March 23, 2022 8:43 am
UNDATED (AP) – Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine works in babies, toddlers and preschoolers. The company announced early findings from a study of children younger than 6 on Wednesday. If regulators agree the small doses are safe and effective enough, it could mean a chance to finally start vaccinating the littlest kids by summer. Moderna said it will submit the data to U.S. regulators in the coming weeks. While other countries allow Moderna vaccinations for older children, the U.S. currently limits them to adults. Moderna said it also will push to vaccinate teens and school-age children, too.
March 23, 2022 5:47 am
WUZHOU, China (AP) – China says one of two black boxes from the China Eastern plane crash was found in severely damaged condition. The recorder is so damaged that they are not able to tell whether it is the flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder. Mao Yanfeng, the director of the accident investigation division of the Civil Aviation Authority of China, told a news conference Wednesday that an all-out effort is being made to find the other black box. Recovering the so-called black boxes is considered key to figuring out what caused the crash.
March 23, 2022 4:13 am
ARABI, La. (AP) – A tornado tore through parts of New Orleans and its suburbs Tuesday night, flipping cars and ripping roofs off homes and killing at least one person in a region that was pummeled by Hurricane Katrina 17 years ago. Parts of St. Bernard Parish, which borders New Orleans to the southeast, appeared to take the brunt of the weather’s fury, and that is where the so far single fatality occurred. St. Bernard Parish officials gave no details on how the person died; they said multiple other people were injured. The damage comes after other tornadoes spawned by the same storm system hit parts of Texas and Oklahoma.
March 23, 2022 4:11 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian leaders have accused Russia of seizing 15 rescue workers and drivers from a humanitarian convoy trying to get desperately needed aid into the bloodied city of Mariupol. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces also seized vehicles from the convoy despite earlier agreeing to the aid route. The Red Cross confirmed the failure of the latest attempt to get aid into the southern port city. Ukraine estimates that 100,000 civilians remain in the city, which has been devastated by weeks of Russian bombardment. The U.S. says Russian navy vessels offshore have joined in the strikes on Mariupol.
March 23, 2022 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the Biden administration has made a formal determination that Russian troops have committed war crimes in Ukraine. Blinken says the assessment was based on a “careful review” of public and intelligence sources since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last month. America’s top diplomat says the United States will share that information with allies, partners and international institutions tasked with investigating allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Blinken made the announcement Wednesday in a statement released as he was traveling to Brussels with President Joe Biden for an emergency summit of NATO leaders.
March 23, 2022 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is declaring at her confirmation hearing that she will rule “without any agendas” if approved as the high court’s first black female justice. At her second and last day of questioning on Wednesday, she rejected Republican efforts to paint her as soft on crime in her decade as a federal judge. Democrats, meanwhile, defended her and heralded the historic nature of her nomination. Her confirmation seems all but certain, and Democrats are hoping for approval by Easter. But Republicans are still trying to chip away at her record.
March 23, 2022 4:03 am
North Strabane Supervisors started their legislative meeting catching up on business delayed from last month. Supervisors granted Greenwood Village LP a conditional use application to develop 5 acres of ground, constructing approximately 25 homes. Developers asked to postpone any further site plan authorizations until they are able to supply additional supporting information. Supervisors also approved the paving program for the year. The program is budgeted for $891,762 and will cover 11 streets and basketball courts at the park. Supervisors also authorized the township engineer to begin investigations and formulate a plan with PennDot to better improve traffic conditions at the intersection of Garden St. and State Route 980. Initial plans could include temporarily making Garden St. a one way street. Supervisors also voted to move the May non-legislative and legislative meetings delaying both by one week because of the May 17 primary election. The meetings will now be held on May 24 and May 31.
March 23, 2022 3:59 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A woman has been charged with third-degree murder and vehicular homicide while driving under the influence in an early morning crash on a Philadelphia interstate that claimed the lives of two Pennsylvania troopers and a civilian. State police said Tuesday that the charges against 21-year-old Jayana Tanae Webb of Eagleville would also include second-degree manslaughter of a law enforcement officer. Police said troopers Martin Mack III and Branden Sisca were trying to get 28-year-old Reyes Rivera Oliveras of Allentown off I-95 when all three were struck by a vehicle “traveling at a high rate of speed.” It’s unclear whether Webb has an attorney.
March 23, 2022 3:47 am
A Greene County man had involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, indecent assault and corruption of minors charges held for court without testimony. Benjamin Crawford, 31 of Washington Township is accused of sexually assaulting a juvenile since 2018. The alleged assaults took place in the city of Washington and Canton Township. Pennsylvania State Police state that they were called by the victim in January. Crawford first denied the allegations when interviewed by police but in a second interview he confessed to an event when the victim was nine or ten years old. Crawford is being held in the Washington County Jail unable to post bond. Crawford will be arraigned on April 28.
March 23, 2022 2:54 am
The current Russian invasion of Ukraine has many implications for domestic energy providers here in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Daniel Weaver, who serves as the President and Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association, spoke during a webinar on the situation Wednesday through W&J’s Center for Energy Policy and Management. Weaver says that policies both globally and domestically give U.S. natural gas companies issues exporting their product globally. Weaver explained shut down pipelines, capped wells, and policies like the Jones Act keep American companies from easily exporting liquefied natural gas. Weaver worries that sanctions placed on Russia’s supplies will disrupt the markets, and it could take the rest of the year to implement America’s supply worldwide, but is confident that it will eventually happen, likely by the end of 2022.
