WJPA News

Washington County Commissioners on Thursday, awarded bids for the new public safety building that will replace the old Courthouse Square building on Beau Street.  The demolition of that building was completed last week and Beau Street, which was closed in early April, was reopened.  Commission Chair Nick Sherman says construction on the new building should be getting underway in two to three weeks and the finished structure should be ready by early January, 2028.  The vote to award the bids was two to one, with Democratic Commissioner Larry Maggi voting no.  In a press release, Maggi says he  is against spending forty-million-dollars to building a new public safety building at the same site of the old building that had allegedly been riddled with structural and foundation issues for years.  “Now that we have a huge, gaping hole in the middle of downtown Washington and no other viable plans for the site, it seems like we have no other choice than to saddle our taxpayers with additional debt to approve this project. However, I have major concerns that prevent me from  putting my name behind this costly burden to the taxpayers,” he said.  Maggi says he is concerned about the site containing pyrite – a mineral that is easily damaged by water and can damage a foundation.  Sherman, however, says that issue was addressed and rectified.

Two people are dead, and another person was critically injured following a crash involving a motorcycle on Route 51 in Fayette County.  Emergency crews were called to the 3530 block of Pittsburgh Road in Perryopolis near Randall’s Restaurant around 11:51 a.m.  State police confirmed two people were killed in the crash, the motorcyclist and the driver of the other vehicle. The passenger in the vehicle was flown to a hospital in critical condition.  Route 51 was shut down in both directions between Rehoboth Church Road and Constitution Street.  Pennsylvania State Police are investigating.

Charleroi, PA – Governor Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Rick Siger, on Thursday, announced that the Commonwealth has secured a $166 million investment from GE Vernova to expand its operations in Western Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth is investing $6 million in the project, which will create at least 714 new jobs over the next four years and retain 735 existing, full-time positions.  The global energy equipment and services company plans to expand its current operations at 101 North Campus Drive in Findlay Township, Allegheny County, and 216 Finley Road in Rostraver Township. GE Vernova recently purchased the Rostraver facility it had been leasing and plans to install new industrial machinery and equipment at both facilities. This expansion will support the company’s 714 new jobs.  “From day one, my Administration has worked to make Pennsylvania a leader on economic development, supporting Pennsylvania businesses and workers to keep our Commonwealth moving forward. As part of that work, we identified energy and manufacturing as two key pillars of opportunity – sectors in which we’re poised to lead and continue to grow,” said Governor Shapiro. “It’s clear that strategy is paying off as companies like GE Vernova choose the Commonwealth as the place to expand and invest in, creating good-paying jobs that strengthen our communities and position our Commonwealth to lead the future of energy and advanced manufacturing.”  GE Vernova also operates facilities in Allentown, Lehigh County and Charleroi, Washington County — where Thursday’s event was held.

Two Delta Air Lines planes were involved in a near miss at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday evening. The FAA says it has launched an investigation into the incident involving a flight arriving from Pittsburgh, and a flight departing for Rochester.  The Pittsburgh flight,  which was scheduled to land in Atlanta, had been diverted to Chattanooga, Tennessee, for several hours due to bad weather.  In air traffic control recordings, the pilot of the Pittsburgh flight said he saw the departing flight on the runway and was going to circle around. At the same time, the departing flight took off from a parallel runway.  Initially, both planes were told to turn right, and anti-collision alarms went off in both aircraft almost immediately.  The controller was able to get both planes to fly away from each other but they were at one point about 1,800 feet and 600 feet in altitude from each other.  Authorities say the Pittsburgh flight landed safely and there were no reported injuries.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy expanded at a sluggish 1.5% pace from April through June as rising imports weighed on growth. But consumer spending rose. And the Federal Reserve’s favored measure of inflation grew more slowly last month, but remained above the central bank’s 2% target.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week but layoffs remain in the historically healthy range of the past few years. U.S. filings for jobless aid in the week ending July 25 rose by 9,000 to 197,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast 207,000 new applications. Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the U.S. job market. The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending July 18 was 1.78 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Todd Blanche’s nomination to become attorney general has stalled as lawmakers scrapped a planned committee vote. Key Republicans have demanded more assurances about the settlement of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. The Senate Judiciary Committee had been scheduled to vote Thursday to advance Blanche’s nomination to the floor. But Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis have threatened to withhold their support without more answers from the Justice Department about the controversial settlement. A spokeswoman for the committee said in a statement Wednesday night that the vote would be postponed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The stop-start fighting between the United States and Iran appears to have entered a new phase as Saudi Arabia has publicly joined military escalations against Tehran-backed proxies. At the same time, an already untenable diplomatic effort to end the war has faltered once again as mistrust deepens between the longtime adversaries. Despite several days of relative calm, both sides carried out military strikes in the last 24 hours that once again risk a return to all-out war — and further expansion in the region. Late Wednesday, the U.S. military said it had launched a “a powerful response” against Iran. Little is clear about what strategy, if any, American or Iranian officials have for a path forward.

KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) — The Kumamoto prefectural government says the powerful earthquake that hit southwestern Japan earlier this week has now killed at least 25 people. The magnitude 7.1 earthquake on Tuesday set off an explosion at a mall, toppled a factory chimney and flattened homes in the Kumamoto area on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu. Time was running out to find survivors as rescuers continued to work. The total number of those missing was unclear. The quake left at least 86 people injured, five of them seriously, the prefectural government said.