WJPA News

Saturday, April 26th is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day from 10 am-2 pm at locations across the country.  This event, which happens twice a year, is a safe, convenient, and responsible way to dispose of unused or expired prescription drugs at locations in communities throughout the country. Find a location near you.  The October 2024 Take Back Day brought in 629,953 lbs. (314 tons) of medication.  This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to more than 19.2 million pounds (9,600 tons) of medication​.  Most people who misuse prescription drugs get them from family, friends, and acquaintances.  You can make a difference by keeping track of the medicine you have, by rethinking where and how you keep your medications in your home, and by safely disposing of any unused medications.

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Lack of funding is playing a huge role in public transit decisions across the state. As some state funding has dried up, millions in revenue are needed to keep these agencies going. Currently, the different transit agencies are not permitted to work together and cannot pick up riders on similar routes. “That’s inefficient. That’s what we are trying to develop: a place where these agencies can work together and craft routes that eliminate these inefficiencies,” said Senator Jay Costa. In order to do that, all these transit agencies have to merge or work under one umbrella, similar to SEPTA in Philadelphia. That’s why Costa is proposing creating a Southwestern Pennsylvania Transit Authority targeted at Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland Counties. “Westmoreland, a lot of stuff is going on in Beaver County right now. Washington County, you have Southpointe and things happening there. There are many opportunities for us to tie together, one single network, a whole series of economic opportunities to bring people to and from work and people want to do that,” Costa said. How it works is still being decided as he looks to his fellow state senators to get on board. It comes at a time when Allegheny County alone has over $100 million in revenue to make up, and Pittsburgh Regional Transit is proposing fare hikes and a 35 percent reduction in fixed routes.

WASHINGTON, Pa. — (WPXI) – The shelves of the Community Circle Food Pantry in Washington are barely stocked. “We got our truck last Wednesday. Last Thursday, we had 151 families. It took us down to nothing,” said Director Melanie Wolfe. Volunteers took to Facebook with a plea for anyone who can donate to please do so. This is only the second time they have had to ask for extra help and they say they will not be able to feed local families in the coming days without extra help. Volunteers said it has been hard giving out less food. They went from two boxes, to one box, to half a box. “I ran out of food one time, and that was when we were with the Washington Food Bank and that was during Covid. That is expected. This is not expected. We should have full shelves at all times,” Wolfe said. They worry that people cannot find their new, unmarked building to drop off donations. It is off of West Cherry Avenue Alley, near the Citizens Library. Volunteers are hopeful for donations, while also certain that even more families will be reaching out for help.

A Washington man will spend time in state prison for his role in delivering the drugs that killed a Washington woman. Alan Gubanish, 36 pleaded guilty to a drug delivery resulting in death charge for supplying heroin to Casey Cole, 31 of North Franklin Street in February of 2024. According to court documents, police were called and found Cole in her apartment with a bag of heroin in her mouth. The person who called police indicated to them that Cole had purchased the drugs from Gubanish earlier in the day using a cash app. Police were able to verify the account after examining Cole’s phone. Gubanish was sentenced to 4-8 years in state prison. Additional charges of possession with intent to deliver and criminal use of a communications device were all dropped.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Three days of public viewing of Pope Francis’ body by ordinary mourners and statesmen alike have ended and the pontiff’s coffin sealed. Francis died on Monday at age 88 after suffering a stroke. The Vatican said Friday that around 250,000 mourners filed through St. Peter’s Basilica over the three days to pay their last respects as Francis lay in state in a simple wooden coffin. Hundreds of disappointed people were turned away when authorities closed St. Peter’s Square hours before the viewing period ended. Francis will be buried after a funeral Mass on Saturday.

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos has been sentenced to over seven years in prison. He sobbed on Friday as he heard his 87-month sentence. The New York Republican pleaded guilty last summer to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos admitted he deceived donors and stole the identities of nearly a dozen people to fund his congressional campaign. He served less than a year in Congress before being expelled in 2023 after his lies and fraud were uncovered. Prosecutors sought a seven-year prison sentence for Santos. His lawyers had called for two years behind bars.  (Photo:  AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has agreed with voting rights groups and Democrats that the Constitution gives the power to regulate federal elections to states and Congress — not the president. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington blocked the Trump administration from immediately enacting certain changes to how federal elections are run, including adding a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form. Trump had called for this and other changes in a March executive order. The decision is a setback for the president, who has argued a proof-of-citizenship requirement is needed to restore public confidence in elections. Still, the judge allowed other parts of Trump’s order to go forward for now, including a directive to tighten mail ballot deadlines.

BANGKOK (AP) — China has denied any suggestion it’s in active negotiations with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump over tariffs, saying any notion of progress in the matter is as groundless as “trying to catch the wind.” China’s comments come after Trump said Tuesday things are going fine with China and the final tariff rate on China’s exports would come down “substantially” from the current 145%. China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong said Thursday any form of negotiations must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect. Trump says it would be “physically impossible” to go through negotiations with dozens of countries.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll suggests Americans’ trust in President Donald Trump to bolster the U.S. economy appears to be faltering. The survey finds many people fear the country is being steered into a recession and Trump’s broad and haphazardly enforced tariffs will cause prices to rise. Roughly half of U.S. adults say the Republican president’s trade policies will increase prices “a lot” and another 3 in 10 think prices could rise “somewhat.” About half of Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the possibility of the U.S. economy going into a recession in the next few months.