May 18, 2023 4:10 am
Canon-McMillan Previews Budget, Christens New Board Room
Canon-McMillan School Board Directors got a long awaited present when they held their May agenda meeting in their new board room in their new administration building at the recently opened Canon McMillan Middle School in North Strabane Township. Directors got right to work previewing the 2023-2024 general fund budget. The budget is a $106,813.772 spending plan. There will be a tax increase of .26 mills giving the budget a surplus of $74,000. Superintendent Michael Daniels points to salaries, benefits and transportation as drivers for the tax increase. As for the new board room, Board President Peter Moniodes says “it is like moving from a dungeon to a castle.” Daniels is pleased with the technological advances the new space has like two large monitors, state of the art sound system and the ability to video record and upload meetings. The board will adopt the preliminary budget at its meeting on May 24.
May 18, 2023 4:08 am
A Washington man has learned his fate in a drive by shooting case that occurred in the City of Washington last July. Russell Porter, 27 was handed a split verdict on Wednesday evening. He faced two counts each of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. The jury found Porter guilty of one count of aggravated assault and two counts of reckless endangerment. Porter was convicted for shooting into a car that carried Bailey Batch and Nasstylejah Wilkerson at the intersection of East Wylie and Allison Avenues. The jury deliberated for approximately three and one half hours. Porter could be sentenced to a prison term of 10-20 years maximum on the aggravated assault conviction. He is currently on parole for another state sentence.
May 18, 2023 2:51 am
The Main Street Farmer’s Market in downtown Washington will open for the season on Thursday. The market is held at the community pavilion on South Main Street across from the Observer Reporter building. It will be held on Thursdays from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. through October. Market organizers say they are looking forward to another outstanding season with old and new vendors in attendance. They say their goal is to see farmers and local small businesses thrive along with offering the community access to the freshest local products and welcoming SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) customers to shop with added savings. Organizers say there will be plenty of new and old activities throughout the season, including a First Responders Day.
May 17, 2023 5:38 pm
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a man who was already charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, allowing prosecutors to skip a planned week-long preliminary hearing that was set for late June. Bryan Kohberger was arrested late last year and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 13, 2022, slayings of four students at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus. At the time, Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University. A preliminary hearing had been scheduled for June 26, but now that will be skipped and the case will go directly to a district judge.
May 17, 2023 4:28 pm
Testimony ended on Wednesday in the drive by shooting case that occurred at East Wylie and Allison Avenues in July of 2022. The fate of Russell Porter, 27 of Washington is now in the hands of the jury. Porter faces two counts each of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. He is accused of shooting into a car that was driven by Bailey Batch and had Nasstylejah “Styles” Wilkerson as a passenger. The day’s testimony featured the details of the investigation done by Washington City Police. It also included testimony from Porter’s former girlfriend Pares Gardiner. Her testimony about videos played in court demonstrated Porter having a gun. It also included her interactions with Porter up to his arrest two days later at her place of work, in her car. The defense called the victim Wilkerson to testify. Wilkerson switched between claiming to have memory issues and pleading the 5th amendment during his testimony. The jury is currently deliberating the case.
May 17, 2023 12:29 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — A spokesperson for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan says the couple were followed by photographers in cars in New York. The couple’s office says the pair and Meghan’s mother were followed by vehicles after leaving a charity event on Tuesday. It said in a statement Wednesday that the pursuit “resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.” The incident instantly drew comparisons to the 1997 fatal car crash of Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.
May 17, 2023 4:29 am
Incumbent Republican Washington County Commissioner Nick Sherman and Electra Janis will be the GOP candidates on the November ballot. Sherman holiding off challenges from a field to six candidates. Sherman topped all vote-getters with 9,172 votes. Janis finished with 6,146. Ashley Duff was third with more than 52-hundred votes. She was followed by running-mate Bruce Bandel with more than 42-hundred votes. Kevin Redford garnered more than 34-hundred votes.
May 17, 2023 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are seeking to force a vote on expelling Rep. George Santos from Congress. The effort is expected to be defeated but puts Republicans in the uncomfortable position of taking a stand on an indicted colleague. The freshman congressman from New York has been charged with embezzling money from his campaign, falsely receiving unemployment funds and lying to Congress about his finances. He has denied the charges and has pleaded not guilty. Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California introduced the resolution to expel Santos. The House has only expelled a member twice in recent decades. A vote to expel requires a two-thirds majority.
May 17, 2023 4:21 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Top executives at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank largely avoided taking responsibility for their banks’ dramatic failures at a Senate hearing Tuesday, instead using their time to assign blame to events they said were largely out of their control. The arguments got little traction with senators on both sides of the aisle. Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee criticized the executives for taking risky actions or missing obvious problems that directly led to the demise of their banks, while still accepting lucrative pay packages and bonuses, even in the days and weeks leading up to the failures.
May 17, 2023 4:20 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Consumers picked up their spending modestly in April from March, particularly in dining out and online, buoyed by a solid job market and easing inflationary pressures. A bump up in car sales also helped results, according to the Commerce Department report issued Tuesday. But shoppers are facing plenty of challenges heading into the second half of the year from tightening credit to a weaker job market. Retail sales increased 0.4% in April from March when it was down 0.7%. It marked the first increase since January when unusually warm weather and a big jump in Social Security benefits likely spurred more spending.
