WJPA News

Former Pennsylvania House Representative Jesse White is reportedly being held in federal custody after being charged with having child pornography in his possession.  Court documents say White, who served as a state representative for Pennsylvania’s former 46th district, which covered parts of Allegheny, Beaver and Washington Counties from 2008 to 2014, is being held in custody because he has been listed as a danger to the public and as a flight risk. He reportedly waived his right to preliminary hearing.  FBI agents say their investigation began after receiving a cyber-tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  The FBI reportedly executed a search warrant at White’s home in Mechanicsburg, where computers and hard drives were seized. Court papers say one of the laptops contained files containing child pornography images depicting minors between the ages of seven and fifteen.  He allegedly told agents he used Telegram and the Tor Browser to access the content.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in Washington County conducting its National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Mailers to 650 randomly selected addresses were sent out to participate in the  60 year old survey. According to spokesperson Jenna Green-Ross, participants can be any age from “cradle to grave”.  If you have been selected, a field interviewer will conduct a in home interview before you proceed to the mobile testing facility that is located in the Tanger Outlets parking lot. All participation is completely voluntary. Once at the mobile site, participants will have typical procedures for weight, height urine samples performed. Other tests include bone density scans and allergy tests for approximately 150 irritants. Data collected us used for assessing nutritional status of the country, developing national standards for height, weight and osteoporosis and research and development of safety products and procedures. It is also used in the CDC Pediatric Growth Charts.  Data collected will be used for research only. Collection procedures are completely secure. Once data has been analyzed, it is completely de-identified. The mobile testing facility will be in Washington County until September 26.

The Parkway East could reopen sooner than expected.  PennDOT’s Commercial Street Bridge Replacement project closed I-376 in both directions between the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and Edgewood Swissvale exit July 10. It was originally slated to reopen Aug. 3^rd.  On Wednesday, Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll said the project is running ahead of schedule, and the Parkway is now anticipated to reopen in “the middle of next week.”  Carroll called the project an “immaculate construction,” saving drivers four years of traffic restrictions by condensing them into less than a month.  “Knowing the Commercial Street Bridge is a main artery into the city, every single day that this closure has occurred counts, and it’s not lost on me that our work to reopen the Parkway is critically important, so important, in fact, that the crews have been working 24 hours a day each day that we’ve had the Parkway closed,” Carroll said.  The $95 million project recently saw a new bridge deck slide 102 feet to replace the old deck, which was imploded.

North Strabane Township’s agenda setting meeting contained largely day to day decisions for next week’s voting meeting. In department reports, the Public Safety department reported on traffic calming measures. Director of Public Safety Mark Grimm commented on a joint effort that has been going on for more than two weeks. North Strabane Township, Peters Township and Pennsylvania State Police have been conducting speed enforcement along Waterdam Road. According to Grimm, the two townships gathered 196 warnings, 93 tickets and 3 arrests with excessive speed being the primary offense. One of those arrests involved a driver going 85 miles per hour. According to police, the road sees more than 7200 vehicles a day. It is a cut through from Rt. 19 to the outer reaches of North Strabane, Peters and Nottingham Townships, and it passes several housing developments along the way. Resident complaints and an excessive number of accidents prompted the department to apply for and receive a grant to cover the cost of the enforcement. Grimm said that speed enforcement will continue. He said that VASCAR speed lines have been painted on Waterdam Road for future enforcement. (Photo: North Strabane Township Police Department Facebook Page)

AT&T* announced on Wednesday that they have added new cells sites to expand 5G coverage and capacity across Pennsylvania helping public safety on FirstNet®, residents, businesses get more from their mobile devices.  The company says the new sites boost coverage, capacity and speed in several areas, including Houston, in Washington County, in the area of Route 519, and Irwin, in Westmoreland County, around Route 30 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  Officials say these sites support first responders and the extended public safety community on FirstNet by bringing Band 14 spectrum to the areas. At&T says it looks at Band 14 as public safety’s VIP lane, delivering dedicated connectivity when needed. When not in use by FirstNet subscribers, AT&T customers can enjoy Band 14’s added coverage and capacity.  The system was created by the U.S. Congress after 9/11 and built by AT&T in a  public-private partnership with the FirstNet Authority.  AT&T says FirstNet is the only nationwide communications platform purpose-built for public safety.

