January 10, 2022 1:10 am
AMWELL TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Crews were called to the scene of a chimney fire Saturday evening in Amwell Township. Reports say the incident occurred on the 200 block of Sanitarium Road around 7:00 p.m. Amwell Township, along with North Franklin, Lone Pine, South Strabane Township and the Washington County Department of Public Safety all responded to the scene. When crews arrives, they reportedly did not see any fire showing from the exterior. A closer look into the structure revealed light smoke inside of the residence. Fire crews were able to take care of the incident quickly and no one was hurt.
January 9, 2022 8:18 am
MOSCOW (AP) — Kazakhstan’s health ministry said Sunday that 164 people have been killed in protests that have rocked the country over the past week. The figures reported on the state news channel Khabar-24 are a significant rise from previous tallies. It is not clear if the deaths refer only to civilians or if law-enforcement deaths are included. Kazakh authorities said earlier Sunday that 16 police or national guard had been killed. Authorities previously gave the civilian death toll as 26. Most of the deaths — 103 — were in Almaty, the country’s largest city, where demonstrators seized government buildings and set some afire, according to the ministry. the country’s ombudswoman for children’s rights said that three of those killed were minors, including a 4-year-old girl. The ministry earlier reported more than 2,200 people sought treatment for injuries from the protests, and the Interior Ministry said about 1,300 security officers were injured. The office of Kazakhstan’s president said that about 5,800 people were detained by police during the protests that developed into violence last week and prompted a Russia-led military alliance to send troops to the country. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s office said Sunday that order has stabilized in the country and that authorities have regained control of administrative buildings that were occupied by protesters, some of which were set on fire.
January 9, 2022 8:16 am
NEW YORK (AP) — More than 800,000 noncitizens and so-called “Dreamers” in New York City will have access to the ballot box — and could vote in municipal elections as early as next year — after Mayor Eric Adams allowed legislation approved by the City Council a month ago to automatically become law on Sunday. Opponents have vowed to challenge the new law. Unless a judge halts its implementation, New York City is now the most populous city in the United States to grant voting rights to noncitizens. More than a dozen communities across the U.S. already allow noncitizens to cast ballots in local elections, including 11 towns in Maryland and two in Vermont. The Board of Elections must now begin drawing an implementation plan by July, including voter registration rules and provisions that would create separate ballots for municipal races to prevent noncitizens from casting ballots in federal and state contests. It’s a watershed moment for a city where legally documented, voting-age noncitizens comprise nearly one in nine of the city’s 7 million voting-age inhabitants. The movement to win voting rights for noncitizens prevailed after numerous setbacks.
January 9, 2022 8:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the fate of Ukraine and potentially broader post-Cold War European stability at stake, the United States and Russia are holding critical strategic talks that could shape the future of not only their relationship but the relationship between the U.S. and its NATO allies. Prospects are bleak. Though the immediacy of the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine will top the agenda in a series of high-level meetings that get underway on Monday, there is a litany of festering but largely unrelated disputes, ranging from arms control to cybercrime and diplomatic issues, for Washington and Moscow to overcome if tensions are to ease. And the recent deployment of Russian troops to Kazakhstan may cast a shadow over the entire exercise. With much at risk and both warning of dire consequences of failure, the two sides have been positioning themselves for what will be a nearly unprecedented flurry of activity in Europe this week. Yet the wide divergence in their opening positions bodes ill for any type of speedy resolution, and levels of distrust appear higher than at any point since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
January 9, 2022 8:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — In what’s become a familiar scene President Joe Biden lingered after delivering a recent speech on the pandemic as reporters fired a barrage of questions. He bristled at a query about the shortage of COVID-19 rapid tests, answered another about omicron-spurred travel restrictions and sidestepped a third about whether Sen. Joe Manchin failed to keep his word when he torpedoed Biden’s social services and climate spending plan. “I’m not supposed to be having this press conference right now,” Biden said at the end of a meandering response that didn’t directly answer the question about the West Virginia Democrat. Seconds later, Biden turned and walked out of the room, abruptly ending what’s become the president’s preferred method for his limited engagements with the press. As Biden wraps up his first year in the White House, he has held fewer news conferences than any of his five immediate predecessors at the same point in their presidencies, and he has taken part in fewer media interviews than any of his recent predecessors. The dynamic has left the White House facing questions about whether the president, who vowed to have the most transparent administration in the nation’s history, is falling short in pulling back the curtain on how his administration operates and missing opportunities to explain his agenda to Americans.
January 9, 2022 8:02 am
SPRINGHILL TWP, Pa. (WPXI) — One person is dead following a reported mine collapse in Fayette County. According to 911 officials, the call came in just after 3 p.m. Friday for a report of a mine collapse. This happened along Springhill Furnace Road in Springhill Township. According to sources, this was the Laurel Underground Limestone Mine, and initial reports said one man was trapped in the mine. Arcosa is a construction engineering company that owns the Lake Lynn mine. WPXI spoke to a man who previously worked at the mine and is friends with the man who was trapped. He says heavy machinery was driven in and out of the mountainside, and that the roof collapsed approximately 400 feet into the mine, trapping his friend.
January 9, 2022 5:22 am
The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has released updated saftey protocols as they relate to Covid-19. Bishop David Zubik announced the updates that became effective January 7 and will be continued until further notice. Some of the protocols are as follows.
* All priests and deacons must wear masks during the celebration of mass at all times.
* Everyone that delivers Holy Communion must wear a mask and sanitize their hands prior to distribution.
* Choir members must be masked
* Shaking hands at the Sign of Peace remains suspended
* Those attending Mass are urgently encouraged to wear masks regardless of vaccination status.
These protocols are based on the dramatic surge in community spread of the Omicron Variant of the Covid-19 virus and will be re-evaluated on an ongoing basis as more information from the CDC and local health care officials becomes available.
January 8, 2022 9:27 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – The life of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be celebrated by two American presidents and other Democratic leaders on Saturday, a testament to his impact on some of the most consequential legislation of the 21st century. President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are scheduled to speak during an invitation-only memorial in Los Vegas. Former President Barack Obama, who credits Reid for his rise to the White House, is scheduled to deliver the eulogy. The longtime Senate leader died Dec. 28 at age 82.
January 8, 2022 9:25 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea has dismissed North Korea’s claim to have recently launched a hypersonic missile as an exaggeration, saying it was a normal ballistic missile that could be intercepted. The assessment is certain to anger North Korea. South Korea has previously avoided publicly playing down North Korea’s weapons tests, apparently so as not to aggravate relations. South Korea’s Defense Ministry says it believes North Korea hasn’t acquired the technologies needed to launch a hypersonic weapon. It says North Korea’s claim that the weapon flew 700 kilometers (435 miles) and maneuvered laterally appeared to be an exaggeration aimed at boosting domestic confidence in its missile program.
January 8, 2022 9:23 am
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Authorities say a Florida man with homemade explosive devices was arrested near a Tampa Bay area rally in support of a man jailed in connection with last year’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says 22-year-old Garrett James Smith was arrested early Friday morning. To mark the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Thursday night’s rally was held outside the Pinellas County Jail was in support a man being held on charges of participating in the riot. Gualtieri says Smith was spotted across the street from the rally. He was initially detained on the loitering charge, and deputies reported finding a pipe bomb when they searched his backpack.
