February 15, 2024 5:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says Democrats plan to “constantly over the next year” remind voters that it was Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee, who torpedoed a bipartisan bill on border enforcement. They say the strategy has already paid dividends, with Democrat Tom Suozzi, who campaigned on tougher border enforcement, winning a special election this week in New York, flipping a House seat away from Republicans. It’s a strategy with significant political risk. Republicans have campaigned on border security for years, and public frustration is running high with the record number of illegal U.S. border crossings.
February 15, 2024 5:09 am
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces have stormed the main hospital in southern Gaza in what the army says is a limited operation seeking the remains of hostages taken by Hamas. Thursday’s raid came a day after the army sought to evacuate thousands of displaced people who had taken shelter at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The southern city has been the main target of Israel’s offensive against Hamas in recent weeks. Separately, Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday killed at least 10 civilians in southern Lebanon, just hours after a rocket attack killed an Israeli soldier. Negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza appear to have stalled, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until Hamas is destroyed.
February 15, 2024 5:07 am
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron will sign a bilateral security agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris. The French presidency did not release specific details about the agreement, which is to be signed on Friday at the Elysee presidential palace. It says this will be the third visit by Zelenskyy to Paris since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago, following ones in February and May 2023. Macron said earlier this year that France was negotiating a bilateral deal on the model the one Ukraine recently agreed with the United Kingdom, which covers 10 years.
February 15, 2024 5:05 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Several local lawmakers joined together Wednesday to announce funding that will be used to modernize the Pittsburgh International Airport. Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA-12) joined U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) and U.S. Representative Chris Deluzio (D-PA-17) in announcing $5.3 million in infrastructure funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airport Terminal Program. “As Pittsburgh International Airport continues to grow, improving the passenger experience is critical,” Casey said. “This funding not only gets passengers where they’re going faster but helps secure PIT’s role as a gateway to Southwestern Pennsylvania’s future economic success.” The funding will go towards the construction of a 700,000-square-foot terminal that the lawmakers say will improve passenger experience by reducing the proximity between ticketing, security, and gates by half a mile and improve the airport’s ability to add new flights.
February 15, 2024 5:01 am
Two Pennsylvania residents who bought tickets for Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing won large prizes. The numbers drawn Tuesday night were 1-3-19-25-58 and the Megaball was 20. The multiplier was 3X. No one took home the $425 million jackpot, but according to the Pennsylvania Lottery players in the state matched four of the five white balls and the Megaball, winning $10,000 each. The next jackpot is estimated to be worth $457 million.
February 15, 2024 5:01 am
LONDON (AP) — Voters in two districts in England have delivered new blows to beleaguered Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Results Friday show they elected opposition-party lawmakers in seats that Sunak’s Conservatives had held for years. Labour Party candidates won the House of Commons seats of Kingswood in southwest England and Wellingborough in the country’s center. The Conservatives won both by large margins at the last national election in 2019. The hard-right Reform Party came third, putting more pressure on the Conservatives. Labour leader Keir Starmer said the results “show people want change.” The results will likely worsen fears among Conservatives that the party is heading for defeat when a national election is held in less than a year.
February 15, 2024 1:50 am
The Washington County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim of that fiery, wrong way crash on Interstate 70 in Fallowfield Township early Wednesday morning. Twenty-five-year-old Chace Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene near mile-marker 39 (Speers) just before 2 a.m. The coroner says Johnson was the operator and sole occupant of a vehicle that was observed traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes. His vehicle struck a tractor trailer and came to rest in the median. It is unknown if he was wearing a seatbelt. The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured. State Police continue to investigate.
February 15, 2024 1:38 am
Washington County Commissioners met Thursday and their first order of business was to address concerns that an emergency meeting held February 6, violated the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act. That meeting centered on the cyber attack of county computers that took place in January by Russian cyber criminals. In a statement read by County Solicitor Gary Sweat, he stated that based on information that he gathered from cyber legal and IT professionals, an emergency meeting needed to be scheduled regarding threats being made by the cyber attackers. He cited section 712.1(b) of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Law as basis for his suggestion. That paragraph permits emergency meetings to be scheduled without notice when there is a “clear and present danger to life or property”. The results of that meeting authorized a payment to the cyber criminals and associates of more than $350,000 to obtain a decryption key to unlock county data. The data that was seized by the hackers contained personal information such as social security numbers and drivers license numbers of county residents and employees. The motion passed 2-1 to authorize the payments and protect county information. Two motions were voted on in Thursday’s regular meeting ratifying the motions approved during the emergency meeting and memorializing them in public record. Commissioner Larry Maggi was the dissenting vote each time. In a written statement Maggi said that “There are no guarantees that the county will get our data back and that the information won’t be placed on the dark web. There are no guarantees that this will not happen again.” According to Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman, county operations are back to approximately 80% of capacity.
February 14, 2024 3:59 pm
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Minutes after Kansas City Chiefs players vowed to go for a third-straight Super Bowl title, shots were fired and multiple people were carried from the screen on stretchers. Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins said eight to 10 people were injured Wednesday but declined further comment, saying only that additional information will be released soon. Police said in a news release that two people were detained. Fans were urged to exit the area as quickly as possible. Officers could be seen rushing toward Union Station, but later announced that they were releasing everyone from outside.
February 14, 2024 6:59 am
Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi is questioning the apparent removal of a Local Share Account grant as Commissioners prepare to vote on a recommended list provided by the LSA Committee. Maggi says an original list included 51 total grant recipients but then a second list had only fifty. Maggi says the project excluded was for $500,000 for Washington City Mission. Maggi claims he was never given an answer as to why that project was removed and he fears such action could lead some to question the legitimacy of the grant process. Maggi says he is proud of the County’s LSA system he claims is “touted throughout the state for how pristine it is and I want it to remain that way”. Commissioner’s Chairman Nick Sherman says he doesn’t serve on the LSA board and “an email was sent to me with the final approvals and I have read over the final approval and I think they are good projects and I intend to vote for it on Thursday. LSA Committee Chairman Jeff Kotula says 50 projects were selected out of more than 90 applicants for $8.7 million dollars. He confirmed that the City Mission project was among 44 applicants that were not recommended. Commissioners meet Thursday morning at 10 a.m and are expected to approve the list of 50. Meanwhile, Washington County Solicitor Gary Sweat announced that he will present a detailed statement at Thursday’s meeting to explain why an emergency meeting was necessary in regards to the cyber attack that struck the County’s computer system. Sweat says he will present two motions, the same that were approved at that emergency meeting, for commissioners to approve again. Sweat says he will also detail how the State Sunshine Act was not violated. Commissioner’s approved spending some $400,000 for upgrades and improvements to the county’s computer system at that meeting. There have been questions as to whether a ransom payment was included in that money.
