February 9, 2023 2:25 am
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — (WPXI) – The evacuation order issued to East Palestine and some Beaver County residents due to the train derailment has been lifted. Residents within a one-mile radius of the train derailment site, including some in Darlington Township, were told to leave their homes Sunday after the temperature dropped in one of the rail cars, putting it at risk for an explosion. Officials with Norfolk Southern say testing will be made available for both wells and air in homes. “We’re right beside the creek. We can smell the chemicals. It’s bad,” Chase Ammon said. He lives between East Palestine and Negley. Safety officials will continue to monitor the area and are offering air quality readings to people who would like them done within their homes. Norfolk Southern Railroad is paying for a contractor to work with police, members of EPA and state officials to hold the tests. Free water tests will also be available for anyone with a private well, including all of the private wells in Pennsylvania. Until the tests are done, people with private wells are asked to use bottled water. Anyone who is uncomfortable going back to their home can contact the railroad assistance center at 800-230-7049 to ask about hotel assistance.
February 8, 2023 4:18 pm
PHOENIX (AP) – Damar Hamlin has been named winner of the NFLPA’s Alan Page Community Award and made a brief appearance in Phoenix during Super Bowl week to receive the award. Hamlin read a brief statement with his parents on stage with him at the Phoenix Convention Center. The Buffalo Bills safety received the award a little over a month after he went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated on the field in Cincinnati. Hamlin’s toy drive fundraiser has raised more than $9 million since he collapsed.
February 8, 2023 4:19 am
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Documents released Tuesday provide a scathing account of what authorities are calling the “blatantly unprofessional” conduct of five officers involved in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop last month – including new revelations about how one officer took and shared pictures of the bloodied victim. The officer, Demetrius Haley, stood over Nichols as he lay critically injured from a police beating and took photographs, which he sent to other officers and a female acquaintance, according to documents released by the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission. Haley’s lawyer declined to comment, and lawyers for the other four officers either declined to comment or could not be reached.
February 8, 2023 4:18 am
LONDON (AP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Britain on Wednesday in his first trip to the U.K. since the war began. The British government says Zelenskyy will meet with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and address Parliament on Wednesday. The U.K. is one of the biggest military backers of Ukraine and has sent the country more than 2 billion pounds ($2,5 billion) in weapons and equipment.
February 8, 2023 4:17 am
GAZIANTEP, Turkey (AP) – Stretched rescue teams in Turkey and Syria are searching for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The confirmed death toll from the world’s deadliest quake in more than a decade approached 12,000 on Wednesday. While teams from more two dozen countries have local emergency personnel on the ground, the scale and scope of destruction from Monday’s 7.8 magnitude quake and its powerful aftershocks was so immense that many people were still awaiting help. Experts say the survival window for those trapped under the rubble is closing rapidly. Aid groups meanwhile faced major obstacles in reaching a rebel-held enclave in northern Syria that was also hit by the quake.
February 8, 2023 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has exhorted Republicans in his State of the Union address to work with him to “finish the job” of rebuilding the economy and uniting the nation. He used his address Tuesday night to reassure a country beset by pessimism and fraught political divisions. He offered a positive assessment of the nation’s condition rather than rolling out flashy policy proposals. He declared that America is “unbowed, unbroken” in the face of the pandemic and economic threats. It was Biden’s first speech to Congress since Republicans took control of the House in the midterm elections.
February 8, 2023 4:11 am
The State Police Fire Marshal and Bentleyville Police are investigating a fire late Tuesday night in Bentleyville. The Washington County Coroners Office says a neighbor observed the fire and called 9-1-1 just before 9 p.m. Numerous fire companies responded to the blaze at the home along Old West Road. 53 year old Norman Detrick Jr. was pronounced dead about an hour later at Penn Highlands Mon Valley Hospital. A cause and manner of death are pending investigation.
February 8, 2023 4:04 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania judge says the state’s funding of public education falls woefully short and violates students’ constitutional rights. The decision issued Tuesday in a long-running case sides with poorer districts that are seeking billions of dollars in additional annual support. Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer says that the state hasn’t fulfilled its constitutional obligations to the poorest public schools. She says that violates those students’ rights to what she said should be a “comprehensive, effective, and contemporary” system. Lawyers for the districts and others who sued are hailing the decision as a historic victory for students.
February 8, 2023 4:01 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats have won control of the Pennsylvania House by sweeping three special elections, gaining new power in an important swing state. Democrats won the vacant Pittsburgh-area House seats up for election Tuesday to claim a slim majority over Republicans. The victories bring an end to a dozen years of Republican power in the chamber, though the GOP still controls the Senate. The partisan divide could make it difficult for lawmakers to send priorities to new Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro. Democrats appeared to have won the House last November. But one Democrat died of cancer and two others resigned for higher offices, leaving control of the chamber uncertain.
February 7, 2023 7:43 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pittsburgh-area voters are participating in special elections to fill three vacancies in the state House of Representatives. The results Tuesday may resolve a stalemate over majority control that’s left the chamber in limbo for the past month. If Democrats sweep all three districts, which they also won in November, it will give them a 102-101 majority. It’s been 12 years since Republicans have not been able to determine what gets voted on in the House. Republicans had a 113-90 majority last year but Democrats flipped just enough seats to control the chamber. But one reelected House Democrat died of cancer in October and two others resigned after being elected to higher offices.
