March 9, 2025 3:34 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. —(WPXI)- A Washington & Jefferson College student is facing criminal charges after a threat was made against the campus on an anonymous social media app. A threatening post was made against the school on the app YikYak in February. It said, “No cap, how many people you think I can kill if I shoot the joint up” and then was followed by a response saying, “I’m thinking like 30-50.” Attendance to in-person classes was made optional as a result. Police got a search warrant and got user information from YikYak. They say the person who made the original post and response was Trevor Jon McDonald, 23. McDonald was suspended from Washington & Jefferson College before the post was made for an unrelated incident. Members of the FBI met him at his house in Chalfont and showed him a picture of the post. Police said he admitted to making it. McDonald faces a felony charge of terroristic threats causing the evacuation of a building and criminal use of a communication facility.
March 8, 2025 3:31 am
A man from Cecil Township will stand trial on several involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault of a minor charges. Ryan Wolstoncroft, 39 turned down a plea offer on a single involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 16 years old charge that would have him serve 5-10 years in jail. When asked by the judge about the plea deal the district attorney said that the offer has been the same for approximately two years. The judge asked Wolstoncroft if he was sure that he wanted to go to trial knowing that he could be convicted of all 6 offenses that he faces and that jail terms could be served consecutively calling for a much longer possible jail sentence. Wolstoncroft was firm in his reply to stand trial. The trial is scheduled for September 8. Wolstoncroft remains free on $250,000 bond. Wolstoncroft is accused of assaulting a minor from 2020 until 2021 multiple times. He would offer to purchase in-game currency for a popular internet video game in exchange for silence about the assaults.
March 7, 2025 4:28 pm
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities revealed Friday that actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease and showed severe signs of Alzheimer’s disease a full week after his wife died of hantavirus in their home. Authorities initially ruled out foul play after the bodies were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Arakawa, 65, was found with an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on the bathroom counter. Authorities linked her death to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Hackman, 95, was found in the home’s entryway. His death was tied to heart disease with Alzheimer’s disease contributing. (Photo: AP)
March 7, 2025 10:34 am
SALEM TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A school van driver is dead and a teenager injured after a multi-vehicle crash in Westmoreland County. The crash involving a school van, a tractor-trailer and an SUV happened around 7:15 a.m. near the intersection of Route 22 and Route 819 in Salem Township. Route 22 was closed in both directions but has since reopened. The school van driver, identified by state police as Renee Davis, 60, was killed in the crash. There were no students on board the school van at the time. A district spokesperson said the van was on a route for the Greensburg Salem School District. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not hurt. The district said the driver of the SUV was one of its high school students on their way to school. The 17-year-old student is OK but being evaluated at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. State police said that the tractor-trailer ran a red light and that sun glare may have played a factor in the crash.
March 7, 2025 8:47 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added solid 151,000 jobs last month, but the outlook is cloudy as President Donald threatens a trade war, purges the federal workforce and promises to deport millions of immigrants. The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring was up from a revised 125,000 in January. The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1%. The job market has been remarkably resilient over the past year despite high interest rates.
March 7, 2025 2:57 am
Washington City Council hired their new city administrator. Richard Cleveland has been appointed to the position that is being vacated by Donn Henderson next month. Cleveland will begin work with the city on March 18 and his salary will be $74,000. According to Mayor JoJo Burgess, Cleveland brings a wealth of experience to the city from the private sector as he performed work for several municipalities in Washington and Greene Counties. There will be an approximate 30 day overlap with Henderson to allow Cleveland to get on his feet quickly. As anticipated council adopted changes to the property maintenance ordinance adopting the 2021 edition of the International Property Maintenance Code. They also adopted changes to the quality of life ordinance raising the $25 dollar fine to $50 to cover increased costs of enforcement. At the end of the meeting, Mayor JoJo Burgess made a statement that asks all residents to treat city employees with respect. He indicated that a recent event alarmed an employee when a resident became irate with them over a policy enacted by council. Burgess simply stated that if a resident has a complaint about policy or law, come to the mayor and council. City employees only perform the tasks assigned. The argument that you have belongs between the residents and council and employees are not to receive the thrust of frustration over something they had no control over implementing.
