WJPA News

A coroner’s inquest into the death of an Avella man has been put on hold. The inquest concerns the death of Mark Michael Miller, 45 who died after he crashed his vehicle during a police pursuit in Mt. Pleasant Township a year ago. The hearing was delayed for a half hour while the solicitor for the coroner and attorneys for Mt. Pleasant Township and its police officers were in front of Judge Gary Gilman, trying to have paperwork related to the accident released by Mt. Pleasant Township police. Officers and that paperwork had been subpoenaed several times prior to the hearing and police have yet to release the paperwork. The officers involved in the pursuit were present to testify. The continued non compliance to the subpoena for the paperwork caused the inquest to be postponed. A hearing concerning the subpoenaed paperwork will be held in front of Judge Gilman on Friday at 9:00 am.

Washington County Commissioners will meet Thursday and take action on several issues that have been on the minds of residents. One item is the money spent on the recent Real Estate Expo held last month that included a $30,000 payment to TV personality Hilary Farr. Commissioners will set up a custodial account that will be audited quarterly by the controller’s office. Controller Heather Sheatler had requested information regarding the monies spent surrounding the event. During the meeting it was announced that the equipment that was purchased by the county for the previous emergency radio system has now been released to the county. According to Purchasing Director Randy Vankirk, the $4.8 million in equipment may now be used on the current system and any other unused items will be sold to other organizations in need of that equipment. Vankirk says that except for a possible 10% restocking fee, all monies will be recouped by the county.

A former long-time fixture in Washington County politics has died. Seventy-nine-year-old Scott Fergus, an attorney who had been dealing with health issues for the past few years, passed away on Monday. Fergus, who was often referred to as “the fourth commissioner,” was himself, a county commissioner in the 1990’s, after being appointed to the position to replace Joe Ford. Fergus, however, when he ran for re-election, lost the race. He was then appointed to fill a vacancy on Washington City Council and won re-election to a full four-year term, but later resigned to become the county’s Director of Administraton for the next fifteen-years. Visitation will be held on Thursday, April 3rd from one to three p.m. and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Piatt and Barnhill Funeral Home in Washington. A funeral service will be held at eleven o’clock in the funeral home on April 4th.  (Photo:   Facebook)

When Washington City Council meets Thursday, they will take disciplinary action against four firefighters.  Two will be terminated.  One will be demoted and another will be suspended for two weeks.  Neither Mayor Burgess or Fire Chief Chris Richer would comment on the infractions causing the disciplinary measures.  Council will also say good bye to their city administrator. Donn Henderson will attend his final meeting before heading off into retirement. City officials are wishing him well and are appreciative of his efforts since he came on board in 2022. Henderson is proud of the modernization efforts that he accomplished over the previous three years. Councilman Ken Westcott pointed to those efforts and thanked him for his experience in other municipalities and bringing that knowledge to Washington. Mayor JoJo Burgess praised Henderson for being able to shepherd him along in his early stages of being Mayor and thanked him for his cooperation. Rich Cleveland is the new city administrator and has been working with Henderson getting to know the arena.

BENTLEYVILLE, Pa. — An investigation continues into a cell phone fire Monday in the Bentworth School District. Superintendent Scott Martin says a classroom was evacuated after a students phone caught fire around 9 a.m. The statement said “Due to the fire originating from a lithium-ion battery, a Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal arrived on-site to investigate, and Washington County Haz-Mat personnel were also called to properly handle the disposal of the cell phone,” the statement said. No hazardous materials were found in the air and all students returned to their classrooms. (Photo: Bentleyville Fire-Rescue)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge says enforcing the requirement that Pennsylvania mail-in ballots include an accurate exterior envelope date violates the federal Constitution. Judge Susan Paradise Baxter ruled Monday that election boards in Pennsylvania’s 67 counties can’t invalidate mail-in ballots simply because they lack accurate, handwritten dates on their exterior return envelopes. It’s the latest in a long-running legal dispute over what is a small percentage of votes cast in the state. Baxter says there’s no compelling state interest that outweighs invalidating thousands of ballots. The envelope dates aren’t used to check whether votes are received on time.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation partnered with the Highway Safety Network and State Farm to announce on Tuesday that Bentworth High School is the winner of the 2025 “No Excuses” Distracted Driving Billboard Design Contest.  The State Farm sponsored contest was open to all high school students in Washington, Westmoreland, Fayette, and Greene counties. Students from seven local schools submitted 13 designs for judging. The first-place winner is from Bentworth High School (Washington County) and will receive $1,000; Bentworth High School will also receive $1,000. The second-place winner is from Greater Latrobe Senior High School (Westmoreland County) and will receive $500; Greater Latrobe Senior High School will also receive $500. The third-place winner is from Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center (Westmoreland County) and will receive $250; Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center will also receive $250.  The winning design will be viewed by motorists on a billboard near Bentworth High School throughout the month of April. The second and third place winners will also be presented their prizes in April.  April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. According to PennDOT data, there were 11,225 crashes in Pennsylvania involving a distracted driver in 2023, resulting in 65 deaths. 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says his tariff announcements slated for Wednesday will amount to a “Liberation Day” for the United States. But American businesses and financial markets are unlikely to be freed from the uncertainty generated by his often stop-and-go trade policy. Some big questions will be resolved when Trump announces what are expected to be reciprocal tariffs that involve raising U.S. import duties to be equal to the levies that other countries impose on U.S. goods. Economists say questions will swirl around trade and tariffs for months to come.

