June 8, 2021 4:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The chief executive of the massive fuel pipeline hit by ransomware last month is expected to detail his company’s response to the cyberattack and to explain his decision to authorize a multimillion-dollar payment when he testifies before Congress this week. Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount will face the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday, one day after the Justice Department revealed it had recovered the majority of the $4.4 million ransom payment the company made in hopes of getting its system back online. A second hearing is set for Wednesday before the House Homeland Security Committee.
June 8, 2021 4:09 am
GHOTKI, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistani officials say the death toll from a collision of two trains in the country’s south has risen to 63 after rescuers pulled 12 more bodies from crumpled cars a day after the crash. Rescue work continued into Tuesday in Ghotki, a district in the southern Sindh province where an express train barreled into another that had derailed minutes earlier. The bodies of the killed passengers have been taken to their hometowns for burial. The scope of the collision and the high death toll have stunned Pakistan, even though train accidents are common in this country where successive governments have paid little attention to improving the poorly maintained railroad system.
June 8, 2021 4:05 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The state House is advancing revisions to Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana law, seeking to make permanent some of the changes put in place temporarily because of the coronavirus pandemic. Representatives on Monday voted 164 to 38 for the bill, sending it to the Senate. It would permit dispensing a three-month supply at a time, up from one month’s supply. Patients will be able to continue to pick up their medicine outside a dispensary, rather than coming inside the building. The legislation would ease the process by which contaminants must be removed before the final testing. Grower-processors would be permitted to use pesticides under standards the Agriculture Department would develop.
June 8, 2021 4:04 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — (WPXI) – Washington & Jefferson College in Washington has become the latest institution to require students have the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the college’s website, the vaccine has been added to its list of immunization requirements. The college will honor vaccine exemptions for medical, religious and philosophical reasons. Any student who receives an exemption will still be allowed to fully participate in classes, campus activities and athletics. There will be new rules released next month for students who choose not to be vaccinated. Those may include surveillance testing, symptom tracking and masking in certain situations. (PHOTO; WPXI)
June 8, 2021 4:00 am
Washington City Council held its first in person meeting in many months due to the Covid-19 pandemic on Monday evening. Mayor Scott Putnam stated he was happy to be back in front of residents to hear their opinions and concerns. Much of the meeting was taken up by public comment. The vast majority of the comment centered on the reopening of the park swimming pool. Residents’ interest prompted council to reconsider keeping the pool closed for this summer. Councilman Joe Manning stated that now the city is trying to get the dangerous lighting concerns addressed. Lights inside the pool are not properly grounded. Neither are the ladders and other equipment associated with the pool. Manning also said that buying the necessary chemicals needed to keep the pool clean may be an issue as the main chemical chlorine is in very short supply. Manning did say that if all goes well, the pool could reopen by the end of June.
June 8, 2021 3:55 am
Two men accused of beating a man in Charleroi on May 24 had their preliminary hearings in front of District Justice Eric Porter on Monday. Jose Manuel Garcia-Hernandez faces felony aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault for his role in the beating of Miguel Chacon. Chacon was called as a witness to the beating he received from Garcia-Hernandez and Antonio Rohaz Gonzalas that caused him to be flown to a Pittsburgh hospital. The hearing that lasted more than an hour because of the need for a translator culminated in all charges against Garcia-Hernandez being held for court by Porter. A similar case against Gonzalas that contains an additional charge of attempted homicide was continued when the public defender discovered a conflict of interest. The victim, Chacon is also incarcerated for incidents separate from this case. The assigned public defender is representing Chacon in those incidents. Both Garcia-Hernandez and Gonzalas are being held in the Washington County Jail on $500,000 bond.
June 7, 2021 5:56 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department has recovered the majority of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment to hackers after a cyberattack that caused the operator of the nation’s largest fuel pipeline to halt its operations last month. The operation to recover the cryptocurrency from the Russia-based hacker group is the first undertaken by a specialized ransomware task force created by the Biden administration Justice Department. Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline, which supplies roughly half the fuel consumed on the East Coast, temporarily shut down its operations on May 7 after a gang of criminal hackers known as DarkSide broke into its computer system.
June 7, 2021 12:51 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The city of Pittsburgh has posted a condemnation notice on a Pittsburgh high-rise due to damage from an electrical fire last month, but the building owner is vowing to bring in even more people to hasten repairs. Fire officials said the May 19 blaze at the 44-story Gulf Tower was confined to the basement although smoke could be seen rising from the roof from a ventilation shaft. Building owner Rugby Realty said it has more than 200 people working to repair the damage, and chief operating officer Larry Walsh said officials plan to increase that number to 300.
June 7, 2021 12:43 pm
Officials with West Penn Power say some 630 customers were affected by a power outage that occurred around eleven-thirty Monday morning. The outage affected WJPA Radio for about forty-five-minutes along with customers in the city of Washington, Amwell, Chartiers, Fallowfield, North Franklin, South Franklin and South Strabane Township. Most of the customers affected by the outage were in South Strabane Township. West Penn Power says most customers were back on-line by one p.m.
June 7, 2021 4:19 am
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) – Police and rescue officials say two express trains collided in southern Pakistan and at least 35 passengers were killed. The Millat Express derailed and the Sir Syed Express train hit it soon afterward. Police said 15 to 20 passengers were trapped in the wreckage and authorities were trying to arrange heavy machinery to rescue them. Ambulances were seen transporting the dead and injured passengers to hospitals. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the derailment and the subsequent collision. The collision occurred in Ghotki district in Sindh province. Train accidents are common in Pakistan, where successive governments have paid little attention to improving the poorly maintained signal system and aging tracks.
