March 8, 2020 7:54 am
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (WPXI) — The 10-year-old girl who went missing in West Mifflin Saturday was found by a neighbor hours later. According to investigators, Brianna Lopata hadn’t been seen since about 6:30 p.m. Saturday near her home on Lebanon School Road. Police confirmed she was found as of 10:15 p.m. Officials told our news partners at Channel 11 it started when the girl’s parents had a “mild dispute, and they thought they’d let her cool down.” Lopata then wandered from the home. Police had a command post set up at the pavilion at Mifflin Estates on A Drive. Search crews were all over the neighborhood using flashlights, drones and cars to find the missing girl. Eventually, police said a neighbor found Lopata in their backyard. The child is now safe at her home.
March 8, 2020 7:51 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Gov. Tom Wolf announced Saturday there are two new presumptive positive coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania. In a release, state officials said both new cases are individuals from Montgomery County, have mild symptoms, are in isolation at home and were exposed to an area of the United States where COVID-19 is present. Montgomery County is just outside Philadelphia in eastern Pennsylvania. The state now has four total presumed positive coronavirus cases – all in the eastern part of the state. The first two cases of the coronavirus, one in Wayne County and one in Delaware County, were announced Friday morning. All four people who tested positive for the virus are quarantined in their homes. The person from Wayne County recently traveled to a country where coronavirus is present, Wolf said. The person from Delaware County recently traveled to an area of the United States where coronavirus is present. Officials said there are more than 105,000 cases of the coronavirus worldwide, including more than 3,500 deaths. Of those numbers, the United States has 401 cases and 17 deaths. Wolf assured Pennsylvanians that the state is prepared to respond to the spread of the coronavirus.
March 7, 2020 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is honoring a pair of retired pro golfers with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It’s the highest honor the president can give to a civilian. The White House says Annika Sörenstam and Gary Player will receive the honors during a White House ceremony on March 23. Both are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Both also joined Trump for a round of golf on his private club in northern Virginia last fall. Trump awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods last year after Woods claimed his fifth Masters title.
March 7, 2020 4:13 am
NEW DELHI (AP) – For weeks India has watched as the new virus spread in neighboring China and elsewhere while its own caseload remained static. But with the disease now spreading inside the country of 1.4 billion, authorities are scrambling to ready the understaffed medical system for a potential surge in patients. Schools have been closed, exports of key pharmaceutical ingredients have been halted, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced he will not join public celebrations of Holi, the Hindu springtime holiday in which crowds of people douse one another with colored water and paint.
March 7, 2020 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is shaking up White House leadership, replacing his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney with Republican Rep. Mark Meadows. Trump announced the staff reshuffle in Friday night tweets. The long-rumored move comes as Trump has been surrounding himself with loyalists as he prepares for a tough reelection bid. But the timing – as the Trump administration was already facing criticism over its handling of the novel coronavirus outbreak – threatened to exacerbate concerns about the government’s ability to protect the nation. Meadows will be fourth chief of staff in as many years.
March 7, 2020 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Two people who attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington earlier this week have tested positive for the coronavirus. The group made the disclosure Friday on Twitter. The cases are the first linked to the nation’s capital. Thousands of people attended the AIPAC policy conference, including some members of Congress, and Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were among the speakers. AIPAC says it has been in touch with health officials in New York and Washington. It is urging attendees to get in touch with their medical providers if they feel ill.
March 7, 2020 4:03 am
WAYNESBURG, Pa. — A European company that landed state funding last summer to build a $13.3 million regional hub at Speers Industrial Park in Washington County has filed a WARN notice with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry that says it is closing its Waynesburg facility in Greene County next month, affecting 80 workers. TechnipFMC plc, based in London, serves the oil and gas industry around the world and has 40 facilities in the U.S. According to the WARN notice, the Waynesburg plant is to shut down as of April 14. The company’s U.S. operations are based in Houston, Texas.
March 7, 2020 3:56 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Karl Alexander, a former administrative law judge pleaded guilty to purchasing a gun for his friend, who is a convicted felon and alleged Nazi sympathizer, Dennis Riggs. Alexander was indicted by a federal grand jury. Federal authorities arrested Riggs in January at a home in Troy Hill, where he lived with Alexander. Agents found a cache of weapons, ammunition, pictures of Adolph Hitler and swastikas on the wall. On his phone, investigators found video of a mosque shooting and a picture of the South Carolina church shooter. Alexander told our partners at Channel 11 he never saw Riggs as someone who would do anything violent. Alexander admitted in court he went with Riggs to buy the gun and lied on the forms. Alexander faces up to 10 years in jail, but federal authorities are recommending 2-3 years. He will be sentenced in July, while Riggs remains in federal custody charged with illegal possession of a firearm.
March 7, 2020 3:55 am
A Carroll Township woman died in a fire Friday afternoon at her home. The fire broke out around twelve-thirty at a home at 17 Grant Street and authorities say they received word of a possible entrapment. When fire crews arrived, they said the home was fully engulfed in flames but they were able to bring it under control quickly. According to reports, they then discovered that 62-year-old Joann Wilson who lived in the home was unaccounted for. Her body was discovered on a rear second-story porch where it appeared she had attempted to escape the flames. Although authorities say they don’t believe the fire was arson, the state police fire marshal has been called in to investigate. The Washington County Coroner’s Office is investigating the cause and manner of Wilson’s death.
March 7, 2020 3:55 am
A elderly man reported missing early Friday morning in Chartiers Township has been found safe. It all began after a woman awoke and found her husband missing and his walking cane gone. The woman searched the area near the home along Glenwood Drive but could not find him and called 9-1-1 around 3:45 a.m. Police, Firefighters and others were all involved in the search which ended just after 6:30 a.m. No other information is being released at this time.
