WJPA News

A severe storm system made its way through Washington, Allegheny, Westmoreland and Beaver counties Wednesday afternoon, causing massive power outages, down trees and other minor damages in its wake.  At the height of the storm, which included a severe thunderstorm warning for Washington County and a tornado warning for Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, more than thirty-eight-hundred West Penn Power customers were without power in Washington County and over seventeen-thousand were left in the dark in Allegheny County.  Crews were called out, but warned that the outages could rise as the winds continue to knock down trees and wires.  There were no reported injuries.

A big THANK-YOU goes out to Range Resources and some one-hundred-and fifty volunteers who hit the downtown streets of Washington and Canonsburg for several hours on Wednesday to solicit donations for the 2000 Turkeys Campaign.  The money raised will go directly toward making sure area families who are in need have a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal.  Volunteers hit the streets at eight-thirty a.m. and braved the rain until two-thirty, collecting donations, and their efforts paid off.  Range Resources had promised a matching donation of all funds raised on Wednesday, up to twenty-five-thousand-dollars.  They did it!  With the collections and Range’s matching donation, more than fifty-thousand-dollars was raised.  Donations are still being accepted.  If you would like to donate, you can send a check to; 2000 Turkeys P.O. Box 2000 Washington, Pa. 15301 or go to Range Resources Facebook Page and click on the link for the Pittsburgh Food Bank.  (Pictured:  Josh from ARC in Canonsburg)

(WPXI) – An Indiana County man was found to have a loaded handgun in his carry-on bag at Pittsburgh International Airport Wednesday morning. Transportation Security Administration officials said TSA officers intercepted the loaded .380 caliber handgun in the checkpoint lane. “This individual claimed that he had no idea how the firearm got into his bag,” said Donald Weston, TSA’s Acting Federal Security Director. “What that tells us is that this individual is careless with how he handles his firearm. Loaded guns are deadly weapons and if you own a firearm, you need to know where it is at all times. That’s part of being a responsible gun owner. One of the main reasons we are here at a checkpoint is to help ensure that weapons are not carried onto flights. So don’t come to the airport expecting to carry your gun through the checkpoint. If you must travel with your firearm, the proper way to do it is to make sure it’s unloaded, packed in a hard-sided locked case and taken to the airline check-in counter. The airline will ensure it is transported in the belly of the aircraft.”

The City Mission released its’ annual community impact report on Wednesday.  In the 2023/2024 fiscal year, the City Mission served 1,453 unique individuals, serving street homeless, sheltered homeless, and the working poor in our area.  The Mission provided 84,912 meals, 47,288 nights of shelter, 14,319 medical clinic services, and 9,390 grocery bags to residents and community.  Additionally, the Mission helped 150 homeless individuals transition into their very own homes.  Their Career Training and Education Center helped 129 individuals obtain jobs.  City Mission’s compassionate and holistic residential programs and services guided their residents who stay in the program for at least 90 days to a 69% overall success rate.  President and CEO Diana Irey Vaughan commented on the significance of the annual impact, “City Mission continually measures the impact we are making in the lives of our residents and the community.  Our mission to share Christ, to shelter, to heal, and to restore the homeless to independent living—without discrimination.  (Photo:  City Mission President and CEO Diana Irey Vaughan)

(WPXI) – Former late-night television host Jay Leno was injured when he fell down a hillside before a show in Greensburg last week. The Today Show reports that the former host of the “Tonight Show” arrived at his latest comedy show with an eye patch, broken wrist and bruised face. Leno said he was staying at a Hampton Inn about 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh when he wanted to have dinner at a local restaurant before his show. He decided to take a shortcut down a hillside and fell about 60 feet. Leno said he “hit a bunch of rocks,” which resulted in him being “all black and blue.” Leno said that one of the rocks hit him in the eye, which is why he needed the eye patch, and he also lost a nail on his finger. Leno performed at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg just three hours later.  (Photo:  AP)

North Strabane Township Supervisors gave residents a first look at the budget for 2025 at their agenda meeting. The spending plan comes in at $22,921,777. It is a balanced budget and no tax increase is proposed for 2025. Other business that supervisors could consider is an ordinance that will amend their zoning ordinance to create a definition and regulations for a personal warehouse as a conditional use within the C-1 zoning district. Supervisors will vote to approve the preliminary budget at their meeting on November 26th.

