June 30, 2021 3:59 am
BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. – (WPXI) – Despite the mask mandate being dropped and steadily increasing numbers of people getting vaccinated, COVID-19 hasn’t gone completely away yet. A local family is now left without a mother due to the virus. “It was very hard. She was just laying there with a tube down her throat,” said Ty Barlow. 39-year-old Katie Barr of Bridgeville was diagnosed with COVID-19 on May 11 and gave birth to her fourth child two days later. After birth, the complications from the virus continued, eventually landing her in the ICU at UPMC Presbyterian hospital for the last three weeks of her life. Barr died on Sunday. She leaves behind her children – ages 7, 5, 2 and a 6-week-old baby girl.
June 30, 2021 3:49 am
A Strabane man was arrested Monday after a suspicious package was discovered at the Washington County Family Court Center. Authorities say 37-year-old Reed Morrow is accused of leaving a bag at the center and telling an attorney that he believed he had a bomb detonator. Morrow is being held without bond at the Washington County Jail, charged with one felony count of making terroristic threats resulting in the evacuation of a building. He was arraigned Tuesday morning. After the bag was discovered, the building was evacuated and the State Police Hazardous Device and Explosives Section (HDES) was called in. State Police tell WJPA News that the backpack did not contain anything explosive. Morrow was in the building to meet with his attorney in cases involving possession of drug paraphernalia, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. Authorities say Morrow told his attorney that he found the bag in a motel and wanted to leave it with her. Police say Morrow has since confessed to owning and packing the backpack.
June 30, 2021 3:39 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf has signed a roughly $40 billion budget package, before he spoke Wednesday at a Capitol news conference celebrating new funding for public schools. The budget legislation won approval Friday in the Republican-controlled Legislature. The package holds the line on taxes, and puts billions of dollars in federal coronavirus aid into reserve. Wolf is touting $300 million extra for school district operations, including setting aside $100 million of that for the poorest districts. In exchange, Republicans got Wolf to repeal a regulation to expand the ranks of lower-wage salaried workers who qualify for overtime pay. Wolf, though, says more still needs to be done for public schools.
June 29, 2021 4:23 am
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 3.9 earthquake has rattled the San Francisco Bay Area. The Monday earthquake’s epicenter was in San Lorenzo, an East Bay community in Alameda County 13 miles south of Oakland. Communities south of San Francisco – across the bay from San Lorenzo- felt the quake. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was reported in near Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday. The quake was initially rated a 4.2 but was downgraded to 4.0 and then 3.9. The initial epicenter was reported as Ashland, near San Lorenzo, but the geological survey later also revised that.
June 29, 2021 4:22 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Tropical Storm Enrique is losing steam as it heads for the resorts at the southern end of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula after spending the weekend as the first hurricane of eastern Pacific season. Enrique passed by the Cabo Corrientes bulge on Mexico’s southwestern coast during Sunday night, and then began weakening Monday as it moved over the open sea. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were down to 60 mph (95 kph) by late Monday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says further weakening is expected and Enrique’s center is forecast to move near or over portions of the southern tip of Baja late Tuesday or early Wednesday
June 29, 2021 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A new House committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol would have 13 members and the power to subpoena witnesses. That’s according to legislation released by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday. The House is expected to vote on the bill this week. The new committee comes as Senate Republicans blocked the formation of an independent, bipartisan commission to probe the attack, in which hundreds of former President Donald Trump’s supporters violently broke into the Capitol. The partisan House committee would have eight members appointed by Pelosi and five appointed “after consultation with” Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.
June 29, 2021 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Surfside, Florida, on Thursday to visit with families of the victims of the collapsed Miami-area condominium tower. The slow work of sifting through the remnants of the collapsed building stretched into a sixth day on Tuesday, as families desperate for progress endured a wrenching wait for answers. Biden has offered federal help and extended his concerns to the community as people “grieve their lost loved ones and wait anxiously as search and rescue efforts continue,” he said in a tweet. The number of confirmed dead stands at 11, with 150 people still unaccounted for.
June 29, 2021 4:17 am
SURFSIDE, Florida (AP) – It’s Day 6 of a painstaking effort to find survivors after after the collapse of a beachfront Florida condominium. Twelve stories of debris have flattened like a stack of pancakes, with layer upon layer of wreckage frustrating efforts to find pockets where someone might have survived. It’s deliberate work, and treacherous: Thunderstorms rolled through Surfside Tuesday, and debris fell overnight from the shattered edge of the remaining building. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said rescuers marked a “don’t go beyond here” line and are searching farther from the structure. The confirmed death toll stands at 11, with 150 people still unaccounted for.
June 29, 2021 4:12 am
As COVID-19 cases in PA have rapidly declined since April, the initiative to reopen the Washington Park Pool has conversely increased after a year-long shutdown. However, safety inspections for the facility revealed several critical hazards. In an interview after Monday’s council meeting, the pool’s conditions were discussed. “The water lines froze under the concrete, under the bathrooms, everything has to be dug up now”, commented Councilman Joe Pintola. Pool lights need to be replaced and pool ladders need to be fixed as well. Mayor Scott Putnam confirmed that the pool will not open this summer, contrary to the hopeful expectations of the public. “At this point with where we’re at and the lateness of the season, it doesn’t make sense to open it now this summer”, said Putnam. While the pool will continue to undergo construction, a newly hired park administrator, DeAnna Martin, will “bring new activities for the youth to help out the community”, according to Mayor Putnam. The exact dates of the public pool’s restoration are unknown, but Mayor Putnam believes it will officially reopen by next summer.
June 29, 2021 4:08 am
Peters Township Council took on several discussions related to private roads, connections between new and existing housing developments and what the township refers to as minimum maintenance roads. Township Manager Paul Lauer briefed council on the desire of residents of privately owned Mt. Blaine Dr. to have their road brought up to standard for adoption. A second concern is connection between housing plans. The township’s police and fire chiefs and Public Works director all spoke about the need for connections between neighborhoods for safety and efficiency needs. At issue is a current block of Manor Way by current residents not allowing the Juniper Woods Plan to connect to Manor Way. Currently, emergency services must leave Peters Township and enter through Upper St. Clair to render aid. The removal of that block would significantly reduce response times. Also discussed was bringing what the township describes as minimum maintenance roads into current compliance. Council also got its first look at preliminary drawings of the new fire department substation that will be located on Bebout Road. Current designs are in excess of desired spending and changes are being considered. Construction is scheduled for 2022.
