WJPA News

A pair of Washington County fire departments will receive grants to fund the purchase of specialty gear. The Charleroi Fire Department will receive $4,620 and the Marianna Volnteer Fire Company will receive $3,066 from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The grant is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The funding may be used for the purchase of critical wildfire suppression equipment, protective gear, communications tools and training.

North Strabane Township emergency responders were dispatched to an accident on Interstate 79 North on Wednesday night. According to Washington County 9-1-1, at 11:55 pm a tractor trailer and a car collided at mile marker 45. One person was treated for injuries at the scene. Traffic lanes were restricted for about one hour. No other details are available.

The City of Washington Police Department has announced upcoming traffic restrictions due to site preparation work for the planned demolition work at Courthouse Square on West Beau Street.  Those restrictions will take effect early Friday morning and are expected to be in place until the end of business on Tuesday.  Police say temporary mid-block stop signs will be installed to allow alternating traffic through the work zone;  parking meter restrictions will be in place on West Beau Street in the active demolition area.  As a result – parking will be prohibited there during this time and police say you can expect minor traffic delays as well.  As for visitors who need to access the Crossroads Building at 95 West Beau Street, you are being asked to please utilize the parking garage for convenient access during this time.  Police are suggesting as well, that if you can find an alternate way around this area, it will help keep everyone safe and reduce congestion.  Police say they will be monitoring the area to assist with traffic flow and ensure safety.  Washington County Commission Chair Nick Sherman says the big equipment is being brought in on Friday but the actual demolition work won’t start till Tuesday.  He says that work was expected to start earlier, but engineers said a wall needed to be created to shore up the foundation.  Sherman says they are excited for the new building since the current one was in pretty bad shape.

CLAIRTON, PA. (WPXI) — The three suspects in an armed robbery in Clairton have been identified. According to department officials, a woman in her 60s was robbed of her belongings at gunpoint in the 600 block of Third Street early Saturday. The Clairton Police Department previously shared a video and photos of the people they believe are responsible in hopes that the public could identify them, to further lead to their arrests. On Wednesday, the department announced and thanked community members for their help, saying the suspects were identified through witness statements, surveillance video, inter-agency cooperation and other information. Clairton police, Allegheny County SWAT and the Elizabeth Township K-9 unit executed a search warrant at a home connected to the suspects, however the suspects are still at large. Warrants have officially been issued for their arrest, the department said, adding, “We are strongly encouraging them to turn themselves in immediately.”

WEST MIFFLIN, Pa.-(WPXI) — Phase three of the Mon/Fayette Expressway is about to get underway, bringing new construction to parts of Jefferson Hills and Duquesne. At an open house on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Turnpike leaders outlined plans for the next section of the long-running project. This phase will extend the toll road from Route 51 in Jefferson Hills to Route 837 in Duquesne. Construction will impact areas near Camp Hollow Road and Pittsburgh McKeesport Boulevard. Crews plan to excavate land, close some roads for weeks at a time and build noise walls. The expressway is funded through oil company franchise tax revenue, toll revenue and a state transportation funding law signed in 2013. Turnpike officials said limited funding has created challenges in completing the overall project. Officials said that because funding is evaluated based on state revenue, which remains low, there is no set timeline for when the entire expressway will be finished.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told members of Congress she had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and didn’t recall ever meeting him. Thursday’s testimony comes at the start of two days of depositions that will include former President Bill Clinton. The depositions are in the Clintons’ hometown of Chappaqua, north of New York City. The depositions come after months of tense back-and-forth with the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee. Hillary Clinton has said the Democratic couple’s knowledge of Epstein is “very limited.” Bill Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing in his relationship with Epstein. Republicans pledge lengthy days of questioning for both Clintons.  (Photo:  AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says it is looking into whether it improperly withheld documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files. The announcement Wednesday comes after several news organizations reported that records involving uncorroborated accusations made by a woman against President Donald Trump were not among those released to the public. The reports say the Justice Department did not release some summaries of interviews that the FBI conducted with an unidentified woman who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by both Trump and Epstein when she was a minor in the 1980s. The Justice Department has said that the FBI received many “untrue and sensationalist” claims about Trump that are included in the files.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a preservationist group’s request to block the Trump administration from continuing construction of a $400 million ballroom where it demolished the East Wing of the White House. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled Thursday that the National Trust for Historic Preservation was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its bid to temporarily halt President Donald Trump’s project. The preservationists sought an order pausing the ballroom project until it undergoes multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress. Trump proceeded with the project before seeking input from a pair of federal review panels. One has approved the project. The second is holding a meeting in March.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance has announced that the Trump administration would “temporarily halt” some Medicaid funding to the state of Minnesota over fraud concerns, as part of what he described as an aggressive crackdown on misuse of public funds. Vance, who made the announcement Wednesday with Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the administration was taking the action “in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.” Wednesday’s move is part of a larger Trump administration effort to spotlight fraud around the country.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated today in a press conference that overnight, Russia launched a barrage of 420 drones and 39 missiles at Ukraine, targeting critical infrastructure and residential areas across eight regions of Ukraine. Officials said dozens of people, including children, were injured. The attack came hours before U.S. and Ukrainian envoys prepared to hold more talks in Geneva on ending the war that is now in its fifth year. Zelenskyy said late Wednesday he had spoken by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump and thanked him for his “efforts and engagement” in pursuing peace negotiations.