January 4, 2022 3:33 am
Washington City Council brought in two new councilmen due to the departures of Joe Manning and Matt Staniszewski. Andrew Callan and Joe DeThomas were elected last fall to replace them. After they were sworn in, council recessed into an executive session to determine the responsibilities of each council member. Once back in session the city duties were divided as follows. Heading the Department of Accounts and Finance will be Ken Westcott. The Department of Streets and Public Improvements will be headed by Joe Pintola. New councilmen Joe DeThomas will be the Director of Public Safety and Andrew Callan will direct the Department of Parks and Public Buildings. Other reorganization duties included the retirement of Police Chief Robert Wilson who had 34 years with the police force. In his place Mayor Scott Putnam appointed veteran officer Daniel Rush to take his place. Rush has been with the city since 1999 except for a three year stint due to military deployment from 2008 through 2011. The next regular meeting for council will be January 6, 2022. That meeting will be held virtually.
January 4, 2022 2:39 am
The Washington County Court of Common Pleas accepted a new member to the bench on Monday as District Justice Jesse Pettit was sworn in as a Common Pleas Court Judge. Pettit was sworn in by Senior Judge Katherine Emery, who he will be replacing because of her retirement. Placing the robe around Pettit’s shoulders was Pettit’s mentor Judge Mike Fisher of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. In brief comments after his swearing in, Pettit thanked Emery for her support in his quest to obtain the position. He thanked Fisher for his guidance early in his career. He thanked his wife and four children for their support in his career path also. Pettit went right to work moments after his swearing in and held the swearing in of District Justice Curtis Thompson. Also sworn in were three other district justices, Kelly Stewart, Louis McQuillan and John Bruner. Pettit went on to swear in the three new county row officers, Controller April Sloane, Recorder of Deeds Carrie Perrell and Sheriff Anthony Andronas.
January 3, 2022 12:41 pm
A Washington man was placed in the Washington County Jail after a police chase in South Strabane Township on New Year’s Eve. State Police say 44-year-old Corey Talley is charged with fleeing and eluding after he fled a traffic stop. Troopers say he traveled on Route 19, Locust Avenue and Wilson Avenue before crashing into a vehicle that was parked in the Washington Hospital parking lot. Police say he abandoned his vehicle and took off on foot. After police caught him, he was then jailed on a probation warrant and an unrelated robbery warrant that was issued Christmas Day.
January 3, 2022 12:29 pm
Allegheny Health Network announced today that they’re reinstating temporary visitation limitations at its hospitals to further protect patients and caregivers as the COVID pandemic continues to surge across communities in the area. Hospital officials say they are allowing just one inpatient visitor in its facilities per day during the regular hospital visitation hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The patient’s visitor/support person cannot change throughout the day. Clergy visitation is also permitted in addition to the one support person. Some exceptions may be made. Visitors to any AHN facility must be age 18 or older and will be asked to present a valid form of identification upon entering. Visitors will also continue to be screened for associated COVID-19 symptoms upon arrival and must always wear a mask.
January 3, 2022 10:08 am
The U.S. is expanding COVID-19 boosters as it confronts the omicron surge. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday allowed extra Pfizer shots for children as young as 12. Boosters already are recommended for everyone 16 and older, and the FDA says they’re also warranted for 12- to 15-year-olds. The FDA also said everyone eligible for a booster can get one as early as five months after their last dose rather than six months. But the move, coming as classes restart after the holidays, isn’t the final step. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must decide whether to recommend boosters for the younger teens.
January 3, 2022 4:25 am
MONTREAL, Quebec (AP) – Quebec is proceeding with the first of three planned closures of non-essential retail stores as the provincial government tried to curb a new wave of COVID-19 driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant. Hospitals and health-care resources in Quebec and Canada’s remote northern communities are also being stretched as case numbers explode. Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced last week that the bulk of the province’s stores would be closed for the next three Sundays, with the exception of pharmacies, convenience stores and gas stations. Charles Milliard, president of the Quebec Federation of Chambers of Commerce, urged the government to lift the measures as soon as possible.
January 3, 2022 4:24 am
A winter storm packing heavy snow is expected to roll into the District of Columbia, northern Virginia and central Maryland overnight, bringing at least 3 to 7 inches of snow through Monday afternoon. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the area from 1 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST Monday. Wind gusts of up to 35 mph were forecast and travel was expected to be very difficult because of the hazardous conditions. Snow began falling Sunday night in parts of Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. In Washington, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced that federal offices in the area would be closed on Monday. Emergency employees and telework employees would continue to work.
January 3, 2022 4:23 am
LOUISVILLE, Colo. (AP) – Search teams looked for two missing people in the smoldering debris from a massive Colorado wildfire while people who escaped the flames sorted through what was left. Investigators were still trying to determine what caused flames to tear through at least 9.4 square miles, leaving nearly 1,000 homes and other buildings destroyed in suburbs between Denver and Boulder. The inferno broke out Thursday, unusually late in the year following an extremely dry fall and amid a winter nearly devoid of snow. Experts say those conditions, along with high winds, helped the fire spread. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle says authorities are pursuing a number of tips. The sheriff refused to give details Sunday, including whether he thought the fire was arson.
January 3, 2022 4:21 am
Wintry weather combined with the pandemic to frustrate air travelers whose return flights home from the holidays were canceled or delayed in the first days of the new year. The tracking service FlightAware said more than 2,600 U.S. flights and more than 4,400 worldwide were grounded Sunday. That followed Saturday’s mass cancellations of more than 2,700 U.S. flights, and more than 4,700 worldwide. Saturday’s single-day U.S. toll of grounded flights was the highest since just before Christmas, when airlines began blaming staffing shortages on increasing COVID-19 infections among crews.
January 3, 2022 4:18 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Pittsburgh Public Schools were set to return from winter break Monday but the district is already feeling the impacts of the holiday season COVID-19 surge. “With omicron, it’s inevitable that we’re going to see cases in the school,” said infectious disease expert Dr. Amesh Adalja. The district intended to bring all students back to the classroom, sending a notice to parents reiterating that universal indoor mask-wearing will still be mandated as well as distancing and other mitigation efforts. But staffing issues caused PPS to reverse course at a dozen schools. The district sent a second notice to impacted parents Sunday night, saying that “due to a staffing shortage caused by positive cases of COVID-19, COVID-related quarantines, and other staff-related absences, students and staff will transition to live streaming educational learning and instruction.” According to PPS, virtual learning is only scheduled for Monday.
