October 17, 2019 5:51 am
It has been 54 years since Air Force 1st Lieutenant James McEwen’s plane was shot down in Vietnam. On a gray and rainy Wednesday in Washington, local veterans, city leaders and others gathered to honor the Washington native. They took the wraps off of a sign along Duncan Avenue to honor McEwen who grew up on the street. His sister Jean Jacquin, who now lives in Michigan, was on hand for the ceremony which included a 21-gun salute and taps. Jacquin tells WJPA News she is “very grateful for the fact that after 54 years some people still want to honor my brother.” She says “he loved his country” and “he was defending the principles our country was built on”. He was a 1958 graduate of Washington High School. McEwen’s plane was shot down October 22, 1965 while on a classified night mission.
October 17, 2019 4:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says it has chosen President Donald Trump’s golf resort in Miami as the site for next year’s Group of Seven summit. The announcement Thursday comes as the president has accused Joe Biden’s family of profiting from public office because of Hunter Biden’s business activities in Ukraine when his father was vice president. The idea of holding the event June 10-12 at Trump’s resort has been criticized by ethics watchdogs. Trump has said the resort is close to the airport and offers plenty of hotel rooms and separate buildings for every delegation. When the United States has hosted the summit before, it has been held in Puerto Rico; Williamsburg, Virginia; Houston; Denver; Sea Island, Georgia; and Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
October 17, 2019 4:13 am
CLEVELAND (AP) – Major drug distributors and manufacturers are pressing to settle thousands of claims against them related to the nation’s persistent opioid crisis as their trial date draws closer. The companies are negotiating with state attorneys general as jury selection is expected to wrap up on Thursday in the first federal trial over an overdose epidemic that has claimed more than 400,000 American lives in the past two decades. Arguments are scheduled to begin Monday against some of the biggest names in the pharmaceutical industry unless they can strike a deal. A source familiar with the negotiations described the outlines of a tentative nationwide settlement as worth tens of billions of dollars. The talks involve the distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, as well as drug makers Johnson & Johnson and Teva.
October 17, 2019 4:09 am
LEWISBURG, W.Va. (AP) – The billionaire governor of West Virginia says he didn’t know one of his family businesses took in a $125,000 federal subsidy meant to help farmers through the U.S. trade war with China. Gov. Jim Justice told reporters on Thursday that he wasn’t aware Justice Farms of North Carolina received the payment. He also said many other farms got the subsidy and that he wants “goodness for everybody.” A recording of Justice’s comments was posted online by a reporter for Ogden Newspapers. They came after a fundraiser for his reelection that was headlined by Donald Trump, Jr. and held at a lavish resort Justice owns called The Greenbrier. Records reviewed by The Associated Press show Justice Farms of North Carolina received $121,398 for soybeans and $3,602 for corn earlier this year. Justice has a net worth estimated at $1.5 billion and is considered to be West Virginia’s richest man.
October 17, 2019 4:06 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A former western Pennsylvania church administrator has pleaded guilty to stealing 1.2 million that prosecutors say he and his wife used to pay for vacations, sports tickets and other personal expenses Fifty-year-old David Reiter pleaded guilty Wednesday to receiving stolen property, theft, forgery, access device fraud, tampering with records and unlawful use of a computer. He pleaded no contest to conspiring with his wife, who faces trial next year. Allegheny County prosecutors say the money was stolen over the course of about 17 years from the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Upper St. Clair, where Reiter had been administrator since 2001. David Reiter will be sentenced Jan. 14. Common Pleas Judge Jeffery Manning signed a restitution order Wednesday requiring him to pay back more than $1.2 million.
October 17, 2019 3:31 am
State Police in Greene County are investigating a fatal accident that happened early Wednesday morning. Troopers say 21-year-old Ryan Matthew Lohr was a passenger in a vehicle that was traveling west on Route 21 near the intersection with Oak Forest Road around one o’clock, when he climbed on top of the car and was riding on the roof. Police say Lohr fell off the car and into the path of another vehicle. Police say he was killed instantly.
October 16, 2019 3:13 pm
Two of Independent Professional Baseball’s oldest and most established Leagues are pleased to announce that they will join forces. Beginning with the 2020 season, five former members of the Can-Am League will merge into the Frontier League. Members of the Frontier League and the new teams from the Can-Am League will make up the 14 team circuit. The New Jersey Jackals, Quebec Capitales, Rockland Boulders, Sussex County Miners and Trois-Rivieres Aigles will play in the Can-Am Division. The Washington Wild Things and Lake Erie Crushers will join the Division as well. The seven remaining teams will make up the West Division of the Frontier League. Those teams are the Evansville Otters, Florence Freedom, Gateway Grizzlies, Joliet Slammers, Schaumburg Boomers, Southern Illinois Miners, and the Windy City ThunderBolts. The Washington Wild Things will play in the Can Am Division, which will take them to the New Jersey Shore and north into Quebec City in Canada. Wildthings owner Stu Williams is excited about the new league but looks to other possibilities that baseball teams can take advantage of. He would like to see about putting together a concert series that would play in each of the 14 cities in the league. The New League will be known as the Frontier league and they will play a 96 game schedule beginning on May 14th and ending on the Sunday before Labor Day.
October 16, 2019 11:47 am
DETROIT (AP) – The United Auto Workers and General Motors have reached a tentative contract agreement that could end a monthlong strike that brought the automaker’s U.S. factories to a standstill. The deal was hammered out Wednesday but it won’t immediately end the strike by more than 49,000 workers. They’re likely to stay on the picket lines at least a few more days until union committees vote on the deal. The entire membership also must vote. Details of the four-year agreement have yet to be released. Workers left their jobs early Sept. 16. They wanted a bigger share of GM’s profits, job security and a path to permanent jobs for temporary workers. The company wanted to reduce labor costs so they’re closer to U.S. factories run by foreign automakers.
October 16, 2019 5:50 am
The Washington opioid overdose coalition met publicly last night to discuss various topics pertaining to the opioid epidemic in Washington county. Six different speakers discussed how addiction and overdoses are being handled in the area. Executive director of the Washington drug and alcohol commission and co-chair of the Washington opioid overdose coalition, Cheryl Andrews explained that the group will be meeting next month (11/15) to build on the next three years. Research Specialist at the University of Pittsburgh, Program Evaluation and Research Unit, Dane Miller shared pertinent information regarding Washington County data, while also displaying how the county is ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the state. Amy Kisner, Certified Recovery Specialist with the Washington Drug and Alcohol Commission spoke from a recovery perspective. Kisner discussed her thoughts on the correlation between mental health issues and opioid usage. In 2019, overdose deaths in Washington county are down 24 percent compared to last year.
October 16, 2019 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House has overwhelmingly voted its bipartisan condemnation of President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of American forces from northern Syria. Despite stark divisions over Democrats’ Trump impeachment inquiry, Democrats and Republicans banded together Wednesday and approved a nonbinding resolution by 354-60 vote. The resolution states Congress’ opposition to the troop pullback and says Turkey should cease its military action in Syria. And the measure says the White House should present a plan for an “enduring defeat” of the Islamic State group. Many worry that IS may revive itself as Turkish forces attack Syrian Kurds holding the extremists. The House debate was extraordinary for the intensity of lawmakers’ opinions. Republicans called the troop withdrawal “disastrous” and a “catastrophe.” Democrats criticized Trump directly, with Rep. Seth Moulton saying Trump “has taken the side of dictators and butchers.”
