conducted with an unidentified woman who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by both Trump and Epstein when she was a minor in the 1980s. The Justice Department has said that the FBI received many “untrue and sensationalist” claims about Trump that are included in the files.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts and Nevis (AP) — Marco Rubio is visiting the Caribbean, where he’s defending the Trump administration’s military operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. The secretary of state tells leaders from the 15-member Caribbean Community bloc that Venezuela and the region are better off as a result of that U.S. raid. Rubio said Wednesday that he offered the defense without “apology” or “apprehension.” Caribbean leaders have been unsettled by the Maduro operation, particularly because it was accompanied by a significant hardening of U.S. policies in the Western Hemisphere.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance has announced that the Trump administration would “temporarily halt” some Medicaid funding to the state of Minnesota over fraud concerns, as part of what he described as an aggressive crackdown on misuse of public funds. Vance, who made the announcement Wednesday with Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the administration was taking the action “in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.” Wednesday’s move is part of a larger Trump administration effort to spotlight fraud around the country.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — FIFA President Gianni Infantino says he has “complete confidence” in Mexico as a World Cup co-host despite days of cartel violence in the country that has left at least 70 people dead. FIFA says Mexico can still safely co-host the World Cup despite deadly cartel violence linked to a top drug lord’s death. On Monday, authorities report at least 70 deaths after cartel members burn cars and block roads in many states. The unrest follows the death of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” Some local league matches have already been postponed. FIFA President Gianni Infantino says he trusts President Claudia Sheinbaum and Mexico’s authorities.

BEIJING (AP) — China and Germany have pledged to deepen ties despite differences over Russia’s war in Ukraine. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz held talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday in Beijing. Xi says that the more turbulent and complex the world becomes, the more China and Germany should strengthen strategic communication and enhance strategic mutual trust. Merz, on a two-day visit to China, says Europe wants a partnership with China that is balanced, reliable and fair. He also says global crises, including the war in Ukraine, cannot be tackled without Beijing.