It is approaching 30 months since Washington and Green County Hospitals merged with the UPMC Hospital System. In those months, both organizations got to know each other and the last 12 months have been focused on growth and expansion of services. UPMC Washington and UPMC Greene President Brook Ward introduced three members of the staff to talk about that expansion. Dr. Steven Mandish is a Radiation Oncologist that spoke of the addition of a second radiation linear accelerator. He says that they can now treat more patients locally and specialty radiation treatments will be expanded. He spoke of upgrades to the medical oncology offices that will better serve patients for preop and postop consultations. Dr. Stephanie Nicholas is an Obstetrician/Gynecologist at UPMC Magee Women’s at UPMC Washington. She spoke of staff expansion going from two doctors to five. She spoke of expansion in women’s surgery and greater access to specialized care. Dr. John Six is the CEO of UPMC Washington and UPMC Greene. He spoke about expanded heart, lung and kidney transplant consultation care along with programs in specialty sports medicine services and baseline concussion testing services. Ward wrapped up the program driving home the point that the merger provides patient benefits by providing care close to home and not having to drive to Pittsburgh to get that care. One person asked a question about the expansion of WVU Medicine into the area. Ward said that UPMC Washington and UPMC Greene is concentrating on providing the best care and services for the community. WVU and the other competition can do what they need to, but in the end they all want to provide the best care possible, and that is what UPMC Washington and UPMC Greene intend to do.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission announced that the Canonsburg Lake Access in Peters Township will close from November 16 through November 27. During this time, workers will complete a paving and line-painting project to improve the parking area. While work is underway, public access to the area is prohibited.

Work on the lower part of the concrete arch bridge, between Boyce Road and Upper St Clair High School, will be completed this weekend, with a 2 day closure (11/14 & 11/15) so crews can safely remove scaffolding and concrete forms.

The Office of State Inspector General and Fayette County District Attorney’s Office announced charges against Uniontown City Council Member Trace Thomas. Thomas allegedly collected $6,705 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) benefits by failing to report more than $166,000 in wages from his job with Senior Life. Thomas was charged with a third-degree felony for allegedly making false statements in order to obtain benefits. Between November 9, 2023 and September 30, 2025, Thomas earned $166,637.61 in gross wages, but he told the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services that he had no income, allowing him to receive SNAP and LIHEAP benefits.

A former youth football director who pleaded guilty to stealing nearly a quarter of a million dollars from the organization has received his sentence.  William Spencer, 57, of Washington, was sentenced to a decade on probation and was ordered to pay the Washington/Greene Youth Football League at least $1,500 a month.  His first six months of probation will be served on house arrest.  Spencer was charged with defrauding the organization of more than $230,000 while he served as the director between 2020 and 2025.

Authorities have found a bomb near an ethanol plant in central Illinois, leading to evacuations. The bomb was discovered Friday afternoon at the BioUrja Renewables plant in Peoria. Officials say the bomb has been “rendered safe,” but residents within a 1-mile radius remain evacuated as the search for more bombs continues. Shelters have been set up for those displaced. Peoria Police Chief Brad Dixon called it a “credible threat” and emphasized the need to take the blast radius seriously. The FBI is investigating, but no arrests have been made.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Airlines across the U.S. are working to dig out from the longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years. More than 2,000 flights were cancelled Saturday. The more than four-hour ground stop has stranded passengers and forced professional and college sports teams to scramble to find alternate transportation to games. Trump administration officials say new technology being added to the nation’s air traffic control system overloaded antiquated equipment and caused intermittent communications and radar gaps. A limited number of domestic flights have departed since the stop was lifted but the effects could be felt for days.

Microsoft says services are fully restored after a massive, global outage that lasted for hours. The company announced Saturday that it had addressed the underlying issue and restored service to affected customers and regions. Users reported interruptions to Microsoft 365 services like Outlook, Teams and AI assistant Copilot. Downdetector said it received outage reports from over 70 countries. The outage affected governments, courts, healthcare services, businesses and banks. Microsoft apologized Friday, saying the outage was not related to a cyberattack.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The leaders of the United States, China and Russia are set to meet next week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China. This unprecedented gathering of Presidents Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin comes amid complex relations between their countries. But analysts say expectations are low that the talks will lead to major breakthroughs. Trump has embraced Xi after a trade truce and sought to build ties with Putin despite ongoing tensions. Trump does plan on discussing the Iran war with Xi and Putin, but will steer away from discussing Ukraine, a U.S. official says.

(AP) — SpaceX has lost out on its attempt to recover its entire Starship back at the Texas launch pad. The first-stage booster was diverted into the Gulf of Mexico shortly after Friday’s liftoff and exploded. But the spacecraft still soared into orbit, delivering 26 Starlink satellites. If all goes well, Elon Musk’s SpaceX will try to grab the spacecraft back at the pad on Saturday. The test flight, planned to last 22 hours, is the boldest yet for Starship. The spacecraft will complete 15 laps around Earth before tackling the grand finale.

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada and the U.S. are making progress on a trade deal after talks collapsed in August. Carney was in the Philippine capital on Saturday ahead of a key three-day summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their Asian and Western counterparts. He says he spoke with President Donald Trump and senior officials before leaving for Europe and Asia. His aim is to reduce Canada’s reliance on the U.S. amid Trump’s trade war. Canada suspended negotiations in August due to U.S. demands. The countries have resumed discussions, with a focus on reducing tariffs on key sectors like steel and aluminum.

(AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says further U.S. military action against Iran is unnecessary because the economic pain inflicted on a weakened Islamic Republic is so great. The U.S. military has intercepted two Iranian attack drones headed toward Bahrain. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has claimed it struck a U.S. radar system in Bahrain, but this couldn’t be independently verified. Iran also reports a tanker struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz. In Iran, thousands mourned 350 unidentified soldiers from the Iran-Iraq war. In Gaza, a 9-month-old boy died from hypothermia, raising concerns about the winter ahead. And Iran told the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog that discussions on monitoring cannot proceed while the country faces military threats.

ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says the world must immediately and drastically cut fossil fuel emissions to avert the most catastrophic effects of climate change. Speaking to reporters Friday at the U.N.’s climate summit in Turkey, he said global warming contributes to geopolitical instability by driving hunger and displacement, pushing countries into debt and fueling competition for land and water. He urged the world to “follow the science” and face hard facts. “You cannot build peace on a burning planet,” he said. World leaders are trying to reach consensus on actions to address climate change and help vulnerable countries.