(AP) – Tropical Storm Bertha has made landfall on the southern tip of Louisiana. The storm moving slowly along the Gulf Coast on Wednesday is packing strong winds that extend as much as 100 miles from its center. Damaging wind and storm surge are the main threats for the Deep South states. The National Hurricane Center says a tropical storm warning includes New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. Storm surge up to 3 feet is possible, as well as heavy rain. Bertha is expected to weaken as moves toward Texas. The storm earlier forced beach closures in the Florida Panhandle and along the tips of Alabama and Mississippi.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has forged a new agreement with Saudi Arabia that could potentially provide the kingdom with uranium enrichment capability for its civilian nuclear program. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Minister of Energy Abdulaziz bin Salman on Wednesday signed the nuclear cooperation agreement, known as a 123 agreement, alongside what the Trump administration described as a “bilateral safeguards agreement.” The U.S. administration released scant details of the deal. But the framework of the agreement paves the way for the building of a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia after a joint U.S.-Saudi study. That’s according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military says it completed the 11th night of strikes on Iran as attacks across the Middle East overshadowed diplomatic efforts to salvage an interim ceasefire deal that has collapsed. U.S. Central Command said the targets of the strikes into Wednesday morning included aircraft hangars and drone storage sites. The barrage came after President Donald Trump telegraphed that strikes would be intensifying. Before the strikes, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict. But it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war, which has become a battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said the U.S. had no interest in talks.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned Asian leaders that Iran’s demand to control the Strait of Hormuz threatens the global economy and freedom of navigation. He was speaking Wednesday at an ASEAN meeting in the Philippine capital, Manila, with Southeast Asian leaders concerned about the impact of the war in Iran on their economies. Despite the U.S. focus on the war, Rubio reassured ASEAN countries of continued support and emphasized the danger of allowing a nation to control an international waterway. Rubio also met with Quad partners, where they reaffirmed their commitment to maritime security initiatives that seek to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has moved to head-off a potential government shutdown before this fall’s critical midterm elections. Republicans on Tuesday muscled through a bill to fund the federal government through Dec. 4. The deadline for action is more than two months away. But House GOP leaders are not leaving to chance a possible shutdown souring the mood of voters shortly before they go to the polls. Republicans said work on annual spending bills would continue, but that funding the government temporarily would help lawmakers avoid a repeat of the past year, when the country experienced two government shutdowns of record length. Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the measure, saying Republicans took a go-it-alone approach.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says he and U.S. President Donald Trump have agreed to intensify trade negotiations between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. Carney’s comments come a day after Trump announces the U.S. will impose 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, citing unfair treatment of American products. The tariffs are set to take effect in 30 days. Carney plans to meet with Canadian premiers to discuss the situation. British Columbia Premier David Eby criticized Trump’s approach, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged Canada to stand firm. The new tariffs exclude energy products but include many other goods, affecting around 5% of Canada’s exports.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The man who was convicted of trying to kill Salman Rushdie is on trial again. Prosecutors and defense lawyers gave opening statements Wednesday in Hadi Matar’s federal terrorism trial in Buffalo, New York. The Booker Prize-winning Rushdie is expected to testify later this week. He was stabbed on a lecture stage in 2022. The 28-year-old Matar has pleaded not guilty. He is serving a 25-year prison sentence on an attempted murder conviction. The federal case is expected to delve more into questions of motive. Prosecutors argue that Matar was acting out of loyalty to Iran’s theocratic government and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Iran’s late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for Rushdie’s death following his 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses.”

OpenAI has disclosed an “unprecedented cyber incident” where its AI system allegedly hacked into another AI company. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that the incident occurred during model evaluations. Last week, AI startup Hugging Face detected an intrusion into its data processing systems. Hugging Face co-founder Clément Delangue confirmed the attack was from an AI agent, noting it was mind-blowing that it happened autonomously. Delangue emphasized there was no malicious intent from OpenAI. The intrusion involved OpenAI’s GPT‑5.6 Sol and another model still in testing. This might be the first incident of its kind.