WJPA News

A division of a German manufacturing company is moving its domestic corporate headquarters to Fallowfield Township just west of Charleroi in the Monongahela Valley. Spaleck USA LLC, an American subsidiary of Spaleck GmbH & Co. KG debuted its new 15,000-square-foot facility in Alta Vista Business Park during a Wednesday morning ribbon cutting, promising a “commitment” to sustained investment in the region. Spaleck USA specializes in both stationary and mobile conveying and separation systems for use in recycling plants, metals reclamation and other industries. The new facility, which cost just under $4 million, will house the company’s domestic headquarters and maintenance division. The new facility has created seven full-time jobs so far, with three additional positions waiting for qualified applicants.  Washington County Commissioner Chair Nick Sherman said investments like this are crucial to the overall economic development of a region, saying that “this is a shining example of partnerships between the alliance, local elected officials and a German company that could have gone anywhere in the world, but they chose to put its flag down in Washington County.”

Nicole Lane, a Canonsburg native, is suing the Washington County jail and its healthcare contractor claiming she was denied proper medical care when she was incarcerated while pregnant two years ago, and was later shackled to a hospital bed while going through labor. Attorneys for Nicole Lane filed the federal lawsuit in Pittsburgh on Wednesday accusing the Washington County Correctional Facility, healthcare provider PrimeCare and several jail workers and county sheriff’s deputies of alleged neglect that nearly caused her to lose the baby and her life. Lane is seeking damages for allegedly depriving her of her Eighth and 14th amendment rights, along with violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, Pennsylvania’s Healthy Birth for Incarcerated Women Act and Pennsylvania tort law. According to the lawsuit, the state’s Healthy Birth for Incarcerated Women Act restricts the use of restraints on pregnant women and has been in effect since 2010, and it was expanded in 2023. Washington County solicitor Gary Sweat said Thursday that he was unaware of the lawsuit and could not comment. Representatives with Harrisburg-based PrimeCare Inc. could not be reached for comment Friday.

(AP) – U.S. and Iranian negotiators are in Switzerland for talks to work on key details of their interim agreement to end the Iran war. A team led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance will meet Iranian negotiators, including Iran Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, on Sunday. Officials from Pakistan and Qatar are serving as mediators. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz again over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon. The interim deal between the U.S. and Iran is meant to stop fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tolls in the strait if a final deal isn’t reached in 60 days.

(AP) – Officials in Russia-occupied Crimea have suspended civilian gasoline sales as Ukraine increases attacks on fuel supplies. The Kremlin-appointed head of Crimea said Ukrainian strikes killed four people and wounded 28 others overnight. He said local gas stations will now only sell fuel to government agencies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attacks as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” against Russia’s energy infrastructure. The Crimean peninsula is facing its worst energy crisis since its 2014 annexation by Russia. Social networks are filled with requests for fuel, and some speculators are selling gas at double the market price.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump claims the problems with the Reflecting Pool in Washington are due to vandalism. He offered no details to back that up in social media posts Friday night and Saturday, except to say there have been multiple arrests. David Hearn, a 67-year-old Bethesda, Maryland, man, said he stopped by the pool during a bike ride, touched a partially detached strip of paint in the water, and was arrested. He told The Associated Press he did not peel off paint. The president ordered the pool redone to get rid of algae that’s plagued it for more than 100 years. But the algae came back.