February 28, 2022 4:12 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian forces are shelling Ukraine’s second-largest city, rocking a residential neighborhood, and closing in on the capital, Kyiv, in a 17-mile convoy of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles. Meanwhile, talks aimed at stopping the fighting yielded only an agreement to keep talking. Amid ever-growing international condemnation, Russia finds itself increasingly isolated, while also facing unexpectedly fierce resistance on the ground in Ukraine and economic havoc at home.
February 28, 2022 4:09 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Governor Tom Wolf made an announcement Sunday afternoon that he sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Liquid Control Board urging the removal of Russian-sourced products from stores and ceasing selling them. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board announced Sunday evening that all Russian-made products will be removed from the shelves of Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores as a show of solidarity and support for the people of Ukraine. According to a press release, Russian-made Special Order products are also no longer available. “As of today, these products will no longer be sold or procured by the PLCB,” said Board Chairman Tim Holden. “Given the evolving political-economic climate, it’s just the right thing to do.” Russian-branded products that are not actually sourced from Russia will still be available.
February 28, 2022 4:05 am
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) – An Ohio water district has won the top prize for U.S. tap water at an international tasting contest. Montpelier, Ohio, took home first place for Best Municipal Water on Saturday at the 32nd annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting in West Virginia. It beat out last year’s winner, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which placed second. Another California entry, the Mission Springs Water District, was third. All three have won the gold medal previously. Judges based their rankings on taste, odor, mouth feel and aftertaste. Nine judges chose from among entries in 16 states, three Canadian provinces and eight other countries.
February 27, 2022 7:49 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, its neighbors said, in a resumption of weapons tests that came as the United States and its allies are focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The missile launch was the eighth of its kind this year. Some experts have said North Korea is trying to perfect its weapons technology and pressure the United States into offering concessions like sanctions relief amid long-stalled disarmament talks. North Korea also might view the U.S. preoccupation with the Ukraine conflict as a chance to accelerate testing activity without any serious response from Washington.
February 27, 2022 7:47 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and European nations agreed Saturday to impose the most potentially crippling financial penalties yet on Russia over its unrelenting invasion of Ukraine, going after the central bank reserves that underpin the Russian economy and severing some Russian banks from a vital global financial network. The decision, announced as Ukrainian forces battled Saturday to hold Russian forces back from Ukraine’s capital and residents sheltered in subway tunnels, basements and underground garages, has potential to spread the pain of Western retaliation for President Vladimir Putin’s invasion to ordinary Russians far more than previous rounds of penalties. “Putin embarked on a path aiming to destroy Ukraine, but what he is also doing, in fact, is destroying the future of his own country,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. The European Union, United States, United Kingdom and other allies have steadily stepped up the intensity of their sanctions since Russia launched the invasion late last week.
February 27, 2022 7:46 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Fourteen people were shot during a party at a Las Vegas hookah lounge early Saturday, including one man who was killed and two others who were critically wounded. The shooting happened about 3:15 a.m. and preliminary information indicated there was a party during which two people got into an altercation and exchanged gunfire, said police Capt. Dori Koren. Koren told reporters no arrests have been made and no suspect descriptions were immediately available but that authorities did not believe there was any danger to the general public. Police went to the hookah bar identified by the Las Vegas Review-Journal as Manny’s Glow Ultra Lounge & Restaurant after receiving multiple 911 calls, Koren said. Officers secured the scene and rendered aid, including applying tourniquets and administering CPR, Koren said. Investigators were trying to determine the types of gun or guns used in the shooting.
February 27, 2022 7:44 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Street fighting broke out in Ukraine’s second-largest city and Russian troops squeezed strategic ports in the country’s south Sunday, advances that appeared to mark a new phase of Russia’s invasion following a wave of attacks on airfields and fuel facilities elsewhere in the country. Following its gains on the ground, Russia sent a delegation to Belarus for peace talks with Ukraine, according to the Kremlin. Ukraine’s president suggested other locations, saying his country was unwilling to meet in Belarus because it served as a staging ground for the invasion. Until Sunday, Russia’s troops had remained on the outskirts of Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million about 12 miles south of the border with Russia, while other forces rolled past to press the offensive deeper into Ukraine. Videos posted on Ukrainian media and social networks showed Russian vehicles moving across Kharkiv and Russian troops roaming the city in small groups. One showed Ukrainian troops firing at the Russians and damaged Russian light utility vehicles abandoned nearby. The images underscored the determined resistance Russian troops face while attempting to enter Ukraine’s bigger cities. Ukrainians have volunteered en masse to help defend the capital, Kyiv, and other cities, taking guns distributed by authorities and preparing firebombs to fight Russian forces.
February 27, 2022 7:40 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Four total states, including neighboring Ohio, have banned the sale of Russian-made vodka to show support for Ukraine. Gov. Mike Dewine of Ohio was the latest to announce that Russian-made vodka will be pulled from shelves. Here in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf has not made such an announcement. Several area liquor stores Channel 11 contacted said they are still selling Russian vodka. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board issued this statement: “Understanding there are also various points of view on today’s political-economic climate– we believe that consumers and licensees should have the freedom – within the constraints of federally imposed sanctions – to make their own purchase decisions. Should such a ban become part of sanctions– we would no longer purchase Russian wines and spirits.”
February 27, 2022 3:40 am
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced Wednesday that Pennsylvania has reached a new COVID-19 vaccine milestone. Wolf says that as of Wednesday, 95-percent of Pennsylvanians, ages 18 and older received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. The announcement comes on the heels of declining coronavirus cases. Deaths, however, continue to inch up. State health officials say that since Thursday, there were 26 additional positive cases of COVID in Washington County, bringing the total number of coronavirus infections to 50,253. There were also three additional deaths, bringing the county’s death toll to 629. In Allegheny County, the total number of COVID cases stands at 260,180 with the addition of 158 new cases. There were also five new deaths. In Greene County, there are now 8,300 COVID infections with the addition of three new infections. Across Pennsylvania, health officials say the statewide number of COVID cases stands at 2,752,935 with the addition of 1,583 new cases. There were 79 new deaths reported, bringing the state’s death toll to 43,148.
February 27, 2022 1:30 am
A Burgettstown man is facing multiple charges, including criminal homicide, in the death of his six-month-old baby boy, Oliver, in December. Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh says 30-year-old Joshua George, the baby’s father, was the only person taking care of the baby when the child suffered serious injuries, including a fractured skull. Walsh says police in Smith Township were called to a home on Colony Road on December 30, 2021, for a medical emergency involving a six-month-old baby. The next day, on New Year’s Eve, the baby was taken to Weirton Medical Center in West Virginia and then flown to Children’s Hospital where he died. The medical examiner ruled that the baby died of blunt force trauma to the head and authorities say a doctor at the hospital said he had suffered injuries consistent with physical child abuse. Walsh says George was arraigned on the charges Friday and is being held in the Washington County Jail without bond.
