WJPA News

Peters Township Council continues to amend land ordinances and parcels. The latest change occurred where council took their Mixed Residential Overlay District and made significant changes. Approved unanimously was the housing density figure changing it from six houses per acre to 2.5 houses per acre. Apartments were prohibited and three styles of homes were defined as permitted uses. One of those home styles is for patio homes and a definition of patio homes is provided in the ordinance. Additional coverage and setback figures were also revised. Council Chairman Frank Kosir said the changes were made based on public outcry against cluster housing developments. Township Manager Paul Lauer stated that the amendments abide by the current comprehensive plan enacted in 2013. A review of the township’s new draft comprehensive plan will be on display at an open house on June 24 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the large group instruction room of the Peters Township High School.

Gas prices are seven cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at $4.330 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.  Motorists are getting a break at the pump as the summer travel season heats up. For the first time since mid-March, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is down to $3.92. This marks nearly four straight weeks of declines. Crude oil prices continue to fall as the U.S. and Iran work on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Sliding gas prices come as millions of Americans prepare to travel for Independence Day in record numbers starting next weekend. Today’s national average is 63 cents less than a month ago but 71 cents more than a year ago.  According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand increased last week from 8.73 million barrels per day to 9.21 million. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 215.1 million barrels to 214.2 million. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 10.1 million barrels per day.

UPMC Washington is celebrating the official launch of its therapy dog program with a birthday party for its newest employee, Savior, the golden retriever therapy dog. This program was supported through local donors and is designed to promote a supportive care environment for workers and patients at the hospital. Studies have shown that therapy dogs visiting hospitals have been shown to reduce patient anxiety by an average of 34%.During the celebration, it was announced the the hospital system foundation was being renamed as the Washington Greene Health Foundation. Natalie Chaido, development manager, said that the foundation looks to impact the community by funding different programs with a health and wellness mission that will complement services that the hospital offers in Washington. The foundation is looking into the possibility of expanding the therapy dog program at the Greene County Hospital location.

President Donald Trump is going to a Mack Truck facility in a battleground district in swing state Pennsylvania, casting attention on the U.S. economy in his first major public event beyond the capital since he signed the Iran war agreement. Trump’s visit Tuesday to the Allentown-area business comes just about a week after he approved the initial deal to halt hostilities with Iran and as his negotiators work out the finer details. It’s the president’s fifth second-term visit to Pennsylvania, a key state whose support in 2016 and 2024 helped him to the White House.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has told lawmakers it needs roughly $80 billion, mostly to cover the cost of the war in Iran. The proposal would add to what is already a sizable defense spending boost being sought by President Donald Trump. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said senators would review the proposal when it was formally submitted. But Democrats and some Republicans have been highly critical of Trump’s military actions against Iran and skeptical of the deal the president made to end the war. The money, largely to replenish stockpiles, comes as Trump is seeking $1.5 trillion this year for the Defense Department, a 50% increase.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is traveling to Pakistan for talks with leaders mediating negotiations between Tehran and Washington. Tuesday’s visit comes as technical teams in Switzerland work on details of a deal following high-level talks Monday between Iran and the United States. Also Tuesday, Iran said there’s been no visit scheduled for inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to see nuclear sites earlier bombed by the United States. The remarks by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei in Tehran, Iran’s capital, appear to cut against those made by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who said negotiations in Switzerland won an agreement for the IAEA to visit Iranian sites.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that a revamped federal tool that state election officials have used in their efforts to identify illegally registered noncitizen voters is unlawful and cannot be used. U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan on Monday sided with advocacy groups that argued the recent upgrades to the program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, aggregated Americans’ sensitive personal data in a way that could result in voters being wrongly purged from voter rolls. The tool has been around for decades and was recently upgraded. But some election officials have raised concerns about its accuracy and security.

PARIS (AP) — France is experiencing another day of scorching heat, with most of the population exposed to extreme temperatures. Meteo France has placed 54 departments under a red heat wave alert. The heat is expected to last until at least the end of the week, with highs above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in many towns. The extreme weather is being compared to a notorious heat wave in August 2003, in which an estimated 15,000 people died. Europe is warming at twice the global average, and human-caused climate change is linked to increasingly extreme weather. The U.N. climate agency projects more heat records in the next five years.