April 25, 2021 4:24 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — PennDOT officials said they’ve issued more than 20,000 citations on one stretch of I-79 near the southern beltway project thanks to new technology that can catch more than one driver going too fast. With a major construction project along the highway in Washington County, there are as many as 100 workers at a time near traffic. The automated work zone enforcement is a portable system inside a vehicle parked along the interstate. If you’re going more than 11 miles per hour over the speed limit, it will snap your picture along with any cars speeding next to you as well. “It used two different types of radar technology to compute the speed of the vehicle, take a picture of the front and back of the car. It can do multiple at once as they are passing through,” said Jason Zang, assistant district executive for PennDOT’s district 11. “There is one goal to improve safety in our work zones, slow people down and improve safety,” Zang said. PennDOT said they’ve issued 220,000 citations across the state over the last year.
April 25, 2021 4:19 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Health said it has notified all COVID-19 vaccine providers to resume using the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The news follows the announcement that the CDC and FDA had lifted a pause on using the vaccine after several cases of severe blood clots had come to light. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices held an emergency meeting Friday to determine the incidents were “extremely rare” and that the vaccine was safe and effective. The cases of the rare blood clots with low platelet counts occurred in women mostly between the ages of 18 and 48 out of the nearly 7 million Americans who received the vaccine. In Pennsylvania, only 271,132 people have been vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine.
April 25, 2021 1:57 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. – Crews responded to a multi-vehicle accident with injuries and entrapment reported near the North Franklin and South Franklin border Saturday morning. The crash occurred on Park Avenue near the intersection with Vankirk Road just before 11:30 a.m. According to 911 officials, a total of 6 victims were involved with the accident. An all-call was requested by first responders, as medical and emergency crews from around the area arrived to help with the rescue. Reports say the officials on scene requested two medical helicopters to the area, where they reportedly used the nearby Washington County Airport as the airlift site. No further details are available at this time.
April 24, 2021 4:52 am
JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli police say 44 people have been arrested and 20 officers wounded in a night of chaos in Jerusalem. Security forces separately clashed with Palestinians angry about Ramadan restrictions and Jewish extremists who held an anti-Arab march nearby. Tensions have spiked in recent days in the city, which has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Militants in Gaza fired rockets in retaliation. Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. On Thursday, hundreds of Jewish extremists tried to march to the site of the clashes but were halted by police. Smaller violent confrontations broke out elsewhere in the city.
April 24, 2021 4:50 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Washington County Police Departments are teaming with the Washington County Opioid Overdose Coalition and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to give the public the opportunity to dispose of unwanted medications Saturday between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. This prevents prescription pill abuse and theft by ridding homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. This service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. This is the 20th National take back day. Last October, Americans turned in over 492 tons (985,392 pounds) of medications at 4,587 sites operated by DEA and more than 4,153 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Take back participants in the community include the Canonsburg (Shop and Save), Carroll Township (Mon Valley Hospital), Cecil Township (Dollar Store), Chartiers Township, McDonald, Burgettstown, Monongahela (Mon Valley Hospital), Mount Pleasant Township, Peters Township (Giant Eagle, Heislers, Country Store, Rite Aid), Smith Township, South Strabane Township and City of Washington Police Departments. There will also be participants at the Washington Hospital Police Department and the Washington County Sheriffs Office at Mingo Park.
April 24, 2021 4:32 am
NEW YORK (AP) – A U.S. Capitol Police officer testified Friday against a New York man accused of threatening to kill members of Congress, recounting how police struggled to quell the “surreal” Jan. 6 riot in Washington. Defendant Brendan Hunt wasn’t part of the siege. But prosecutors sought to use the testimony of Special Agent Christopher Desrosiers to frame the episode as a further catalyst for Hunt’s alleged call to massacre members of Congress. Prosecutors allege Hunt was trying to inspire violence against members of Congress on Inauguration Day as a follow up to the Jan. 6 attack. Defense attorneys have argued there’s no proof that Hunt was a legitimate threat.
April 24, 2021 4:30 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Gov. Gavin Newsom said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil extraction by 2045. Newsom made the announcement Friday, after a ban on fracking failed to pass the Legislature. Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing, a process for extracting oil embedded deep underground. Environmental advocates oppose it, citing harm to the environment and public health. California would be the largest oil-producing state to ban fracking. Newsom said he will use his executive authority to take on the state’s powerful oil and gas industry in a year that he is expected to face voters in a recall election.
April 24, 2021 4:29 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A Minnesota court has set a June sentencing date for Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Online court records say Chauvin will be sentenced on June 16 at 1:30 p.m., by Judge Peter Cahill, the Hennepin County judge who oversaw the trial. Chauvin, 45, was convicted Tuesday of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck. Under Minnesota statutes he’ll only be sentenced on the most serious one – second-degree murder. The max he would face is likely 30 years, but he could get less.
April 24, 2021 4:16 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Ghislaine Maxwell has faced a judge in person for the first time as lawyers squabble over exactly when she should be tried on sex trafficking charges alleging that she procured teenage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse at his posh residences. Maxwell pleaded not guilty Friday to sex trafficking conspiracy and a sex trafficking charge that were added in a rewritten indictment filed last month in Manhattan federal court. Her lawyers maintain they need months of additional preparation because of the new charges, making it impossible to keep a July 12 trial date.
April 24, 2021 4:14 am
(AP) – A U.S. health panel says it’s time to resume use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, despite a very rare risk of blood clots. Out of nearly 8 million people vaccinated before the U.S. suspended J&J’s shot, health officials uncovered 15 cases of a highly unusual kind of blood clot, three of them fatal. All were women, most younger than 50. But advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday the vaccine’s benefits outweigh that serious but small risk — especially against a virus that’s still infecting tens of thousands of Americans every day. The government will rapidly weigh that recommendation in deciding next steps.
