November 9, 2024 4:38 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case has canceled any remaining court deadlines after prosecutors said they need time to assess “the appropriate course going forward” after the Republican’s presidential victory this week. Smith’s team has been evaluating how to wind down the two federal cases before the president-elect takes office in light of longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday. In a court filing Friday in Trump’s election interference case, Smith’s team said it needs “time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”
November 9, 2024 3:27 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada has won reelection. The Democrat won her second term over Republican challenger Sam Brown, who was endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump. Rosen positioned herself as a nonpartisan advocate for her state while hammering Brown for his opposition to abortion rights. Brown tried to tie Rosen to the rising cost of living in Nevada and leaned on his own biography as a former Army captain who was badly wounded in Afghanistan.
November 8, 2024 12:24 pm
Multiple fire departments and emergency services were called out around nine-thirty Friday morning for reports of a house fire at 139 Fifth Street in McDonald. Washington County 911 says one firefighter was taken to Mercy Hospital for treatment of hypertension, otherwise, there were no other reported injuries. The home, which housed two adults and two children, was destroyed. Dispatchers tell us the family was displaced and the Red Cross has been called in to help them. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
November 8, 2024 10:49 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats will keep their majority control of the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives next year after holding onto a Johnstown area seat. The reelection of incumbent Democratic Rep. Frank Burns means his party will have a one-vote margin, 102-101. That’s enough to retain the speakership and determine the chamber’s voting agenda. Burns is a conservative Democrat who supports gun rights and opposes abortion. He’s regularly found himself voting against his fellow House Democrats and has long been an electoral target of Republicans. The district includes Johnstown and a wide swath of Cambria County.
November 8, 2024 5:07 am
A house fire Thursday evening in Charleroi has left one person injured. Washington County 9-1-1 says it broke out just before 6:30 p.m. in the 900-block of Crest Avenue. According to the Charleroi Fire Department the elderly woman was rescued from the front of the home and was flown to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh. There is no word on her identity or condition. There is also no word on the cause of the fire, but dispatchers tell us it was a small fire and the State Police Fire Marshall has not been called in. (PHOTO: Charleroi Fire Department Facebook)
November 8, 2024 4:52 am
CANTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A man accused of sexually assaulting a child in Washington County is in prison. Charges have been filed against Edward Gibbon Snider Jr., 35, of Canton Township. Court documents say Snider forced a 9-year-old girl to have oral sex with him multiple times over the course of May 2018-March 2019. Snider was charged with three felony counts of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse with a child, indecent assault, aggravated assault of a child, and corruption of minors on Wednesday. He was unable to post bail and is expected to appear in court for a hearing later this month.
November 8, 2024 2:50 am
Washington County Commissioners released plans for a proposed Public Safety Building at their voting meeting on Thursday. Commissioners approved a purchase and sale agreement to transfer the property containing the Courthouse Square Building, Garage and County Jail to begin the project later this year. They also approved a $12.5 million bond to aid in financing the project. The vote to approve that bond was 2-1 with Commissioner Larry Maggi dissenting without comment. The proposed facility will be a three story, 70,000 square foot building that will house the Sheriff’s office, the county 9-1-1 center and a booking center. The booking center is new to the county and will aid law enforcement with suspects that suffer from mental or physical issues. The project will cost between $30-$35 million dollars and will be funded primarily through American Rescue Plan Act funds. Additional federal and state grants will also be sought. Demolition bids for the Courthouse Square Building will be released in November with actual demolition expected in January. Construction bids will be released in February.
November 8, 2024 4:57 am
CANONSBURG, Pa. — (WPXI) – A sewage plant in Canonsburg located right between Interstate 79 and Southpointe started to give off a pungent smell six months ago, concerning the people who work and live around it. Some said they had a hard time breathing, others even called the gas company thinking it was a possible leak. Canonsburg Council president Rich Russo started asking questions about why the odor was so bad. “It was consistent. Day in, day out, so they started looking into it and they started to test the treatment and that’s when they found out it was coming from this one interceptor from North Strabane,” Russo said. Russo says at its worst the smell was detected a quarter mile around the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Sewer Authority plant, which serves 35,000 households in the area. Russo says the DEP issued a decree over 15 years ago to North Strabane saying it had to feed calcium nitrate into its system to eliminate the smell. At some point over the past six months, that stopped. The chairman of the North Strabane Township Authority Board Jason Orsini says it was first brought to our attention when Canonsburg emailed us a copy and none of, us “meaning at the authority, staff, engineer, attorney nobody was even aware of that.” Orsini said the board treated the water once it found out. “The chemical does get added to a pump station and it does help with some hydrogen sulfide odors,” Orsini added. North Strabane says it plans to continue to treat the water. Orsini says there have been odors at the plant in the past that have nothing to do with North Strabane’s sewer line.
November 8, 2024 2:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican David McCormick won a Senate seat in Pennsylvania on Thursday, defeating Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and padding the GOP’s Senate majority. McCormick, 59, is a two-time Senate challenger and a former hedge fund CEO who served in former President George W. Bush’s administration. McCormick had strong support from Wall Street donors and contacts across the worlds of government, politics and finance. Casey had been seeking his fourth term and is perhaps Pennsylvania’s best-known politician, the son of a former two-term governor and Pennsylvania’s longest-ever serving Democrat in the Senate.
November 8, 2024 5:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Racist text messages invoking slavery raised alarm across the country this week after they were sent to Black men, women and students, including middle schoolers, prompting inquiries by the FBI and other agencies. The messages, sent anonymously, were reported in several states, including New York, Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. They generally used a similar tone but varied in wording. Some said the recipient was going to a “plantation” and instructed them to show up at an address at a particular time “with your belongings.” It wasn’t yet clear who was behind the messages and there was no comprehensive list of where they were sent, but high school and college students were among the recipients.
