February 26, 2025 4:15 am
South Strabane Township Supervisors have approved a preliminary land development proposal from Epi-Center LLC for the construction of a Active Recreation Sports Complex at 2200 Tanger Boulevard. The proposed plan includes fifteen indoor pickleball courts, several outdoor pickleball courts, and eight basketball courts, which can also serve as volleyball courts. The facility will also feature a restaurant and bar, entertainment spaces and other areas for recreation. Construction is planned to be completed this year with an anticipated opening date at the end of 2025. In other action, the board also approved a Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant worth approximately $85,000 for a new dog park at Community Park.The decision passed with a 3-2 vote, with Supervisors Bull and Rowand dissenting. Bull says that he voted against the dog park for the safety of the residents and the children using the parks due to dogs being able to acquire illnesses. Michelle Wrubelski, Chairperson of the Parks and Recreation Committee, said that the grant will fund the development of a dog park that will be open to everyone, include separate sections for small and large dogs, shade trees, benches, watering stations, and play toys. According to Wrubelski, the township’s estimated cost for constructing the park is between $65,000 and $70,000. South Strabane resident Emily Minor voiced her opposition stating that she is not interested in liability insurance or dog park maintenance, and does not want her taxes to fund a facility where others may come to exercise their dogs.
February 26, 2025 2:47 am
Earlier this year the Southwestern Pennsylvania Area on Aging had to cancel a food program that was born out of the COVID 19 pandemic but remained popular with senior citizens. According to Mary Harris, Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Area on Aging, the Grab and Go program was eliminated due to funds being exhausted and no new funding was put in place to keep the program. Harris says that is only a portion of the problem facing agencies on aging across Pennsylvania. Harris says that funding has remained flat for many years causing programs to cease or be put on hold. She is hopeful that Pennsylvania’s congress will pass the additional $20 million that Governor Josh Shapiro has requested for the 2025-2026 budget, but she says the actual need for these agencies is about $105 million more in spending allocations. Harris says these agencies help older Pennsylvanians with personal care, home care support and care giver support, essentially anything that will help a senior age in place in their home. Appoximately 500 senior centers operate across Pennslyvania administering about 100 programs. Harris says that state and federal funding is critical to keep these centers open. Forty of those senior centers could close without additional funding. She says that the best way to help in the funding push, is for seniors, and family members and care givers to reach out to state representatives and senators to let them know how vital the funding is to them. They should also reach out to federal representatives to ask them to support the Older Americans Act.
February 26, 2025 2:33 am
A defense attorney and prosecutors were surprised by a revelation that a suspect was released from the Washington County Jail in error. Samuel Valle, 20 of Monessen, was to appear as an incarcerated defendant at a plea court hearing on Wednesday. Valle’s defense attorney found out the day before from relatives that the Washington County Jail released him after a hearing he had in Westmoreland County back in December. Valle faces attempted homicide and aggravated assault and burglary charges among others in two cases in Washington County. Court documents reflect that Valle was free on $10,000 bail in May 2024, but had that bail revoked in July 2024. Valle is accused of being involved in a gunfight in Charleroi in September of 2024. Calls for comment placed to the Washington County Jail were not returned. A bench warrant has been issued for Valle’s arrest.
February 25, 2025 3:25 pm
(WPXI) – A man was hit and killed along Route 28 in Etna after police said he jumped out of a moving car. Allegheny County Police said they were called to the scene at 6:49 a.m. Tuesday for a pedestrian hit near the Etna exit. First responders found the victim, later identified as Connell Nihei, 50, of Pittsburgh, dead when they arrived. Police said preliminary information shows that Nihei jumped from a moving vehicle before he was hit. Everyone involved in the crash remained on scene and is cooperating with the investigation, according to Allegheny County Police. The northbound lanes were shut down between the Etna and Sharpsburg exits for nearly 4 hours. Detectives continue to investigate.
February 25, 2025 10:29 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence plummeted in February, the biggest monthly decline in more than four years, a business research group said Tuesday. The Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index sank this month to 98.3 from 105.3 in January. That’s well below economists’ projections for a reading of 103. The seven-point drop was the biggest month-to-month decline since August of 2021. Markets on Wall Street immediately tumbled on the news. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.7%. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity and is closely watched by economists for signs about how the American consumer is feeling.
February 25, 2025 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has refused to immediately order the White House to restore The Associated Press’ access to presidential events, saying the news organization had not shown it had suffered irreparable harm in the matter. But he urged the government to reconsider its two-week-old ban. He said that case law “is uniformly unhelpful to the White House.” U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden told attorneys for the Trump administration and the AP that the issue required more exploration before ruling. The AP filed a lawsuit Friday saying that its First Amendment rights were being violated. President Donald Trump said it was punishment for the agency’s decision not to entirely follow his executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
February 25, 2025 4:54 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he is replacing the top lawyers for the military services because he doesn’t think they are “well-suited” to provide recommendations when lawful orders are given. He spoke at the start of a meeting Monday with Saudi Arabia’s defense minister. Also, he refused to answer a question about why the Trump administration has selected a retired general to be the next Joint Chiefs chairman, when he doesn’t meet the legal qualifications for the job. President Donald Trump fired the chairman, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., and Hegseth followed that by firing the Navy chief of operations, the Air Force vice chief, and the judge advocate general for the services.
February 25, 2025 4:53 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says his tariffs on Canada and Mexico are starting next month. The comment Monday indicates the end of a monthlong suspension on planned import taxes that could potentially hurt growth and worsen inflation. Trump said Monday at a White House news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron that “the tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule.” While Trump was answering a specific question about the taxes to be charged on America’s two largest trading partners, the U.S. president also stressed that his intended “reciprocal” tariffs were on schedule to begin as soon as April.
February 25, 2025 4:52 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In a dramatic shift in transatlantic relations under President Donald Trump, the United States has split with its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in votes on three U.N. resolutions seeking an end to the three-year war. In the U.N. General Assembly, the U.S. joined Russia in voting against a Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution that calls out Moscow’s aggression and demands an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops. The U.S. then abstained from voting on its own competing resolution after Europeans. led by France, succeeded in amending it to make clear Russia was the aggressor. The voting was taking place as Trump was hosting French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington. A third vote took place in the U.N. Security Council.
February 25, 2025 4:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new federal lawsuit in Maryland is challenging a Trump administration memo giving the nation’s schools and universities two weeks to eliminate “race-based” practices of any kind or risk losing their federal money. The lawsuit was filed by the American Federation of Teachers union and the American Sociological Association. They groups say the Education Department’s Feb. 14 memo violates the First and Fifth Amendments. They say forcing schools to teach only the views supported by the federal government amounts to a violation of free speech, and the directive is so vague that schools don’t know what practices cross the line.
