February 21, 2022 4:08 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Justices on Pennsylvania’s state Supreme Court are weighing how to pick a map of new congressional districts. The justices listened to more than a dozen lawyers for five hours Friday each trying to persuade them that their proposed map is best. Meanwhile, justices did not necessarily embrace a Republican-backed map recommended by a lower court judge, but viewed by Democrats as blatantly partisan. Rather, justices seemed to search for a non-partisan and neutral basis on which to select a map. Pennsylvania’s Democratic-majority court must make the final decision on how to draw the state’s congressional districts after Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled Legislature deadlocked.
February 21, 2022 2:58 am
(WPIX) – Outages for Pennsylvanians trying to file unemployment claims are expected to last until Monday night, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. The intermittent outages are due to “routine system maintenance” that began Saturday, limiting public access to both online and phone systems. Because of the outages, the department said it plans to have additional staff working extended hours Tuesday to Thursday to help people affected by the downtime. The weekend outage is the latest hurdle for people who file for unemployment compensation. Earlier in February, the Department of Labor and Industry scrapped its customer service ticketing system. Due to reported fraud, the department also had to begin offering free credit monitoring to anyone who filed a claim since June 2021.
February 21, 2022 2:01 am
MONONGAHELA, Pa. — A Van Voorhis woman is dead after getting hit by a train in downtown Monongahela Saturday afternoon. The Washington County Coroner says Jaimyn Grace Rauchfuss, 22, was the operator and sole occupant of a vehicle that was struck by a Norfolk Southern train at the 4th Street railroad crossing at 2:20 p.m. The accident took place along Railroad Street near the Monongahela Aquatorium. Rauchfuss’ cause and manner of death are pending an investigation and autopsy. The Monogahela City Fire Department responded with Tri-Community EMS on scene. The incident is under investigation by the Monongahela Police Department.
February 20, 2022 8:09 am
TORONTO (AP) — Most of the streets around the Canadian Parliament are quiet now. The Ottawa protesters who vowed never to give up are largely gone, chased away by policemen in riot gear. The relentless blare of truckers’ horns has gone silent. But the trucker protest, which grew until it closed a handful of Canada-U.S. border posts and shut down key parts of the capital city for weeks, could echo for years in Canadian politics and perhaps south of the border. The protest, which was first aimed at a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers also encompassed fury over the range of COVID-19 restrictions and hatred of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “I think we’ve started something here,” said Mark Suitor, a 33-year-old protester from Hamilton, Ontario, speaking as police retook control of the streets around Parliament. Protesters had essentially occupied those streets for more than three weeks, embarrassing Trudeau. Suitor believes the protests will divide the country, something he welcomes.
February 20, 2022 8:06 am
LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and is experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, Buckingham Palace said, adding that the 95-year-old monarch would carry on working. The palace said the queen would continue with “light” duties at Windsor Castle over the coming week. People in the U.K. who test positive for COVID-19 are required to self-isolate for at least five days, though the British government says it plans to lift that requirement for England in the coming week. The queen has received three doses of coronavirus vaccine. Both her eldest son Prince Charles, 73, and 74-year-old daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall have also recently contracted COVID-19. Charles has since returned to work.
February 20, 2022 8:04 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia extended military drills near Ukraine’s northern borders Sunday amid increased fears that two days of sustained shelling along the contact line between soldiers and Russa-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine could spark an invasion. The exercises, originally set to end Sunday, brought a sizable contingent of Russian forces to neighboring Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north. The presence of the Russian troops raised concern that they could be used to sweep down on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The announcement came from the defense minister of Belarus, who said the two countries would “continue testing the response forces.” Western leaders warned that Russia was poised to attack its neighbor, which is surrounded on three sides by about 150,000 Russian soldiers, warplanes and equipment. Russia held nuclear drills Saturday as well as the conventional exercises in Belarus, and has ongoing naval drills off the coast in the Black Sea. The United States and many European countries have alleged for months that Russia is trying to create pretexts to invade. They have threatened massive, immediate sanctions if it does.
February 20, 2022 1:34 am
The parents of a baby whose body was found hidden in the wall of a home in Charleroi could face the death penalty. Twenty-five-year-old Kylie Wilt and 27-year-old Alan Hollis are facing 17 identical charges for the death and concealment of their infant son Archer. Felony counts of Criminal homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide and aggravated assault lead the laundry list of charges that both face. The two will be tried together. During their arraignment on Friday, the district attorney announced that he had filed notice of aggravating factors and announced said the commonwealth will be seeking the death penalty. Hollis, who is being held in SCI Pine Grove on unrelated charges, appeared at the arraignment via video and Wilt appeared in person. Wilt is being held in the Washington County Jail without bond. No trial date has been set.
February 20, 2022 1:34 am
A bridge with a history of low clearance incidents is set to be replaced this Spring. PennDot opened a virtual plans display for the Maple Drive Bridge (Route 2027) spanning over Interstate 70 in Speers. The current structure has a height of just 14.3 feet from the highway, and the new bridge will be set at 16.5 feet to help taller vehicles pass below. Improvements will also be made to the interchange with the interstate. During construction, a single lane of traffic will be maintained southbound on the bridge, with detours in place for northbound traffic, utilizing both I-70 and the Charleroi Exit. There will be some nighttime interstate closures and a full weekend closure of Maple Drive during the project, which is set to start in April and last until mid-November of this year. Plans are displayed on the PennDot District 12 website until Monday, February 21st.
February 19, 2022 12:32 pm
PARIS (AP) – French prosecutors say a modeling agent who was close to disgraced U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead Saturday in his French jail cell. Agent Jean-Luc Brunel was being held in an investigation into the rape of minors and trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation. The French investigation was prompted by sex-trafficking charges against Epstein in the U.S., and Brunel was considered central to the probe. Paris police opened an investigation into Brunel’s death. Victims of alleged abuse by Brunel described his death as a double blow, after Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial. áOne lawyer said there is “great disappointment, great frustration that (the victims) won’t get justice.”
February 19, 2022 12:30 pm
MUNICH (AP) – A top European Union official says Russia would have its access to financial markets and high-tech goods limited under Western sanctions being prepared in case it attacks Ukraine. The comments from the head of the EU’s executive commission on Saturday came as tensions over Russia’s intentions toward Ukraine intensified further on Saturday. U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday he was convinced” Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade the neighboring country. Von der Leyen said that the Kremlin’s thinking “may cost Russia a prosperous future.” Western leaders so far have not specified what precise Russian action would trigger sanctions.
