July 18, 2021 1:02 am
WASHINGTON, Pa – The State Police Fire Marshall was called to the scene of a fire at Lombardi’s Auto Body along Highland Avenue in the City of Washington Friday afternoon. According to Washington County 911, the fire broke out around 5:00 p.m. after a car caught fire inside the shop. Crews quickly handled the blaze and remained on scene to ventilate the building and check for hot spots. No update on a cause or if there were any injuries.
July 17, 2021 4:45 am
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) – A 50-year-old employee has died after falling from an elevated catwalk at a Detroit-area steel company. Dearborn police say the man was pronounced dead at the former AK Steel facility following the fall which occurred about 3:15 a.m. Friday. Police add that foul play is not suspected, and Michigan’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been notified and will be conducting a thorough investigation. A company spokeswoman says the worker was conducting a maintenance activity at the time he fell. The employee was a resident of Dearborn, just west of Detroit.
July 17, 2021 4:38 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Advocates are calling on Congress and President Joe Biden to act quickly on legislation that would provide a path to citizenship to hundreds of thousands of young immigrants after a federal judge in Texas ordered the end to an Obama-era program that protects them from deportation. The ruling Friday keeps the program in place for existing recipients but bars the government from approving any new applications. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled in favor of Texas and eight other conservative states that sued to halt the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA, which provides limited protections to about 650,000 people.
July 17, 2021 4:30 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A cooped-up flock of law-breaking Philadelphians continued to grow in number and prosper during the pandemic. Thousands of chickens are being raised citywide, according to one estimate, despite a 2004 ordinance designed to eliminate the practice. This particular urban farming trend is becoming more popular, as penned-up residents look to the unconventional pets as a diversion during the lockdown and by concerns among increasingly health-conscious consumers about the source and quality of their food.
July 17, 2021 4:24 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Forecasters say dry, unstable and windy conditions will keep fueling a massive wildfire in southern Oregon. The largely uncontained blaze grows by miles each day. The Bootleg Fire was just one of numerous wildfires burning across the U.S. West. Crews had to flee the fire lines of the Oregon blaze late Thursday after a dangerous “fire cloud” started to collapse, threatening them with strong downdrafts and flying embers. An initial review Friday showed the Bootleg Fire destroyed 67 homes and 117 outbuildings overnight in one county. Authorities were still counting the losses in a second county where the flames are surging up to 4 miles a day.
July 17, 2021 4:18 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Biz Markie, a hip-hop staple known for his beatboxing prowess, turntable mastery and the 1989 classic “Just a Friend,” has died. He was 57. Markie’s representative, Jenni Izumi, said the rapper-DJ died peacefully Friday evening with his wife by his side. The cause of death has not been released. Markie, who real name is Marcel Theo Hall, became known within the rap genre realm as the self-proclaimed “Clown Prince of Hip-Hop” for lighthearted lyrics and a humorous nature. He’s made music with the Beastie Boys, opened for Chris Rock’s comedy tour and was a sought-after DJ for countless star-studded events.
July 17, 2021 4:17 am
LORDSTOWN, Ohio (AP) – Lordstown Motors, an Ohio manufacturer that has come under scrutiny over the number of orders it claimed it had for the electric trucks that it wants to produce, acknowledged that it has received two subpoenas from federal regulators and that prosecutors in New York have opened an investigation. The company and its executives have given conflicting accounts of whether it has received any orders for its trucks, and if so, how many orders have been placed. The company’s stock is down nearly 60% this year.
July 17, 2021 4:10 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Democrat John Fetterman is showing his early fundraising prowess in the crowded stakes for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat ahead of next year’s election. Fetterman reported $2.5 million raised in the three months ending June 30. That left him with $3 million in his campaign account, far more than any candidate, Republican or Democrat, has reported. Thursday was the Federal Election Commission deadline to file the quarterly report. Fetterman is the state’s lieutenant governor. Leading the Republican money chase is Jeff Bartos, the Montgomery County real estate investor whose campaign said he had just under $1.9 million in his account as of June 30.
July 17, 2021 4:09 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate and labor force shrank slightly in June as payrolls crept up. State figures released Friday show Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point to 6.9%. The national rate was 5.9% in June. In a survey of households, the labor force shrank by 2,000 in June, closer to 6.3 million, as the number of employed grew slightly and the number of unemployed slid. In a separate survey of employers, payrolls in Pennsylvania grew in June by 11,500. Pennsylvania has regained about 60% of the 1.1 million jobs lost in the pandemic. The government sector led all gainers, while construction led the losers.
July 17, 2021 4:02 am
Strong storms that passed through the area Friday evening brought with them rain as well as winds and tree damages. West Penn Power is reporting 86 customers still without service as of late Saturday morning throughout Washington County. West Penn expects power to be restored for all customers by early Saturday afternoon.
