March 20, 2024 5:05 am
JEANNETTE, Pa. — Four children and an adult were killed in a fire Wednesday morning in a home on Guy Street in Jeannette, just off Harrison Avenue. Fire officials tell our news partners at WPXI, an adult and two children were rescued before flames spread out of control. Video from the scene shows intense flames that spread to a neighbor’s home. Both houses are a total loss, officials said. Flames also spread to a vehicle when the house collapsed. “We had an issue with the water supply,” Jeannette Fire Chief Billy Frye said. “The first hydrant that we hit gave us a little bit of water but not even enough to make it up the hill to the scene, so we did run off of tank water at one point. At that point, the fire was well involved and we had to pull our guys out.” The cause of the fire is under investigation.
March 20, 2024 10:22 am
It looks like the Washington City Mission will land a $500,000 LSA grant after all. At the request of County Commissioners, the Local Share Account committee reconvened for a virtual meeting Wednesday morning to again consider the Mission’s grant request towards its women’s shelter project. The meeting lasted less than thirty minutes and ended with a unanimous vote on a motion to amend the original vote and add the project to its list of projects for approval. It now goes back to County Commissioners for a vote that is expected at their Thursday morning meeting. Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi says the project was on an initial list of 51 projects recommended by the LSA Committee for approval totaling $9.2 million but was then excluded from a list commissioners approved last month that totaled 50 projects and $8.7 million. Former, longtime Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan (pictured) is now the President and CEO of the City Mission and took part in the the virtual meeting. She and others from the Mission answered questions from the board before the vote was taken. Irey Vaughan is thrilled that the project will land the funding. Maggi, who led the effort to get the project back to the LSA board, is also happy. He tells WJPA News the committee “did the right thing” but he also has concerns that what transpired will lead some to question the grant awarding process.
March 20, 2024 5:12 am
Charleroi Borough Council has made it official, Joe Manning is back as their Manager. The former Washington City Councilman was officially hired on a 5-2 vote during a reconvened meeting Tuesday. He is to receive a salary of $63,000. Council members Larry Celaschi and Joe Smith voted against. According to the Mon Valley Independent, Celaschi expressed concerns about Manning’s education and experience. Manning was initially hired as Charleroi’s Manager back in June of 2021 but served only six months before leaving in January of 2022. No official reason was provided and a non-disclosure agreement was reached between the two sides.
March 20, 2024 4:58 am
North Strabane Township Supervisors held a conditional use hearing for a proposed housing development near Peters Lake Park. The Collective at Peters Lake is a proposed 41 unit development that will be situated on both sides of North Spring Valley Road. The concept design calls for 12 units on the west side of the road and 29 units on the east side. The 35.5 acre development is seeking approval for a conservation subdivision that will allow houses to be built on quarter acre lots with dedicated greenspace set aside to make up for the difference of the required half acre minimum lot size in an R-2 residential zone. Steven Victor of Victor Wetzel Associates presented the plan on behalf of developer Laurel Communities, LLC. He indicated that this meeting is the first step in the process and the design presented is conceptual. The developer was attentive to traffic concerns not only along the rugged North Spring Valley Road but also its impact on traffic on Waterdam Road. Pedestrian safety along with environmental impact concerns regarding Peters Lake Park were also raised. Supervisors will address the item in their April meeting.
March 20, 2024 5:14 am
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A federal appeals court has again prevented Texas from arresting and deporting migrants accused of entering the U.S. illegally, hours after the the law briefly took effect. Before a divided U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday let the state law take effect while a legal challenge plays out, some sheriffs were ready to relish an unprecedented state expansion into border enforcement, while others were reluctant. Hours later, an order by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put the law again on hold.
March 20, 2024 5:18 am
TOKYO (AP) — Seven people have been pronounced dead after a South Korean tanker ship capsized off an island in southwestern Japan, the coast guard said Wednesday afternoon, out of nine crew members found so far. Authorities confirmed that one member of the crew was alive, and described another’s condition as unknown. Earlier, authorities said all nine were in “unknown condition.” The coast guard is still searching for two more people who were on the chemical tanker, which flipped over after reporting trouble in a rough sea.
March 20, 2024 5:16 am
PHOENIX (AP) — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band returned to the stage at the Footprint Center in Phoenix in a triumphant reboot of the Boss’ postponed 2023 world tour. In September, Springsteen, 74, announced his tour would be delayed until 2024, citing doctor’s advice as he recovered from peptic ulcer disease. In September, Springsteen, 74, announced his tour would be delayed until 2024, citing doctor’s advice as he recovered from peptic ulcer disease. The 29-song show came in just under three hours, but “The Boss” hardly broke a sweat while showing off a strong voice, all the while dancing, ripping into guitar solos, playing the harmonica and even tearing his shirt open near the end of the show.
March 19, 2024 2:22 am
(WPXI) – A Bethel Park man was caught – for a second time – trying to take a loaded gun onto a flight at Pittsburgh International Airport Friday. The man was stopped by Transportation Security Administration officers with a .380 caliber handgun loaded with six bullets among his carry-on items. He did not have a valid permit to carry a firearm. The man was also caught with a gun in 2014. The catch brings the total number of guns caught at the airport’s checkpoints to seven so far in the first eight weeks of the new year.
March 19, 2024 3:46 pm
MIAMI (AP) — Peter Navarro is now the first senior Trump administration official to serve prison time related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. The former trade advisor under President Donald Trump has reported to prison to begin serving his sentence for refusing to cooperate with the House Jan. 6 committee. Navarro was defiant in remarks to reporters near a prison complex in Miami on Tuesday, where he will serve a four-month sentence after being found guilty of contempt of Congress charges. Navarro has maintained that he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because former President Donald Trump had invoked executive privilege. Courts have rejected that argument, finding he couldn’t prove Trump had actually invoked it. (Photo: ABC)
March 19, 2024 5:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is making the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol a cornerstone of his bid to return to the White House. Trump opened his first rally as the presumed Republican Party presidential nominee standing in salute with a recorded chorus of Jan. 6 prisoners singing the national anthem. It’s not just rewriting the violent siege of the Capitol and the effort to overturn the 2020 election. It’s an attempt to normalize their behavior — and his — as the indicted Trump faces charges stemming from Jan. 6. Those who study authoritarian regimes say voters should pay attention as Trump vows to pardon Jan. 6 offenders.
