March 28, 2025 7:43 am
NUUK, Greenland (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance says Denmark has “underinvested” in Greenland’s security and demands Denmark change its approach as President Donald Trump continues to talk of taking over the Danish territory. The pointed remarks came Friday as Vance visited U.S. troops at Pituffik Space Base on the mineral-rich, strategically critical island. The Republican vice president says the Trump administration’s message to Denmark is very simple: “You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland.” Relations between the U.S. and the Nordic country have soured as Trump has repeatedly suggested the U.S. should control the territory.
March 28, 2025 7:27 am
MONESSEN, Pa. — A shooting suspect is in custody after barricading themselves inside a home in Westmoreland County Friday morning. The incident on Leeds Avenue started just after 4:30 a.m. after authorities attempted to serve a search warrant for Jay Din Eleam, 21, following a late Thursday night, according to police paperwork. The shooting happened just before 11 p.m. near Marion and Leeds avenues. One person was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital and is expected to survive. Eleam was taken into custody after a nearly five-hour standoff. The Monessen City School District moved to a flexible instruction day due to the situation.
March 28, 2025 7:22 am
Two people have been injured in a four-vehicle crash on Interstate 70. Washington County 9-1-1 says the crash occurred around 6 a.m. in the eastbound lanes near the Dunningsville exit. According to dispatchers, a tanker truck and three passenger vehicles were involved. Two of those injured were transported from the scene by ambulance and taken to UPMC Washington Hospital. There is no word on their identities or conditions. The crash did close the eastbound lanes.
March 28, 2025 4:56 am
BELLE VERNON, Pa. — An increased police presence will be at the Rostraver Elementary School on Friday. Belle Vernorn Area School District Dr. Timothy Glasspool said school administrators learned that students in grades 2-5 were talking about weapons and fighting in their neighborhood. Glasspool said one student mentioned bringing a gun to school. The Rostraver Township Police Department has been notified and is investigating. An officer will be at the bus stop and the school. A school representative will also ride the bus for further supervision. “The safety of our students is our highest priority. We take all potential threats seriously and will continue to maintain open communication with families and law enforcement, provide a secure learning environment for all students, and respond promptly and throughout to all safety concerns. We encourage parents and guardians to talk openly with [their] children about school safety and remind students to report any concerning conversations or behaviors to a trusted adult,” Glasspool said in a statement. The parent of the student who was the target of the threats has been notified.
March 28, 2025 2:56 am
Changes that were put in place Thursday on a Washington School District bus following an incident that was captured on video and shared online, were successful. Washington Superintendent George Lammay tells WJPA news that staff members were added to bus #5 for both its morning and afternoon run. The bus driver, John King, also remained on that bus. Videos taken by students showed him shouting at the kids and telling them to “shut up” and sit down. He can also be heard saying, “bunch a morons, dude. Like, I’m driving a giant bus and yinz won’t shut up.” In other parts of the video, he’s heard threatening to write students up, “daring” the district to confront him, pondering quitting and saying he hopes they “handcuff” parents for truancy if the kids can’t get to school. Lammay says an investigation is underway which will include reviewing those videos as well as bus video. King says the kids actions had been building up and became a “safety issue.” Lammay says they support the driver and are asking that all sides come together to address the issue and that includes; district officials, the bus company, the driver and students and parents. Lammay says the district is reviewing a way to add additional adults on all of its buses for the remainder of the school year. (Photo: Facebook)
March 28, 2025 2:53 am
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce held their annual Municipal Leaders Panel Discussion and managers from five municipalities offered their views on challenges and opportunities that are presented to each of their areas. Chartiers, North Strabane, South Strabane and Peters Townships along with the Borough of Charleroi all weighed in. Jodi Noble from Chartiers Township says that her district tries to make sure they manage residential development and maintain the rural nature of Chartiers. Jeff Ziegler from South Strabane Township said that their township is really concentrating on the recreational aspect of the township by managing park development and private recreation sources such as the Epi-Center that is slated to be built at Tanger Outlets. Industrial commerce was also discussed. Joe Manning from Charleroi discussed the ongoing difficulties his borough is facing with the impending closure of the Corelle glass plant and the efforts in trying to re-purpose that site. On the other hand, Chartiers’ Jodi Noble told of the recent purchase of a decade old Allegheny Ludlum brownfield in her township by Alumicore, LLC as a second site to recycle aluminum. All five municipalities spoke of how important recreation is to their districts and their plans to enhance and expand on already existing recreation areas.
March 28, 2025 2:13 am
FBI agents along with members of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were in Charleroi Thursday, conducting immigration enforcement operations. Bradford Arick told WJPA News that the FBI was there in support of and alongside their partners at the DHS. He says the FBI in Pittsburgh continues to provide investigative, technical and analytical support to the DHS in their immigration operations all over the region as directed by the Attorney General. Arick would offer no further information as to where the operation took place, other than to say Charleroi, nor did he comment on whether anyone was detained.
March 27, 2025 11:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will eliminate 10,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring plan. The agency made the announcement Thursday. The agency is responsible for monitoring infectious diseases, inspecting foods and hospitals and overseeing health insurance programs for nearly half the country. The agency says it will decrease its workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 positions. The cuts include layoffs, early retirements and voluntary separations, encouraged through buyout offers from the Trump administration. Layoffs are 10,000 workers, and the other 10,000 are early retirements and buyouts.
March 27, 2025 5:01 am
SOMERVILLE, Mass. (AP) — A lawyer for a Turkish national and doctoral student at Tufts University says she has been detained by Department of Homeland Security agents without explanation. The lawyer for 30-year-old Rumeysa Ozturk says she had just left her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Tuesday when she was stopped by agents. Surveillance video obtained by AP appears to show six people whose faces are covered taking her phone as she yells and is handcuffed. A judge ordered that she not be moved out of Massachusetts and gave the government until Friday to respond. But as of Wednesday evening, she was listed in online records as being at processing center in southern Louisiana. The DHS confirmed Ozturk’s detention and the termination of her visa.
March 27, 2025 5:00 am
TECOLUCA, El Salvador (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has visited the high-security El Salvador prison where Venezuelans who the Trump administration alleges are members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang have been held since their removal from the U.S. Noem’s trip Wednesday to the prison where inmates are packed into cells and never allowed outside comes as the Trump administration seeks to show it is deporting people it describes as the “worst of the worst.” The Trump administration is arguing in federal court that it was justified in sending the Venezuelans to El Salvador, while activists say the prison is rife with human rights abuses.
