November 7, 2023 2:39 am
Washington High School was put on a “soft lock-down” Monday afternoon for a brief period of time after city police informed district officials that they were pursing someone several blocks away from the school. District Superintendent George Lammay told WJPA News that there was never a gun on school grounds and no students were involved. The soft lock-down, he said, was out of an abundance of caution and came near dismissal time. He says there were no injuries and students were dismissed at their regular time.
November 6, 2023 11:59 pm
Washington County Elections Director Melanie Ostrander is predicting a thirty-five-percent voter turn-out for today’s general election. Ostrander says they sent out more than fifteen-thousand absentee and mail-in ballots out and have so far, received back some more than twelve-thousand-eight-hundred. Ostrander says of those, more than nine-thousand-five-hundred were from Democratic voters and more than two-thousand-five-hundred were from Republican voters. Ostrander says the pre-canvass process began at 7 a.m. this morning and will be overseen, by law, by representatives of the parties on the ballot and the candidates on the ballot. She says a sheriff’s deputy will also be on hand to provide security. The polls close at eight p.m. Any voters who need a ride to the polls to vote in person may call the local NAACP office for assistance at 724-222-7820. WJPA will provide full election coverage after the polls close.
November 6, 2023 10:42 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump defended his wealth and business on Monday, tangling from the witness stand with the judge overseeing his civil fraud trial and denouncing as a “political witch hunt” a lawsuit accusing him of dramatically inflating his net worth. Trump’s long-awaited testimony about property valuations and financial statements was punctuated by personal jabs at a judge he said was biased against him and at the state attorney general, whom he derided as a “political hack.” He proudly boasted of his real estate business — “I’m worth billions of dollars more than the financial statements” — and disputed claims that he had deceived banks and insurers. “This is the opposite of fraud,” he declared. Referring to New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat whose office brought the case, he said, “The fraud is her.” The civil trial is one of numerous legal proceedings Trump is confronting, including federal and state charges accusing him of crimes including illegally hoarding classified documents and scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential election. His legal and political strategies have now become completely intertwined as he hopscotches between campaign events and court hearings – a schedule that will only intensify once his criminal trials begin. (Photo: AP)
November 6, 2023 6:50 am
One person was taken into custody at the scene of a house fire in the City of Washington Sunday morning. Washington County 9-1-1 says the fire was called in just before 11 a.m in the 600-block of Beech Street. Heavy smoke was reported from the two-story home when firefighters arrived. Dispatchers say the fire was immediately considered suspicious and police took an unidentified person into custody and called for the State Police Fire Marshall to investigate. No other information is currently available.
November 6, 2023 5:18 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds plans to endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president. The endorsement would give DeSantis’ campaign a boost as he struggles to show progress against Donald Trump in the Republican primary. DeSantis has pinned his chances of emerging as an alternative to Trump alternative squarely on Iowa. Reynolds is breaking with long-standing Iowa tradition to endorse him. The state’s governor typically stays neutral before the caucuses that kick off the GOP nomination calendar. She’s expected to announce the endorsement at a Monday rally in Des Moines. The plans were disclosed by two people familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity before the rally.
November 6, 2023 5:16 am
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Aid is trickling in to villages in Nepal’s mountainous northwest hit by a strong earthquake over the weekend as survivors searched through the rubble of their collapsed homes to salvage what was left of their belongings. The strong temblor late on Friday killed 157 people and injured 256, leaving thousands homeless. Authorities rushed food supplies, tents and medicines to the villages on Monday as rescue and search teams said they were wrapping up their efforts. In the village of Chepare, people were moving piles of rocks and logs that used to be their homes, looking for anything they could salvage.
November 6, 2023 5:15 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops have surrounded Gaza City and cut off the northern part of the besieged Hamas-ruled territory as communications lost overnight for several hours were gradually being restored. Troops are expected to enter the city Monday or Tuesday, and are likely to face militants fighting street by street using a vast network of tunnels. Casualties will likely rise on both sides in the month-old war, which has already killed more than 9,700 Palestinians. Israel has rejected U.S. suggestions for a pause in fighting to facilitate humanitarian aid deliveries and the release of some of the estimated 240 captives seized by Hamas in the raid that started the war one month ago.
November 6, 2023 5:14 am
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a grueling Middle East tour in Turkey after only limited success in efforts to forge a regional consensus on how best to ease Gaza’s civilian suffering as Israel intensifies its war against Hamas. Blinken met on Monday in the Turkish capital of Ankara with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (pictured) after a frantic weekend of travel that took him from Israel to Jordan, the occupied West Bank, Cyprus and Iraq to build support for the Biden administration’s proposal for “humanitarian pauses” to Israel’s relentless military campaign in Gaza. Blinken hopes that pauses in the war would allow for the release of hostages captured by Hamas and prevent the conflict from spreading regionally.
November 6, 2023 5:11 am
MCKEESPORT, Pa. — (WPXI) – The war in the Middle East created some tension in Allegheny County on Sunday. At least one person was escorted by police out of a county executive campaign event where Senator John Fetterman was speaking. Fetterman was in the area to support county executive candidate Sara Innamorato. As he took the stage a man began shouting. “4 dead children in Palestine. 9K plus dead civilians. Get off the stage,” the man said. Senator Fetterman did not engage and as the shouting continued a woman also joined in. As security walked over to the table the two were sitting at the shouting continued. Fetterman told the man, because of his stroke, he could not fully understand what he was yelling about. The man threw up his hands as security began escorting him out and police stepped in and guided him out the back door. The woman the man was with followed behind, calling on Fetterman to support a ceasefire.
November 6, 2023 5:03 am
Two people were transported to Pittsburgh hospitals after a police chase and crash over the weekend. Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers say the chase began along Interstate 79 in North Strabane and traveled along Morganza Road in Southpointe and finally ended with the crash at the intersection of West McMurray Road and Oakwood Road in Peters Township. According to dispatchers, the vehicle involved in the chase crashed into another vehicle. The male driver of the vehicle being chased was flown by medical helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital. A female in the vehicle that was struck was taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital. There is no word on their identities or conditions.
