January 21, 2022 4:12 am
An Avella man was killed in a vehicle crash Thursday afternoon in Cross Creek Township. The Washington County Coroner’s office says 28 year old Zachary Noga lost control of his vehicle in the 200-block of Cross Creek Road just after 2 p.m. The vehicle left the roadway, traveled down an embankment and struck the exterior of a home. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was pronounced dead at the scene. A cause and manner of death are pending. State Police are investigating.
January 20, 2022 12:17 pm
A group of Ringgold residents have filed a civil lawsuit in Washington County Court, claiming the Ringgold School Board violated Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Law when they added an item to their agenda last month, amending the district’s health and safety plan requiring students and staff wear masks. Lane Turturice, who is representing the sixteen individuals, says the suit names the Ringgold School District and the five board members who voted to approve the measure. The suit claims the board deliberated and voted on the amendment at its December 15th meeting, but it was not included on the meeting’s posted agenda, as required by law. Turturice says the court is being asked to nullify the board’s decision. Turturice refused further comment at this time and attempts to reach the Ringgold solicitor, Tim Berggren, have been unsuccessful
January 20, 2022 8:48 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in three months as the fast-spreading omicron variant disrupted the job market. Jobless claims rose for the third straight week – by 55,000 to 286,000, highest since mid-October, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out weekly volatility, rose by 20,000 to 231,000, highest since late November. A surge in COVID cases has set back what had been a strong comeback from from last year’s short but devastating coronavirus recession.
January 20, 2022 4:20 am
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) – Authorities say two U.S. Marines were killed and 17 others injured when the 7-ton truck they were riding in overturned near their North Carolina base. The State Highway Patrol said the truck was making a right turn onto a highway Wednesday afternoon when it lost control and overturned. A highway patrol spokesman, Lt. Devin Rich, said indications were that the truck was traveling too fast for the turn. The patrol says 17 Marines aboard the truck were ejected. It said a second vehicle trailing the truck hit one of those passengers. The accident occurred a few miles away from Camp Lejeune.
January 20, 2022 4:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden says he thinks Russia will invade Ukraine and is warning President Vladimir Putin that his country would pay a “dear price” in lives lost and a possible cutoff from the global banking system if it does. Biden also said a “minor incursion” by Russia would elicit a lesser response. He later sought to clarify that he was referring to a non-military action, such as a cyberattack, that would be met with a similar reciprocal response, and that if Russian forces cross the Ukrainian border, “that changes everything.” He was speaking at a news conference to mark his one-year anniversary in office.
January 20, 2022 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden acknowledges that the pandemic has exhausted and demoralized many Americans in his first year in office. Yet Biden is defending his administration’s efforts on the pandemic and noting the economy is actually surging despite concerns about inflation. He says he may well have to settle for “big chunks” of his stalled economic agenda being passed into law before the 2022 midterm elections. And he says voters will back Democrats in those elections – and support his efforts in the White House – so long as they are well informed. At a news conference marking his first year in office, Biden insisted he has “outperformed” expectations in dealing with the crises he’s faced.
January 20, 2022 4:15 am
GENEVA (AP) – People are used to giving to the Red Cross. But now the aid group finds itself affected by some who’ve taken from it. The International Committee of the Red Cross says hackers have broken into its servers and gotten personal, confidential information on more than a half-million people. The hack is of great concern to the organization because the data includes info on people who have had to be separated from their families because of war, migration or disaster. The head of the ICRC implores those involved in the hack to please not share, sell, leak or otherwise use the data.
January 20, 2022 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights groups argue is vital for protecting democracy has collapsed. The outcome late Wednesday in the Senate was a setback for President Joe Biden and his party after a raw, emotional debate. Democrats were unable to change Senate rules to push past a Republican filibuster. Biden has failed to persuade two holdout Democratic senators, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, to change Senate rules for this one bill. Advocates warn that new state laws are making it more difficult to vote in elections. Biden says he is disappointed but “not deterred.”
January 20, 2022 4:07 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Authorities say a 15-year-old student died at a hospital after two people fired into a van at a Pittsburgh school. Pittsburgh Public Schools said the male student was shot in the school van at dismissal time Wednesday afternoon at Oliver Citywide Academy. No arrests were immediately announced. Police say they are reviewing surveillance videos and seeking witnesses. Oliver Citywide Academy describes itself on its website as “a full-time special education center serving grades 3-12.” School officials say all other students were safe inside the building. The school was locked down for a time.
January 20, 2022 4:04 am
The Ringgold School Board met Wednesday night and on the agenda was a motion to amend their Health and Safety Plan. This follows last month’s vote by the board to require masks in the district because of rising numbers of Covid-19 in the district and in the community at large. The motion last month was a late addition to the agenda placed just before the meeting began. This month, the agenda advertised the proposed action and public comment was heated in support of bringing back the original mask optional plan. Wednesday’s motion to amend the plan read that wearing of masks would only be required if mandated. Before the vote was taken, Superintendent Randall Skrinjorich announced that the administration was in favor of keeping masks mandatory. Ultimately, the vote to make masks optional failed by a 4-5 vote. Skrinjorich indicated that the administration’s stance is that mask wearing is the best method to keep students and staff safe and keep the school buildings open. Directors and administration will develop criteria to use to roll back the mask mandate over the next month. A vote on that criteria is anticipated in the February board meeting.
