March 21, 2025 4:58 am
CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — (WPXI) – A train derailed in Fayette County on Thursday. A CSX official said the crash happened near Crawford Street in Connellsville at 8:59 p.m. Three empty intermodal cars derailed and downed power lines. Nine homes lost power as a result. No injuries have been reported. CSX said there were no leaks or spills. Investigators are working to learn what caused the derailment.
March 21, 2025 4:54 am
The Canon-McMillan School Board has authorized the sale of the former Canonsburg Middle School at 25 East College Street. The Canonsburg Educational and Cultural Institute will buy the property on March 21 and transform the structure into a cultural center. The board also voted to include three new student-operated clubs into Canon-McMillan High School, to begin for the 2025-2026 school year. The Corn Hole Club will be based on the outdoor sport, giving students an active method of acquainting themselves with one another while creating teamwork and healthy competition. The Public Debate Club will target critical thinking, public speaking, and communication skills, the club will allow students to engage in debating social, political, as well as ethical issues, motivating them to build strong argumentative skills. The Public and Community Service Liaison Club will focus on awareness of the community and civic duty, this club will give students the option of developing public service projects and serving as a liaison between school and community organizations. As a part of the agreement, each of the clubs will be run by a volunteer sponsor for the 2025-2026 school year. If the clubs are successful in their campaign, the administration will fund a paid sponsor for each club in the following year, as envisioned by the Canon-McMillan Educational Association (CMEA) contract.
March 21, 2025 2:22 am
(AP) – A man who had voluntarily agreed to be taken to a psychiatric hospital by Philadelphia police grabbed an officer’s gun outside of the facility and wounded him before being fatally shot by another officer. The city police commissioner says the wounded officer’s bulletproof vest spared him from serious injury. The shooting occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday at Friends Hospital. Commissioner Kevin Bethel says the two city officers had encountered the man earlier Thursday after he was seen walking in traffic, and he agreed to go to the hospital for a mental health evaluation. The man was driven to the hospital in a police van but was not handcuffed because he had agreed to go voluntarily.
March 21, 2025 2:04 am
Last week at the Washington County Real Estate Expo, Washington County Commissioners highlighted the construction of a new Public Safety Building as a project to watch in 2025. Commissioners unanimously approved a contract to take that first step in construction. Adamo Demolition Co. from Detroit, Michigan was awarded a $1,555,700 contract to demolish the Courthouse Square building. According to Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman, this company will use robotic technologies to demolish the building. Those technologies allowed a taxpayer savings of more than half of the $4 million budgeted for demolition. Sherman said that several local companies did bid the project, but those bids ran from $3.8 million to $4.2 million. Currently a radio antenna is being moved from Courthouse Square to the Crossroads Building and cabling is also being run. Once that project is finished, Sherman says that demolition could begin within a month.
March 20, 2025 9:21 am
MONESSEN, Pa. — A family safely escaped a house fire in Monessen early Thursday morning. Emergency crews were called to the 1500 block of Jones Street just before 3 a.m. Fire officials said the fire started on the porch and then quickly spread throughout the house. Initial reports indicated that two houses were on fire, but only because firefighters could barely see through the smoke when they arrived. The Monessen fire chief told Channel 11 that wind was a massive issue for crews. Everyone, including a young girl, and her parents and grandfather, made it out safely. The Red Cross has been called in to help the family. The State Police fire marshal is investigating
March 20, 2025 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Social Security Administration’s plan to require in-person identity checks for millions of new and existing recipients has drawn ire from lawmakers, advocacy groups and program recipients who are concerned that the government is placing barriers in front of people seeking to access their benefits. The agency announced Tuesday, that beginning March 31st, those who cannot properly verify their identity through an online service will be required to visit an agency field office in person to complete the verification process. To complicate matters, Social Security field offices across the country will also be closing.
March 20, 2025 4:56 am
CHAMPAGNE, France (AP) — The number 200 is top of mind across wine country in France, Italy and Spain, Europe’s top producers of wine. That’s because last week, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a tariff of 200% on European wines, Champagne and other spirits if the European Union didn’t back down from imposing retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. products. Europe’s wine industry is the latest to find itself in the crosshairs of a possible trade spat with the U.S. For now, many producers are hoping that Trump’s threat doesn’t come to fruition.
March 20, 2025 4:54 am
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Lawyers for Joshua Roshua Riibe, a senior at St. Cloud University in Minnesota who is believed to be the last person to see missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic, say he has left the Caribbean country. Following a trial exceeding five hours, Judge Edwin Rijo ruled that Riibe, classified as a witness in a disappearance case, should have full rights under Dominican law and unrestricted freedom of movement.It was not immediately clear where Riibe traveled after leaving the Dominican Republic.
March 20, 2025 4:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged Wednesday and signaled that it still expects to cut rates twice this year, though more policymakers forecast fewer cuts. The Fed also now expects the economy to grow more slowly this year and next than it did three months ago, according to a set of quarterly economic projections also released Wednesday. It also expects the unemployment rate to tick higher, to 4.4%. Policymakers also expect inflation will pick up slightly by the end of this year, to 2.7% from its current level of 2.5%. Bother are above the central bank’s 2% target.
March 20, 2025 4:50 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order calling for the dismantling of the Education Department. The Republican president announced his plan Thursday. Trump has derided the Education Department as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However, completing its dismantling is most likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979. And the White House says the department would not close completely right now. It is to retain certain critical functions, like managing federal student loans and Pell grants.