Employees across the massive U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have begun receiving notices of dismissal in a major overhaul expected to ultimately lay off up to 10,000 people. The notices came Tuesday just days after President Donald Trump moved to strip workers of their collective bargaining rights at HHS and other agencies throughout the government. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announced a plan last week to remake HHS, which, through its agencies, is responsible for tracking health trends and disease outbreaks, conducting and funding medical research, monitoring the safety of food and medicine, and administering health insurance programs for nearly half of the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With President Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” of tariff implementation fast approaching, Senate Democrats are putting Republican support for some of those plans to the test by forcing a vote to nullify the emergency declaration that underpins the tariffs on Canada. Republicans have watched with some unease as the president’s attempts to remake global trade have sent the stock market on downward swings. But they have so far stood by Trump’s threats to levy taxes on imported goods. A resolution from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine offers them a potential off-ramp to the tariffs levied on Canadian imports. But Republican leadership is trying to keep senators in line.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Harvard University has become the latest target in the Trump administration’s approach to fight campus antisemitism. The federal government said Monday it is reviewing billions of dollars in grants and contracts with the Ivy League college, saying it will ensure the school is following civil rights laws. A federal antisemitism task force is reviewing more than $255 million in contracts and $8.7 billion in grant commitments. The same task force cut $400 million from Columbia University and threatened to slash billions more if it refused a list of demands from President Donald Trump’s administration. Columbia agreed to many of the changes this month.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The Chinese military has announced large-scale drills around Taiwan as it again warned the self-ruled island against seeking formal independence. A spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said the joint drills involve navy, air ground and rocket forces. The exercises are meant to be a “severe warning and forceful containment against Taiwan independence,” the spokesperson, Shi Yi, said in a statement. Tuesday’s drills comes just two weeks after a large-scale exercise in mid-March, when Beijing sent a large number of drones and ships toward the island. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence said it had tracked 19 Chinese navy vessels in the waters surrounding the island in a 24-hour period from 6 a.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

MAPLE VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Former NFL player Richard Sherman is the latest sports figure whose home has been burglarized. The Super Bowl champion posted pictures and a video on social media asking if anyone recognized three armed intruders that broke into his house last weekend. Sherman was a three-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl defensive back from 2011 to 2021 with Seattle, San Francisco and Tampa Bay. He helped the Seahawks win the Super Bowl in 2014. The FBI has warned sports leagues about crime organizations targeting professional athletes following a string of burglaries at the homes of prominent players.

(AP) – Hooters is going bust. The U.S. restaurant chain, known for chicken wings and its skimpy “Hooters Girls” wait-staff outfits, has filed for bankruptcy protection. HOA Restaurant Group filed the motion for Chapter 11 protection Monday. Under the bankruptcy plan, Hooters will sell its 100 company-owned U.S. restaurants to a group of Hooters franchisees. Hooters is the latest legacy chain to run into financial trouble amid high food and labor price, growing competition and changing customer tastes. Last year, Red Lobster and TGI Fridays both filed for bankruptcy, and the Tex-Mex chain On the Border filed for bankruptcy last month.