April 3, 2026 3:30 am
Washington City Council entertained a largely day to day business agenda on Thursday. Among the items approved were several for the Fire Department. Council approved the conditional hire of four fire fighters. They also approved the purchase of several items using grant monies. A Pennsylvania State Fire Grant will fund a Shipping Container to be used at the department’s fire training facility. It will also fund the purchase of rescue mannequins. With the help of a grant from the Washington County Community Foundation, the department will purchase a thermal imaging camera. Several properties were approved to be added to the demolition list. Those properties are 130 Woodland Avenue and 490 Glenn Street. The property at 17 South Street will be added to the demolition hearing list.
April 2, 2026 2:35 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says Pam Bondi is out as his attorney general. Bondi’s departure ends the contentious tenure of a Trump loyalist who upended the Justice Department’s culture of independence from the White House, oversaw firings of career employees and investigated the Republican president’s perceived enemies. Thursday’s news follows months of scrutiny over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation that made Bondi the target of angry conservatives. Trump has named Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting attorney general, though three people familiar with the matter say he has privately discussed Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin as a permanent pick. (Photo: AP)
April 2, 2026 1:15 pm
Demolition has resumed on the Courthouse Square building. Because of that demolition, the City of Washington will be closing West Beau Street in the construction zone for the next month, beginning April 6. After their meeting, Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman provided an update to the project. He says that according to ADAMO Demolition, the time-frame for construction of the new Public Safety building has not been altered due to the accident that saw a large backhoe fall into a hole in early March. Sherman says that ADAMO and OSHA are characterizing the incident as an accident. Sherman says there has been no change in how crews are attacking the demolition. Actual demolition of the building should occur in approximately three weeks. In other county business, commissioners approved a measure to join the WestCORE regional cooperative group. The group is comprised of several southwestern Pennsylvania counties. It will avail the Washington County Public Safety department to new technologies and products important to public safety and communications.
April 1, 2026 2:23 am
An Oakdale man is facing 20 charges, including homicide by vehicle, for a crash in August that killed a truck driver on a ramp in Washington County. State Police say they filed the charges against nineteen-year-old Jaxon Farrell, alleging that he was lane splitting between two trucks, one moving and one pulled over, on the Route 22 overpass in Robinson Township, that leads onto the Southern Beltway. Authorities allege that, while doing so, he first hit the tires of the stopped truck, then hit and killed the driver, 46-year-old Brian Everhart. Washington County Coroner Tim Warco had previously said that Everhart had parked to the right of the fog line and got out of his truck to check on a mechanical issue. Police say Farrell kept driving after the crash, but his vehicle broke down less than a mile down the road. After catching up with him, State Police say he admitted to lane splitting but didn’t know he had hit a person.
April 2, 2026 2:47 am
PennDOT has announced 31 projects that are expected to start during the 2026 construction season, and will continue in 2026 in the four-county region. Officials say they anticipate investing more than $200 million in the region, which encompasses Washington, Fayette, Greene and Westmoreland counties. This investment includes rehabilitating, reconstructing, and resurfacing 99 miles of highways, as well as improving 48 bridges – 27 through preservation, three through rehabilitation, and 18 through replacement. In Washington County, some of that work will include the Route 18 over Catfish Creek project which will replace the structure carrying Route 18/South Main Street, over a branch of Catfish Creek in the City of Washington. That is expected to cost two-point-two-million dollars. A second project involves the I-70 Bentleyville to Route 519 Preservation project. Crews will mill and pave I-70 and the ramps at the Route 519/84 Interchange, Dunningsville Interchange, and Kammerer Interchange. The project will also include base repair, drainage upgrades, and raising the bridge that crosses Route 519, and will cost between twenty-million and twenty-five-million dollars.
April 2, 2026 3:50 pm
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT’s) Engineering District 12, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), invites the public to participate in a Virtual Plans Display to review and provide feedback on the 2026 Bridge Preservation Project in Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland counties. The display is available at PennDOT’s website, and “Projects Near You” page. The projects involve construction activities that are vital to extending the life of the structures at eight separate locations across District 12. Safety improvements will also be made to bring guide-rail and drainage up to current standards. Construction activities vary at each location, but consist of concrete lining, repairs to the head-walls and wing-walls, asphalt overlays, and rock protection. Construction activities will include short-term single-lane closures or detours. Work at each site is expected to take two to three weeks. The purpose of this Virtual Plans Display is to provide information on the 2026 Bridge Preservation Project
April 2, 2026 4:55 am
The Monessen School District is asking parents and guardians to monitor their children for signs of chickenpox. In a letter, the district says a confirmed case of chickenpox was identified at the Elementary Center. Officials say they are working closely with the school nurse and following recommended health guidelines to monitor the situation and support the health and safety of students and staff. Chickenpox is a contagious illness that typically begins with mild symptoms such as fever, fatigue and loss of appetite, followed by the development of an itchy rash. The rash often begins as small red spots and progresses to blisters. Symptoms usually appear 10-21 days after exposure. The district is asking families to keep children home if they develop symptoms and contact their healthcare provider. The district’s custodial team continues to maintain enhanced cleaning procedures at the school.
April 2, 2026 4:18 pm
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette is reporting that Walt Maddox has died. Maddox, who would become the leader of The Marcels, died Monday at the age of 88. Maddox was from the North Side neighborhood of Manchester. He started out as a street-corner singer in a group called The Blenders, who were managed by popular local deejay Barry Kaye. In the summer of 1961, The Marcels underwent a shakeup. As a group featuring both Black and white members, it faced hostility touring in the Deep South. When two white members departed, Maddox joined. By September, he was singing second tenor on the group’s second and final Top 40 hit, “Heartaches” (No. 7), a song associated with Guy Lombardo. The group made regular appearances at the annual Roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll shows presented by Pittsburgh promoter Henry DeLuca. Over the past decade, Maddox managed the Marcels without performing.
April 2, 2026 5:03 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has fired more missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states, demonstrating Tehran’s continued ability to attack. That comes even as U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed the threat from the country has been nearly eliminated. Iran’s strikes on its neighbors along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world’s energy supplies with effects far beyond the Middle East. Britain held a call Thursday with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the strait once the fighting is over. Iran responded defiantly to Trump’s speech to the American people a day earlier. A spokesman for Iran’s military insisted that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms, munitions and production facilities.
April 1, 2026 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump sought to explain his rationale for the war against Iran in a primetime address Wednesday. It was his first address on the war and it came at a pivotal moment at home and abroad as he amasses extraordinary executive authority to prosecute the military operation. Notably missing was his oft-repeated assertion that negotiations with Iran were underway. He softened his insults against NATO allies and did not indicate he was preparing to send in ground troops, particularly to retrieve Iran’s enriched uranium. But he gave no definitive end date for the conflict.
