WJPA News

The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) announced Thursday that Washington County has been awarded a sizable grant to increase access to reliable,  high-speed internet services.  Among the successful bidders in this area was the Washington County Authority and its internet service provider partner Comcast, which received $9.4 million. The funding will bring service to 2,700 unserved homes and businesses across 400 miles.  The grant was federally funded by the Broadband Infrastructure Program which awarded a total of two-hundred-million-dollars in grant money for projects across the state.  Projects in Beaver, Butler and Westmoreland counties were also funded, but none in rural Greene or Fayette counties, where internet access is often spotty at best.

A Monongahela man faces trial in connection with a fire at The Main Street Tavern in March.  Following his preliminary hearing, 29-year-old Hunter McMahon was held for court on multiple charges, including arson, aggravated assault of an officer and public drunkenness.  Authorities say he was seen setting fire to a dumpster behind the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant and then behind the bar.  Police say there is a video of McMahon at the tavern.  Police also say they found two lighters on him.  McMahon remains in the Washington County Jail in lieu of two-hundred and fifty-thousand-dollars bond.  

An inmate at SCI Fayette has died. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said Aurelio Rivera-Lopez, 50, was found unresponsive in his cell during regular rounds. Life-saving measures were started by security staff until medical staff arrived. Rivera-Lopez had been at SCI Fayette since October 2023. He was convicted of robbery in Lancaster County and sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison. Pennsylvania State Police are investigating, per state policy. The official cause of death will be determined by the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.

An Avella man was killed in a one-vehicle crash Wednesday evening in Independence Township.  The Washington County Coroner’s office say 29 year old Cody Hukill was pronounced dead at the scene in the 2-thousand block of Avella Road (Route 50).  The crash occurred just after 7 p.m.  Investigators say he lost control while traveling east and struck a tree.  He was not wearing a seatbelt. A cause and manner of death are pending.  State Police are investigating.

A Burgettstown man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers with a weapon during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Thirty-one-year-old Joshua Lee Atwood is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of civil disorder; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon; entering, remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and an act of physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon. Authorities say a man, later identified as Atwood, was seen in police body-worn camera and open-source video footage attacking law enforcement officers defending the Lower West Terrace Tunnel between approximately 4:51 p.m. and 5:03 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021. The Tunnel was the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement that day. The FBI arrested Atwood Wednesday in Burgettstown and he made his initial court appearance in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

NEW YORK (AP) — A jury of 12 people has been seated in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York. Alternates are now being selected. The rapid progress Thursday afternoon propels the case closer to opening statements and weeks of testimony in a case charging the Republican with falsifying business records to suppress stories about his sex life in the final days of the 2016 election. The jury includes a sales professional, a software engineer, an English teacher and multiple lawyers. The case centers on $130,000 Trump’s lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels. Trump faces 34 felony counts. He denies any wrongdoing.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Joe Biden has accepted endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family. The Kennedy family backing came during a campaign stop Thursday in Philadelphia as the Democratic incumbent aims to undermine Republican Donald Trump and marginalize the candidacy of independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The decision to highlight the Kennedy family endorsement with Election Day more than six months away is an indication of how seriously Biden’s team is taking the threat of a long-shot candidate using the Kennedy name to siphon support. The candidate’s sister Kerry delivered the endorsements by calling Biden her hero. Kennedy Jr. writes on social media his campaign is about “healing America.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has dismissed all impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, ending the House Republican push to remove the Cabinet secretary from office over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border and ending his trial before arguments even began. Senate Democrats argued that the articles were unconstitutional. The first article charged Mayorkas with “willful and systemic refusal to comply” with immigration law. The second article charged Mayorkas with a “breach of trust” for saying the border was secure. The votes were 51-48 and 51-49, both along party lines. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the House Republicans’ case failed to meet “the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will decide whether and how to respond to Iran’s major air assault earlier this week, brushing off calls for restraint. Israel has vowed to respond to Iran’s unprecedented attack, leaving the region bracing for further escalation after months of fighting in Gaza. Israel’s allies have been urging Israel to hold back on any response that could spiral. The pressure came as Iran’s president warned that even the “tiniest” invasion would bring a “massive and harsh” response. Israel and Iran have waged a long shadow war, but the weekend strike was Iran’s first direct military attack on Israel. Iran held an annual army parade at a new location Wednesday, possibly to avoid being targeted.

(AP) – Guitar legend Dickey Betts, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” has died. He was 80. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer died at his home in Osprey, Florida, David Spero, Betts’ manager of 20 years, told The Associated Press by phone. He says Betts had been battling cancer for more than a year and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Betts shared lead guitar duties with Duane Allman in the original Allman Brothers Band to help give the group its distinctive sound and create a new genre: Southern rock. Acts ranging from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Kid Rock were influenced by the Allmans’ music, which combined the blues, country, R&B and jazz with ’60s rock.  (Photo:  AP)