January 20, 2020 3:08 am
POTTER TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WPXI) — Rescue crews were called after a man’s kayak overturned in Raccoon Creek in Beaver County. The incident in Potter Township was called in around 1 p.m. Sunday. The man inside the kayak was able to swim to a tree after it flipped and rescue teams from various departments had to pull him out, police told our news partners at Channel 11. “Water conditions are high today, running very swiftly, so the kayak got away from him and he was stranded,” said Potter Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Victoria Carlton. Police said his friend tried to rescue him and ended up getting his truck stuck in the woods. The kayaker was taken to a hospital to be treated for hypothermia. His condition is unknown at this time.
January 20, 2020 3:06 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Roads are open after a major water main break shut down streets in the West End of Pittsburgh. Police said the 20-inch break happened around 7:15 p.m. Sunday in the 1800 block of West Carson Street. The road was closed in each direction between Corliss Street and the West End Circle. A salt truck was also called in to help because the temperatures are so cold. The PWSA issued a boil water advisory for the areas nearby due to low pressure. Water buffaloes are available at the following locations:
- Fire Station 29, 2150 Noblestown Rd
- Fire Station 31, 3000 Chartiers Ave
- 725 Ridgemont Ave
January 20, 2020 2:34 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Authorities are investigating an accident involving a Port Authority bus that hit a pedestrian in Oakland just after noon. The pedestrian, a woman, died from her injuries. Officials with the University of Pittsburgh later confirmed that the victim was a senior at the university. She was identified by the school as Barbara Como. The accident happened at the intersection of Oakland Avenue, De Soto Street and Fifth Avenue near the hospital.
January 19, 2020 7:44 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The bodies of the 11 Ukrainians who died when an Iranian missile shot down a passenger plane have arrived in Ukraine for a farewell ceremony. They were among the 176 people killed in the Jan. 8 catastrophe, when a Ukrainian Airlines plane heading to Kyiv was brought down shortly after takeoff from Tehran. Iran acknowledged three days later that the plane was mistakenly hit by an anti-aircraft missile. On Sunday, the bodies were brought to Kyiv’s Boryspil Airport aboard a Ukrainian air force plane. An honor guard solemnly carried the coffins into the airport terminal, where a farewell observance is to last until the evening.
January 19, 2020 7:43 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands gathered in cities across the country Saturday as part of the nationwide Women’s March rallies focused on issues such as climate change, pay equity, reproductive rights and immigration. Hundreds showed up in New York City and thousands in Washington, D.C. for the rallies, which aim to harness the political power of women, although crowds were noticeably smaller than in previous years. Marches were scheduled Saturday in more than 180 cities. The first marches in 2017 drew hundreds of thousands of people to rallies in cities across the country on the day after President Donald Trump was inaugurated. That year’s D.C. march drew close to 1 million people.
January 19, 2020 7:41 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s legal team issued a fiery response Saturday ahead of opening arguments in his impeachment trial, while House Democrats laid out their case in forceful fashion, saying the president betrayed public trust with behavior that was the “worst nightmare” of the founding fathers. The dueling filings previewed arguments both sides intend to make once Trump’s impeachment trial begins in earnest Tuesday in the Senate. Their challenge will be to make a case that appeals to the 100 senators who will render the verdict and for an American public bracing for a presidential election in 10 months. “President Donald J. Trump used his official powers to pressure a foreign government to interfere in a United States election for his personal political gain,” the House prosecutors wrote, “and then attempted to cover up his scheme by obstructing Congress’s investigation into his misconduct.” Trump’s legal team, responding to the Senate’s official summons for the trial, said the president “categorically and unequivocally” denies the charges of abuse and obstruction against him. “This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election, now just months away,” the president’s filing states.
January 19, 2020 7:37 am
State transportation officials have reduced speeds and imposed other restrictions on several Pennsylvania roadways amid the winter storm expected to bring several inches of snow to parts of the commonwealth. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said the severity of Saturday’s storm prompted a temporary reduction of speeds to 45 mph on highways including Interstate 78 in Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties, Interstate 80 in Monroe and Carbon counties, Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County and Interstate 380 in Monroe County. Speeds were also reduced on other roads. PennDOT also imposed but later removed reduced speed limits and limits on certain trucks and other vehicles on Interstate 86 and 90 in northwestern Pennsylvania. Officials on Sunday evening also lifted a 45-mph speed limit imposed on Interstate 79 from Interstate 80 to Lake Erie. PennDOT urged motorists to avoid unnecessary travel during the storm. The National Weather Service earlier told motorists to “plan on slippery road conditions. Officials said snow, sleet and a bit of ice was expected but warmer air would later change the mixed precipitation into all rain.
January 19, 2020 2:39 am
A former county official is in more legal trouble. Former Washington County District Attorney Steven Toprani has been named in a sixth federal lawsuit involving a company called Alternative Energy Holdings, LLC. Jack Levin, 51 of North Strabane Township filed a lawsuit Friday against the company and three of its principals. Named in the case are Jonathan Freeze, Robert Irey and Kevin Carney along with Steven Toprani. Levin’s lawsuit is the latest to be filed by investigators since July, claiming that he never saw double digit returns promised to him in the venture when he invested 3 years ago. Also named in the case is the law firm Dodaro, Matta and Cambest. Toprani worked for the firm until earlier in 2019. Levin’s lawsuit states that he was approached in 2017 to invest in AEH to build an alternative energy plant in Greenville, South Carolina. Levin and none of the other plaintiffs have been paid. The company is listed in Florida and is classified as in “administrative dissolution”. Toprani was District Attorney from 2008-2012. He ran for a seat in the State House and lost to Representative Bud Cook by 11 votes.
January 18, 2020 9:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. health officials have announced they will begin screening airline passengers from central China for a new virus that is making people sick. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday it would begin the screening immediately. People traveling from Wuhan, China, will have their temperature checked and be asked about symptoms. The CDC said it’s part of an effort to better detect and prevent a newly identified virus that emerged in China last month and has sickened dozens of people and been tied to two deaths. The CDC started a similar screening program at U.S. airports in 2014 during a large outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.
January 18, 2020 9:16 am
MOSCOW (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced what many see as a strategy for staying in power well past the end of his term in 2024. The proposed constitutional reforms might allow him to remain in charge as prime minister or as head of a body known as the State Council. Putin also executed a swift, unexpected reshuffle of the Russian leadership, replacing his long-serving prime minister with a low-profile official. Still, those moves didn’t elicit much public outrage. That’s very different from 2011-2012, when efforts to engineer Putin’s return to the presidency crushed Russian hopes for political reform and sparked massive protests in Moscow.
