October 26, 2022 4:04 am
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission is a regional planning commission tasked with transportation and economic development planning and forecasts for a ten county region in western Pennsylvania. Tuesday the SPC held a public hearing to update residents on the first four years of the commission’s Long Range Plan. Several subjects discussed included roads, bridges and transportation where intersections in Peters Township are being reconstructed and Rt. 18 Bridges 1 & 2 over Chartiers Creek being replaced. Broadband was not a consideration four years ago but now grants are being finalized to bring broadband to areas underserved and not served at all because the Covid-19 pandemic showed that education and medical needs are severely compromised if facilities are not able to be opened. Economic development was addressed. The SPC’s PREP program helps small businesses with anything from business development, loans and exporting. Grants for non-profits are also available. The SPC was looking for comment on anything in its region to help it guide funding for projects throughout western Pennsylvania. The public may still make comment. Go to their website, www.SPCRegion.org and users will be instructed how to weigh in and have their opinion heard.
October 26, 2022 4:02 am
North Strabane Township Supervisors moved through a lengthy agenda Tuesday night. There were 24 action items to consider, all of them passed with 3-0 votes. Absent from the meeting were supervisors Harold Close and Marcus Staley. The biggest items passed regarded new organization charts for township administration and appointments for new positions. The new Public Safety Department will be headed by Current Public Safety Director Mark Grimm. The new organization calls for Grimm to head the administrative duties of the police and fire departments. Daily operations will be handled by Assistant Fire Chief Richard Yosi and newly appointed Police Captain Matthew Mancini (pictured). Mancini has been with the North Strabane Police Department for more than 20 years. He replaces the recently departed Police Chief Brian Hughes. A new Community Development department was also approved. It will combine the offices of the Planning/Zoning department and the Code Enforcement office. Current Planning and Zoning Director Anthony Asciolla will become head of that department at the beginning of 2023. Supervisors also approved updates to its zoning map and approved changes to zoning ordinances offering updated guidance on the keeping of chickens and bees. Ordinances regulating properties offered for short term rentals that are often found on websites like Airbnb and VRBO were also tightened.
October 25, 2022 5:20 pm
(WPXI) – Police were called to downtown Pittsburgh Tuesday afternoon for reports of shots fired. Authorities say officers and medics were dispatched to the 900 block of Penn Avenue at around 3:30. They say people started shooting in the area and then fled the scene on foot. Two people have been arrested in relation to the incident but no details were released on the reason for the shooting. There were no reported injuries. An official from Pittsburgh Public Schools said Pittsburgh CAPA, Allegheny Traditional Academy, King PreK-8 and a classroom at the Children’s Museum were placed under lockdown for around 20 minutes. Penn Avenue was also shut down but reopened after the situation was deemed under control.
October 25, 2022 10:48 am
MOSCOW (AP) – A Russian court has rejected an appeal by U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner of her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession, a step that could move her closer to a possible high-stakes prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington. The all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medalist was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport. Reflecting pressure on the U.S. administration to do more to bring Griner home, the U.S. secretary of state revealed in July that Washington had made a proposal to get Griner home, along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.
October 25, 2022 9:42 am
LONDON (AP) – Rishi Sunak has become Britain’s third prime minister of the year. He is now tasked with taming an economic crisis that has left the country’s finances in a precarious state and millions of Britons struggling to pay their food and energy bills. Sunak is the U.K.’s first leader of color. He met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. The monarch officially asked the new leader of the governing Conservative Party to form a government. Sunak clinched the leadership position Monday as his party tries to stabilize the economy and its own plunging popularity. That’s after the brief, disastrous term of Liz Truss.
October 25, 2022 4:13 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Police say the 19-year-old gunman who killed a teacher and a 15-year-old girl at a St. Louis high school was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and what appeared to be more than 600 rounds of ammunition. Orlando Harris also left behind a hand-written note offering his explanation for the shooting Monday at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School. Tenth-grader Alexandria Bell and 61-year-old physical education teacher Jean Kuczka died and seven students were wounded. The attack forced students to barricade doors and huddle in classroom corners, jump from windows and run out of the building to seek safety. Police killed Harris in an exchange of gunfire.
October 25, 2022 4:11 am
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has refused to commit to serving a full four-year term if reelected when pressed by his Democratic rival, Charlie Crist, at their only gubernatorial debate. Crist, a former congressman and one-term governor, accused DeSantis, a rising Republican star considered a likely 2024 presidential contender, of being too distracted by his national political ambitions to lead properly. DeSantis skirted several attempts Monday by Crist to get him to say he’d serve a full second term. The Florida governor’s race may not be the nation’s most competitive election this fall, but it is no less consequential for DeSantis, who could launch a presidential bid in the coming months.
October 25, 2022 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A new AP-NORC poll shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans think the federal government is not doing enough to fight climate change. That opinion comes as respondents have limited awareness about a sweeping new law that commits the U.S. to its largest ever investment to combat global warming. President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress have touted the Inflation Reduction Act passed in August as a milestone achievement they hope can boost the party leading into the midterm elections. Yet the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 61% of U.S. adults say they know little to nothing about it.
October 25, 2022 4:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A massive recall of sleep apnea machines is expected to drag into next year. That’s caused frustration for U.S. patients and led federal officials to consider rare legal steps to speed the replacement effort. Dutch manufacturer Philips has recalled more than 5 million machines worldwide due to foam that can deteriorate, releasing potentially harmful byproducts. While customers were supposed to receive new machines within a year, the company says shipments will continue into 2023. That’s left many U.S. patients to choose between using a recalled device or trying other risky remedies. U.S. regulators have warned they may take the unprecedented step of ordering Philips to step up its effort.
October 25, 2022 4:03 am
Peters Township Council met Monday evening and approved two temporary road closures. The first road closure that will occur will be on Druid Drive on November 14 and 15 to allow contractors for Verizon to install a pole and antenna for cell phone service near a high tension electrical line. Traffic will be directed by a detour to Fireside Drive to navigate the closure. Township officials also allowed a 14 day closure on Turkeyfoot Road to take place to allow Columbia Gas to perform maintenance work on a transmission line. Dates for that work are pending and residents will be alerted when that will be done. Council also approved nine pre qualified contractors that will be able to bid on the aquatic center project at Rolling Hills Park. Before the action items, council recognized Stephanie Urchick. She is a member of the McMurray Rotary Club and a Rotary International Director. Urchick was just named President of Rotary International for the 2024-2025 year
