January 6, 2022 4:10 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago school leaders canceled classes in the nation’s third-largest school district for the second straight day after failing to reach an agreement with the teachers union over remote learning and other COVID-19 safety protocols. The Chicago Teachers Union sought to revert to remote instruction during the latest surge of infections and while both sides hammer out a deal. But leaders in the nation’s third-largest school district say remote learning didn’t work and schools can safely remain open with protocols in place. Classes were canceled for Thursday, affecting roughly 350,000 students. Schools CEO Pedro Martinez says students may be able to start returning to schools on Friday for services like tutoring or counseling depending on how many staff members show up.
January 6, 2022 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden and members of Congress are solemnly marking the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection. Biden assailed then-President Donald Trump and his supporters, saying that “they failed” to overturn democracy. The ceremonies at the Capitol were widely attended by Democrats, but almost every Republican on Capitol Hill was be absent. It’s a stark reminder of the rupture between the parties, worsening since hundreds of Trump’s supporters violently pushed past police, broke through the Capitol’s windows and interrupted the certification of Biden’s victory. Biden said that “at this moment we must decide what kind of nation we are going to be.”
January 6, 2022 4:07 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Philadelphia fire officials say two sisters and several of their children were among 12 people killed when a fire tore a row-home that apparently had no working smoke detectors. Eight children lost their lives. Officials say it’s the city’s deadliest single fire in at least a century. The blaze broke out Wednesday morning as 26 people were staying at the three-story duplex, which is public housing. As many as eight people were able to escape. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. The public housing authority says the home’s smoke alarms were inspected annually and at least two were replaced in 2020.
January 6, 2022 4:04 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for part of western Pennsylvania. Areas affected include Westmoreland, Fayette and Greene counties in Pennsylvania. Plan for snow travel on Thursday evening into Friday morning. Model updates are bringing snow in faster and moving it farther north which will increase the snowy impacts for the evening commute. Temperatures will be cold enough for snow to stick as it falls and untreated surfaces could become icy. Several hours of steadier snow will be possible for parts of the area on Thursday night with several inches of accumulation possible for Pittsburgh by Friday morning.
January 6, 2022 3:10 am
CLEVELAND (AP) – Police in Ohio have released body camera footage showing an officer firing multiple rounds through a wooden privacy fence without warning at someone shooting gunfire into the air on the other side. Forty-six-year-old James Williams, of Canton, was shot in the chest minutes into the new year and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The video was released by the Canton Police Department. Marquetta Williams, James’ wife, told The Canton Repository her husband had been using her AR-15 rifle to fire celebratory rounds that she said were a New Year’s tradition in their neighborhood. Canton Police Chief Jack Angelo has said the officer feared for his life.
January 5, 2022 3:55 pm
A Weirton West Virginia man accused of shooting his girlfriend in the back pleaded guilty on Tuesday morning. Reginald Quick, 49 was charged with felony counts of aggravated assault and strangulation from a July 2021 shooting in Canonsburg. Quick pleaded guilty to those aggravated assault and strangulation charges and received a jail sentence of 11½ to 23 months in jail and 5 years probation to be served once he is released. Quick has been in the Washington County jail since his arrest and will be given credit for time served. He will need to make $1800 in restitution to his girlfriend and $1100 to the victim’s compensation fund.
January 5, 2022 1:19 pm
(WPXI) – At least one person is dead following a house fire in Westmoreland County. Westmoreland County 911 confirmed to a Channel 11 a two-alarm structure fire at 814 Arbor Lane in Mt. Pleasant Township around 10:55 a.m. The victim is a woman in her 60’s. Firefighters say they found her in the back bedroom of the home. She was apparently the only one home at the time.
January 5, 2022 10:14 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Officials say a large house fire in Philadelphia has killed 13 people, including seven children, and sent two people to hospitals. Officials said at a news conference hours after the early morning fire Wednesday that there were four smoke detectors in the building but that none were operating. Firefighters and police responded to the fire at a three-story row house in the city’s Fairmount neighborhood around 6:40 a.m. and found flames coming from the second-floor windows. The fire was brought under control after less than an hour. (Photo: AP)
January 5, 2022 9:39 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A year after thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, hundreds of people who assaulted officers and committed other crimes still haven’t been caught. The investigation into last January’s insurrection has been a massive undertaking for federal law enforcement officials. More than 700 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the Jan. 6 attack. Arrests are still being made regularly. But 250 people seen on video assaulting police at the Capitol still haven’t been fully identified and apprehended by the FBI. Another 100 are being sought for other crimes tied to the riot. For FBI agents working the cases, the job is far from over.
January 5, 2022 9:37 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – As more children are being hospitalized nationwide with COVID-19, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh has taken a precautionary step. Trying to stay ahead of coronavirus infections, Children’s Hospital has opened up a second unit for COVID-19 patients so it’s available if needed. Officials said this is not a reason to panic. “UPMC Children’s Hospital has opened up a second unit to expand care capability for COVID-19 patients at the hospital. The hospital is safe, operating normally, and ready to provide care for patients and their families,” a statement from UPMC said. The expansion comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an increase in pediatric hospitalizations nationwide as the omicron variant spreads. During the week that ended Sunday, an average of 672 children nationwide were admitted to hospitals every day with COVID-19, according to the CDC, which said that’s the highest number since the pandemic began.