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Tuesday night’s Allegheny County Council meeting was packed with people. Dozens had to be moved to an overflow space. All of this is in response to the proposed county budget and existing opposition. In County Executive Sara Innamorato’s first-ever budget, she proposed a 2.2 mill or 46.5% property tax increase. It would equal about $180 a year more for the average homeowner. That proposal has been met with opposition. Some members of council say it’s just too steep. A memo from the county manager to council was leaked. In it, he outlined what would happen if the millage was not increased calling subsequent cuts “deep” and “catastrophic.” According to the memo, the Department of Human Services would need to cut staff and funding to a number of programs and organizations. Members of those organizations showed up in force, imploring council to vote in favor of the budget proposal. Not all agreed. The budget vote is set for Dec. 3.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on the House Ethics Committee voted Wednesday against releasing a report on their long-running investigation into President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz. That’s according to the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania. She said the ethics panel, which is evenly split between the two parties, voted at a lengthy closed-door meeting, and no Republican joined Democrats who wanted to release the report. Gaetz met for hours behind closed doors Wednesday with Republican senators who have questions about the sexual misconduct and other allegations against him. At least one Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham, decried the “lynch mob” forming against Gaetz.  (Photo:  AP)

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — A Venezuelan man has been convicted of murder in the killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. Jose Ibarra was charged with murder and other crimes in Riley’s February death, and the guilty verdict was reached Wednesday by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard. Ibarra had waived his right to a jury trial, meaning that Haggard alone heard and decided the case. The killing added fuel to the national debate over immigration when federal authorities said Ibarra illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case.  (Photo:  AP)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A parole board in South Carolina has ruled unanimously that Susan Smith should remain in prison 30 years after she was convicted of rolling her car into a lake and drowning her two young sons. The 53-year-old Smith appeared before the board for the first time Wednesday and said God has forgiven her. Then her ex-husband and father of the children she killed argued along with prosecutors and his relatives that she should remain incarcerated. Prosecutors say Smith killed her 3-year-old and 14-month-old sons because she thought they were the reason a wealthy man broke up with her.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. defense chief says the Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied antipersonnel land mines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield progress in the war. It is Washington’s second major policy shift in a week after its decision to let Ukraine strike targets on Russian soil with U.S.-made missiles. The war, which reached its 1,000-day milestone on Tuesday, has largely been going Russia’s way in recent months. Russia’s bigger army is slowly pushing Ukraine’s outnumbered army backward in the eastern Donetsk region, while Ukrainian civilians have repeatedly been clobbered by Russian drones and missiles often fired from inside Russia. The U.S. and some other Western embassies in Kyiv stayed closed Wednesday after a threat of a major Russian aerial attack.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. (AP) — A major storm was sweeping across the northwestern U.S., battering the region with strong winds and rain. It caused widespread power outages and downed trees that killed at least two people. Falling trees struck homes and littered roadways in Washington, where about 460,000 customers were without power Wednesday afternoon. The deaths from fallen trees occurred Tuesday night at a homeless encampment in Lynnwood and a home in Bellevue, east of Seattle. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect. The storm system is considered a “bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv says it will shut its doors after receiving warning of a potentially significant air attack. The embassy also said in a statement on Wednesday that employees and U.S. citizens take shelter. It comes one day after Moscow said U.S.-made longer range missiles had been used in a Ukrainian attack that struck a weapons warehouse in the Bryansk region.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is clearly prizing experience on television as he chooses people to serve in his new administration. Trump likes what he calls that “central casting” look. His choices for defense secretary and transportation chief — Pete Hegseth and Sean Duffy — have both had shows on Trump’s favorite network, Fox News. Duffy is a former lawmaker and also was a cast member on MTV’s “The Real World.” Trump has tapped Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former syndicated talk show host and heart surgeon, to head the agency that oversees health insurance programs for millions of older, poor and disabled Americans.

Vigils and other events are being held to draw attention to transgender people who have lost their lives due to violence in the past year. Wednesday marked Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is held every Nov. 20. The Human Rights Campaign says at least 36 transgender people have been killed by violence over the past 12 months. That number is likely higher because of deaths not being reported, misreported or because the victims are misgendered. This year’s events follow an election where transgender people were the focus of a costly barrage of attack ads by Republicans.