March 7, 2025 1:52 am
An addition to the agenda to the Washington County Commissioners voting meeting shortly after the scheduled agenda meeting has caused some confusion among the board. Commissioners voted 2-1 to cancel a maintenance contract with MRA Inc. That company is the vendor for the current emergency radio system in the county. According to Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman, the contract with MRA Inc was cancelled over cost and timeline regarding a move of an antenna from the Courthouse Square Building to the Crossroads Building to allow demolition of the Courthouse Square Building to begin. Cost was also an issue according to Sherman. Though no figures were disclosed, Sherman said that the new vendor, Capital Communications, can perform the work more quickly and at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars cheaper than MRA Inc. Sherman says that Capital Communications is already under contract with the county to work on the new emergency radio system installation. Sherman went on to say that Capitol Communications is fully capable of performing the work and maintenance of equipment that MRA Inc was contracted to perform. Commissioner Larry Maggi voted against the measure, stating that this contract was cancelled last August without proper vetting, only to be reinstated in October. He says that he has not seen any figures that Sherman reports and wonders why the contract was not put out for bid.
March 7, 2025 4:53 am
Trinity Area School Board authorized awarding a bid proposal of $458,623 from Blueprints for developing and implementing a preschool program during the 2025-2026 school year. The program will be funded through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a federal initiative for local education. The programs will be located in Trinity East and Trinity South Elementary Schools. Another adjustment which will be done at Trinity South is the baseball field of the school has had drainage problems during heavy rainstorms and will be leveled prior to the beginning of the season. In a separate motion, the board authorized the district’s administration to reset the bidding process on a new Visual Emergency Notification System. The district would like to acquire a system with additional features of digital signage, wireless screen mirroring, and general announcements capability. The new system will be merged into the district’s existing technology infrastructure, 280 Promethean ActivPanels and 40 display/televisions used for digital signage in six buildings. In other matters, the board also approved the purchase of a new Fusion Epilog Laser Engraver from Allegheny Educational Systems, Inc at the cost of $15,636.40. The machine is funded from General Funds of Pennsylvania Education Purchasing Program for Microcomputers and will be installed in Trinity Middle School.
March 7, 2025 12:13 am
Incumbent Magisterial District Judge James Saieva Jr. has announced he will seek reelection. He has served in that capacity for the past five years for the Canonsburg area. He ran for office in 2019 after retiring from the Canonsburg Police Department after more than twenty-five years as a police officer. He also worked for both the Hanover Township and Houston Borough Police Departments. In his announcement, Saieva points to instituting a campaign promise and changing office hours to accommodate citizens when scheduling their hearings and extending office hours on Monday’s until 6 p.m. He is a graduate of Canon-McMillan High School and holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Edinboro University. He also is a graduate of the Municipal Police Academy at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Saieva is a Republican but plans to cross-file.
March 8, 2025 1:42 am
Washington and Jefferson College Students and business leaders in Washington County were treated to a rare program. Jose Miguel Aleman Healy, Panama’s Ambassador to the United States shared his views on the history and current relationship between Panama and the United States. He stepped back in history to when business titans in the U-S negotiated with Panama in the 1850’s to build the Panama Railroad that preceded the Panama Canal by nearly fifty years. He detailed the business relationship with the U-S describing Panama’s trade deficit with the U-S as a 10:1 ratio in favor of the U-S. His description of Panama’s economy is one based in logistics. He detailed diverse business opportunities available in his county. He was particularly adamant about the United States maintaining its lead in creativity in innovations both in business and technology. He admires the United States Education system for that creativity and says the creativity is what keeps the United States as a world leader over other countries such as China that copy other country’s innovations. He says that Panama is looking to tap into that innovation by having American universities expand into their country. Panama has recently met with Carnegie Mellon University for that reason. Attorney Frank Botta is a graduate of W&J and invited Ambassador Aleman Healy to speak. He hopes that the visit will open an opportunity for W&J to take advantage of the expansion plan.
