June 25, 2022 3:54 am
UVALDE, Texas (AP) – Almost 300 high school seniors received their diplomas in Uvalde in the shadow of the massacre of 19 elementary school students and two teachers one month earlier. The 288 red-gowned Uvalde High School seniors sat in 100-degree heat at the school stadium Friday with 21 “Uvalde Strong” placards arrayed before their ranks as school and student leaders spoke. Uvalde school Superintendent Hal Harrell and school principal Randy Harris praised the students for their strength and resilience as three COVID-19 pandemic years were capped by the May 14 mass shooting at the South Texas town’s Robb Elementary School.
June 25, 2022 3:47 am
Summer is the busy construction time here in Western Pennsylvania, and PennDOT has no shortage of work so far just a few days into the new season. Mowing crews have been highly visible around Washington County highways already, and now line painting crews are making their mark. In 2021, District 12 was able to complete 7,139-line miles of painting. Higher volume routes are always first priority and some major roads in the Washington area have already seen the trucks roll through. PennDOT says most roads in the district will see new line paint, and only low-volume roads that can not accommodate the paint trucks will be omitted. If you see the paint truck convoy, try not to drive on the new paint for about 90 seconds so that it won’t track or smear. PennDOT is always willing to hear driver feedback on their work and they take customer claims seriously. Do not hesitate to reach out to the organization if there are any issues with paint damage to your vehicle.
June 25, 2022 3:37 am
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection declares Saturday a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day for our area. The combined high pressure, sunshine, and temperatures near 90 will contribute to ozone average concentrations in the Code Orange range today. The Orange zone represents unhealthy pollution levels for sensitive groups of people. DEP recommends driving less by using car pooling or public transport, combining errands to reduce vehicle trips, limiting engine idling, refueling after dusk, and conserving electricity by turning of lights not being used and setting higher temperatures on air conditioning. Young children, the elderly, and those with respiratory problems like asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollutions. DEP recommends that those populations limit their outdoor activities.
June 25, 2022 3:30 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years – a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court’s landmark abortion cases. Friday’s outcome overturning Roe v. Wade is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. The decision, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion opponents, made possible by an emboldened right side of the court that has been fortified by three appointees of former President Donald Trump. The ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito.
June 24, 2022 3:29 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House has sent President Joe Biden the most wide-ranging gun violence bill Congress has passed in decades. The bill that passed the House on Friday is a measured compromise that at once illustrates progress on the long-intractable issue and the deep-seated partisan divide that persists. The Democratic-led chamber approved the election-year legislation with every Democrat and 14 Republicans voting yes. That caps a spurt of action prompted by voters’ revulsion over last month’s mass shootings in New York and Texas. The Senate approved it earlier by a bipartisan 65-33 margin, with 15 Republicans joining all Democrats in supporting a package that senators from both parties had crafted.
June 24, 2022 4:14 am
LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s leadership of the Conservative party has suffered a heavy double blow as voters rejected the Tories in two special elections. In the southwestern constituency of Tiverton and Honiton, the Liberal Democrats overturned a 24,000 Conservative majority to win, while the main opposition Labour Party reclaimed Wakefield in northern England. The contests, triggered by the resignation of Conservatives hit by scandals, offered voters the chance to give their verdict on the prime minister just weeks after 41% of his own MPs cast their ballots against him. The party’s chairman quit after the results early Friday, saying the party “cannot carry on with business as usual.”
June 24, 2022 4:12 am
GAYAN, Afghanistan (AP) – The death toll from a devastating earthquake in Afghanistan continued to climb days after it turned brick and stone homes into rubble. State media reports the quake has killed 1,150 and injured some 3000. The U.N. puts the number of dead at around 770 people. Either toll makes this the deadliest quake to hit Afghanistan in two decades. Despite some international aid flowing to the impacted villages in the east to provide people with food and tents, villagers are mostly on their own digging by hand for survivors. The country of 38 million people is in the midst of a spiraling economic crisis that had plunged millions deep into poverty.
June 24, 2022 4:12 am
SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) – Friday marks the anniversary of the oceanfront condo building collapse that killed 98 people in Surfside, Florida. The 12-story tower came down with a thunderous roar and left a giant pile of rubble in one of the deadliest collapses in U.S. history. The disaster at Champlain Towers South also turned into Florida’s largest-ever emergency response that didn’t involve a hurricane. Its victims are being honored Friday at events on the ground where the grueling two-week search and rescue unfolded. Only two teenagers and a woman survived the fall and were pulled from the rubble, while others escaped from the portion of the building that initially remained standing. First Lady Jill Biden is expected at a public event organized by the town of Surfside.
June 24, 2022 3:46 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — The Washington County Clerk of Courts could have to appear for a contempt of court hearing following an appeal rejection by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Thursday. Reports say the one-sentence decision was filed Thursday morning and denied Brenda Davis a petition for writ of prohibition that was requested after she challenged President Judge John DiSalle’s orders to remove duties from her office. This all comes after Commonwealth Court rejected several appeals that were filed by Davis to block those orders, including an emergency stay of a contempt hearing originally scheduled for December 6. It followed an incident in late November when Davis attempted to stop sheriff’s deputies from transferring juvenile files from her office. Davis has been at odds with the Judge and County Commissioner’s over staffing and duty issues in her office. Davis also claims she was assaulted by deputies during that November 24 incident. Judge DiSalle has said that the contempt proceedings are important to get a full account of what happened that day. Additionally, the State Attorney General was investigating this situation, but decided against taking any legal action.
June 24, 2022 3:32 am
BURGETTSTOWN, Pa. — PennDOT wants to alert drivers to a road resurfacing project in Washington County starting early next week. Officials say the work will take place on Route 18 in Burgettstown Borough and Smith Township starting June 27th and lasting until the end of July. All work is weather and operational dependent. Crews from Golden Eagle Construction will be milling the road and performing paving operations. Drivers can expect single-lane alternating traffic during daylight hours on Route 18 between Fair Street and Union Electric Road during the project. This is all part of a larger resurfacing job for the company throughout Washington County this summer.
