June 6, 2020 4:18 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — In what may have been a long awaited gift from nature, Washington High School conducted their 153 Annual Commencement ceremony. The graduation was originally scheduled to be held at the parking lot of the Washington Wild Things Stadium. Washington County’s entrance into the economic green phase allowed the ceremony to be held at Washington High School Stadium. This year’s class will certainly be remembered for the difficulties students experienced because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This class is also unique because the two top students were also athletes. Valedictorian Zachary Swartz and Salutatorian Gerald Comedy both competed for the Prexies in football. In Swartz’s address to classmates, he remembered the challenges presented to them by the pandemic and spoke of how they had to “Power over the Pandemic”. Comedy, in his speech spoke of being “Unstoppable”. Comedy also gave tribute to George Floyd asking classmates to be the ones to bring about meaningful change. Guest speaker David Sadler, a 1991 graduate told graduates to be themselves and not to let others decide who they should be. Over $1.9 million was earned by graduates in grants and scholarships. Ten students graduated with High Honors and 22 graduated with Honors.
June 6, 2020 4:16 am
PETERS TWP. — Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey held a press conference in Peters Twp celebrating the first day of the green phase in Washington County. Timothy Warne hosted Toomey at his Bartram House Bakery. Warne said he is happy to be able to further open his bakery here and to be able to reopen others that he had been forced to close because of restrictions. Toomey described the economic shut down as historic and needed until we had an understanding of what the Covid-19 virus was capable of doing. Toomey pointed to government bail out programs like the Paycheck Protection Program as vital to survival for small businesses. The conversation also turned to the topic of using the military as a police force to contain violent protests over the death of George Floyd. Toomey is not in favor of the use of the military as a civilian police force. He says that Pennsylvania has plenty of resources to protect citizens in the form of municipal and state police and the national guard. Republican Representative Guy Reschenthaler supported Toomey’s remarks and called for police funding for additional training and mental health support for officers that may suffer from depression or PTSD. Local republican representatives on hand included Commissioners Dianna Irey Vaughn and Nick Sherman, State Senator Carmera Bartolotta, and Representative Natalie Mihalek.
June 6, 2020 4:12 am
NORTH STRABANE, Pa. — No one was injured after a car crashed off the roadway in North Strabane Township Early Saturday morning. Police say a 23-year old male was the driver of a silver Ford sedan that left the road around 2:15 a.m. on the 400 block of Linden Road. According to reports, the male was accompanied by three other passengers. Police say the car clipped a tree stump as the vehicle went around a sharp bend in the roadway, then crossed both lanes of traffic before clipping a small tree and coming to a stop just feet away from the front door of a home. North Strabane police were accompanied by the North Strabane Fire Department, and officials confirmed to WJPA that the accident was DUI related. No other information was available on scene. Police are still investigating the incident.
June 5, 2020 4:12 pm
(WPXI) – Four J.C. Penney stores in the Pittsburgh area are among 154 that will close after the company filed for bankruptcy last month. Locations at Monroeville Mall, the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, Beaver Valley Mall and Clearview Mall will close their doors. J.C. Penney said closing sales are expected to begin June 12 and this is the first phase of store closures, with additional phases expected in the coming weeks. Store closing sales for the first round of closures are expected to take 10-16 weeks to complete.
June 5, 2020 3:29 pm
ATLANTA (AP) – Protesters stirred by the death of George Floyd are vowing to turn an extraordinary outpouring of grief into a sustained movement as demonstrations shift to a calmer, but no less determined, focus on addressing racial injustice. In Minneapolis, where Floyd died in police custody and the protest movement sparked, the city agreed Friday to ban police chokeholds and require officers to intervene any time they see unauthorized force by another officer. The changes are part of a stipulation between the city and state officials who launched a civil rights investigation into Floyd’s death. The City Council is expected to approve the agreement, which will be enforceable in court, on Friday. (Photo: CNN)
June 5, 2020 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley says he is blocking two Trump administration nominees until the White House provides adequate reasons for the recent termination of two inspectors general. The Iowa senator is a longtime advocate for the watchdog role of inspectors general. He pledged to block Senate consideration of Christopher Miller to be director of the National Counterterrorism Center and Marshall Billingslea to be undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. Grassley has been seeking answers on President Donald Trump’s recent firings of several inspectors general, including Michael Atkinson, inspector general for the intelligence community, and State Department Inspector General Steve Linick.
June 5, 2020 4:06 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the Trump administration, alleging officials violated the civil rights of protesters who were forcefully removed from a park near the White House by police using chemical agents before President Donald Trump walked to a nearby church to take a photo. The lawsuit was filed Thursday. It argues that Trump, Attorney General William Barr and other officials “unlawfully conspired to violate” the protesters’ rights when clearing Lafayette Park on Monday. Barr has defended the decision to forcefully remove peaceful protesters, saying it was necessary to protect officers and federal property.
June 5, 2020 4:05 am
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) – A state investigator is alleging that the white man accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery was heard saying a racist slur as he stood over the black man, moments after hitting him with three shots from a pump-action shotgun. During a probable cause hearing Thursday, the investigator said Arbery was repeatedly boxed in by two pickup trucks as he desperately tried to escape. Special Agent Richard Dial says Travis McMichael then shot him in the chest, the hand, and the chest again during a struggle. The evidence challenges claims of self-defense during a citizens’ arrest attempt, and could factor into a federal hate crime investigation. A judge ruled there is enough evidence against the three defendants charged in the case to proceed to trial.
June 5, 2020 4:03 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis has agreed to ban chokeholds by police and to require officers to try to stop any other officers they see using improper force. The agreements reached Friday are the first concrete steps that have been taken to remake the city’s police department since George Floyd’s death. The moves are part of a stipulation between the city and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which launched a civil rights investigation this week. The City Council approved the agreement unanimously. Floyd, who was handcuffed and black, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer used his knee to pin down Floyd’s neck and kept it here even after Floyd begged for air and eventually stopped moving.
June 5, 2020 4:02 am
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Prosecutors are investigating after a video captured police in Buffalo, New York, shoving a 75-year-old man who then fell and cracked his head. The WBFO recording of Thursday night’s encounter quickly gained steam online and sparked outrage. Two police officers have been suspended without pay. The video shows a man identified as Martin Gugino approaching a line of officers clearing demonstrators from Niagara Square around curfew time. The man falls backward and hits his head on the pavement. Blood leaks out as officers walk past. The mayor says the man is in serious condition.
