February 2, 2024 4:43 am
Thursday was moving day for the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency. A ribbon cutting was held for the new offices of the organizations at the HQ at CNX building in Southpointe. The Chamber moved to its new location from its previous location at 375 Southpointe Blvd. to take advantage of larger space. Jeff Kotula, President of the Chamber says that they doubled their office space by moving there. He said it was necessary because the chamber has grown into the largest Chamber of Commerce in southwestern Pennsylvania. More than 150 members were on hand to celebrate the grand opening.
February 2, 2024 4:40 am
Washington City Council asked officials from its new trash hauling company to visit chambers and address resident concerns. Ben Woods from Bigs Sanitation addressed council with its brief five week history in the city. He admitted to a rough transition initially as drivers became familiar with the city streets and alleys. Weather complicated collection early on also. Woods stated that on Thursday, only three pick ups were missed and two were immediately addressed, the last will be addressed on Friday. Resident complaints about customer service were heard and addressed by the company as well. City Manager Donn Henderson says he anticipated a rough transition but complaints to his offices have dropped. According to Henderson, Bigs Sanitation was the lowest priced, most responsible bidder during a competitive bid period. The next bidder was $500,000 more for similar services, the final bidder entered a bid $1 million more. In other city business, council entered into a contract with PLATESMART. According to police chief Steve Devenney, the license plate reader system is a critical tool for detectives not only in Washington, but statewide.
February 2, 2024 2:46 am
Washington County Republican Commission Chairman Nick Sherman said Thursday that major progress has been made in restoring services within county government that were shut down in an apparent cyber security attack. Sherman said payroll is being met, emails are being sent and received and with the exception of a few issues that need to be taken care of regarding security on their software system, he anticipates all services to be up and running in the very near future. As for how the attack happened, Sherman says it’s an ongoing investigation involving the police, the FBI and Homeland Security.
February 1, 2024 5:43 pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers say an asteroid as big as a skyscraper will pass within 1.7 million miles of Earth on Friday. There’s no chance of it hitting us since it will pass seven times the distance from Earth to the moon. NASA estimates the space rock is between 690 feet and 1,575 feet across. That means the asteroid could be similar in size to New York City’s Empire State Building or Chicago’s Willis Tower. The asteroid was discovered in 2008. It won’t be back our way again until 2032, but it will be a much more distant encounter, staying 45 million miles away.
February 1, 2024 5:41 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says he never directed anyone on his staff to keep his cancer surgery and hospitalization secret from the White House but acknowledges he should have handled it differently. He apologized for keeping President Joe Biden and others in the dark for weeks. Austin was speaking to reporters in the Pentagon briefing room on Thursday, providing his most extensive comments to date on the secrecy surrounding his cancer diagnosis and struggles with complications since his surgery on Dec. 22. It was the first time he answered reporters’ questions since his surgery. (Photo: AP)
February 1, 2024 5:39 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Women are far more likely than men to get autoimmune diseases, illnesses like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis that occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks their own bodies. That gender disparity has baffled scientists for decades but new research may finally explain why. Females have two X chromosomes and Stanford University researchers say how cells handle that extra X can be a red flag for the immune system, essentially an early risk factor. The findings, published Thursday in the journal Cell, could lead to better ways to detect autoimmunity.
February 1, 2024 10:19 am
A tanker truck hauling brine water overturned in a two-vehicle accident Thursday morning in Buffalo Township. Washington County 9-1-1 tells WJPA News it happened just before 9 a.m. in the 29-hundred block of S. Bridge Road. Dispatchers say no one was transported from the scene but HAZMAT was called because the tanker was leaking material. The crash did shut down the roadway in both directions.
February 1, 2024 5:11 am
(WPXI) – State police are investigating a deadly stabbing in Fayette County. A man was stabbed around midnight outside a home on Hilltop Avenue in Redstone Township. The victim was identified as 24-year-old Shawn Hriscisce. State police said another person was taken to Uniontown Hospital for a stab wound to the arm. They were released and are cooperating with the investigation. State troopers said the people involved got into a verbal altercation which turned physical and led to the stabbing. The investigation is ongoing.
February 1, 2024 5:01 am
Superstar Taylor Swift and her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, have become the focus of a raft of false claims and political conspiracy theories on social media this week as the team advances to the Super Bowl on Feb. 11. Baseless posts range from allegations that Swift has played a part in Pentagon psychological operations to the idea that she and Kelce, a two-time Super Bowl champion, are key assets in a secret plot to help President Joe Biden get reelected in 2024, and that the Chiefs’ success was rigged as part of the plan.
February 1, 2024 4:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. adults are only feeling slightly better about the economy, despite stocks being near record highs and surprisingly strong growth last year. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 35% of U.S. adults call the national economy good. That’s an uptick from 30% who said so late last year and up from 24% who said so a year ago. While 65% still call the economy poor, that’s an improvement from a year ago, when 76% did. Voters’ confidence in the economy could be the pivotal factor in this year’s election. President Joe Biden is running for reelection in part on the economy. The poll puts his overall approval rating at 38%.
