October 12, 2022 4:15 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Los Angeles City Council is mired in uncertainty. President Joe Biden is calling for three members to resign after a recording surfaced of them participating in a meeting in which racist language was used to mock their colleagues. Three current or former members have been indicted or pleaded guilty to corruption charges. It’s possible resignations could create new vacancies. It’s not known if the Council can assemble the required 10 members – out of 15 total – to conduct business Wednesday. Raphael Sonenshein – who heads the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles – calls the situation chaotic.
October 12, 2022 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden says there will be “consequences” for Saudi Arabia as his administration begins reevaluating the U.S. relationship with the kingdom. That’s after the Riyadh-led OPEC+ alliance of oil-producing nations announced it would cut oil production. Biden said in a CNN interview Tuesday that he was weighing action against the Saudis but declined to detail potential next steps. The OPEC+ production cut is expected to help Russia pad its coffers as it continues its nearly eight-month war in Ukraine. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Ro Khanna of California have introduced legislation that would immediately pause all U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
October 12, 2022 4:13 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – The head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said Wednesday that a Ukrainian nuclear plant surrounded by Russian troops has lost all external power needed for vital safety systems for the second time in five days. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said agency monitors at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant reported the interruption and said backup diesel generators are keeping nuclear safety and security equipment operational. He said the repeated loss of power at the plant is “a deeply worrying development.”
October 12, 2022 4:10 am
At their September 27 legislative meeting, North Strabane Township Supervisors unanimously approved a measure to enter into a separation agreement with Police Chief Brian Hughes. No comments from township officials were offered that night. WJPA filed a Right To Know request to try and determine the circumstances surrounding the separation. Township Manager Andrew Walz provided a separation agreement signed by Hughes and the township that detailed the issue. According to the seven page separation agreement Chief Hughes is departing the department under a restructuring of the police department. He officially went on a “personal leave of absence” beginning September 20 and ending on December 31, 2022. He will continue to be paid his base salary and receive health care benefits. He will be paid $42,402 in accrued benefits such as vacation, sick and personal time off among others items. Regarding inquiries of reference, the agreement states that the township will issue a neutral reference only stating the beginning and end dates of Hughes’ employment and that his departure was due to a departmental restructuring. According to the agreement, Hughes’ duties are being assumed by the public safety director and others. No information regarding the hiring process for a new chief was provided.
October 12, 2022 2:56 am
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) – Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been ordered by a Connecticut jury to pay $965 million to people who suffered from his false claim that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. The verdict is the second big judgment against the Infowars host for claiming the massacre was staged. It came in a lawsuit filed by the relatives of eight victims. An FBI agent who responded to the shooting was also a plaintiff. Jones now believes the shooting was real, but he says he had a right to publicly question whether it happened. A Texas jury in August ordered Jones to pay $50 million to the parents of another slain child.
October 12, 2022 2:45 am
If you bought a Powerball ticket in Washington County recently, you’d better check that ticket – you could be a winner. The Giant Eagle at 200 Station Street, McDonald, sold a Powerball ticket worth $100,000 for the Monday drawing, according to a news release from the Pennsylvania Lottery. The ticket matched four of the five white balls drawn: 3-6-11-17-22 – and the red Powerball 11 to win $100,000. The McDonald Giant Eagle earns a $500 bonus for selling the winning ticket. Winners are not known until prizes are claimed and tickets are validated. Winners have one year from the drawing date to claim prizes.
October 11, 2022 3:35 pm
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) – Film, TV and Broadway actor Eileen Ryan has died at 94. She was also the mother of actors Sean Penn and Christopher Penn and musician Michael Penn. Her TV credits include appearances on “The Twilight Zone,” “Bonanza,” “The Detectives,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” “Little House on the Prairie,” “Arli$$,” “Ally McBeal,” “NYPD Blue,” “ER,” “CSI,” “Men of a Certain Age” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” Her film roles included “Parenthood,” “At Close Range” and “Benny & Joon.” She also acted in films with her sons, including “At Close Range,” “I Am Sam,” “The Indian Runner” and “The Crossing Guard.” (Photo: AP)
October 11, 2022 3:31 pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – NASA says a spacecraft that plowed into a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles away last month succeeded in shifting its orbit. The space agency announced the results of the tests Tuesday. NASA attempted the first test of its kind two weeks ago to see if a killer rock could be nudged out of Earth’s way. The Dart spacecraft carved a crater into the asteroid, hurling debris out into space and creating a comet-like trail of dust and rubble. It took days of telescope observations to determine how much the impact altered the asteroid’s path around its companion, a bigger space rock.
October 11, 2022 6:56 am
NORTH FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, Pa. – (WPXI)- State police are investing a string of Washington County car break-ins. The front passenger windows of three vehicles parked along Washington Federal Way in North Franklin Township were smashed after 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Purses were stolen from all three of the vehicles. Police said a similar incident occurred at Mingo Creek County Park on the same date. Anyone with information is asked to call state police in Washington at 724-223-5200.
October 11, 2022 4:13 am
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The U.S.’s third largest railroad union rejected a deal with employers Monday, renewing the possibility of a strike that could cripple the economy. Both sides will return to the bargaining table before that happens. Over half of track maintenance workers represented by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division who voted opposed the five-year contract despite 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses. Union President Tony Cardwell said the railroads didn’t do enough to address the lack of paid time off — particularly sick time — and working conditions after the major railroads eliminated nearly one-third of their jobs over the past six years. “Railroaders are discouraged and upset with working conditions and compensation and hold their employer in low regard. Railroaders do not feel valued,” Cardwell said in a statement. The group that represents the railroads in negotiations said they were disappointed the union rejected the agreement, but emphasized that no immediate threat of a strike exists because the union agreed to keep working for now.
