WJPA News

Work at the Courthouse Square demolition site on Beau Street in Washington is on hold after an excavator tipped over into a hole.  It happened just after nine-thirty Tuesday morning. Washington County officials say the operator of the machine was able to get out without injury and was never trapped inside. The individual was evaluated on the scene by medics but was not taken to the hospital. County officials say they have requested a public safety incident report from the general contractor, including information about the operator and his condition, as well as the company he was employed by. Washington Mayor JoJo Burgess tells us that the demolition will likely be put on hold for the foreseeable future until the Occupational Safety and Health Administration concludes its investigation.

(WPXI) – Authorities are trying to find the source of antisemitic messages and a threat toward the mayor of Pittsburgh broadcast over emergency communication channels. A Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson confirmed Nazi music and antisemitic messages started broadcasting at around 2 o’clock Monday afternoon and then started back up again on Tuesday morning. Allegheny County officials clarified that the system was not hacked, but that an unknown user was able to access the analog radio system and transmit the messages. Anyone with information is asked to call the County Police Tip Line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS.

A SWAT team was called to a Peters Township man’s home Saturday night. According to court paperwork, 68 year old Gregory Morris is accused of threatening his neighbor with a shotgun. The criminal complaint states that Morris’ neighbor knocked on his Timber Oak Court door just after 10:00 pm. concerning a parking issue. Morris answered the door wielding the loaded shotgun and threatened to shoot the unidentified neighbor. When police arrived, Morris refused to leave his house. Morris is charged with felony aggravated assault and misdemeanors of terroristic threats, simple assault and reckless endangerment. Morris was sent to the Washington County jail on $25,000 bond.

Additional parents are facing charges for living with several children in deplorable conditions at a Charleroi building that was condemned last week. Washington County 9-1-1 dispatched police last week, to a building along McKean Avenue from a phone call from a girl believing her father had died. At that time, police said they found no running water, a broken toilet and garbage in the home. Following this investigation, the child’s parents, Jackson Alexis and Roldy Noel were arrested and the building condemned. According to new court documents, another family was still living in the same deplorable conditions when investigators returned to the building on Feb. 26. Investigators found that two adults and four children were still staying in the building, sharing the same kitchen and bathroom as the family in the previous incident. The children living in the apartment were between the ages of 4 and 14. The parents, identified as Navilia Norazier and Lucner Joseph, were both charged with four counts of felony child endangerment. Court documents show both parents are being held in the Washington County Jail unable to post bond. It is not clear who is tending to the children.

AAA is reporting that gasoline prices dropped last week in western Pennsylvania, but the national average increased by 6 cents. The national average sits at $2.99 per gallon. In western Pennsylvania, prices were five cents lower at $3.23 per gallon. In Washington County gas prices were at the same $3.23 per gallon. But, AAA cautions that events in Iran could cause and actually have caused prices to begin to rise. Prices will also begin to rise as refineries begin to process summer blend gasoline that contains pricier additives. For those that drive electric cars, the national average per kilowatt hour of electricity at a public EV charging station remained at 39 cents.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel stepped up airstrikes on Iranian missile launchers and factories, and Iran retaliated against Israel and across the Gulf region, disrupting energy supplies and travel. As explosions rang out in Tehran and in Lebanon — where Israel said it struck Hezbollah militants — the American embassy in Saudi Arabia came under drone attack. Four days into a war that President Donald Trump suggested would last several weeks but perhaps longer, hundreds of people have been killed in Iran, including people Trump said he had considered as possible future leaders of the country. As the conflict expanded across the region, the State Department said Tuesday it’s preparing military and charter flights for Americans who want to leave the Middle East.

President Donald Trump says the United States can keep its military campaign against Iran going longer than the planned four-to-five-week time frame he gave earlier. Across Tehran, the sound of explosions rang out through the night and into the early morning hours Tuesday. The U.S. and Israel continue to pound Iran after killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday. Iran and its allies are striking back at Israel, Gulf states in the region and targets tied to oil and gas production.

WINDER, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man who gave his teenage son the gun he’s accused of using to kill two students and two teachers at a high school has been convicted of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Colin Gray also was found guilty Tuesday of all other charges in the September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, northeast of Atlanta. Gray is one of several parents prosecuted after their children were accused in fatal shootings. Prosecutors said Gray gave his son access to a gun and ammunition despite “sufficient warning that Colt Gray would harm and endanger” other people.

NEW YORK (AP) — A Justice Department lawyer has told a New York jury at the start of an antitrust trial that the concert ticket industry is broken because Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment have monopolized the market, driving up prices for consumers. Attorney David Dahlquist said in his opening statement Tuesday that the U.S. government and 39 states are counting on the federal jury in Manhattan to correct a wrong that would reward artists and consumers with money lost to the lack of competition. Attorney David Marriott argued on behalf of Ticketmaster and Live Nation. He said that the government’s wrong and the ticket industry is more competitive than ever.