WJPA News

High winds caused some problems for motorists Friday afternoon. Route 40 in the 3000 Block of East Maiden Street was closed around three o’clock because of downed power lines , trees and poles in the area of Interstate 79 North and Kopper Kettle Road. All lanes were closed until late evening.  There were no reports of any major injuries.  High winds also caused power outages around the county.  According to West Penn Power, the outages were continuing to climb as the afternoon wore on because the winds continued to cause downed power lines, poles and trees.  First Energy says they have been closely monitoring the weather and were prepared early in the day to send crews out to repair damages.

Authorities say one person has been jailed for allegedly robbing the Marathon Convenience store on Racetrack Road in North Strabane Township early Friday morning.  According to reports, police arrested 33-year-old Randall Bell.  They say he brandished pepper spray and demanded money from the clerk, but the clerk refused and Bell reportedly fled the scene in a vehicle.  Authorities say the vehicle turned out to have been stolen from the city of Washington.  He was later apprehended at the BP Gas Station on West Chestnut Street in North Franklin Township.  Bell has not yet been charged, but is being held in the Washington County Jail on a  probation violation. Court records show he pleaded guilty in December to a retail theft charge and was given two years probation.

If  your travels take you to Pittsburgh, take note.  PennDOT announced that long-term, around-the-clock lane restrictions will begin Monday.  The single-lane restrictions will affect both directions between the Penn Hills and Monroeville/Plum interchanges in Allegheny County.  The restrictions are scheduled to begin at approximately 7 a.m. and will remain in place through Friday, April 17, weather permitting. This work is part of a $70.1 million betterment project focused on bridge repairs and infrastructure improvements along the corridor.  The broader betterment project involves significant structural work on several bridges. This includes a superstructure replacement over Old William Penn Highway and rehabilitation for bridges spanning Lougeay Road, Sunset Drive, Thompson Run Road and the Union Railroad. Additionally, the project includes six bridge preservations along the I-376 route.  A long-term traffic crossover is scheduled to be implemented sometime this year as part of the ongoing construction timeline.  The I-376 Parkway East Betterment Project is anticipated to conclude in the fall of 2026.

The 2026 Washington County Real Estate Expo was held Thursday and much of the programming centered on development. Panel discussions dealt with residential and commercial development. Richard Gasperini of Genfour Real Estate concentrates on industrial development. He highlighted development along PA Turnpike 576, Interstate 70 and spoke glowingly about light industrial development taking place at the Washington Crown Center. Data Centers also were discussed. In a breakout session, Brian Patten of Next Generation Land Development Company, John Bates of Prime Data Centers and Mike Sicoli of DQE Communications discussed how data centers will need to generate their own power off of the main power grid to operate. They also discussed how new data centers will be using closed loop air cooled cooling systems that will use considerably less water than what has been described in current data centers. Despite those assurances, Jodi Borello, Community Organizer for the Center for Coalfield Justice said that developers should slow down and find out from residents personally whether a data center is welcome. She said that many in Washington and Greene Counties do not want the serenity of their rural homes disturbed by data centers. Tony Rosenberger of Chapman Properties updated progress on the former Washington Mall site. He says that once the building for Harbor Freight is finished in June, full demolition of the buildings will take place. Campers RV renovations are underway and they expect to open in late summer.

A small group of demonstrators gathered in front of the George Washington Hotel Thursday afternoon to make local officials aware that they are not happy with what they call “back-room deals” regarding data centers. The demonstration was held at the hotel, where Washington County Commissioners were reportedly holding an invite-only data center round-table following their Real Estate Expo at Washington & Jefferson College earlier in the day.  The group says data center developers, fossil fuel companies, and other corporate partners were expected to attend, with no representation from ordinary working families living in the communities where these projects are proposed.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Roughly 2,500 Marines and at least one amphibious assault ship are headed for the Middle East. That’s what a U.S. official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans. The person said elements from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli have been ordered to the Mideast. The move marks a major addition of troops to the region.

WASHINGTON (AP) — All 6 crew aboard US KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in Iraq are dead, US military says. The U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said the crash followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” and that the other plane landed safely. The KC-135 Stratotanker is a U.S. Air Force aircraft used to refuel other planes in midair, allowing them to travel longer distances and maintain operations longer without landing. The plane has been in service for more than 60 years, and has been involved in several fatal accidents. The most recent happened on May 3, 2013, when a KC-135R crashed after takeoff south of Chaldovar, Kyrgyzstan.

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — An official in Lebanon says a man with a rifle who crashed into a large Michigan synagogue, in what federal officials are saying was an attack, had lost four family members in his native country in an Israeli airstrike last week. Officials say 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was killed by security after ramming a vehicle into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit on Thursday. The official in eastern Lebanon told The Associated Press that Ghazali’s two brothers and a niece and nephew were killed at their home in the March 5 airstrike. Ghazali was granted U.S. citizenship in 2016.

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who opened fire in a classroom at Virginia’s Old Dominion University was granted an early release from federal prison in 2024 after completing a drug treatment program. That’s according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Mohamed Bailor Jalloh was sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty in 2017 to providing material support to the Islamic State group. Prison records show he was released about 2½ years early. It’s unclear how Jalloh qualified for a prison drug treatment program. Jalloh killed one person and injured two others in the shooting at Old Dominion on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy, hobbled by last fall’s 43-day government shutdown, advanced at a sluggish 0.7% annual rate from October through December, the Commerce Department reported Friday in a big downgrade of its initial estimate. Growth in gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — was down sharply from 4.4% in last year’s third quarter and 3.8% in the second. And the fourth-quarter number was half the government’s first estimate of 1.4%; economists had expected the revision to go the other way — and show stronger growth. Federal government spending and investment, clobbered by the shutdown, plunged at a 16.7% rate, hacking 1.16 percentage points off fourth-quarter growth.

The United States is getting slammed by a stretch of weather extremes, from flooding rain to record heat and late-season snow. On Wednesday, Washington, D.C., hit a record 86 degrees, then snow fell on Thursday. Meteorologists say the Southwest faces a heat dome with prolonged triple-digit temperatures. Polar cold will push into the Midwest and East. Two northern storms are likely to dump feet of snow, with one strengthening into a rare inland bomb cyclone. Hawaii is dealing with an atmospheric river and flash flooding. Experts link the wild swings to a sharply dipping jet stream.