WJPA News

BURGETTSTOWN, Pa. — A 19-year-old remains in critical condition and is on a ventilator after she was run over by a pickup truck at a field party in Burgettstown over the weekend.  Ayla Reynolds was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital early Saturday morning after she was struck at a party in the woods along Creek Road, according to her grandmother, Rebecca.  According to our news partners at WPXI,  doctors are working to save Reynolds’ leg, but her grandmother said they now believe it will likely need to be amputated below the knee.  Rebecca said Reynolds was one of three people struck when a pickup truck lost control while driving people up a steep hill to the party. She identified the driver as Reynolds’ ex-boyfriend.  According to Rebecca, Reynolds was pulled underneath the truck and suffered the most serious injuries. Friends and the driver placed her in the truck and rushed her to Weirton Medical Center because they feared it would take too long for an ambulance to reach the remote location. She was later flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh.  Rebecca said Reynolds suffered multiple spinal fractures, a broken pelvis, spleen injuries, internal bleeding and severe injuries to her leg. She said the other two people who were struck suffered minor injuries.

Uniontown, PA— PennDOT announced on Wednesday that daytime single-lane restrictions will be in place in both directions of Interstate 70 between the Bentleyville Interchange (Exit 32) and Route 481 Interchange (Exit 35) in Fallowfield Township, Washington County beginning Monday, August 3rd through Thursday, August 27th.  Single-lane restrictions will occur on Eastbound I-70 Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and on Westbound I-70 Sunday through Thursday from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.  Crews from Armstrong Drilling, Inc. will drill geotechnical test borings for the I-70 Belle Vernon Bridge to Bentleyville project, which is currently in design.  All work depends on weather and operations.

Uniontown, PA – PennDOT has announced upcoming bridge preservation projects in Greene and Washington counties.  In Greene County, Route 1003 (Porter Street) over I-79 in Franklin Township will be affected.  Route 1003 (Porter Street) is scheduled to close between Caldwell Road and North Porter Street beginning Wednesday, August 5, at 7:00 AM through early September.  Posted detour: Apple Hill Road, Route 19, Route 221 and Porter Street.  In Washington County, Route 19 (Washington Road) over Route 519 in North Strabane Township will be worked on.  Route 19 (Washington Road) will have nightly single-lane restrictions in place from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM, Monday, August 3, through Friday, August 7.  Also, Route 2056 (Barrett Hill Road) over I-79 in Amwell Township.  Route 2056 (Barrett Hill Road) is scheduled to close between Moninger Road and Barrett Hill Road beginning Thursday, August 6, at 7:00 AM through early September.  Posted detour is Moninger Road, Mankey Road, Route 19, Weaver Run Road, Lone Pine Road, Baker Hill Road.  Crews from Triton Construction, Inc. will conduct bridge preservation activities, including latex overlays, epoxy overlays, expansion dam replacement, concrete repairs to extend the life of eight structures. A $4.1 million infrastructure investment project in Washington and Greene counties.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy expanded at a sluggish 1.5% pace from April through June as rising imports weighed on growth. But consumer spending rose. And the Federal Reserve’s favored measure of inflation grew more slowly last month, but remained above the central bank’s 2% target.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week but layoffs remain in the historically healthy range of the past few years. U.S. filings for jobless aid in the week ending July 25 rose by 9,000 to 197,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast 207,000 new applications. Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the U.S. job market. The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending July 18 was 1.78 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Todd Blanche’s nomination to become attorney general has stalled as lawmakers scrapped a planned committee vote. Key Republicans have demanded more assurances about the settlement of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. The Senate Judiciary Committee had been scheduled to vote Thursday to advance Blanche’s nomination to the floor. But Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis have threatened to withhold their support without more answers from the Justice Department about the controversial settlement. A spokeswoman for the committee said in a statement Wednesday night that the vote would be postponed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The stop-start fighting between the United States and Iran appears to have entered a new phase as Saudi Arabia has publicly joined military escalations against Tehran-backed proxies. At the same time, an already untenable diplomatic effort to end the war has faltered once again as mistrust deepens between the longtime adversaries. Despite several days of relative calm, both sides carried out military strikes in the last 24 hours that once again risk a return to all-out war — and further expansion in the region. Late Wednesday, the U.S. military said it had launched a “a powerful response” against Iran. Little is clear about what strategy, if any, American or Iranian officials have for a path forward.

It’s been a choppy year for restaurants that lean into lettuce. Lettuce prices rose sharply in the first half of 2026 due to hot weather in Arizona, where about one-third of America’s lettuce is grown. Now, some restaurants are dealing with the fallout from a cyclospora outbreak linked to shredded lettuce that has sickened thousands of Americans. Taco Bell will likely see the biggest sales impact from the outbreak. But market research companies say other salad-focused chains are seeing reduced foot traffic as well. Federal health officials first tied the outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants in multiple states, although health officials say there might be additional causes.

KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) — The Kumamoto prefectural government says the powerful earthquake that hit southwestern Japan earlier this week has now killed at least 25 people. The magnitude 7.1 earthquake on Tuesday set off an explosion at a mall, toppled a factory chimney and flattened homes in the Kumamoto area on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu. Time was running out to find survivors as rescuers continued to work. The total number of those missing was unclear. The quake left at least 86 people injured, five of them seriously, the prefectural government said.