WJPA News

An assistant district attorney in Washington County is awaiting a preliminary hearing after being arrested for drunk driving. North Strabane Township Police arrested 37-year-old Rachel Anne Wheeler Friday night around ten o’clock after she drove through a red light in the township. Wheeler, who lives in North Strabane, allegedly drove through the red light while traveling north on Route Nineteen at the intersection with Racetrack Road. After being stopped by an officer, Wheeler took a breathalyzer test at the scene and her blood-alcohol content was above the legal limit. She has been charged with misdemeanors for driving under the influence. Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh says he can not comment on the case because it is a personnel matter, however, he did confirm to WJPA that Wheeler submitted her resignation on Tuesday and her case will be prosecuted by the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.

Washington County Commission Chairman Nick Sherman on Tuesday, spoke with WJPA News regarding a lawsuit filed this week against the county’s election board for their decision to not allow ballot-curing in the spring primary election.  The suit was filed was filed on behalf of seven voters, the Center for Coalfield Justice and the Washington Branch of the NAACP.  They were represented by the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Public Interest Law Center and Dechert, LLP stating the decision made by the board of elections, that is made up of the three county commissioners, disenfranchised 259 county voters by not allowing the county elections department to contact voters who voted by mail and had correctable errors with their ballots. The decision to not allow curing is a reversal of previous protocol that allowed the department to contact voters about their mistakes and address the errors.  The suit alleges that the county violated the voters’ procedural due process rights.  Sherman,  however, maintains that the elections board followed the strict letter of the law and will continue to do so.  He says the lawsuit may actually hurt the surrounding counties that allowed ballot curing, because once the suit goes through the legal system, he’s sure state law will prevail.  Sherman added that if people want to see change in the way mail-in ballots are handled, they should contact their legislators because that would need to be done on a state level.

According to a report in the Pittsburgh Business Times, Washington Crown Center Mall in North Franklin Township is for sale. The report says the owner, New York based Kohan Retail Investment Group, has put the property up for sale. Kohan Retail purchased the property, which totals more than 434-thousand square feet on eighty-four acres, in 2016 for twenty-million-dollars.

A legal action was filed against Washington County on Monday for the actions taken by the Washington County Board of Elections to disallow ballot curing in the most recent primary election held last April. Seven voters, The Center for Coalfield Justice and the Washington Branch of the NAACP were represented by the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Public Interest Law Center and Dechert, LLP stating the decision made by the board of elections, that is made up of the three county commissioners, disenfranchised 259 county voters by not allowing the county elections department to contact voters who voted by mail and had correctable errors with their ballots. The decision to not allow curing is a reversal of previous protocol that allowed the department to contact voters about their mistakes and address the errors. One of those voters, Bruce Jacobs, says “I wish county officials had respected me, as an American with the fundamental right to vote, and given me a chance to address my error.” The lawsuit, Center for Coalfield Justice et al v. Washington County Board of Elections, has been filed in the Washington County Court of Common Pleas. The plaintiffs argue that the county violated the voters’ procedural due process rights. Lawyers will soon file a preliminary injunction motion to hasten the decision making process to ensure appellate courts have time before voting begins to review the issue.

Cecil Township Supervisors met Monday night and were faced with a roomful of residents that are concerned about oil and gas drilling in their township. Despite no specific voting item appearing on the agenda, nearly a dozen residents took a microphone to encourage supervisors to pass an updated ordinance that contains 2500 foot setbacks for well pads. They also want to have the process completed quickly before residents lose interest in the issue. Supervisor Chairman Tom Casciola told residents that they are working on making the ordinance better with expanded setbacks chief among the changes. He said that there is still no consensus on just what the setback distance should be. Casciola announced that on August 19, another public hearing will be held on the Oil and Gas Ordinance amendments.  In other township business, supervisors approved the purchase of a new fire department pumper truck. The new truck will cost $977,882 with a $41,500 cash discount. It will be paid for primarily by fire tax funds and American Rescue Plan Act funds. Supervisors also approved $18,749 in expenditures for video surveillance and electronic access control systems for the new Public Works building.

FINDLAY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – The travel rush is on at Pittsburgh International Airport. The line to the security checkpoint was out the door early Monday morning, with more than a 30-minute wait, and now, TSA is making a change to reduce the waits. Starting next Monday, to alleviate the long lines between the hours of 4 a.m. and 7 a.m., Monday through Friday, TSA says the alternate checkpoint at the airport will be exclusively for TSA pre-check customers. Pre-check lanes at the main checkpoint will not be open. The airport had its busiest May in 17 years. Last Monday was the busiest day at the security checkpoint in five years, so busy that there were long lines resulting in missed flights. TSA is advising travelers to arrive two and a half to three hours before their flight.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders says he’s not confident President Joe Biden can win the election this fall in the wake of last week’s debate. But like most of the rest of the Democrats in Congress, he says he does not want Biden to step aside. The Vermont senator’s unyielding support for the embattled president highlights the divide between the Democratic Party’s leadership and the private conversations of many donors, strategists and party insiders who want to replace Biden to avoid what many see as certain defeat this November. There is a growing sense among concerned Democrats that the party is trapped by a primary process set up to protect Biden as elected officials remain unwilling to say out loud what some say in private.  (Photo:  AP)

(AP) – Former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case has been postponed until at least Sept. 18. The judge agreed Tuesday to put it off while weighing the possible impact of a new Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity. Trump had been scheduled to face sentencing July 11 on his New York conviction on felony charges of falsifying business records. He denies any wrongdoing. A Supreme Court ruling Monday granted broad immunity protections to presidents, while also restricting prosecutors from citing any official acts as evidence in trying to prove a president’s unofficial actions violated the law.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rudolph Giuliani has been disbarred in New York. The former New York City mayor, federal prosecutor and legal adviser to Donald Trump received the decision Tuesday from an appeals court in Manhattan. The court ruled Giuliani repeatedly made false statements about the Republican Trump’s 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Giuliani had already had his New York law license suspended for false statements he made after the election. Giuliani was the primary mouthpiece for Trump’s false claims of election fraud after the 2020 vote. Giuliani’s spokesperson hasn’t responded to an email and a phone call seeking comment.  (Photo:  AP)

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli army has ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians from much of Gaza’s second-largest city, Khan Younis. Monday’s order is a sign that Israeli troops could soon return to the southern city. It’s also an indication that Hamas has regrouped there. Israel wrapped up an offensive in Khan Younis earlier this year and withdrew most of its forces. Israel has said it is in the final stages of an offensive in the nearby Gaza city of Rafah. The new evacuation zone includes the major aid crossing to southern Gaza, along with an aid route inside the territory that Israel has said it would safeguard.

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada (AP) — Hurricane Beryl is roaring across the Caribbean Sea as a poweful Category 4 storm on a path toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. At least six people have died after Beryl slammed the southeast Caribbean. A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica and a hurricane watch for Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Beryl is expected to start losing intensity but still to be near major hurricane strength as it passes near or over Jamaica, near the Cayman Islands and into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Beryl is the earliest Category 5 storm ever to form in the Atlantic, fueled by record warm waters.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials have approved a new Alzheimer’s drug that can modestly slow the disease. It’s only the second drug that’s been convincingly shown to slow the memory-destroying condition. The Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s medication Tuesday for patients with early or mild cases of dementia caused by Alzheimer’s. Kisunla is not a cure and slows worsening memory and cognitive problems by about seven months. The FDA approved a similar drug, Leqembi, from a Japanese drugmaker last year. Lilly’s drug has several possible advantages to that medicine, including requiring only one infusion per month instead of two.