September 6, 2020 7:58 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Another notable local event will not be taking place this year due to COVID-19. Organizers for the annual Washington County Senior Expo at the Washington Crown Center announced Saturday that this year’s will not take place out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety of those involved. Organizers say due to the nature and setting of this event, it has been determined that if held, it would not be possible to ensure compliance with the guidelines and protocols established by the Centers for Disease Control and the Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Aging for social gatherings. The event was supposed to be held Thursday, September 17th. The committee plans on hosting the event in 2021.
September 6, 2020 7:50 am
PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Peters Lake Park was closed for a time Saturday after a kayak was found floating unattended in the middle of the water. According to the Peters Township Fire Department, they were called around 7 a.m. by the police department after a blue kayak was found partially submerged in the water with personal belongings inside. The park was closed down to allow crews to search the area. The search involved people on foot, in vehicles, in two boats on the water and a drone was used to fly over the area. Peters Township Fire Chief Mike Mclaughlin said there was “no significant findings.” Mclaughlin said they did not dive under the water and that there was no evidence of anyone in the lake. If you have any information, you’re asked to call 911.
September 5, 2020 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has directed the Office of Management and Budget to crack down on federal agencies’ anti-racism training sessions, calling them “divisive, anti-American propaganda.” OMB director Russell Vought, in a letter to executive branch agencies, has directed them to identify spending related to any training on “critical race theory,” “white privilege” or any other material that teaches or suggests that the United States or any race or ethnicity is “inherently racist or evil.” The memo comes as the nation has faced a reckoning this summer over racial injustice in policing and other spheres of American life.
September 5, 2020 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The tensions in the United States over racism and policing are likely targets for efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. That’s according to lawmakers and experts, who say there are signs that Russia is seeking to exploit the divide. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have pulled down dozens of fake accounts with names like “Blacks Facts Untold” that were created by an organization with links to Russia’s Internet Research Agency. It’s a pattern that was seen in 2016, when the Internet Research Agency overwhelmingly focused on race and the Black Lives Matter Movement when targeting American social media.
September 5, 2020 4:18 am
BEIJING (AP) – President Xi Jinping has pledged to open China’s service industries wider to foreign competitors as its first in-person trade fair since the coronavirus outbreak opened under intensive anti-disease controls. Xi gave no details, but Chinese leaders are emphasizing tourism, retailing and other services. They are part of plans to nurture self-sustaining economic growth supported by consumer spending instead of trade and investment. Most exhibitors from abroad at the China International Fair for Trade in Services are due to participate via internet because Beijing has yet to relax curbs that bar most foreign visitors from the country.
September 5, 2020 4:16 am
NEW YORK (AP) – On the campaign trail, it’s like two different worlds out there. With President Donald Trump, the pandemic is largely over, the economy is roaring back, and murderous mobs are infiltrating America’s suburbs. With Democrat Joe Biden, the pandemic is raging, the economy isn’t working for the working-class, and systemic racism threatens Black lives across America. The first week of the fall sprint to Election Day has crystallized dramatically different versions of reality as the Republican incumbent and his Democratic challenger trekked from Washington and Delaware to Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and back. The candidates are fighting to navigate one of the most turbulent election seasons in modern history.
September 5, 2020 4:14 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Demonstrators were out on the streets again Friday night in Portland, Oregon, as the city this weekend reaches 100 straight nights of protests marked by vandalism and violence. The demonstrations started in late May after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. A slaying of a right-wing Trump supporter shot and killed after he came downtown last weekend with a pro-Trump caravan of pickup trucks further roiled things in the liberal city. The prime suspect in the shooting, self-described anti-fascist, was killed Thursday night by law enforcement. On Friday, demonstrators marched to a police building where they were met with officers donning riot gear.
September 5, 2020 4:13 am
NEW DELHI (AP) – India’s coronavirus cases have crossed 4 million, leading the world in new infections and deepening misery in the country’s vast hinterlands where surges have crippled the underfunded health care system. Initially, the virus ravaged India’s sprawling and densely populated cities. It has since stretched to almost every state, spreading through villages. With a population of nearly 1.4 billion people, India’s massive caseload isn’t surprising experts. The country’s delayed response to the virus forced the government to implement a harsh lockdown in late March. For over two months, the economy remained shuttered, buying time for health workers to prepare for the worst. With the cost of the restrictions also rising, authorities saw no choice but to reopen activities.
September 5, 2020 4:10 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) — A two-year undercover investigation culminated Friday with 27 federal indictments and the dismantling of a major international distribution network that stretched from Mexico to the streets of Pittsburgh. Federal agents launched “Operation Tripwire” after a special agent with the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General noticed a large number of packages coming to a Pittsburgh address from California. Ken Cleevely, special agent in charge, said he developed sufficient evidence to obtain a federal search warrant, opened the parcel and found it contained four kilograms (about 8.8 pounds) of cocaine. Agents eventually traced the drugs to a Mexican cartel. Investigators said the cartel smuggled the cocaine into the U.S. — to Arizona and California first and then to Pittsburgh. U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said the cartel would use commercial airplanes, underground tunnels, trucks and other forms of transportation to get across the border. During Operation Tripwire, agents seized over 90 kilograms of cocaine and $1.3 million in cash. That amount of cocaine is worth about $2.7 million on the street. This week, federal agents raided homes in three states and arrested 27 members of the cartel’s distribution network: 11 in California, six in Arizona and 10 in Pittsburgh. Brady said they are still working to identify cartel members in Mexico, but the ultimate goal is to track them down and bring them to Pittsburgh to face charges.
September 5, 2020 4:01 am
Funding for several projects was addressed by Washington County Commissioners on a teleconference meeting on Friday afternoon. The three agenda items all passed unanimously. Commissioners approved a short term loan to the Washington County Fair Board in the amount of $52,000. Funds for that loan will come from the fairgrounds gas lease and will be repaid by the Fair Board at a future date. A professional services agreement with Zelenkofske, Axlerod, LLC was approved for consulting services on the Covid-19 Washington County Relief Block Grant. The cost of the agreement is not to exceed $35,000. Commissioners also approved a professional services agreement with HTC Communications. The $496,750 labor only agreement will work to provide the county with broadband access to unserved and underserved areas. Funding from the agreement will come from the Washington County Relief Block Grant.
