March 13, 2025 4:44 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A launch pad problem has forced a flight delay to replace NASA’s two stuck astronauts. The new crew needs to get to the International Space Station before Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can head home after nine months in orbit. Concerns over a critical hydraulic system arose less than four hours before the Falcon rocket’s planned evening liftoff from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The decision to cancel finally came down with less than an hour remaining in the countdown. Officials say the launch is off until at least Friday.
March 13, 2025 4:41 am
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis marked the 12th anniversary of his papacy Thursday with increasingly positive medical updates four weeks into his hospitalization for double pneumonia. The pope spent another tranquil night, the Vatican said in its brief morning statement. A chest X-ray confirmed improvements, the Vatican said on Wednesday, just two days after days after doctors declared he’s no longer in imminent danger of death. The latest medical bulletin said that the 88-year-old pope’s condition remained stable, but indicated a complex picture considering his overall fragility.
March 13, 2025 4:28 am
City of Washington frefighters were called out to a structure fire at 2:35 Wednesday morning. The fire was located in the 400 block of Second Street. When firefighters arrived they found an active fire. According to 9-1-1 officials, the fire was brought under control in about 30 minutes. Two adults and a dog were affected by the fire, one of the adults was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene. The fire marshal will arrive later today to determine the cause of the fire.
March 13, 2025 4:24 am
Washington County held its first annual Real Estate Expo on Wednesday. Part of the event was the State of the County address. Commissioners Nick Sherman and Electra Janis detailed a number of projects that the county is involved with. They also made one big announcement about a big box store coming to the site of the soon to be demolished Washington Mall. Costco will be moving in. According to Commissioner Nick Sherman, bids to demolish the old Washington Mall will go out soon. Other projects include the construction of the new Public Safety Building on the site of the Courthouse Square Building, the addition of thirty cabins and RV sites at Cross Creek county park. Also, the construction of the new AHN Canonsburg Hospital, continued support for the UPMC Washington Hospital merger and welcoming a new medical partner WVU Medicine that will be moving into Southpointe.
March 13, 2025 2:51 am
A Washington County Court Jury deliberated for just a few hours Thursday before returning a not guilty verdict in the trial of 81-year-old Anthony Ardeno of Canton Township. Ardeno was facing multiple charges related to the alleged rape of a girl over a period of several years, from the time she was five-years-old until she was eleven. Prosecutors laid out their case during the trial by calling on the victim’s divorced parents who had entrusted the care of the victim and her brother to Ardeno several days a week when the mother had to work at night during her days of custody. Testimony revealed that Ardeno told the girl not to say anything to anyone regarding the assaults. Finally, a school counselor was told of the assaults while they were trying to figure out the victim’s chronic absenteeism at school and failing grades. Victim testimony described the assaults that started as inappropriate touching all the way to full acts of intercourse. Defense attorneys tried to poke holes in the victim’s testimony – pointing to differences in a forensic interview and direct testimony on the stand regarding the timeline of events. Ardeno’s attorney, Lane Turturice told WJPA that the verdict gives him hope for our system of justice and that things went the way for someone whom he thinks is a good man. Ardeno remains in the Washington County jail on unrelated charges.
March 13, 2025 2:32 am
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce is merging with a neighbor. The Washington Chamber announced that it will be merging with the Southpointe Chamber of Commerce. The Washington County Chamber will not only acquire the Southpointe Chamber members, it will also take over publication rights to Southpointe Magazine and the Southpointe Chamber’s events. Don Hodor, outgoing president of the Southpointe Chamber says the merger will be the most effective networking organizations in the region, calling it a win-win for all involved especially for Southpointe Chamber’s members. Jeff Kotula, president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce thanked Hodor for his leadership, utilizing the Southpointe Chamber to fully focus on the development of the Southpointe Business Park.
March 13, 2025 1:14 am
Washington, PA – Governor Josh Shapiro and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials joined Penn Mechanical Group and local leaders in Washington County on Wednesday to plug the 300th orphaned or abandoned well under the Shapiro Administration. The Shapiro Administration has surpassed the number of wells plugged in the previous decade in just two years – the latest historic milestone under Governor Shapiro’s leadership to protect public health and create jobs by aggressively plugging these wells all across Western Pennsylvania. The 300th well was plugged in North Franklin Township under an emergency contract with Penn Mechanical Group, a family-owned and operated company located in Indiana, PA. The well – which is leaking methane – sits between two reservoirs on the site of the township’s future Waterside Park, an 89-acre park to connect residents to green-spaces, outdoor recreation, environmental education, and serve as a community hub. “When I took office, I directed the Department of Environmental Protection to move aggressively to draw down state and federal funding to make a meaningful impact plugging orphaned and abandoned wells. Today, I’m proud to announce that this well will be the 300th well plugged during my time as Governor,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “By plugging orphaned and abandoned wells, we’re tackling a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and creating thousands of good-paying jobs in the process. This is a smart, commonsense way to protect public health and create jobs – and I’m going to continue to work with DEP to put state and federal funding to good use by plugging these wells that create problems across rural Pennsylvania.”
March 12, 2025 8:41 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation slowed last month for the first time since September even as additional tariffs on steel and aluminum kicked in Wednesday that could send prices higher. The consumer price index increased 2.8% in February from a year ago, Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed, down from 3% the previous month. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose 3.1% from a year earlier, down from 3.3% in January. The core figure is the lowest in nearly four years. The declines were larger than economists expected, according to a survey by data provider FactSet.
March 12, 2025 5:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department’s civil rights branch is losing nearly half its staff in the Trump administration’s layoffs, effectively gutting an office that already faced a backlog of thousands of complaints from students and families across the country. Among more than 1,300 layoffs announced Tuesday were roughly 240 in the department’s Office for Civil Rights. Seven out of 12 regional offices were entirely laid off. It leaves thousands of cases hanging in the air, including cases from families trying to get school services for students with disabilities, allegations of bias related to race or religion, and complaints over sexual violence on college campuses.
March 12, 2025 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed legislation to avert a partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies through September. The vote provides critical momentum for the measure, which now moves to the Senate, where bipartisan support will be needed to get it over the finish line. House Republicans needed overwhelming support from their members, and they got it in the 217-213 vote. It’s one of the biggest legislative tests so far of the President Donald Trump’s second term, prompting Vice President JD Vance to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning to rally support.
