WJPA News

Gas prices are 50 cents higher in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.738 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.  The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline jumped 48 cents over the past week to $3.47 – the highest since summer of 2024. The conflict in the Middle East is causing crude oil prices to rise to over $100 per barrel for the first time since summer of 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. The price of crude oil accounts for 50 to 60% of the cost of a gallon of gasoline, so when the price of crude oil rises, gasoline prices do the same.  Springtime also typically sees higher gas prices as gasoline demand rises and summer-blend gasoline production begins. Current gas prices are on track to match spring break prices of 2024. Today’s national average is 57 cents higher than a month ago and 39 cents higher than a year ago.  Here in Washington, the  average price for a gallon of gasoline is three-dollars and seventy-four cents.  (Photo:  AP)

CECIL TOWNSHIP, Pa. — One person has reportedly died after a three-vehicle crash in Cecil Township Sunday night. Washington County 911 says the crash was reported just after 8 p.m. at the intersection of State Route 980 and Clover Lane. One of the vehicles involved reportedly went over a hillside. The driver of that vehicle was reportedly the person killed. It’s unclear if any other people were injured. No other information is currently available.

The Washington County Coroner is working to identify an individual found dead along Interstate 70 eastbound near the Chestnut Street on-ramp in North Franklin Township.    The coroner’s office says a tractor trailer driver called 9-1-1 early Sunday to report what appeared to be a person lying along the highway about 200-feet from the ramp.  The coroner says the person appears to have been struck multiple times, by multiple vehicles.  It’s believed that the person was a pedestrian.  A cause and manner of death are pending. State Police are handling the investigation.  Anyone with information is asked to contact State Police or the Washington County Coroner’s office.

The City of Washington Police Department has issued an alert to motorists in the city letting them know that a portion of West Beau Street will be closed temporarily on Monday. The closure will be between Main Street and Franklin Street. The closure will begin at 6:00 am and continue through 6:00 pm. Parking will also be prohibited. Motorists are asked to use the parking garage if conducting business in the Crossroads Building. Access to the lot may be found on Franklin Street. Motorists are asked to seek alternate routes. The closure is due to ongoing demolition work on the Courthouse Square building.

PAOLI, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a Pennsylvania State Police trooper is dead after he was shot and killed by a suspect he had pulled over in a traffic stop. The state’s acting police commissioner, Lt. Col. George Bivens, told a late Sunday night news conference that Cpl. Tim O’Connor was killed as he approached the car when the driver fired from inside the vehicle. Bivens says the shooter then got out of the car and shot and killed himself with a pistol. Authorities say O’Connor was married and had a daughter. Bivens says O’Connor had been on patrol when a call came in for an erratic driver in Chester County, about 45 miles west of Philadelphia.

Court officials are warning of another Pennsylvania Turnpike toll text scam. The Philadelphia Courts warned residents on Saturday of texts with an image of a document that appears to be from the Traffic Division of Philadelphia Municipal Court, NBC News affiliate WCAU reports. That document claims that the person who received the text failed to pay a toll and must either appear in court or pay a fine. Residents in the Pittsburgh area have reported that they’ve received the scam texts. WCAU reports that officials are urging anyone who got the text to ignore it and not scan the QR code included in the message. Court officials stressed they would never send any kind of demand for payment via text.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has named Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran’s late supreme leader, to succeed him as the Islamic Republic’s next ruler. Monday’s announcement puts a hard-line cleric in charge as the war spreading across the Mideast sent oil prices skyrocketing. Iran has been launching new attacks on regional energy infrastructure, prompting sharp warnings from Saudi Arabia. A stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz has all but stopped tankers from using the shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman through which a fifth of the world’s oil is carried. Brent crude oil, the international standard, is up some 60% since Israel and the United States attacked Iran on Feb. 28.

CHICAGO (AP) — Oil prices have briefly spiked near $120 a barrel as the Iran war disrupts oil production and shipping in the Middle East. Crude prices fell back Monday after the Financial Times reported that members of the Group of Seven industrial nations were considering releasing some strategic oil reserves to ease pressures on supplies. U.S. benchmark crude was trading at about $103 per barrel while Brent crude was near $108 per barrel. Supply concerns have driven crude and gasoline higher prices as the war ensnares major oil-producing countries and hinders exports from the Persian Gulf. Surging oil prices jolted other financial markets, as share benchmarks in Japan and South Korea plunged more than 5%.

Fox News has apologized for airing old video of a hatless President Donald Trump at a dignified transfer ceremony as part of its coverage. In polarized times, online critics suggested that Fox was trying to make Trump look better with pictures that suggested he wasn’t wearing a baseball cap on Saturday during the ceremony for the return of the remains of six service members killed in the Middle East war. Fox insisted this wasn’t so, that a staff member inadvertently called up video of an old ceremony when preparing the story. Fox News anchor Johnny “Joey” Jones said he believed it was an honest mistake, “but that doesn’t mean it was an acceptable one.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military says it has killed six men in a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against alleged traffickers. Sunday’s attack brought the death toll to at least 157 people since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in small vessels in early September. As with most of the military’s statements on the more than 40 known strikes, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. It posted a video on X that showed a small boat floating on the water and then being blown up.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says it’s reached a settlement in its antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, California-based Live Nation Entertainment that will benefit consumers by letting competitors play a role in ticket sales and force Live Nation to sell 13 amphitheaters. Some states, though, are not joining the deal and say they’ll continue a trial in New York federal court. The case alleged there was an illegal monopoly over live events in America. The announcement angered a judge who said he was kept out of the loop. The government has said Live Nation’s monopoly costs consumers. Live Nation has maintained that artists and teams set prices and decide how tickets are sold.