September 4, 2020 4:09 am
Washington City Council had a quick and effective meeting Thursday night. Council gave final approval to an expansion project of the Get Go convenience store on Wylie Avenue. The approval is subject to several conditions such as permit and plan approvals from PA American Water, PennDot and WEWJA. They also approved a parking change on W. Maiden St. Parking from the corner of South Main to two parking spaces past the new TRIPL building will be eliminated. Twelve structures were added to the city’s demolition list. Mayor Scott Putnam credited the new code enforcement officer for his hard work in gathering the list. Putnam also alerted city residents to a rash of car break ins happening in the city. Putnam asks that everyone keep their cars locked and valuables out of sight. Vandals are looking for unlocked cars to steal valuable items. Council’s next meeting will be at 7:00 PM on October, 1.
September 4, 2020 2:25 am
State Police say two black men robbed the Kay Jewelers Store in the Washington Crown Center Mall in North Franklin Township just before six-thirty Wednesday evening. Troopers say the men, who were armed and wearing masks, each went to different display cases which were each manned by different employees. Once there, police say each man pulled up his shirt to reveal black handguns. They then gave each employee pillowcases and demanded jewelry be placed in them. Authorities say the entire robbery took about two to three minutes and the men got away with an estimated three to three-hundred and twenty-five-thousand-dollars worth of jewelry. State police say one robber was described as being in his 40’s and weighing about two-hundred pounds. He was wearing a blue plaid shirt and blue jeans. The other man was in his 20’s and weighed about 165 pounds, possibly wearing a red shirt and blue jeans. Police are asking anyone with information about the robbery to contact them at 724.223.5200 or 724.223-5228.
September 3, 2020 5:25 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Dwayne Johnson is hoping his and his family’s bout with COVID-19 will serve as a cautionary tale for others. The actor who stars in the “Jumanji” movies says he, his wife and two young daughters all caught the disease that comes from the new coronavirus – but are better now. Johnson says he and his family got the virus from close family friends – who didn’t know where they got it. In a long video post on Instagram, Johnson says going through the illness has made him more cautious – and hopes it will for you, too. He says you should wear a mask, boost your immune system – and try to stay fit.
September 3, 2020 12:41 pm
(AP) – The medical community is urging parents to take whatever steps necessary to protect their children from the latest trend sweeping the TikTok app, the “Benadryl Challenge.” The game involves TikTok users, mostly teenagers, encouraging each other to take as much over-the-counter allergy medication as needed to hallucinate. Doctors say the challenge is not only dangerous but also based on a false premise. They say it causes sedation but not a high, and, in addition to not producing the quick high teens might be seeking, side effects caused by misuse of the medication can include heart attack, seizure and stroke.
September 3, 2020 10:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of laid-off Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to a still-elevated 881,000 last week, evidence that the viral pandemic keeps forcing many businesses to slash jobs. The latest figures suggest that nearly six months after the eruption of the coronavirus, the economy is still struggling to sustain a recovery and rebuild a job market that was devastated by the recession. In the previous week, more than 1 million had sought jobless aid. All told, the government said that 13.3 million people are continuing to receive traditional jobless benefits, up from 1.7 million a year ago.
September 3, 2020 9:14 am
With just two months left until the U.S. presidential election, Facebook says it is taking additional steps to encourage voting, minimize misinformation and reduce the likelihood of post-election “civil unrest.” The company said Thursday it will restrict new political ads in the week before the election and remove posts that convey misinformation about COVID-19 and voting. It will also attach links to official results to posts from candidates and campaigns declaring a premature victory. Facebook and other social media companies are being scrutinized over how they handle misinformation, given problems with candidates like President Donald Trump posting false information and Russia’s interference in the 2016 White House elections.
September 3, 2020 9:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former Vice President Joe Biden has spoken with Jacob Blake on the phone for 15 minutes during a visit to Wisconsin. Blake is a Black man whose shooting by a white Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer last week led to days of protests and violence. Biden says Blake “talked about how nothing was going to defeat him, about how whether he walked again or not, he was not going to give up.” Blake’s family members have said he is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot seven times. The shooting remains under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
September 3, 2020 9:12 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI)- A former West Penn Hospital worker is facing 83 new charges after he recorded at least 21 fellow employees and 34 patients in a bathroom and an imaging room, police said. Guy Caley, 52, was first charged in July after an investigation stemming from a camera found in a unisex employee bathroom in December. Five workers were identified as victims in that instance, in which a small camera had been taped to a chair with the lens facing toward a toilet, police said. The Canonsburg man told investigators he had previously used the same camera several other times to take video of people in the bathroom. He would take the camera home and download the videos to his laptop. In a new criminal complaint filed Wednesday, it was revealed that additional hospital employees, as well as radiology department patients, were identified as victims and that other cameras had been used by Caley. Police said Caley told them most, if not all, of the recordings of patients were taken in a room housing the MRI and other imaging equipment. All of the patients were women. “The majority of the videos appeared to follow two distinctive patterns; to capture hospital employees using the bathroom toilet, and to capture nude or partially nude female patients while in an imaging room within the Radiology Department,” the complaint said. Investigators looked at videos that were taken over a two-year period, in 2018 and 2019. Authorities believe there might be more victims.
September 3, 2020 6:28 am
Washington County Commissioners have directed Controller Michael Namie and Finance Director Joshua Hatfield to launch policy and fiscal reviews of county boards and authorities. Commissioner’s Chairman Diana Irey Vaughn says they want to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent on appropriate expenses and the review will safeguard the financial well-being of these organizations and also determine a level of uniformity for policies related to costs. The reviews are to include; the Washington County Conservation District, Drug and Alcohol Commission, Tourism and Promotion Agency, Transportation Authority, Redevelopment Authority, Washington County Authority, and Washington Greene County Job Training Agency. A licensed auditing firm independently audits each organization but the commissioner’s say this will allow them to offer suggestions to improve and strengthen each organization.
September 3, 2020 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Election experts are taking issue with President Donald Trump’s suggestion that people who vote early by mail should vote again at their polling place if their ballot hasn’t been counted. Experts and state voting officials say the president’s idea would lead to chaos, long lines and more work for election officials. Information on whether a ballot has been counted isn’t even typically available right away. What can be checked is whether an absentee ballot has been received, and in some cases, whether it’s passed a security review and will be submitted for counting. Most states offer ways for voters to verify the status of their ballot online. (Photo: CNN)
