December 28, 2020 4:05 am
GREENSBURG, Pa. — A woman who fled police at speeds exceeding 130 mph on Route 119 faces multiple charges and will appear before a judge next month. According to reports, 44-year-old Roxanna Varriano of Jeannette was charged with illegally operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock device, illegal possession of marijuana, failing to use a seat belt and other charges after the incident in East Huntingdon. State police said a trooper was patrolling the area around 12:30 p.m. Dec. 7 when Varriano flew past his patrol vehicle. The trooper said in court documents that Varriano’s 2020 Camaro was going more than 130 mph before she pulled off the road. The posted speed limit in the area is 65 mph. There are reports Varriano pleaded guilty in 2015 to a charge of driving under the influence. She also pleaded guilty to a 2014 DUI charge after a traffic stop in Hempfield.
December 28, 2020 4:04 am
WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. (AP) – An annual reenactment of George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas morning is taking place in this COVID-19 impacted year, but onlookers will have to watch it via video online. Washington Crossing Historic Park said the reenactment filmed earlier in the month provided a “close-up view” of the event since crowd-size restrictions barred holding it this year. Normally, thousands gather every Christmas morning on the banks of the river in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, and Titusville, New Jersey, to watch historical reenactors set out in boats to retrace the daring 1776 voyage of Washington and his troops.
December 28, 2020 3:58 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) – Residents and workers at personal care homes in the Pittsburgh area will soon get vaccines. Pennsylvania Health Department Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said the shots will start being administered at long-term care facilities on Monday. The state is prioritizing nursing homes that have been vulnerable to the virus, so some residents could be waiting a little longer to get their shots. Westmoreland Manor, which had a COVID-19 outbreak, will be getting doses this week, county commissioners confirmed to our news partners at Channel 11.
December 28, 2020 2:15 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington County Courthouse will continue with COVID-related restrictions through the end of March, according to reports. President Judge Katherine Emery signed an order this week to extend the restrictions. The new order extends the restrictions put in place on November 13th and added other additional restrictions until March 31. Only direct participants in the legal proceedings will be allowed inside the courthouse. Those directly involved must also arrive 15 minutes before the proceeding. Video conferencing will continue to be used, and in-person formal arraignments will not be in place during the restriction. Jury trials have been canceled through January 31st. The county’s row offices will remain open, but appointments will still be needed and the public is encouraged to contact and work with those offices electronically when possible.
December 27, 2020 7:58 am
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Barry Lopez, an award-winning writer who tried to tighten the bonds between people and place by describing the landscapes he saw in 50 years of travel, has died. He was 75. Lopez died in Eugene, Oregon, on Friday after a years-long struggle with prostate cancer, his family said. Longtime friend Kim Stafford, former Oregon poet laureate, said Lopez’s books “are landmarks that define a region, a time, a cause. He also exemplifies a life of devotion to craft and learning, to being humble in the face of wisdom of all kinds.” An author of nearly 20 books on natural history studies, along with essay and short story collections, Lopez was awarded the National Book Award in 1986 for “Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape.” It was the result of almost five years of traveling the Arctic. His final work was “Horizon,” an autobiography that recalls a lifetime of travel in more than 70 countries.
December 27, 2020 7:56 am
ISTANBUL (AP) — An earthquake with a 5.3 magnitude shook Elazig province in eastern Turkey on Sunday. Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu tweeted there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The quake struck at 09:37 a.m., Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate said. It was felt in several neighboring provinces. Turkey is crisscrossed by major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent. In January, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Elazig, killing 41 people in that province and neighboring Malatya. Another deadly quake struck western port city of Izmir in October, killing 116 people.
December 27, 2020 7:55 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Federal agents converged Saturday on the home of a possible person of interest in the explosion that rocked downtown Nashville as investigators scoured hundreds of tips and leads in the blast that damaged dozens of buildings on Christmas morning. More than 24 hours after the explosion, a motive remained elusive as investigators worked round-the-clock to resolve unanswered questions about a recreational vehicle that blew up on a mostly deserted street on a sleepy holiday morning and was prefaced by a recorded warning advising those nearby to evacuate. The attack, which damaged an AT&T building, continued to wreak havoc Saturday on cellphone service and police and hospital communications in several Southern states. Investigators from multiple federal and local law enforcement agencies were at a home in Antioch, in suburban Nashville, after receiving information relevant to the investigation, said FBI Special Agent Jason Pack. Another law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said investigators regard a person associated with the property as a person of interest. Federal agents could be seen looking around the property, searching the home and the backyard. A Google Maps image had shown a similar recreational vehicle parked in the backyard when the photo was captured in May 2019; an AP reporter at the scene did not see the vehicle at the property in the late afternoon Saturday.
December 27, 2020 7:54 am
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet lapsed overnight as President Donald Trump refused to signed an end-of-year COVID relief and spending bill that had been considered a done deal before his sudden objections. The fate of the bipartisan package remained in limbo Sunday as Trump continued to demand larger COVID relief checks and complained about “pork” spending. Without the widespread funding provided by the massive measure, a government shutdown would occur when money runs out at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. “It’s a chess game and we are pawns,” said Lanetris Haines, a self-employed single mother of three in South Bend, Indiana, who stood to lose her $129 weekly jobless benefit unless Trump signed the package into law or succeeded in his improbable quest for changes. Washington has been reeling since Trump turned on the deal after it had won sweeping approval in both houses of Congress and after the White House had assured Republican leaders that Trump would support it. Instead, he assailed the bill’s plan to provide $600 COVID relief checks to most Americans — insisting it should be $2,000. House Republicans swiftly rejected that idea during a rare Christmas Eve session. But Trump has not been swayed in spite of the nation being in the grip of a pandemic.
December 27, 2020 7:50 am
MCKEESPORT, Pa. (WPXI) — Four people face criminal charges after they were accused of helping the man wanted for shooting a McKeesport police officer. Daniel Neal, Gesiah Grigsby, Justine Kenyatta and Jasmyn Henderson-Bracey each face hindering apprehension or prosecution charges after investigators said they were all seen on security camera footage helping suspect Koby Francis. In court documents, officers noted Francis could be seen with handcuffs still on his wrists as the group of people were around him. Investigators searched a home on Freemont Street in McKeesport after they learned Francis may have been there. Grigsby and Henderson-Bracey were found at the home. The next day, officers searched another address connected to Francis in Crawford Village and again found Henderson-Bracey there. She told detectives she talked with Francis occasionally on Facebook, but had stopped after learning of the shooting. Later, Neal told detectives Francis asked him for a ride to North Versailles but after a time, Neal said he didn’t feel comfortable driving him and let him out of the vehicle. Documents said on Sunday, a Jefferson Hills police officer came upon a vehicle with a flat tire on Payne Hill Road and stopped to help. The vehicle matched the description of the vehicle Neal was driving. Kenyatta was behind the wheel and a man who did not identify himself was in the front passenger seat. Documents don’t say why the officer did not detain the pair. After investigators reviewed the dash camera footage, the man’s clothing and physical characteristics matched those of Francis. The suspect has not yet been caught. $15,000 in reward money is being offered for information leading to his arrest.
December 26, 2020 4:26 am
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – President Donald Trump is spending his Christmas golfing in Florida as a government shutdown looms and COVID relief hangs in the balance. Trump had no events on his public schedule Friday after throwing the future of a massive COVID relief and government funding bill into question. Failure to sign the bill, which arrived in Florida on Thursday night, could deny relief checks to millions of Americans on the brink and force a government shutdown in the midst of the pandemic. Trump is at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach for the holidays. The White House says he’s doing meetings and calls but gave no details.
