May 6, 2025 7:16 pm
PennDot has announced several bridge preservation projects in Washington County and virtual displays of the projects are available. PennDot is also requesting feedback on the projects. A link to view the virtual presentation of the projects and offer feedback is contained here in this link. Bridge rehabilitation will be divided into three categories. Three bridges will receive a latex overlay with expansion dam repairs. Those are the Barrett Hill Road Bridge over I-79 in Amwell Township, the Paris Colliers Road Bridge over Route 22 and the Laurel Road Bridge over Route 22, both in Hanover Township. A new asphalt overlay with joint repair will be done on the Old Brick Road Bridge over I-70 in Donegal Township. Epoxy overlays and joint repairs will be done on the Piersol Avenue Bridge crossing over Pigeon Creek in Bentleyville, the Main Street Bridge over I-70 in Donegal Township and on the Route 19 Bridge over Route 519 in North Strabane Township. Exact details of the work, timelines of the projects and any traffic disruptions or detours are detailed in the virtual display. Work is anticipated to begin in late August and continue through early November. Public feedback is invited through May 15.
May 6, 2025 3:28 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of Homeland Security says travelers who aren’t REAL ID compliant by the upcoming deadline this week will still be able to fly but should be prepared for extra scrutiny. Kristi Noem told a congressional panel that 81% of travelers already have IDs that comply with the REAL ID requirements. She says security checkpoints will also be accepting passports and tribal identification when the deadline hits Wednesday. She says those who still lack an identification that complies with the REAL ID law “may be diverted to a different line, have an extra step.” But they will still be allowed to fly. (Photo: AP)
May 6, 2025 3:25 pm
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cardinals have wrapped up their pre-conclave meetings before they enter the conclave to elect a new pope. They are trying to identify someone who could follow Pope Francis and make the 2,000-year-old Catholic Church credible and relevant today, especially to young people. The cardinals held their last day of pre-conclave meetings Tuesday morning during which Francis’ fisherman’s ring and his official seal were destroyed in one of the final formal rites of the transition of his pontificate to the next. (Photo: AP)
May 6, 2025 3:21 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump and new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney faced off in the Oval Office on Tuesday and showed no signs of retreating from their gaping differences in an ongoing trade war that has shattered decades of trust between the two countries. The two kept it civil, but as for Trump’s calls to make Canada the 51st state, Carney insisted his nation was “not for sale” and Trump shot back, “time will tell.” Asked by a reporter if there was anything Carney could tell him to lift his tariffs of as much as 25% on Canada, Trump bluntly said: “No.” The U.S. president added for emphasis, “Just the way it is.” (Photo: AP)
May 6, 2025 2:55 am
Washington City Police, in a release issued on Monday, say they are investigating the discovery of human remains Sunday morning around ten-thirty as a criminal investigation, as is their protocol. Police say they were called to 104 East Wylie Avenue at the Get Go to speak with a woman who claimed she found a human skull along a fence line behind 150 Terrace Avenue. The Detective Unit notified Washington County Coroner Tim Warco who said that, at this time, he doesn’t believe the death was suspicious but won’t be able to make a final determination until the remains are looked at. At t this point in time, authorities say they can not say whether the remains are male or female or what the cause of death may have been. Police say they called in the Mercyhurst Forensic Anthropology group, who specializes in the recovery of human remains. Authorities say determining gender, identity and cause of death could take day, weeks or even months.
May 6, 2025 2:59 am
Cecil Township Supervisors spent a large part of their meeting considering actions that will help their Fire Department. Currently, the three volunteer fire departments are working on guidelines and bylaws to combine their efforts and become one unified department within the township with volunteer and paid firefighters working in unison. In Monday’s meeting, supervisors approved the creation of the Cecil Volunteer Fire Department 501(c)(3) organization. The organization will allow the current volunteer units to fundraise and write grants to help them acquire turnout gear and any other apparatus equipment that they need under one unified organization. In other related business, Supervisor Chairman Tom Casciola introduced the idea of reinstituting the Township Fire Tax. Currently, fire department expenses are paid as line items within the general budget. Casciola suggests that a flat fee, equal to what is currently spent by the township be introduced as, possibly a flat fee, so residents would pay an equal amount for fire department services and they would be cognizant of the amount of money being spent on the fire department. The idea is in its infancy and no decision is imminent. Additionally, the home security website Safewise recognized Cecil Township as the number one safest municipality in Pennsylvania for the year 2025.
May 6, 2025 4:55 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has retracted his offer to at least one of two customers to tour a former Nazi concentration camp after he says the person denied responsibility for antisemitic behavior at a Barstool pub in Philadelphia. A video posted online over the weekend shows a sign with an antisemitic message that had been ordered along with bottle service. Portnoy says he fired two servers who were involved. Portnoy, who is Jewish, said he had hoped to turn the event into a teachable moment but said the customer who initially took responsibility for the actions changed course Monday saying he had nothing to do with it. Police are investigating the incident.
May 6, 2025 4:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The 20-year-old man who fell from the top of a 21-foot-high wall onto the warning track at PNC Park during a Pittsburgh Pirates game last week has taken his first steps since the accident. Kavan Markwood still has a long way to go in his recovery after Monday’s steps. He slipped off a railing and onto the field during the seventh inning of Pittsburgh’s 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs last Wednesday. Jennifer Phillips, the organizer of a GoFundMe page for Markwood, says seeing him up and moving lifted everyone’s spirits. She says he is dealing with a broken neck, clavicle and back.
May 6, 2025 3:18 pm
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — City officials in Philadelphia say an eighth person has died from the crash of a medical transport plane in January. They say 34-year-old Dominique Goods-Burke died in a local hospital on April 27, months after her fiance died after their vehicle was hit by debris. The other six victims were all in the plane. They include a girl from Mexico who was traveling home after receiving medical treatment in Philadelphia. About two dozen people were injured on the ground and more than a dozen homes damaged when the plane crashed in the busy northeast Philadelphia neighborhood. (Photo: AP)
May 5, 2025 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is drafting President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up border security and deportation funds. But there’s still a lot of work to do, with “bumps in the road,” in the words of Republican Jason Smith, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. The tax cuts portion is still a work in progress, as are the reductions in Medicaid and other mainstay government programs. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s goal is to pass the package out of his chamber by Memorial Day. Mostly, the Republicans in Congress have made progress on spending, adding some $350 billion to the Pentagon and Homeland Security.
