WJPA News

Police have issued two Criminal arrest warrants for a Spraggs, Greene County man for two felony retail theft cases. Pennsylvania State Police first issued a warrant for Keith Dille, 29, for allegedly making off with items from an Ace Hardware store in Greene County in April. And on May 3, police in Allegheny County accuse Dille of stealing nearly $3,000 of merchandise at a Lowe’s Home Improvement store. In Rice’s Landing, the store posted video screen shots of a man that has been identified as Dille. He was also identified by police in West Mifflin by surveillance video and photos. In the most recent case, police say Dille and a female accomplice loaded the stolen merchandise, including air conditioning units, windows and doors into a pickup that had its registration concealed. State Troopers out of Waynesburg say they are familiar with Dille and report he has been a suspect in several “high dollar amount thefts” throughout the region. Dille faces retail theft, criminal conspiracy and other charges.

[WPXI]–A Pittsburgh area man already in custody on accusations that he hit two teen girls with his car is now also facing charges for a deadly stabbing in Penn Hills. According to our news partners at Channel 11, 43-year-old George Mitchell II was accused of hitting two teenage girls with his car following a robbery and was taken into custody after a manhunt. He was arrested early Friday morning after an hours-long search. He’s facing two counts of attempted homicide and aggravated assault charges for this incident. On Saturday, the Allegheny County Police Department announced that Mitchell was charged with homicide for the stabbing death of Jinx Hairston of Penn Hills. Investigators say they used witness interviews, surveillance video and other tools to identify Mitchell. Investigators also learned of a string of violent incidents on May 7, before and after the homicide, linked to Mitchell. Those include chasing a woman with a gun and an attempted car jacking, a man and boy being hit by a car and the fatal stabbing. Mitchell remains in custody at the Allegheny County Jail and was denied bail.

Firefighters in North Strabane Township fought a house fire in the 200 block of Clutter Street last night. According to Washington County 911, the fire broke out around 6:40 and four area departments responded to the blaze. There were no reported injuries and the Fire Marshall is still investigating the cause.

PennDOT has announced a full slate of work for the week of May 11 for Washington County. Maintenance Manager Brian Malik announced this includes bridge replacement work along Brush Run Road in Canton Township. The road will be closed between Maple Road and Jefferson Avenue with a detour from Brush Run Road to Jefferson Avenue and Scenic Drive. Various routes in Washington County will see crack sealing work done. Culvert cleaning and repair work will be along Rt. 18 (Prosperity Pike in Morris Township), State Line Road in Jefferson Township, and Crosscreek Road in Crosscreek and Smith townships. Crews will be cleaning ditch lines on State Route 221 S Bridge Road in Buffalo Township, along State Line Road in Jefferson Township, and mowing will be along Rt. 22 the Ramp 8046 in Hanover Township, Rt. 837 in Donora, and I-70 Ramp 8014, Jefferson Avenue in the city of Washington. There will be patching at various routes throughout the county, and rock lining on State Line Road in Jefferson Township. Shoulder cutting and slide repair work will take place throughout California Borough. Due to road construction, the route between SR 481 (Scenic Drive) and Route 2079 (South Ridge Road) will detour motorists from Scenic Drive to California Drive and South Ridge Road. There will be underdrain installation and ditch line along Rt. 40 (National Pike) in Claysville Borough. Crews will pick litter, replace downed signs, update existing signs, and address work orders on various state routes throughout the county. Drivers can anticipate detours, flaggers, moving operations, and/or single-lane restrictions. Please drive cautiously through all work areas and be alert for signed work zones requiring headlights. Safety is everyone’s responsibility. And all work is weather permitting.

More than 350 people turned out Friday at the Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe to celebrate strong female leaders for the presentation of the 23^rd annual Washington County Athena Award. Leanna Spada, executive director of the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce in Charleroi, took home the honor. “We have so many strong women in this county, and I worked alongside so many of them,” said Spada, who has led the chamber since 2018. “So I feel like I’m accepting this award for all of them as well.” Aliesha Walz, president and CEO of the Washington County Community Foundation, won the Diana Irey Vaughan Athena Young Professional Leadership Award. “I know so many of the previous honorees, the women who are part of the Athena program … and so to be included in this group of influential, powerful change-makers is something I could have only aspired to,” she said. The awards were presented by the Washington County Chamber of Commerce with Dollar Bank as the title sponsor.

[AP] President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission is preparing to make recommendations after more than a year of hearings. Commissioners have spoken about their wish lists for what they want to see in the report. They reflect the perspectives of the commissioner’s largely conservative evangelical and Catholic membership. One idea is to increase avenues for religious expression in public schools and other public settings. Another is making public money more available to religious organizations. And there’s a push for allowing for religious-based exemptions from regulations and classroom lessons. The commissioner’s chair has repeatedly said “there is no separation of church and state.”

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s Péter Magyar has taken his oath of office to become the country’s new prime minister, ending Viktor Orbán’s autocratic 16-year rule. Magyar’s center-right Tisza party defeated Orbán’s nationalist-populist Fidesz in a landslide win last month. On Saturday, Magyar entered Parliament with 140 other Tisza representatives, controlling 141 of 199 seats. Orbán’s coalition now holds 52 seats. Magyar, a former Orbán insider, has vowed to tackle corruption and unlock frozen European Union funds to boost Hungary’s economy. He promises to repair ties with the EU and restore Hungary’s place among Western democracies. (AP Photo)

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is overseeing a military parade commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II on Red Square. Security was tight in Moscow as Putin was set to speak at the parade, even as a U.S.-brokered three-day ceasefire eased concerns about possible Ukrainian attempts to disrupt the festivities. Putin, in power for more than a quarter-century, has used Victory Day, Russia’s most important secular holiday, to showcase the country’s military might and rally support for his military action in Ukraine, now in its fifth year. But this year, the parade will take place without tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons.

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Geopolitical tensions have spilled over into the Venice Biennale contemporary art exhibition. This year’s edition is chaotic and contested, with no Golden Lions awarded after the jury quit in protest of Israel’s and Russia’s participation. Visitors will vote for the best national pavilion and best participant in the main show, “In Minor Keys,” with winners announced Nov. 22. Highlights include Koyo Kouoh’s focus on minority perspectives, Lubaina Himid’s exploration of life as a newcomer, the Vatican’s Mystic Garden offering spiritual respite, and Austria’s provocative performance art by Florentina Holzinger.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers have approved a plan for new U.S. House primaries if courts allow the state to use different congressional districts in this year’s elections. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed the measure into law Friday shortly after the legislature approved it. The action came on the same day that the Virginia Supreme Court dealt a major setback to Democrats by overturning a redistricting plan that could have helped Democrats win as many as four additional House seats. The Alabama law could set aside the results of the May 19 primaries, if courts lift an injunction requiring it to use a map with two districts that have large Black populations.